perialyse

My husband, 7 yw=ear old son and I are spending a week in Disney in February, We would love some dining guidance. Where are we going to get the best meals for breakfast and lunch. We are staying at the yacht club right at the gates of epcot!

Orlando_Vic

Please give us some idea of your budget. There are some very good restaurants but it is easy to go through a lot of $$$ at Disney.

BTW, if you are staying at the Yacht Club, the Yacht Club Galley just introduced a wonderful (fresh) halibut dish on the dinner menu last Friday. It was very good!

Pat_in_Mich

Check www.allearsnet.com or www.disboards.com. There is tons of info there. You will probably want to make some reservations soon. Some of the places book up very early, particularly if you want to do a character meal.

kopp

Your son would probably enjoy some of the character breakfasts available. Definitely check out the sites suggested by Pat_in_Mich for reviews and highlights.

I know the Beach Club has a character breakfast, which is adjacent to the Yacht Club. Also, there is a very popular one inside Magic Kingdom (I'm thinking in the Castle?).

missypie

First, I don't know if you know this, but you could have made restaurant reservations ("ADRs") two months ago(180 days in advance of your trip) and lots of people did. The most popular restaurants and the most popular times may already be booked. So you need to move quickly.

The best thing to do is to decide what park you will be at on what day, and make your ADRs accordingly. You don't want to be enjoying your day at Epcot, then have to race to the Magic Kingdom for a 11:30 am lunch reservation!

Help is out there on deciding the best days. Go to tourguidemike.com and for about $17 you can get his terrific tips, including best days.The folks who publish the Unofficial Guide also publish best days. The info used to be free on their web site; I don't know if it's still free.

Then, once you've decided what park on what day, go to allearsnet.com. They post the menus of all the Disney restaurants, with the prices. You can decide what restaurants appeal to you.

I'd personally advise you to skip character breakfasts in lieu of character dinners. (The character dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom is our favorite and the menu is a real kid pleaser.) Early morning time is prime touring time, and you don't want to stress through your special breakfast to get to the parks quickly.

Also, I find sit down meals much more relaxing than buffets, esp. if you have a little one who you will need to help through the buffet line.

Since you are at the Yacht Club, you have all of the terrific Epcot World Showcase restaurants practically at your doorstep. You might want to consider buying park hopper tickets so you can drop into Epcot for dinner or lunch before your afternoon break, even if that isn't your park of the day.

For our next trip, here is where we are eating:

Liberty Tree Tavern Character Dinner - Magic Kingdom

Epcot-Akershus Princess Lunch (Prob. not the best option for a 7 year old boy)

Lunch at Kona Cafe in the Polynesian

Lunch at the Plaza in the Magic Kingdom

Dinner at Jiko in Animal Kingdom Lodge

Dinner at Whispering Canyon inthe Wilderness Lodge

MGM-Fantasmic Dinner Package at Mama Melrose (a repeat for us)

Last trip, we enjoyed Le Cellier in Epcot-it is a hard reservation to get, however.

perialyse

Thank you for your tips, I certainly know that I have to move quickly with reservations! Quality is more important than $$$ on this trip. Is Downtown Disney worth going to for a meal? And I have also heard a lot about Whispering Canyon at the wilderness lodge. Is that a good place to go for lunch or dinner? Is there anything else to do there? What would be the Epcot highlight restaurants? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated since I have to move VERY quicky in order to get in to the good places! Thanks again.

missypie

Whispering Canyon is supposed to have pretty good food in a fun atmosphere.

At Epcot, people say good things about:

Le Cellier (table service in Canada)
Tangeriene (counterservice in Morocco)
Chefs de France (table service France)
Beirgarten (family style beer garden with entertainment in Germany)

They are re-doing the Japanese restaruant, so I don't have any insight into it.

In Magic Kingdom:

Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner is a family style character dinner)

Counterservice at Casey's Hot Dogs, Pecos Bills or Columbia Harbor House

The Plaza- table service

At MGM:

We like Mama Melrose.

We tried Brown Derby. Loved the atmosphere, but didn't think the food was worth the money.

We haven't tried Prime Time or Sci-Fi, but others have said they are fun.

At Animal Kingdom:

Tusker House used to be the best choice but they closed it and are reopening as a character meal, I believe.

Flame Tree Barbeque is supposed to be good but all seating is outdoors.

Resorts:

We tried the Cape May Clambake at the Beach Club. The food wasn't all that great but we were staying at the Yacht Club, so it was very convenient.

Folks love the ice cream and burgers at Beaches & Cream at the Beach Club. No reservations, so lines can be long.

Polynesian:

The Kona Cafe gets good reviews.

Ohana is a very popular meal. However, folks have reported slipping food quality and bad service of late.

Contemporary:

Chef Mickey's is a very popular character buffet.

California Grill (at the top of the building) gets high marks, but is a bit formal (that's in Disney terms, meaning no tank tops or swim suits).

Animal Kingdom Lodge:

Both Boma and Jiko tend to get good marks. Boma is a buffet and Jiko is a fancier table service.

Grand Floridian:

I'll let others comment since I haven't eaten there.

Downtown Disney:

They have lots of restaurants, but I wouldn't consider any a destination unless you are already there. The Ghiradelli's makes GREAT ice cream sundaes. If you want a good sandwich at "real" (as opposed to "Disney" prices) head for the Earl of Sandwich.

Jimingso

IMHO BOMA in the Animal Kingdom Lodge is the best buffet in Disney World.

persimmondeb

Earl of Sandwich is absolutely excellent for a light meal (very tasty, nice selection) and very reasonable too. A lot of the other restaurants at Downtown Disney were appealing looking, but we didn't get a chance to try them out. High Tea at the Grand Floridian is a lot of fun, but most boys probably wouldn't be into it. Mine was, but he was the only boy, and almost the only male, in the room. He loved the food and even got a kick out of the fancy china. We also had an excellent meal at the Concourse Steakhouse in the Contemporary. I also highly recommend the Disney Dining, as it really let us eat well without obsessing over every menu item.

missypie

Aren't they closing Concourse Steakhouse and replacing it with someone else?

Also note that after this year, the dining plan is not such a great financial deal. (Right now the table service meal comes with appetizer, entree, dessert, beverage and tip included. For 2008, the lowered the price per day by a dollar and now the TS meal only includes entree, dessert and beverage.)

sundown

We had some really good food in Downtown Disney a couple years back. Epcot has a wide array of options. You'll read some reports critical of Disney World dining, but we've always found the more upscale restaurants to be really good quality. It's not cheap, but nothing on vacation ever is!

persimmondeb

You never know with Disney, but there is nothing on their website, www.allears.com, or www.mousesavers.com about closing the Concourse. And they do have that new supersized Deluxe Dining Plan, which probably is a good deal, but only I would think if you eat a LOT. Their new regular isn't such a good deal as the old one, but really can you blame them for taking the tips out, with the way servers paddded the bill?

missypie

Okay, I found info on the closing of Concourse Steakhouse. It's not closing until April 2008.

Here is a post from disboards.com:

"Concourse Steakhouse is scheduled to close sometime in April 2008. A new restaurant, The Wave, is now being constructed on the 1st floor in the former location of the Food & Fun Center. The Wave will have a completely different menu from the Steakhouse. It's rumored it will have an Asian influenced menu. The location of the steakhouse will be converted to the new quick service restaurant, Chef Mickey's Express, which is scheduled to open in August 2008."

socialworker

We *love* what we affectionately call the "cowboy breakfast"!! It is not a character breakfast but it is so much fun for everyone and the food is really good. It is at the Whispering Pines at the Wilderness Lodge and they do priority seating, so you can make a reservation.

mouseRD

Here is where we've eaten & what we liked:

1) Flying Fish Cafe on the Boardwalk - walking distance to YC -loved it!
2) Blue Zoo Restaurant - inside Dolphin - close to YC - very good
3) Inside Epcot -
Le Cellier - Canada - lunch twice - great!
Chefs de France - France- lunch- good
Boulangerie Patisserie - pastries/coffee & light lunch - cheese plate - the BEST!
Italy (when it was L'Originale Alfredo - ? spelling & Japan - good
Kringla Bakeri og cafe - nice sandwich & pastries
Yorkshire Country Fish House - great casual place for fish & chips/outdoor seating overlooking the lake
4) Jiko's - at AKL - my favorite!
5) Artist Point - WL - excellent
6) Kona Cafe - Polynesian - lunch - great break from MK