Your thoughts on Disney restaurants

My DH got a great pin from Disney a couple of weeks ago and we decided after all the separation this year, it would be the perfect time to go back to Disney. We've only been once and we planned that trip just 3 weeks out. We were pretty limited in our dining because it was so close to arrival and we had a 12 month old so we couldn't wait until the late hours to eat dinner. This time I've got time to plan, but my ADRs need to be made within the next week or so.

We aren't doing park hopper so that limits our TS to the park we're in or a nearby resort. We have 7 days worth of meals. I'm having a hard time finding which TS are 2 credits. In the printable on the disney site it has just a handful of restaurants listed at 2 credits, but the dining line told me that there were more, but she couldn't tell me what they were for 2011. She thought all character dining was. Don't know how I'm supposed to plan with that info!

I would like to do Kouzzina one night. I think that is close enough to the Beach Club that we can walk.

On Epcot I was thinking Biergarten to celebrate our German roots and Akershus for my DD.

Animal Kingdom day, is it really a pain to get from Animal Kingdom to Boma and then I guess back to a park that is open to catch a bus back to the Beach Club? The Tusker House is the only TS listed on the Dining Plan in Animal Kingdom.

Hollywood Studios day I would like to do Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic plan. I don't see anything about it taking 2 credits, but that's what Disney Dining told me.

I got sick after eating at Tony's the last time and we had a horrible experience at O'hana so I was thinking of trying 1900 Park Fare on one of the Magic Kingdom days. It should be pretty easy to get over there and hop back if we want to.

Are these places you have enjoyed and does anyone know if they are 1 or 2 credits? Is it normal that there are no restaurants on the plan for Downtown Disney?

Take anything the dining line gives you with a grain of salt. Here is a PDF of the 2011 dining plan brochure, just so I know we're looking at the same thing. On pages 4 and 5 you can see the restaurants that have a purple 2 next to them. They are the only restaurants that take two credits. Cinderalla's Royal Table is the only character dining, and the only change that happens next year is Le Cellier will be 2 for dinner, but that doesn't even go into effect until March.

Kouzzina - good choice if you like the menu.

Biergarten - good if you like German food ;)

Akershus - good princess interaction and you get your photo will Belle included, so it's like a bonus freebie!

Boma - it will be easy peasy to get to Boma from AK. There will be a bus, and it is a very short ride. Just be sure to get off on the Jambo House stop, not Kidani Village, which will be the first stop. If AK is already closed when you're done eating dinner just hop on a Hollywood Studios bus and walk to the Beach Club. You could do other transfer situations, but that one is probably easiest.

AK restaurants in general - I do see that on the 2011 brochure only Tusker House is listed as a TS. Yak & Yeti should be on that list, and most likely will be in the next few months.

Mama Melrose Fantasmic Package - yum! It's only 1 TS, and I haven't heard anything about that changing.

1900 Park Fare - it's a character meal, so a bonus for your daughter. While there are other options in MK/monorail resorts I wouldn't dissuade you from eating there.

DTD restaurants - the reason you don't see them on the 2011 brochure is that they are not owned by Disney, so they have to negotiate each year to be on the Dining Plan. Most likely, if something was on 2010's dining plan, it will be on 2011's. All of that will transpire over the next two months. (Tom has the wrong 2010 DDP pdf on our site, so here is a link to Disney's 2010 pdf)

Finally, but don't forget you can get 1% back from Mouse Unlimited, including reservations made with a PIN. We will also transfer your reservation so you can still get 1% back if you've already made the reservation :sunshine:

Thanks for the help :)
I thought just the purple 2's meant they were the 2 credit ones.
I forgot about Kona and we'll probably do 2 days at Magic Kingdom so that could be our 2nd meal. What other MK resort restaurants would you suggest? The ones inside of MK just don't appeal to me. I thought that my boys might enjoy(although they would never admit it) the reported antics of the step sisters so that's why I had that one chosen. Trying to keep them all happy:rotfl:


I may transfer the reservation. The pin was associated with our previous address so they said we had to call to verify all the old info so they could make sure it really was meant for us. They take that Non transferrable stuff very seriously!

Kona is one of our personal favorites, so I would definitely suggest that. We also :heart: Ohana, but totally understand if you don't want to go back because of a bad experience, we have some places like that too ;)

I'm not sure the ages of your kids, but I wouldn't suggest Chef Mickey's unless those were character you were interested in seeing.

Whispering Canyon Cafe might be good for you guys though, if you like bbq type food and enjoy restaurant antics. It's a good place for families without overloading yourself with character meals, if that is a concern.

You would keep the same reservation number in the transfer process, so you don't have to worry about that messing with your ADR window. Since you wouldn't have to submit a quote request, you can directly email Tom at tom at mouseunlimited dot com and ask him any questions you may have. He handles all of that stuff, I just do the fun stuff like plan dining :D

On your MK day, you could do Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge (you can take the boat) or Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. If you eat at Whispering Canyon, make sure you ask for ketchup:D. (You'll see.....)

We LOVE Boma so try to snag a meal there if you can. The menu sounds very exotic but it is really good. I am a "meat-and-potatoes" person who is not a very adventurous eater, but Boma is easily my favorite restaurant in all of WDW. The breakfast is more "normal" food, but the dinner has zebra domes....all you can eat zebra domes!! YUMMMY! Since you don't have park hoppers, I would say get a dinner reservation at Boma on your AK day and go there when you are done with the AK. You will definitely need an ADR though.

Enjoy!

After doing lots more research today and talking with my kids, Biergarten is out and Teppan Edo is in. They do cook the food in front of you at the table, right? After taking a closer look at Kouzzina's menu, I don't think the kids will like anything on it. They're pretty adventurous, but that's too much. Instead of doing 7 meals, I'm thinking of suprising DH by using 2 credits to eat at Yachtman Steakhouse. It's something he's been talking about since last trip and if all our other meals are only 1 credit, it should be easy to swing.

Glad to hear the good review of Boma. I think my DH and middle DS will really love it. Oldest DS will love Teppan Edo, obviously DD will love the character ones and I just love that we'll be there together.

Teppan Edo is a good choice. They cook the food in front of you on the teppanyaki grill. You will be sitting with enough people to make an 8 person table, but we've always liked the people we sit with :p The desserts are blech though, so make sure you have snack credits to get a good dessert somewhere else in World Showcase!

Yachtsman should be good too, just make sure you pack nice clothes for the dress code.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bajam

I just love that we'll be there together.

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There is nothing like a good ole family vacation to the most magical place on earth! :)

If you still want something in Downtown Disney you could try Raglan Road. We ate there in June and everyone like it.

Yak and Yeti in the AK is on the plan (it is an outside restaurant so it shows up on their lists later). Again we all enjoyed this meal enough that we are going again in Feb. The nice thing is you can do a lunch to take a break since the lunch and dinner menus are the same (including the prices).

And another vote for Kona. Yum, now I want sticky wings and a volcano dessert.

I recall Earl of Sandwich in DTD was on the dining plan a couple years ago when we went.
How old are your kiddos now? Crystal Palace with all the Pooh characters might be a fun choice if you are looking for a character meal. We've had breakfast there twice, but may think about trying lunch sometime.
If you want to take a break from MK for a bit, Captain Cook's at the Poly is a great CS meal - Dole Whip :D We were also pleasantly surprised by Contempo Cafe at the Contemporary - fun with all of the monorail action.
Have fun planning!

Since this has been several weeks since you first posted, you might already have your dining reservations but I thought of something that might be great for your family. When we stay at BC (and most of the time when we don't), we have breakfastast at Cape May Cafe. It's a character meal and we all love it!! DH and DD19 are both breakfast people and love the menu and even too cool DS20 loves the character interaction.

Also, for EPCOT, our favorite is Coral Reef. We love the food and the awesome fish just add to the experience.

For DHS, we went to H & V last time and it was awesome!! The characters were great, but were for younger children mostly. Then again, DD19 and DS20 had a great time, as well as DGS9months.

Good luck and have a great trip!!!