List of the ultimate restaurants to eat at on 1st trip

[DisneyLady!]

Hi all
We are going on our first Disney World trip in August 2021! We are trying to make a list of the top restaurants to dine at for a 7 night stay so that we make the most of our time there and we’re hoping you could help. This is our list currently for 6 x breakfasts, 7 x lunch and 6 x dinners. This is assuming/hoping things will mostly be back to normal by then!

if you would recommend we skip an option, change it for something better etc please can you advise! Price is not an issue but we are vegetarians. Not interested in Victoria and Albert. Might have a few quick service meals here and there to help us not feel like eating too much.

Breakfast restaurants:
1. Chef mickeys
2. Ohana
Could not really see any other exciting options so possibly do quick service other days especially as not big breakfast eaters so only really want to do the unique breakfasts a few day’s. If you can recommend a 3rd option though that would be great

Lunch restaurants:
1. 50s prime time cafe
2. Space 2020 (if open)
3. Rainforest cafe
4. Hollywood and Vine
If any others you can recommend in addition to the above or instead of a few? Or possibly will do a couple of quick service options the extra 2 days

Dinner restaurants:
1. California grill
2. Cinderella royal table
3. Be our guest
4. Ohana
5. Jiko or Sanna
6. Via Napoli
7. Trattoria al forno

Many thanks

 

[goodeats]

It's personal choice, but I think Sci Fi is superior to 50s Prime Time. Look at the menus and see which one appeals more.

I would choose either CRT or BOG - not both.

If you don't have kids in your party I don't think Hollywood & Vine or Rainforest Cafe are must dos.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Keep in mind the time suck of ts meals

for a regular ts, allow at least an hour plus wait time and travel time

signature meals, if multiple courses, wine(cocktails allow 90 minutes plus wait time and travel time

if you plan 3 ts meals a day you will be in restaurants 4+ hours a day

not to mention 3 ts meals a day is a lot of food. I suggest going to your local places and eating 3 ts meals in one day. Then picture doing it in august hear

things will not be normal next august. assume everything will be similar to now throughout 2021.

enjoy the planning, you have great choices, but it would be hard to maintain. Now I have friends who do 3 ts a day but they only go to the parks for an hour or 2 a day.

 

[Jaydee51]

Topolino's Terrace Character Breakfast is amazing! Dinner is great too but no characters. you should definitely consider adding to your list.

 

[DKNHM]

I would skip both breakfast options since menu is similar and you are overpaying for eggs and Mickey waffles. Consider breakfast at Kona.

I liked Sci-Fi's atmosphere, and would swap that out for Hollywood & Vine.

Your dinner options look delicious and/or fun!

 

[Disco Lemonade]

I would skip both breakfast options since menu is similar and you are overpaying for eggs and Mickey waffles. Consider breakfast at Kona.

I liked Sci-Fi's atmosphere, and would swap that out for Hollywood & Vine.

Your dinner options look delicious and/or fun!

I was thinking similarly. Kona Cafe has great breakfast, and Sci Fi is really fun. Chef Mickey’s was better than I thought it would be, but I would probably only do it for our daughter, and only if she could meet the characters. I am not sure how that works now.

 

[CynBeth]

For breakfasts our favorites are Whispering Canyon Cafe, Crystal Palace, Boma, Tusker House, and Cape May. For lunch of your list we love 50’s PTC but have always done that for dinner. Love Hollywood Brown Derby for lunch. We always have lunch at AK at the Rainforest Cafe. At Epcot we enjoy Chefs de France for dinner but you could do lunch if you need another option. We also like Coral Reef. For dinner really enjoy Le Cellier. Also, at AKL Boma is a great dinner buffet. Honestly with this being your first trip I would recommend you remove a few of the dinners outside of the parks. I have family members with food allergies so pretty much have all meals at TS and it is not a problem. We space everything out. We are on the go all day every day so the time spent at a restaurant for lunch or dinner is our time to relax and recharge.

 

[noodle73]

We really loved Beaches & Cream. Not sure where you’re staying or if you want to leave the parks to eat but we went on our HS day & just took the Skyliner over to Beach Club.

 

[DisneyLady!]

It's personal choice, but I think Sci Fi is superior to 50s Prime Time. Look at the menus and see which one appeals more.

I would choose either CRT or BOG - not both.

If you don't have kids in your party I don't think Hollywood & Vine or Rainforest Cafe are must dos.

Thank you we will have a look

 

[DisneyLady!]

Keep in mind the time suck of ts meals

for a regular ts, allow at least an hour plus wait time and travel time

signature meals, if multiple courses, wine(cocktails allow 90 minutes plus wait time and travel time

if you plan 3 ts meals a day you will be in restaurants 4+ hours a day

not to mention 3 ts meals a day is a lot of food. I suggest going to your local places and eating 3 ts meals in one day. Then picture doing it in august hear

things will not be normal next august. assume everything will be similar to now throughout 2021.

enjoy the planning, you have great choices, but it would be hard to maintain. Now I have friends who do 3 ts a day but they only go to the parks for an hour or 2 a day.

Good point we had not thought of that. Probably best to just pick 1 per day then and then small snacks/quick service. thank you!

 

[DisneyLady!]

For breakfasts our favorites are Whispering Canyon Cafe, Crystal Palace, Boma, Tusker House, and Cape May. For lunch of your list we love 50’s PTC but have always done that for dinner. Love Hollywood Brown Derby for lunch. We always have lunch at AK at the Rainforest Cafe. At Epcot we enjoy Chefs de France for dinner but you could do lunch if you need another option. We also like Coral Reef. For dinner really enjoy Le Cellier. Also, at AKL Boma is a great dinner buffet. Honestly with this being your first trip I would recommend you remove a few of the dinners outside of the parks. I have family members with food allergies so pretty much have all meals at TS and it is not a problem. We space everything out. We are on the go all day every day so the time spent at a restaurant for lunch or dinner is our time to relax and recharge.

Thank you that’s great info!

 

[DisneyLady!]

Thank you all for the great information! Will probably be narrowing it down to just lunch or dinner each day and then a one off breakfast at either chef mickey and or kona cafe. Maybe both
Will definitely look up as Sci-fi as so many have recommended

 

[sethschroeder]

we are vegetarians

I would highly highly recommend find videos on YouTube that specifically go through food in this category. I would also suggest looking through menus to see what places have actual different food.

The reason I say this is that while some restaurants are about the décor (BOG) others will be about the food 99.9% of the time which will not apply to you.

Also others have brought it up but you need to figure out how big of eaters you are. It can be quite a bit of food in a single meal let alone 2 or 3 meals each day.

In August I would check to see if they plan on F+W being on when you are there. If that is the case there is at least one specific booth that is completely vegetarian.

 

[DisneyLady!]

I would highly highly recommend find videos on YouTube that specifically go through food in this category. I would also suggest looking through menus to see what places have actual different food.

The reason I say this is that while some restaurants are about the décor (BOG) others will be about the food 99.9% of the time which will not apply to you.

Also others have brought it up but you need to figure out how big of eaters you are. It can be quite a bit of food in a single meal let alone 2 or 3 meals each day.

In August I would check to see if they plan on F+W being on when you are there. If that is the case there is at least one specific booth that is completely vegetarian.

Thank you I will check that!

 

[chris benton]

If Hoop Dee Doo is back at that time, and you are looking for "ultimate," you should entertain the thought.

 

[Ricguz]

You will find eating 3 meals a day is a lot plus takes a lot of time out of your day. Think about breakfast and dinner and using quick meals if needed for lunch. If your doing a dining plan, if they are available, you snack credits at lunch. Your list of restaurants is fine but I would add hoop de doo and delate a restaurant the day you attend it. It’s a blast especially if you on the floor near the front and you can ask for seconds don’t be shy. We have done that. In August you will need a pool, hotel break from the sun so I would not load my day with restaurants and trying to manage time You will get upset and lessen the fun. Another alternative is club level if available for breakfast and light dinner and use less restaurants and just get the a lesser dining plan with quick service and snacks.

 

[Ricguz]

I also forgot, that it’s the food and wine festival in Epcot at that time so I would strongly recommend that you do a quick service plan where you can use 1 quick service credit for three food items or 1 snack credit for 1 food item. Sorry to give you all these decisions but I think you should know all your options before you finalize anything.

 

[tinydancer312]

Having now gone a few times in August- it’s HOT. You have to be prepared for it and it is manageable. But we’ve found that we aren’t overly hungry throughout the day because we drink so much water and end up snacking.

If cost isn’t an issue, I’d do breakfast and either early evening or late dinners. We've found success with solid breakfast, snacking, returning to the hotel and usually freshening up before dinner and will occasionally hit a park after. Hours tend to be later. This was pre COVID.

I’d suggest the Grand Floridian Cafe for breakfast.
Dinner Jiko hands down.

 

[FoodieFriend]

I'd also like to advise you to look at the Disboards thread about vegetarian/vegan options. It may really help with options. My advice for first timers is to find a restaurant in each park for the day so you can take a break from the August heat & definitely look at the menus to compare. I'm unsure if the dining plan will return by your trip & if it does, that may be an option to consider. Disboards has thread on that as well. My travel group is usually adults & we don't eat breakfast but we do pack granola bars or snack packs to take the edge off until lunch in the parks.
Resort restaurants for your first visit should only be quickly accessible ones to the park since you don't want to leave the parks for too long or possibly end your night there.
Contemporary Resort is a short walk from the Magic Kingdom & has very well reviewed restaurants. The Boardwalk resorts are right outside of Epcot's International Gateway & there are lots of good choices to end your evening (but Epcot itself has great restaurants too! and Food Booths for Food & Wine as mentioned by previous posters). Hollywood Studios is a longer walk to the Boardwalk area or a quick Skyliner ride. Animal Kingdom resorts require a bus ride, so if you plan to eat at the resort, end your day there BUT you won't see as many animals at the resort as they're not usually nocturnal. Disney Springs has a lot of restaurants & great shopping & does stay open later than the parks & is another option for dinner/late night.
California Grill should be a dinner experience closer to fireworks time because you will have a great view from the restaurant as I fully expect fireworks to return by August. They were also well known for their Sunday Brunch Buffet, but I'm unsure when that option will return post-covid.
I found CRT food & service much better than BOG & currently they are the same price. Again I can't predict what their situation will be in August but I'd choose CRT over BOG. Both may be too much but if you have B&tB fans in your group, doing both might be worth it because the restaurant interior is amazing. but you can't tour it unless you eat there.

 

[Blondie58]

Hi all
We are going on our first Disney World trip in August 2021! We are trying to make a list of the top restaurants to dine at for a 7 night stay so that we make the most of our time there and we’re hoping you could help. This is our list currently for 6 x breakfasts, 7 x lunch and 6 x dinners. This is assuming/hoping things will mostly be back to normal by then!

if you would recommend we skip an option, change it for something better etc please can you advise! Price is not an issue but we are vegetarians. Not interested in Victoria and Albert. Might have a few quick service meals here and there to help us not feel like eating too much.

Breakfast restaurants:
1. Chef mickeys
2. Ohana
Could not really see any other exciting options so possibly do quick service other days especially as not big breakfast eaters so only really want to do the unique breakfasts a few day’s. If you can recommend a 3rd option though that would be great

Lunch restaurants:
1. 50s prime time cafe
2. Space 2020 (if open)
3. Rainforest cafe
4. Hollywood and Vine
If any others you can recommend in addition to the above or instead of a few? Or possibly will do a couple of quick service options the extra 2 days

Dinner restaurants:
1. California grill
2. Cinderella royal table
3. Be our guest
4. Ohana
5. Jiko or Sanna
6. Via Napoli
7. Trattoria al forno

Many thanks

Planning a Disney vacation is so much fun!! And especially your first Disney vacation. Per my opinion (since you are asking): You are planning to eat/dine at many wonderful places. However, for us this would be entirely too much food unless splitting meals. We also would not wish to designate so much time to eating while at WDW. After many one week plus trips to WDW over the last 12 years we have found we often enjoy brunches as opposed to separate breakfast and lunches. Our favorite is at California Grill Brunch but this is only offered on Sunday. We also had a wonderful late breakfast at Toplino's a year ago. If we eat at brunch time (late breakfast/early lunch) we do not usually eat dinner but just grab a snack while enjoying the parks the rest of the day. On days we are doing signature dining at supper time we snack earlier in the day. We often take protein bars or pieces of fruit with us. We really like LeCellier in Canada, the Yacht Club, California Grill, Toledo, and Narcoossee's for dinners. For lunch we enjoy The Boathouse (the best salad!!), Whispering Canyon, Yak and Yeti, Brown Derby for Cobb Salad or Prime Time if spending time to sit and eat. Our "on the go" favorite places are Pecos Bill's, Pizzafari, Sommerfest, and no favorite QS at Hollywood. You will come to have your favorites too. Opinions will vary greatly. We have had some one and dones and conversely we always go to California Grill and Boathouse. Have fun.