1st Timer Trip - Restaurants Picked. Any opinion?

Burgundy Rose

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 18, 2016
Hello!

We have a trip planned in July 2018, which will be our first time visiting World. We're paying out of pocket. Here's the list of restaurants we plan to eat at, I'm supposed to book our ADRs in a week and would appreciate any comment so I can do some last-minute changes.
Our breakfast will be grabbed at POR or will be snacks inside the parks. As long as I have my tea and some piece of fruit, I'm good. OH needs coffee and something carby and sweet. I don't think that'll be a problem!

Many thanks!

Day 1 (Magic Kingdom day)
Lunch
Be Our Guest
Dinner
Peco's Bill

Day 2 (Animal Kingdom day)
Lunch
Satuli Canteen
Dinner
Flame Tree BBQ

Day 3 (Epcot day)
Lunch
Tangierine Cafe
Dinner
Sunshine Seasons

Day 4 (Hollywood Studios day)
Lunch
Hollywood Brown Derby
Dinner
Yachtsman Steakhouse

Day 5 (Universal Studios - Harry Potter day)
Lunch
Three Broomsticks
Dinner
Leaky Cauldron

Day 6 (Volcano Bay day)
Lunch
Kohola Reef
Dinner
Cowfish

Day 7 (Magic Kingdom day)
Lunch
Columbia Harbour House
Dinner
California Grill

Day 8 (Animal Kingdom day)
Breakfast
Boma
Dinner
Jiko

Day 9 (Epcot day)
Lunch
Kringla
Dinner
Ohana + Trader Sam's

Day 10 (Universal for him/Resort tourism and Disney parks for me, I'm a foodie)
Breakfast
Kona
Dinner
Sanaa

Day 11 (Disney Springs and pool day)
Lunch
Homecomin'
Dinner
Il Mulino

Day 12 (Blizzard Beach for him/Resort tourism and parks for me)
Breakfast
The Wave
Dinner
Victoria and Albert's

Day 13 (Free day, we'll go with the flow and do what we feel like doing!)

Day 14, 15 and 16 - DCL :)
 
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wow! impressive!

covering all your bases.. but i don't see Via Napoli.. (epcot)... my fav..
 
I just want to say, I see 3 of my favorites in there. :thumbsup2

Tangierine Cafe: every trip I have to have a lamb shawarma platter and mint iced tea from there. One of my absolute favorite Disney meals.

Hollywood Brown Derby: I've done this only the last two trips, but it has become my go-to lunch at DHS. It's a nice relaxing break, I've had great CM servers, and enjoy a Cobb salad and dessert sampler for lunch. If you both like desserts, you could each order a dessert sampler with 3 different choices and try them all!

The Wave: By "Brunch," do you mean you plan to be there while the breakfast buffet is up? I love the breakfast buffet at The Wave! (I am a huge breakfast fan.) If that is the case, don't miss the sweet potato pancakes with honey pecan butter or the grits with Tillamook cheddar cheese and bacon (even if you don't usually like grits). The Wave is one of my favorite Disney restaurants; I've had beakfast (x2), lunch and dinner there and always enjoyed the food, atmosphere and service.

I've been to some of your other choices and enjoyed them, too (BOG lunch and Yachtsman for example), but only once and it's been a while. Sounds like you have a good list, though!

ETA: I'm going to second @mco65 - Via Napoli is my other annual must-do besides Tangierine. :thumbsup2
 
The ones on your list that I have been to are:

Sunshine Seasons
Three Broomsticks
Leaky Cauldron
Columbia Harbour House
Sanaa
The Wave

I would recommend any of them!
 


We ate at Be Our Guest (breakfast and lunch) for the first time this past December because of all the hype; not impressed. The staff was very nice, but the food is nothing special. We not plan to go back. But, it is something to do ONCE and not again.

Yachtsman is great. It is certainly expensive, but it is a good steakhouse, so I did not mind the prices.

Sunshine Seasons has everything, and you can never go wrong with it.

Satuli Canteen was decent. The fish was perfectly cooked when we ate there.

The Harry Potter Restaurants at Universal were OK. Nothing amazing.

Columbia Harbor House is good.

Tusker House Brunch is a good choice. We liked all of the food there.

Boma is like Tusker House, good food.

I cannot comment on the others because I have not been there.
 
The Wave: By "Brunch," do you mean you plan to be there while the breakfast buffet is up? I love the breakfast buffet at The Wave! (I am a huge breakfast fan.) If that is the case, don't miss the sweet potato pancakes with honey pecan butter or the grits with Tillamook cheddar cheese and bacon (even if you don't usually like grits). The Wave is one of my favorite Disney restaurants; I've had beakfast (x2), lunch and dinner there and always enjoyed the food, atmosphere and service.

Thanks for your recommendations! Yes, by brunch I meant breakfast at the Wave + I don't plan on having a proper lunch as I fully intend to stuff my face there :D

covering all your bases.. but i don't see Via Napoli.. (epcot)... my fav..

Sadly, I'm not big on pizza + we do have a wonderful Italian place at home, otherwise I'd have booked Il Mulino or Bice. Next time :)
 
PollyannaMom - Thank you so much!

GoBlue21, thanks! I know what you mean about Be Our Guest, I don't think it'll be a favourite food-wise but I NEED to be inside just once! Truth be told, I know I'm going to be sad about not eating at Cinderella's Royal Table but I can't bring myself to go and waste a meal for the sake of the gorgeous decor TWICE. One of them had to give.
 


I would try and get BOG for dinner instead of lunch, the food is much better for dinner. D-Lux Burger may be be better for lunch! Other than that your choices
look great! Victoria and Albert's will probably be one of the best dinner's you have ever eaten expect to be there for 2-2.5 hours!
 
I would try and get BOG for dinner instead of lunch, the food is much better for dinner. D-Lux Burger may be be better for lunch! Other than that your choices
look great! Victoria and Albert's will probably be one of the best dinner's you have ever eaten expect to be there for 2-2.5 hours!
Thanks for the advive! We'll think about it :)
 
On Day 1 I agree with a previous poster about switching and doing PB for lunch and BOG for dinner.
 
The thing is, we don't want to do a TS on our first day in any of the parks (except HS) because we want to see all the night shows at least once. I'm not expecting anything from BOG except for a stunning decor, I know it'll be a meh meal and I'm fine with that :)
 
Do you have a car because getting back in forth from hotel to hotel isn’t the easiest thing if you are relying on Disney transport? There isn’t direct transportation between hotels or to the waterparks you have to go to a park first which can be difficult especially late evenings.

BOG at lunch is an easier ADR than dinner. Victoria and Albert, Ohana Dinner are also hard ADR to get so you having to book them in harder to easier rather than chronological
 
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You certainly seem to have done a lot of research, and since you don't mention your tastes, I'm going on the assumption you've chosen places specifically because they appealed to you. With that in mind, here are just a few suggestions/alternate options:
Day 1: I'd be tempted to take the boat from MK over to Wilderness Lodge and either eat at Geyser Point or, even better, Artist Point since you're a foodie
Day 2: I prefer Yak & Yeti over Flame Tree, but they're two different styles to be fair
Day 3: Restaurant Marrakesh instead of Tangierine Cafe - it's a table service and, thus, inside where it will be much cooler in July
Day 5: Straight up Butter Beer, not the frozen concoction ;)
Day 6: Trader Sam's--better atmosphere, but be prepared to wait unless you get there early
Day 7: At Columbia Harbor House, go upstairs to sit--less crowded; try to time ADR for CA Grill so that you're there during fireworks show
Day 8: Jiko is superb
Day 9: Kringla has a very limited menu, but that might suit you; alternate would be Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar--you seemed to not want Italian, but this is more of an intimate, cozy sitting area with small plates, antipasto, cheeses, and some excellent wine choices. Doesn't accept reservations, but if you get there a little early, no problem getting in.
Day 10: Sanaa. Bread service - A+ It's a can't miss for us.
Day 11: Not a fan of Homecoming. Too greasy and heavy. It's not bad but expensive for fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Prefer Morimoto Asia or Boathouse. The buri bop at the former and beef carpaccio at the latter are standouts. Theming is also better at either of those two vs. Homecoming.
Day 12: Victoria and Albert's is a cut above everything else. Definitely fine dining at its best.
DCL: You don't say which ship you'll be aboard, but if it's the Dream or Fantasy, I highly recommend Remy as it's very much like V & A's only less expensive. Any ship you're on will have Palo, and while you might not want Italian, it is an excellent restaurant, as well. Chocolate souffle!

Good luck and have fun!
 
Thank you so much for your recommendations! I'll look into those. We've booked a 3-night Bahamian cruise on the Dream. My first choice would have been Palo Brunch and Remy dinner but since it's our first cruise on any of the Disney ships, we thought it'd be a good idea to just enjoy the MDRs for now and not book any excursions and enjoy what's included. We'll probably book some things for our next cruise, though :)
 
Very Impressive list...............I like the plan.........a lot!

Doug :goofy:
 
I would swap out Boma dinner with something at Disney Springs- The Boathouse, Raglan Road or Morimoto Asia. You already seen Jambo House AKL with Jiko. The food is quite similar to Tusker House (if you do a late breakfast there you can hit the lunch changeover). From POR you can boat over to Disney Springs.

The Harry Potter restaurants are quite similar. Leaky is probably better. You can go in the bar at Hogsmead to check out 3 broomsticks. Maybe one of the City Walk restaurants like Cowfish instead of both HP restaurants?
 
I strongly suggest a TS ADR at one of the International restaurants in World Showcase in Epcot.
On a 7 night trip we usually eat there 4 or 5 nights. There are many great choices and it is uniquely Disney
 
I would swap out Boma dinner with something at Disney Springs- The Boathouse, Raglan Road or Morimoto Asia. You already seen Jambo House AKL with Jiko. The food is quite similar to Tusker House (if you do a late breakfast there you can hit the lunch changeover). From POR you can boat over to Disney Springs.

The Harry Potter restaurants are quite similar. Leaky is probably better. You can go in the bar at Hogsmead to check out 3 broomsticks. Maybe one of the City Walk restaurants like Cowfish instead of both HP restaurants?

Thank you so much!

I think we'll keep Boma, if only because I really want to try out the restaurant and my OH really enjoys buffets and has been asking for at least one buffet for dinner.

I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan which is why I wanted to do both restaurants. I might consider Cowfish. I would have booked Bice but we already have to change for dinner quite a few times already, I don't want to add another dress-code restaurant to the list. I don't mind, but my OH does.

Hopefully
- Unfortunately my OH doesn't want to spend too much time on meals during the day. He doesn't care much about food, whereas I'm obsessed with it. It's our first time, we'll see how that goes. No doubt we'll regret some of the choices at some point haha
 
You've done your research and have some excellent choices! The only advice I'd add is to enjoy snacks, beverages, and/or lunches at as many QS EPCOT locations as you can. Enjoy!
 

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