Help me choose some more realistic restaurants

[mom2grace]

You have some great advice above. The food is a huge part of the Disney experience for me as well. If you aren't big eaters, I would plan on 2 meals a day - period. You will want to try many of the snacks. Dining takes a LONG time at Disney so keep that in mind.

I would definitely switch Boma to Sanaa. If you are foodies, I would skip all buffets.

Skip the breakfast at Epcot, eat a light breakfast in the room and then start eating around the world at 11.

A nice foodie place at DS is Frontera, everything is definitely sharable. Be sure to get the pumpkin seed appetizer.

If you are super foodies I would do California Grill or Jiko or Artist Point.

Have a great trip!

 

[JennyDrake]

We also were not impressed with Tiffins. I love Satuli canteen and would choose that over Flame Tree, but the great thing about QS is you don't have to decide now. Wait until you're there and go to whichever sounds better at the time!

Counter service options in HS are pretty sad, but I have really enjoyed the lounges at Brown Derby and 50's Prime time. Both allow you to walk up without a reservation, and while the HBD lounge has a limited menu, the Tune-in lounge actually serves the whole 50's PT menu!

We don't like spending much time eating. For us, few of the restaurants are worth trading 2-3 hours of park time! I would plan one table-service reservation per day, then have in mind QS places for the other meals, but don't feel like you have to eat at all of them. There are some fabulous snacks you'll want to enjoy as well (fruit and nutella waffle!) You absolutely cannot do everything at Disney in this one trip. It's okay to save some things for the next trip. It's fun to dream, even if it is a long way away.

DITTO!!!

 

[lolomarie]

I wouldn't plan a dinner at Disney at all on your universal day. You are only there for 1 day, so you may end up either staying late, or so hungry that you can't make it back to Disney before needing food. Plus there are some great restaurants in the universal area, and you can typically get in with no reservations and little wait.

 

[tarak]

I agree with those who’ve suggested switching out Cape May Cafe for Flying Fish or another restaurant. I love seafood and was completely underwhelmed by Cape May. It’s pretty much Old Country Buffet quality. And if your partner isn’t a fan, the smell of the seafood is powerful.

 

[Nancyg56]

Hello!

So, I have been planning this Disney Trip since I was 12 years old. I have a ton of restaurants I WANT to go to, but I know they're all unrealistic for a couple of reasons.

One, being that my partner and I are not heavy eaters, so while buffets are good for our picky sides, they are not good for the value of money overall. For most of our meals we plan to share because we are doing three meals per day, that's just impossible with family style and buffets but it seems thats what I have the most of in my itinerary. Two, is that our budget for food right now is almost as expensive as the hotel. Yikes!

However, we also want to experience the luxury of food so yes we want to eat nice food. So I come to you bearing the restaurants I want to go to and ask that the people of disboards please help me figure out similar but cheaper restaraunts or convince me it's worth the budget.

Now, I also know I wont be able to get all of these as reservations SO alternatives need to be looked at.

At hotel* is our breakfasts, and will be at Riverside, so able to share!



Arrival Day
Boma Dinner (Will be able to share)

AK All Day
At Hotel

Flame Tree Lunch (Can share)

Tiffins Rivers of Light (Can share)

MK ALL DAY
Be our Guest Breakfast

Sleepy Hallow Lunch (Will not share, gotta get my own sandwich)

Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner

Hollywood Studios and Grand Floridian Spa for Couples Massage
At Hotel

Quick Service in HWS

1900 Park Fare Dinner

Epcot All Day
Garden Grill Breakfast

World Showcase Snacks for Lunch

Via Napoli for really late dinner (Can Share)

MK and Disney Springs
At Hotel

Casey’s or Gaston’s Lunch

House of Blues Dinner

Universal and ANY Resort Dinner
At Hotel

Three Broomsticks Lunch (Will share)

Cape Cafe Dinner (Partner doesn't like seafood but I DO)

Last day AK
Tusker House Breakfast

Harambe Market or Yak & Yeti Lunch

You have a lot of buffet or all you can eat on your list. I would make several changes.

Arrival day: I like Mara at AKL. The food is plentiful and good, and you can share the CS meals. Honestly, for arrival day if you want to explore AKL maybe choose Sanaa. You can visit the main lodge and then go to Kidani Village for dinner. Or go to an early dinner at Sanaa and then go to the lodge.

The AK day, I would have a light breakfast at the resort if I did not want to just have a snack to hold me over. Flame Tree is our choice too, and you can easily share one meal. The food is good and plentiful. Nomads or Satuli for dinner. I love Tiffins, but the package is not shareable, and it is pricy. If you are trying to manage the bills, then Nomads is awesome, and you will have a nice experience there. I have not been to ROL so I do not know if you need a package or not. Someone else needs to chime in on that because I am not knowledgeable enough.

MK Day, if you want breakfast in a park, I would keep BOG, but split a meal. I like this restaurant.

LTT is a favorite for many, but not mine. Gastons is not really a dining spot, more snacks really. Stop there for a break.

I would NOT choose Cape May if you both do not want buffet. It is a nice buffet, but I would choose FF as well. It is a bit pricy but not buffet. I also like Tratorria Al Forno, and the fish there was awesome. It is less money too.


I love GG in Epcot. It is all you can eat, but stinkin cute! It is on our list next trip. Incidentally, I would not plan three meals on your Epcot day. Actually I would not plan three meals any day, (a snack at Gastons would be enough to get me to the next snack and dinner) but in Epcot it is fun to graze around the WS so I would plan two, breakfast and dinner. Lunch is snacking food for us.

Tusker House. Do you really want a character meal? It is a buffet and a pricy one at that. If you want a character meal I would keep it, or I would swap out any meal at MK and choose Crystal Palace, or 1900 Park Fare at the Grand.

You have done a lot of planning, and I am so happy for your first trip. I think that given your desire to share meals and keep your meals budget lower, I would revisit your plans and look at some restaurants that experiences that are not fixed price, and that you can control the costs.

For instance, in Epcot there is Coral Reef. We like this restaurant, even through the reviews are all over the place. Actually the food is too, however where else can you dine in front of a gynormous aquarium. Order a appetizer to share and an entree to share. This is a totally Disney restaurant.

I also like San Angel Inn in Mexico. I find it a neat place to eat and again, you can share a meal. Where else can you eat under the stars watching a volcano erupt and be in a pyramid? Again, this is a Unique Disney restaurant, and is one of my favorites. It is very tight in there, but I really like it.

BOG is nice but I would move it to lunch. I would choose a light breakfast at the resort and share that. The portions at BOG are large and you can still see the castle.

In DHS I would look at 50's PTC or Sci Fi. I think the TS options are fun and better than the CS choices, You can share at either one, and they are unique to Disney.

In Animal Kingdom we do like Flame Tree. I would not choose TH unless you really want a character meal.

For character meals, they are all buffet or AYCTE so the price is fixed. If you want one I would choose breakfast to keep the cost down, or one that has the characters that I want to meet. I love 1900 PF dinner because I think the step sisters are a hoot. Do you like Stitch? Breakfast at 'Ohana in the Poly is nice. Do you want to dine in the Beach Club? Cape May cafe has a nice character meal with the classic characters.

 

[rosiebean]

Arrival Day
Boma Dinner, as others have pointed out, cannot be shared as its a buffet. I'd pick Saana (I think the menu looks amazing).

AK All Day
At Hotel
Flame Tree Lunch (Can share)
Tiffins Rivers of Light, again, can't share on the ROL package. If you pick up a ROL fastpass, you can eat a regular meal at Tiffins and share.

MK ALL DAY
Be our Guest Breakfast
Sleepy Hallow Lunch (Will not share, gotta get my own sandwich)
Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner is AYCTE family style. You may be aware of this, but you won't be able to share. And even eating lightly, three meals in a day at WDW is, in my experience, a lot of food. I wouldn't chose an AYCTE place as my last meal in this case. I'd try to do something like that at lunch and plan on QS for dinner (in case I just was too full to eat...plus, I wouldn't have to worry about canceling an ADR in that case and paying a fee).

Hollywood Studios and Grand Floridian Spa for Couples Massage
At Hotel
Quick Service in HWS
1900 Park Fare Dinner is a character buffet. You may know this given that you didn't put (can share) next to it...but it's a lot of food. At Narcoosees, Citricos and GF Cafe, you can share (we loved GF Cafe for both lunch and dinner last trip).

Epcot All Day
Garden Grill Breakfast is another AYCTE family style place. And it's A LOT of food, so you either feel like you're wasting money if you don't eat much or eat so much that you're not hungry at lunch. If the plan is to a PPO ADR, then I understand. Otherwise, I'd just go to Les Halles for a few light pastries at a much cheaper cost for breakfast and snack around the World at lunch.
World Showcase Snacks for Lunch
Via Napoli for really late dinner (Can Share)

MK and Disney Springs
At Hotel
Casey’s or Gaston’s Lunch
House of Blues Dinner

Universal and ANY Resort Dinner
At Hotel
Three Broomsticks Lunch (Will share)
Cape Cafe Dinner is a buffet. You can probably save money, even getting two meals (since you like seafood and partner does not) by going to Ale and Compass instead, which is also at YC. It has a good mix of seafood and non-seafood dishes, even among the apps since you're light eaters.

Last day AK
Tusker House Breakfast is a character buffet, so no sharing. And unless your lunch is late late late in the afternoon, you will be very full (or you'll pay a lot for the meal and eat lightly, which isn't a very good value). Kusafiri Coffee Shop is our annual light breakfast spot in AK. You can share a breakfast wrap, get pastries or cereal, and of course, coffee.
Harambe Market or Yak & Yeti Lunch

 

[maryj11]

Keep in mind (depending on the time of year) that you might be hungrier after walking 12/14 miles a day or hungrier at night and not as hungry for lunch if it's hot out (I can't eat when it's hot, but come sundown and I inhale everything). I wouldn't plan on as many lunches (personally).

Same here. We tend to get really hungry about time to leave the park at night lol. During the heat of the day not so hungry.

 

[North of Mouse]

Wow, that's lots of food!! We just returned yesterday from a 10 day trip, half the days had one table service a day, with a few CS's thrown in with snacks on other days - we were way stuffed.

Our least favorite was LTT, first time there - found the food was way subpar and no seasonings to speak of - was even disappointed in the toffee cake (which was a main reason for going). Won't return.

Our favorite was the Cape May Clambake - in fact went twice! Is about half seafood dishes, half not, so plenty for non seafood eaters. The clam chowder is some of the best we've eaten anywhere.

 

[ZoZo]

FWIW - If you are looking to save money, I'd suggest eating breakfast in your room. You can order groceries from Amazon Prime Now or Garden Grocer. Its what we typically do and it also gives us more time for touring. Good breakfast foods for us are peanut butter and apple slices, cereal, fruit, yogurt, & granola.

I totally agree with this suggestion! By eating breakfast in your room, you're saving both time and money. This can really help with the budget. So order through Amazon Prime Now or Garden Grocer, get some cereal, milk, yogurt, fruit, all sorts of things like that. As this poster suggests, peanut butter and apple slices make a good snack. I also like celery and raisins and peanut butter as a snack. This can really help save you money, and they're pretty healthy!

I had great luck with Garden Grocer my last trip. They will deliver the day of your arrival and you don't even have to be present to except the order. They will allow you to order things like milk, yogurt and fruit and the hotel valets will except the order and put your refrigerated items in their hotel fridge. It's also a great way to order things like a case of water and adult beverages like wine and beer if you want to. Again, you don't have to be present to accept the order , so you can have it delivered the morning of your arrival and hold it for you. Although Garden Grove sure charges a delivery fee , to me it was totally worth it because we could get all the refrigerated items we needed and have them delivered. It's a great money saver.

I haven't had experience with Amazon prime now, because it wasn't available on my last trip . If they can bring you items like the refrigerated stuff, that might be another way to go, but I just don't have experience with that.