<p>I know that there are Disney experts here. At some point we will be at Disney for about 4 days. We have been there in the past, so we do not need to do the first time “must dos”. We will not be with small children. We will have their dining plan. We know 2 sit down restaurants that we love, but are looking for 2 more on that plan. We would like some suggestions and descriptions. We are familiar with Coral Reef, Biergarten, Cantina de San Angel, and Marrakesh, so no need to describe or suggest those.</p>
<p>The 2 that we enjoyed very much and want to revisit are Boma, and Maya Grill, so there is no need to describe those.</p>
<p>We are not interested in eating in the restaurants where 2 table service meals are used for one meal.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>We enjoy Liberty Tree Tavern in the MK…the food is basic comfort food, but I love seeing the characters in their colonial costumes. (Characters at dinner only.) </p></li>
<li><p>Another favorite is Mama Melrose in Hollywood Studios. Pretty darned good Italian.</p></li>
<li><p>The atmosphere at Hollywood Brown Derby (at HS) is very cool, but I"m not thrilled about the food (is it a 2 credit place? I don’t remember.)</p></li>
<li><p>Le Cellier in Epcot is great and is one of the hardest reservations to get. Great cheddar cheese soup and bread sticks (and steak).</p></li>
<li><p>Les Chefs de France is pretty good, in a “Paris bistro” atmophere in Epcot.</p></li>
<li><p>My “little princesses” were 15 and 12 at the time, but we all - even husband and son- loved the Princess Lunch at Akershus in Epcot. Besides seeing the princesses, the food was some of the best we’ve had on Disney property. </p></li>
<li><p>Kona Cafe in the Polynesian is good. It’s a good break to make reservations for Kona on your Magic Kingdom day, then ride the monorail over to the Poly for a sane meal.</p></li>
<li><p>Whispering Canyon in the Wilderness Lodge is fun - they do things like bring you a giant coke if you ask for too many refills, etc. A “fun” place.</p></li>
<li><p>Lots of people love Ohana in the Poly, but we weren’t thrilled with it. The character buffets like Chef Mickeys are way too hectic for us. I wouldn’t recommend the seafood buffet at Cape May in the Beach Club.</p></li>
<li><p>The Plaza, near the castle in the MK, is good for burgers, salads and ice cream. It’s not, however, popular with the dining plan folks because the prices are among the most reasonable in WDW so people feel like they are “wasting” their credits.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>also, tripadvisor.com provides restaurant reviews and many of the Disney Dining plan restaurants are on it…There are a couple of new entries in both the Animal Kingdom theme park as well as the resort that looked interesting the last time I checked…</p>
<p>Just so you know, the Epcot Japanese restaurant has been re-tooled and is apparently very good…not sure the exact name of it…</p>
<p>missiepie, thank you. rodney, I did not think of reading reviews on tripadvisor, so thanks for the suggestion. I did read some reviews on the mouse saver site, but it did not help me much in terms of dining selection. That is a great site for those that need Disney help and money saving tips.</p>
<p>I’m sure you know this, but just in case you don’t, you can make dining reservations 180 days out (180 days from your date of check in.) It used to be 90.</p>
<p>I’m extending a business trip to Orlando for one night at WDW. The restaurant I’ll be going to for my one dinner there? Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater. We’ve had fun/good food at many of the places already mentioned, but that’s the one I can’t miss. Food is fine; setting cracks me up every time.</p>
<p>Ditto the recommendation on Mama Melrose. When we were there several years ago, Mama’s had a “reserved” area at the nearby show, if you were eating there shortly before the show. Beat going so early for a good seat.</p>
<p>My younger son and I ate at Les Chefs de France last week. We found the service excellent, the ambience just fine (window table for two early in the dinner cycle), and the food good. My son had his first ever escargot which he seemed to enjoy, the beef tenderloin which he adored, and a chocolate dessert which I can’t recall. I had the lobster bisque (quite good), the seared tuna (not recommended – the olive/caper sauce was heavy, and the tuna was stringy) and the 3 sorbets (excellent, except they left some of the advertized mango on the plate from scooping it off to give me 2 scoops of the strawberry instead). Overall I’d say it was good, but not the best.</p>
<p>At Les Chefs de France, I had the lobster bisque also, together with a salad with goat cheese. It was a nice break from normal “theme park food.”</p>
<p>northeastmom: thanks for posting this! We are going for 5 days in January (a belated trip promised to D before her high school graduation) and I have spent the past 2 weeks trying to decide this very thing. So far, we have ADRs at the Akerhaus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway for the Princess Breakfast (a special request of our own 19 y/o princess - LOL) and Hollywood and Vine for the Fantasmic Dinner Package (this is for the only night it is being held while we are there). Our plan is to try not to repeat any restaurants we have been to on our past 3 visits. We are considering Boma and LeCellier at this point. I have been a frequent visitor to the Disney boards, but those people are waaaaay more experienced than I when it comes to advance planning! But, I have gotten some great suggestions from there and from this thread, too. Good luck. BTW - our past favorites included Chef Mickey’s and Coral Reef, but probably going to bypass them this trip to try something new. Good luck with your plans!</p>
<p>If you want Le Cellier, do make the reservations now, as it fills up so quickly. You can always cancel if you change your mind.</p>
<p>My 15 year old wants to be a Disney Princess when she grows up…seriously…(so why am I on CC?! I guess a Princess needs something to fall back on unless she wants to be the Wicked Stepmother or Queen of Hearts later in life.)</p>
<p>allie’smom, have a good time! If you like buffets, and something with a bit different than only the standard fare at Disney, you might like Boma. We have eaten there twice and we will have a third meal there. </p>
<p>The reason that we like the Maya Grill is that it is quiet, in the Coranado Springs resort, which is located near the their value hotels (ie: Pop Century etc.). We like to relax for a quiet meal there when we first arrive and feel tired from the day of travel. We never feel rushed, the service is not fast, and my sons love the steak dinner there (there are other things on the menu, but my sons will choose steak).</p>
<p>LOL, I haven’t had time to read tripadvisor yet. I am going to check it out now.</p>
<p>We were supposed to stay at Coronado Springs and were looking forward to trying the Maya Grille. However, on the first day the AAA vacation packages for 2009 opened up, our travel agent could not get us into that resort (and this was at 9:20 in the AM!). All rooms were booked there and at our back-up choice - Port Orleans French Quarter. So, right now we have reservations at Port Orleans Riverside, which we stayed at when it was called Dixie Landings. We liked it, but were looking forward to staying somewhere new this time. Our agent is hopeful that they will open some more rooms up at Coronado Springs and she can get us in there. But, will put Maya Grille on our “list”.</p>
<p>The reservations line is now back to 90 days for any ADRs after Jan. 25 or so. In October, it should go back to 180 days.</p>
<p>You can have great fun at the 50’s Prime Time Cafe, too, depending on your waitperson. We had one who wouldn’t give us our check until we ate all our green beans!</p>
<p>We also had a very nice dinner at Rose and Crown in England, and I’ve heard good things about Teppan Edo in Japan. China’s new restaurant (replacing Nine Dragons) should be opening soon and should be interesting.</p>
<p>Ok, nem, now I’m jealous :). We can’t wait to go back, but 3 more years of college tuition comes first. Our favorite restaurant in Disney is LeCellier. We also had great meals at Rose and Crown, Biergarten and Mama Melrose’s. We also happen to like Crystal Palace for breakfast. Trail’s End was good for a quick and less expensive buffet lunch. Oh, we also liked Big River Grille and ESPN Zone on the Boardwalk. For another board for Disney information, go to disboards.com. You will find tons of info. including lots of restaurant reviews - just take them with a grain of salt. Every restaurant in Disney has good and bad reviews, including all those that we like!</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that the Disney restaurants are quite expensive. It’s hard not to compare the meal you just paid $150 for with what you could get for $150 back home. I think that is why all of the restaurants get at least some bad reviews…if you dwell on the fact that you’re paying $30 for an entree that you could get for $20 at home, it could spoil your meal. You’ll be insulated from this being on the dining plan.</p>
<p>kitty, don’t be jealous. We are doing this on a budget (driving there, value hotel, dining plan). Still it is not exactly free. My H felt the need to get away, so he found a way to do this. I would feel better staying home and not spending a nickel, but he really needs to get out. Frankly, we have some family that we were going to visit anyway, and that also cuts costs. Their home is our motel when driving to and from FLA (we never do the trip in one day). Also, no extras, like water parks, and everyone in our family is on the same page about that.</p>
<p>My problem is now getting restaurants that I want to eat in. Out of 4 sit down meals, I only landed reservations (priority seating or whatever they call it) for 2 nights. Everything else that I tried is booked. I am going to keep calling, and perhaps I will get what I want same day (usually do, as people change their plans). I did get Maya for one day, and Raglan Road for another day. I liked the reviews for Raglan. Has anyone eaten there?</p>
<p>Chedva, about Rose and Crown, LOL, I could have gotten reservations there, but then I asked them to read some of the menu. It seems very limited, and my kids won’t eat it. Sigh… Oh well. Back to square one.</p>
<p>I’m reading this thread with interest. Any suggestions on where to stay in Orlando(low to mid-price)? We’re thinking of taking a quick trip with stops at Kennedy Space Center and Disney World probably mid-September. (Hopefully everyone will be back at school - DS doesn’t start school til 9/29).</p>