Vacation help

[eee1313]

To any of you who've been to Disney World any time in the past, oh, ten years or so, I could use your help. The Scientist and I need to make some dinner reservations for our trip next month. All the sites say to make reservations at the popular restaurants about a month in advance, but the thing is that neither of us have any real idea as to where to go. (He's only been to EPCOT and MGM, and I've only been to the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, but that was in 1988 so my frame of reference dated, to say the least.) We've opted for the meal plan, which offers us 1 snack, 1 counter service restaurant, and 1 sit-down restaurant per day. The question is, what to choose? If any of you have thoughts for/against anything in particular, I'd really appreciate your suggestions.

Magic Kingdom:
For the sit-down meal, I'm debating on Cinderella's Royal Table for dinner, as it's all fancy and stuff. Plus, I went there when I was a kid and vaguely remember enjoying it. Is it worth it? Should we try to plan going here right before the fireworks begin, so we'd get a bird's eye view? Or is the food/view not worth it, and we should just go to the Crystal Palace buffet? (Please note I'm a bit iffy with buffets, as I don't like hordes of grubby-handed people potentially manhandling my food.)

For the counter service, I'm thinking the Pecos Bill Cafe, seeing as how it's about the most substantial food available at any of the Magic Kingdom's counter service restaurants.

EPCOT
This is a bit more difficult, as this park definitely has the greatest amount of food choices. That said, living around Chicagoland we're offered quite the array of cuisine, which means the World Showcase restaurants aren't as impressive for me as they might be for someone from Nowhereville, Montana or something. I mean, here I know of about four really great French places, five good Japanese restaurants, and more Mexican than I can shake a stick at. Therefore, I'm more inclined to go to a restaurant that really offers some bang for my buck.

For the counter service, I'm looking at Tangierine Cafe, or the Kringla Bakeri (the chef's special sounds different).

As for dinner, Le Cellier is spoken VERY highly of by the Internet crazies, so this may be an idea. Plus, the Scientist loves himself some steak. (I'm in it for the cheese soup.) Is this place as good as everyone says? Is there someplace better? What about restaurants in Future World section of the park? Are any of those worthwhile?

MGM Studios
This one seems tough. Both the Scientist and I flipped out when we saw the SciFi Dine-In, as the idea of sitting in a stupid half-car and watching B-movie trailers while we eat sounded right up our alley. But all the buzz on the Internet is that Denny's has better food. So now I'm thinking this isn't the way to go. Should we go to the Brown Derby? Or what about the 50s Prime Time Cafe (though I'm thinking that could drive me insane, due to too many reruns of The Andy Griffith Show).

For counter service, I'm thinking the sandwiches at Catalina Eddie's sound good. (The quick service stuff really looks about all the same. Is there anything that's particularly good?)

Animal Kingdom
No one seems to know ANYTHING about the restaurants here. The Scientist's brother said the Tusker House was good for breakfast, but there doesn't seem to be much there. As for other meals, the only other real restaurant seems to be the Rainforest Cafe, but I can get that at the mall here. Mind you, this tea company looks fabulous. But the lack of restaurants here, combined with an earlier closing time, makes me think that...

...we could always go out of the parks to other Disney-affiliated places to eat. I've heard amazing things about the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian. Is it easy to get to via Disney transportation? And then there's Captain Jack's at Downtown Disney, as well as a few other places at Pleasure Island that could be promising, albeit a tad dull. (Wolfgang Puck's? We have that at the airport...)

So yeah, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

[aj.livejournal.com]

Just a hint? All of the food I had at Disney was WORTH the money. Even the McDonalds seemed better than average. As for Epcott, mom and I had the Chinese sit-down restaurant which was good, but not overly fascinating. We also did the all you can eat buffet at the Norwegian section, but we were both raised in Northern Iowa so we were all "OMG! THEY HAVE LEFSA!!!" so that might not be your thing.

Also, I know one of the sous chefs at the German restaurant and he gives thumbs up there.

The only other place I can comment on is the Animal Kingdom stuff. Seriously? Don't waste a whole day on that place. I mean, the big tree is neat and kind of worth it, but you're fine to split the day. Especially if you've been to Brookfield and Lincoln Park Zoo. DO hit the African Suffari thing as it is awesome, but everything else is kind of... well, you can get it cheaper at Brookfield.

As for food.. I don't even remember there being a walk up stand. :\ ::is useless::

[eee1313.livejournal.com]

See, I'm all curious about the Norwegian food, seeing as how it's not all that common. I mean, Ann Sathers? Not so much. Glad to know you liked it, though, because that is one I was considering.

I'm actually not a fan of German food at all. I think too much time was spent with my "let's cook all the flavor out of our meat and potatoes" grandma. ;)

Thanks for the tip on the Animal Kingdom. It really doesn't look all that interesting, save for the safari tour and the Everest roller coaster. (Was that open when you were there?) I think I'm going to take the advice below and hit the Adventurer's Club after doing Animal Kingdom that morning. Er, if the Scientist is up for it. It is HIS vacation, too, I suppose...

[aj.livejournal.com]

THE ADVENTURER'S CLUB IS MADE OF WIN.

That's the place I was telling you about! (If it's on Pleasure Island.) Seriously, it was the best time ever. It was so fun we went back a second time. They even have a dramatic recreation of a radio show! That is one place I would recommend to EVERYONE.

And no, the Everest ride wasn't open. Damn! That sounds fun.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

I don't have any real memory of my Disneyworld meals, but my one evening recommendation is to go to the Adventurers' Club on Pleasure Island. That may not be the name, but it's modeled on one of those clubs like the one in Around the World in 80 Days and the show was hokey but fun. And there were good mock-Egyptian trinkets.

[eee1313.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, the Adventurer's Club! Yes, we've both heard good things about that place. Perhaps we'll go there on our Animal Kingdom day, seeing as how there's not a whole lot to do there in the first place (according to familyarchives), and they don't have a great food selection. So that would actually tie in rather nicely. Thanks for the reminder!

[feetnik.livejournal.com]

I always liked the Mexican restaurant in the temple-looking building. It had a boat ride. :)

[eee1313.livejournal.com]

Said Mexican restaurant and boat ride will be closed while we're there. Which is fine by me, because the last time I was there the Maelstrom (aka "trolls attack your Viking ship ride") was closed, so I'm glad the stuff that's closed is stuff I've already seen.

[georgevna.livejournal.com]

Hey! I can be of some use! Yay!

First of all, your counter service meals don't allow reservations. I haven't eaten at Pecos Bills, so I can't speak to that. My favorite counter service in the Magic Kingdom is Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café - it's in Tomorrowland, but right where it intersects Fantasyland and Mickey's Toon Town Fair, so it was ideally located for our purposes, but beyond that it has some of the greatest variety I've seen in a Disney casual restaurant. It has three "bays," each with a different menu, and unfortunately if you want to order off different menus you have to stand in different lines (which won't be a problem since it's just two of you and neither of you is 4) - but you can get a burger, or sandwich, or wrap - or you can get half a rotisserie chicken. Or a salad. So that's my pick for casual at MK.

If you can get in to Cinderella's Royal Table, the food is some of the best I had at Disney, and the atmosphere is nice, if you're a big ole geek like me who's like "I'm in Cinderella's Castle!!!" There will be LOTS of little kids anywhere you go that has "character dining," so be aware of that. The view of Fantasyland is cool if you're on that side of the restaurant, but I wouldn't imagine you'd get a great view of the fireworks from there.

We ate breakfast at Crystal Palace last year. I loooove a good breakfast buffet, and it was that. But if you aren't into buffets as a rule, I'd opt for the Royal Table if it's an option.

At Epcot, the casual dining is brilliant. I've eaten lunch at Tangeriene and breakfast at Kringla, and recommend them both, highly, though I wish I'd had more time to try other places, too. You really can't go wrong in Epcot. I have also heard great things about Le Cellier, though I haven't eaten there myself.

We didn't spend much time at MGM or at Animal Kingdom, so I'm not too helpful. I do know that at MGM 3 restaurants (including the Brown Derby) offer dining with the Fantasmic show (which is the evening show they have instead of fireworks). Fantasmic is insane, and worth seeing, and I think you get premium seats with the dining (though I saw the show just fine from the sidemost section, while eating a chili dog). So that's something to look at.

We stayed at the Polynesian just now, and Kona is good for breakfast / lunch. I think the rave reviews you refer to are for Ohana, which is more formal and often requires reservations. We had both breakfast and dinner at Ohana, and it was delicious; I highly recommend it. Kona and Ohana are both in the main building of the Polynesian, which is on the monorail - ie, very very easy to get to via Disney transportation.

Haven't spent much time at Downtown Disney; something about the fact that "Pleasure Island" is the place in Pinocchio where boys make such asses of themselves that they turn into donkeys is just - offputting. Cirque de Soliel is AWESOME though.

Where are you staying, btw?

[eee1313.livejournal.com]

AWESOME! Thank you so much. I knew you'd have suggestions. :) I'm going to have to look at this a lot more. This is great.

We're staying at the All-Star Music, which is just one step up from camping, so the hotel isn't fancy by any means. But we figure we won't be spending a whole lot of time there, anyway. My friend from work stayed at that hotel and said it's fine for what it is, and their pool is nice. (We figured that resort would have less children than Pop Culture or Movies or Sports. Because really, do kids want to stay in the "Calypso" rooms over "Football?" Probably not.)

[georgevna.livejournal.com]

I keep thinking of more to tell you. Heh. Another good dining option NEAR Magic Kingdom is the California Grill, which is on the top floor of the Contemporary Hotel. We ate there last year and it was great. The Contemporary, like the Polynesian, is on the monorail loop that runs from the Magic Kingdom (there's also a stop at the Transportation Center, if you aren't in the Magic Kingdom - buses from everywhere run to the Transportation Center). Anyway, if you eat at Ohana or California Grill, try to find out what time the Magic Kingdom fireworks are (it varies depending on the day of the week) for the night you want (or find out the schedule before calling dining, in case you have to try a different night than you originally wanted), and request a table by the windows with a Magic Kingdom view. I expected that we'd see the fireworks distantly from the Polynesian, but they were spectacular and huge from our room, and from Ohana (from what I could see - we were not by the window there - learn from my mistakes!), and the Contemporary's even closer to MK.

Absolutely find out the schedule for "Extra Magic Hours" for the various parks BEFORE you make reservations. You don't want to have a dinner reservation at Le Cellier on the night that Magic Kingdom is open until 1 a.m., especially if you have reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table the next day....

I've never stayed at All-Star Music, though we looked seriously at Pop Culture. The Polynesian was great because it was so close to everything, and the pool was fabulous, but we were at Saratoga Springs last year (which was much further out) and had no problem at all getting around and actually liked our ROOM better. You're not going to spend much time there, and Disney doesn't do crappy hotels. It will be pretty and comfortable and clean and well-maintained, which is all you need - and more than you can say of a lot of hotels in this country.

[georgevna.livejournal.com]

I forgot to say that allears.net is a really great source for dining reviews and other information about Disney World. I don't know if that's where you've been getting your information, but I find that I generally agree with the opinions there. So if they love Le Cellier, it's probably awesome.

[georgevna.livejournal.com]

They also have recent menus for all the restaurants, so you can get an idea of whether the food is something you want in the first place. They are MUCH more informative than the official Disney World site....