Inside Guide to Disney Dining

By The Backseat View

Disney magic is endless and gets sprinkled into your dining options. There’s a handful of magic in character dining or sprinkles on your cupcake in the quick-serve line. While food preferences are different for every family, these are my long-standing favorite meal tips and choices. Keep in mind that we are Southern, and my guys don’t prefer fancy plates with decorative portions or $400 bills. Let’s hit the restaurant highlights in the Inside Guide to Disney Dining.

Guide to Disney Dining

Dining Tips

• I book trips early and make our dining reservations 60 days out.
  
• Plan where you are going to be in your day before making food reservations. Disney is exhausting, and walking an extra mile for food is unnecessary. I look at the goal of each Disney Day before making dining reservations. Know what time the parade or fireworks start so you don’t miss the important events.
  
• Reservations to dine with Disney Characters take hours out of your day. However, it’s worth it for the photo memories and the love of meeting the characters.
  
• Grabbing a quick-service meal gives more time for rides and schedule flexibility.
  

6 pm Dinner

• Be careful with dinner reservations because naps take longer with Disney’s level of tiredness. I don’t start dining reservations until 6 pm. Even when traveling with teenagers, I still let them rest so I can watch fireworks without whiney people.
  
• I usually include character meals not located in a park (Chef Mickey’s) on the day we arrive or leave because park days are exhausting. For week-long trips, I include the character meals on our rest day.
  
• While several hotels offer character meals, be aware that they could take 90 minutes to travel to. Plan an hour from your hotel to a park. Then, catch a bus from the park to the hotel for dinner. The restaurants accessible by the monorail are the exception. If you plan to Uber to the restaurant, make sure the resort allows Uber through the security gate.
  
• If your resort offers character dining, absolutely book that meal.
  
• Sign up for dining alerts on the Disney app for cancelations to get the dining reservations you weren’t able to book. Honestly, this rarely works for me because my day is already planned.

Mobile Ordering

• Mobile Dining Ordering for quick serve is all but required and saves time. I place my order on the Disney app about 30 minutes before I need it.
• Orlando is HOT (only a few degrees less than Hell in the summer), and you NEED air conditioning, so choose wisely with quick-serve options.
  

Magic Kingdom Reservation:

Be Our Guest

I am a Beauty and the Beast fan, so I vote eating here at least once in your life. Located in Fantasy Land, it’s a great lunch or dinner option. The snow falling outside the main dining room, the portraits in all three dining rooms, the rotating Belle & Beast dancing figure, the Beast’s rose, the thunderstorm in the West Wing, and good food make it my favorite restaurant in Magic Kingdom. The Beast comes by at dinner to add to the castle’s fun. Dining costs $70 a person and counts as 2 table meals on the dining plan.

“I want Adventure in the Great Wide Somewhere.” Belle

Crystal Palace

We LOVE Winnie the Pooh characters, so enjoy a reservation at the Crystal Palace. I prefer to watch the parade at 12 and then dine in this greenhouse atmosphere at 12:40 p.m. If you have early risers, take the 7:30 a.m. breakfast reservations for pictures in front of the castle with an empty Main Street. Breakfast costs $48/adult, and lunch costs $61/adult.

“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” Pooh

The Plaza

The Plaza on Main Street has a view of the castle with decent food, takes reservations, and has air conditioning. I love the elegance of this hidden gem tucked away at the end of Main Street. It’s small so our food always comes fast and affordable $25/person for table service.

Cinderella’s Royal Table is in the castle, and it’s iconic, lavish, and regal. All little girls want to eat here, so it’s expensive: $69 for breakfast and $85 per adult for lunch and dinner. Everyone does it once, but it’s a two-table service on the dining plan.

Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen is the fun energy of the Jungle Cruise. It’s easy to get a reservation. It’s underrated for its decent food quality.

Tony’s Town Square is at the park’s entrance. It is Italian, Lady & the Tramp-themed, and has decent food.

Quick Serve

Columbia Harbor House

The Columbia has good salads, seafood, lobster rolls, grilled salmon, and the best food in Magic Kingdom. With air conditioning and uncrowded upstairs tables, you always find me here for lunch. I can only eat so many burgers and pizza. It is located near Fantasy Land and the Haunted Mansion. The Columbia works well when our plan is Space Mountain, Fantasy Land, Haunted Mansion, and lunch. We are in Liberty Square for the parade at noon.

Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café

Cosmic Ray’s is just burgers in Tomorrowland, but there’s a large dining area behind the ordering area. People don’t walk down the hallway to the dining area, so there’s always a table with air conditioning. Cosmic Ray’s serves the delicious Cheshire Cat Tail pastry and smoothies. If we plan to return with Space Mtn passes starting at 6 p.m., Rays is nearby for dinner.

Another lunch option is Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn, close to my parade spot in Frontier Land.

Snacks

The Dole Whip at Aloha Isle is the BEST, and I’m not leaving Adventure Land without it. We start Magic Kingdom the traditional way with Space Mountain, Fantasy Land, Frontier Land, parade, and Adventure Land. I get my Dole Whip on the way out of the park for a rest.

Mickey ice cream bars are required on every trip!

Cinnamon Rolls at Gaston’s Tavern in Fantasy Land are delicious.

The Main Street Bakery has Mickey cookies, and I’m eating one during the fireworks.

Monorail restaurants

Chef Mickey’s

Chef Mickey’s is ICONIC in meeting the five main characters. It’s a hard reservation to get at the Contemporary. They have a good buffet of food, but it’s crazy loud with kids. With older kids, we meet Mickey with a Lightning Lane Pass. It’s $66/person for dinner and $54 for breakfast.

Ohana

We are Stitch and Polynesian Resort fans, but I won’t take up park time to eat here. If I’m being honest, it’s overpriced and overrated for breakfast. We paid over $200 for breakfast, and Stitch didn’t stop at tables just danced around and left. For $200, I need pictures of five Disney characters. Dinner is a Disney tradition with many diehard fans, but it’s not a character meal starting at over $65/person.

“Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” Lilo

California Grill

California Grill is a sophisticated date night with the best views in any Disney World Resort. A window table for fireworks keeps the Grill at the top of reservation demands. However, it starts at almost $100 per person, so it’s just too expensive for me.

Epcot Favorites:

We come here to snack our way around the world. There are too many food options to mention, and we rarely do quick serve. Honestly, this is still park food and slightly overrated.

Via Napoli

Via Napoli has the best wood-fired pizza in Disney and is our favorite. Italian is my favorite, so I’m having lunch at Via Napoli. It runs around $30/person or $50 for a pizza to split.

• Le Cellier Steakhouse in Canada is always a solid, good dinner. However, they have increased the prices and made it a two-table meal for the dining plan. I personally don’t like paying $300 for four people for any steak.

• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is the most sought-after reservation among the Princesses. It serves Norwegian food with five Disney princesses.

• The Coral Reef Restaurant is eating in an aquarium. I’m on the other side of the park for lunch. We requested a tank view for dining with toddlers who love fish.

• The Garden Grill is fun for kids who want to meet Chip & Dale. Mickey and Pluto came to our meal and spent lots of time with the boys. However, they don’t guarantee which characters will be coming.

• Rose and Crown in England has good fish & chips. It’s a good dinner option for the right side of the park near Soarin’ and Nemo’s aquarium before fireworks.

• We ate lunch at La Creperie de Paris. My guys were not impressed with my crepes for lunch idea. You traded authentic Italian for thin pancakes.…nobody spoke to me while we ate.

• La Hacienda de San Angel is $35/person for table service Mexican. Let’s be clear: this is a waterfront restaurant with views of the park. The restaurant inside the Mexican Pavilion pyramid is San Angel Inn Restaurant with a “nighttime” sky and views of the boats floating by. This is the outside restaurant directly across from the pyramid. When starting the dinner part of the day after Test Track, this is close by. If we have walked around the world once at lunch, they aren’t doing it again. There’s a boat docking area with a flower garden nearby, so sit on those rocks and watch the fireworks near the water.

• Space 220 Restaurant is a dining experience similar to being on a space station. They serve salmon, filet mignon, and duck with a fun twist. Dinner is expensive at $80/person for a three-course meal. This is a hard reservation to get.
• Monsieur Paul is too expensive. A prix fixe menu starts at $195 per adult. Who pays $800 for a family dinner? If you add wine, that’s another $130.

Favorite Snacks:

France has Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie, a fantastic bakery with strawberry tarts, macarons, cookies, and sandwich options. The line wrapped around the building never gets shorter.

Germany has Karamell-Kuche Bakery with Werther’s Caramel covering everything from apples to popcorn. They have a delicious gingerbread buttercream cookie sandwich that leaves with me. Yes, I load my bag up with snacks I can’t possibly eat right now. I’ll be watching fireworks and eating my caramel popcorn.

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom is a half-day park, so you only need one dining option.

Reservations:

Tiffins is the choice for high-level dining in an art gallery. It’s located near Pandora and is a tribute to the Imagineers. This is a 2-credit table service on the dining plan, and it’s not worth that. It runs for $40 to $70 per person.

Tusker House, with the main Disney Characters in Safari outfits, is a great lunch option for kids. However, the food is African-inspired and not for everyone.

Yak & Yeti is the best table service for Asian and Chinese food.

The Rainforest Café is outside the door of the park, and it’s always delicious fun.

Quick Serve

Flaming Tree BBQ

My Favorite Quick-Serve in all of Disney is the Flaming Tree BBQ. We eat here on almost every trip. The ribs, chicken, pulled pork sandwich, and Smokehouse Chicken Salad make everyone happy. It costs $15-$20 per person.

Satu’li Canteen is the Pandora food court that lets you build a bowl for a fresh meal.

Snacks

Tamu Tamu Refreshments have a Simba Sunset Dole Whip, a pineapple Dole Whip topped with red strawberry flavored syrup. It’s by the Lion King Show.

Hollywood Studios

Reservations

50’s Prime Time Cafe

50’s Prime Time Café is where I always make a lunch reservation for the fried chicken and pot pie. It’s located in the center of the park. The milkshakes are the best in Disney, especially the PB&J. For around $30/per person, everyone leaves happy.

The Sci-Fi Theater

The Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater is super fun to eat in a car and watch 1950s movies. However, toddlers can be scared of the sci-fi creatures. We love it here for $25/person.

• Roundup Rodeo BBQ in Toy Story Land is also a great second option. It’s new, and reservations are harder to get.

• Hollywood and Vine is a character meal. If you aren’t doing the Halloween or Holiday Parties and still want themed pictures, then book Minnie’s Holiday and Halloween dinner.

• Mama Melrose’s Ristorante is great, but I ate Italian in Epcot.

Quick Serve

Docking Bay 7

• Star Wars has Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo with unusual dishes and air conditioning. If I get 50’s Prime Time for dinner, then this is lunch or vice versa. It’s engaging, fun, and diverse, and has smoked ribs and the best park desserts.

• Woody’s Lunch Box has totchos (tater tots with everything on them) as a snack while waiting in the long Slinky Dog line. I have grabbed raspberry lunch box tarts (pop tarts) for my picky eater who missed breakfast. Everyone orders BBQ brisket and grilled cheese, so I rarely get a table. Standing outside is not my lunch spot.

Snacks

• Ulga’s Cantina is a bar that requires reservations. We like the Hyperdrive or Carbon Freeze with the popping pearls, so it’s on the list.

• The Milk Stand in Star Wars has blue milk. We aren’t leaving without a glass. It’s not that good, but it’s just what we do.

• Woody’s Lunchbox for raspberry lunch box tart (pop tart) or totchos.

Disney Springs

Disney Springs has the REAL food if you are tired of park food.

T-Rex Cafe

T-Rex Café in Disney Springs is on our rest day or departure day. We aren’t coming for the food. We love the DINOSAUR environment!

The Polite Pig with the best ribs in Disney is where you will find us. The restaurant has won tons of awards, so everyone knows it’s fantastic. It costs $20-$25 per person.

The Boathouse is a sophisticated waterfront dining venue for steak and seafood. We have only been a couple of times but it’s perfection.

Hotel Restaurants

I will deal with the hassle of traveling for exceptional food in my favorite resorts.

Animal Kingdom has the best overall restaurants with Sanaa a beloved classic, Boma the best buffet in Disney, and Jiko. If you want decent hotel dinners, Animal Kingdom is your hotel.

Whispering Canyon Cafe is in the Wilderness Lodge lobby. I love the Wilderness Resort, and this restaurant is fun. It’s a little show with great BBQ and Western food. Lunch runs $25, and dinner is close to $40/person.

StoryBook Dining at Artist Point in the Wilderness Lodge features Snow White, the Evil Queen, Dopey, and Grumpy. The best food at a character meal makes it the hardest reservation to claim.

I have visited dozens of other Disney restaurants, but they haven’t become family traditions for one reason or another. Reviewing every Disney restaurant would be overwhelming, but the Disney Food Blog does just that.

Thanks for reading my Insider’s Guide to Disney Dining. Don’t miss my 45 Disney Tips, Inside Guide to Disney Resorts, and the Ultimate Guide to Itinerary Planning posts. I have included my other favorite family vacations below.