Disney Food Itinerary - Advice?

[fizzymint]

Hey all! I'm in the process of obsessively planning our trip that's still a year out and would love to get input on this rough itinerary. For a little backstory, I'll be traveling with two other adults. We hope to book the Polynesian if it's available.

All of us like good food, but we don't have hyped up expectations. We aren't picky eaters and mostly want the fun combination of theming, decently tasty food, and a way to rest after walking all over the place. We're aiming to do one table service per day and I'm very open to suggestions. We plan to get a 5 day ticket without park hopping. We want at least one Character Dining experience.

I know we have a lot of "overrated" restaurants on the list, but we're pretty easy to please! On our last trip, we went to Jiko, Sanaa, Tokyo Dining, and Coral Reef for table service and we loved almost everything (I only didn't care for Coral Reef because there was surprise cilantro in my dish).

These won't be our exact plans since that will depend on EMH, but just slotting things for reference:

DAY 1: TRAVEL DAY - California Grill (fireworks?)
DAY 2: Magic Kingdom - Be Our Guest
DAY 3: Epcot - Via Napoli (for lunch ... and then maybe Frozen Dessert Party at night, if available?)
DAY 4: Animal Kingdom - Tusker House (+ River Lights?)
DAY 5: Resort Break - Kona Cafe Breakfast, maybe 1900 Park Fare dinner?
DAY 6: Hollywood Studios - 50s Prime Time Cafe - the only mandatory restaurant for nostalgic purposes (for lunch ... Star Wars Dessert Party at night?)
DAY 7: Epcot - Le Cellier
DAY 8: Disney Springs Break - Boathouse or Morimoto
DAY 9: Universal - Harry Potter
DAY 10: TRAVEL DAY

Thanks for any input!!

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Looks good to me. We're going to our first dessert party next month, kind of pricey imo for what they serve, but I'm happy to give it a try.

 

[JZCubed]

Hey all! I'm in the process of obsessively planning our trip that's still a year out and would love to get input on this rough itinerary. For a little backstory, I'll be traveling with two other adults. We hope to book the Polynesian if it's available.

All of us like good food, but we don't have hyped up expectations. We aren't picky eaters and mostly want the fun combination of theming, decently tasty food, and a way to rest after walking all over the place. We're aiming to do one table service per day and I'm very open to suggestions. We plan to get a 5 day ticket without park hopping. We want at least one Character Dining experience.

I know we have a lot of "overrated" restaurants on the list, but we're pretty easy to please! On our last trip, we went to Jiko, Sanaa, Tokyo Dining, and Coral Reef for table service and we loved almost everything (I only didn't care for Coral Reef because there was surprise cilantro in my dish).

These won't be our exact plans since that will depend on EMH, but just slotting things for reference:

DAY 1: TRAVEL DAY - California Grill (fireworks?)
DAY 2: Magic Kingdom - Be Our Guest
DAY 3: Epcot - Via Napoli (for lunch ... and then maybe Frozen Dessert Party at night, if available?)
DAY 4: Animal Kingdom - Tusker House (+ River Lights?)
DAY 5: Resort Break - Kona Cafe Breakfast, maybe 1900 Park Fare dinner?
DAY 6: Hollywood Studios - 50s Prime Time Cafe - the only mandatory restaurant for nostalgic purposes (for lunch ... Star Wars Dessert Party at night?)
DAY 7: Epcot - Le Cellier
DAY 8: Disney Springs Break - Boathouse or Morimoto
DAY 9: Universal - Harry Potter
DAY 10: TRAVEL DAY

Thanks for any input!!

DAY 1: TRAVEL DAY - California Grill (fireworks?)
Great view!
DAY 2: Magic Kingdom - Be Our Guest
Go for dinner - to Meet The Beast (request the West Wing)
DAY 3: Epcot - Via Napoli (for lunch ... and then maybe Frozen Dessert Party at night, if available?)
OK
DAY 4: Animal Kingdom - Tusker House (+ River Lights?)
Tiffins is better food, but you might be selecting Tusker for characters & buffet.
DAY 5: Resort Break - Kona Cafe Breakfast, maybe 1900 Park Fare dinner?
Kona breakfast is very good (and convenient if staying at Poly). Dinner at 1900 is more fun than folks admit.
DAY 6: Hollywood Studios - 50s Prime Time Cafe - the only mandatory restaurant for nostalgic purposes (for lunch ... Star Wars Dessert Party at night?)
Sounds like fun.
DAY 7: Epcot - Le Cellier
Shula's at nearby Dolphin has a better steak.
DAY 8: Disney Springs Break - Boathouse or Morimoto
I have same delemna when traveling with my dad.
DAY 9: Universal - Harry Potter
Chocolate Emporium should be on your radar.
DAY 10: TRAVEL DAY

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Hey all! I'm in the process of obsessively planning our trip that's still a year out and would love to get input on this rough itinerary. For a little backstory, I'll be traveling with two other adults. We hope to book the Polynesian if it's available.

All of us like good food, but we don't have hyped up expectations. We aren't picky eaters and mostly want the fun combination of theming, decently tasty food, and a way to rest after walking all over the place. We're aiming to do one table service per day and I'm very open to suggestions. We plan to get a 5 day ticket without park hopping. We want at least one Character Dining experience.

I know we have a lot of "overrated" restaurants on the list, but we're pretty easy to please! On our last trip, we went to Jiko, Sanaa, Tokyo Dining, and Coral Reef for table service and we loved almost everything (I only didn't care for Coral Reef because there was surprise cilantro in my dish).

These won't be our exact plans since that will depend on EMH, but just slotting things for reference:

DAY 1: TRAVEL DAY - California Grill (fireworks?)
DAY 2: Magic Kingdom - Be Our Guest
DAY 3: Epcot - Via Napoli (for lunch ... and then maybe Frozen Dessert Party at night, if available?)
DAY 4: Animal Kingdom - Tusker House (+ River Lights?)
DAY 5: Resort Break - Kona Cafe Breakfast, maybe 1900 Park Fare dinner?
DAY 6: Hollywood Studios - 50s Prime Time Cafe - the only mandatory restaurant for nostalgic purposes (for lunch ... Star Wars Dessert Party at night?)
DAY 7: Epcot - Le Cellier
DAY 8: Disney Springs Break - Boathouse or Morimoto
DAY 9: Universal - Harry Potter
DAY 10: TRAVEL DAY

Thanks for any input!!

Here's my 2 cents-
I like a lot of your choices but have a few notes-
-Do BOG for lunch or dinner, not really worth it for breakfast unless you can get an early ADR on a non EMH day
-1900 Park Fare dinner is a blast, great character interaction, I think the most fun from an adult perspective.
-Le Cellier- not bad food but major lack of theming, we ate there on our last trip and were not impressed. If you've been to a steakhouse anywhere before, there is no reason to eat here in Epcot and the menu is lack luster, just boring. Like I said, not bad but for disney food prices, it's not worth the money. As JZCubed said, if you want steak, go to Shula's, if steak isn't the reason and you just want to eat at Epcot, go to Mexico and eat at La Hacienda de San Angel. Better food and a more unique dining experience. And IMO a lot of the QS restaurants at Epcot are better than some of the ADR places. Sunshine Season and Rose and Crown are two we like.
- I know Boma wasn't on your list but they have great food if you get out there.

 

[fizzymint]

Wonderful advice so far! Thanks so much! I think I'll switch to Tiffins based on the feedback, if we do 1900 Park Fare for sure instead.

As JZCubed said, if you want steak, go to Shula's, if steak isn't the reason and you just want to eat at Epcot, go to Mexico and eat at La Hacienda de San Angel. Better food and a more unique dining experience.

I am guessing folks will probably want to stay at Epcot, but that restaurant wasn't even on my radar. I'll give it a look! I do LOVE the ambiance there.

 

[Rich M]

Lots of great choices. May I throw in for Epcot to try to go to Rose and Crown. Steak and Fish was great. Service was great. If you can get a reservation around Illuminations it can be a great place to watch.

 

[jhcpa]

Capa at the Four Seasons. Great views from the outdoor terrace and one of the best meals I've had at Disney, hands down. After walking around the Four Seasons I didn't want to go back to Bay Lake Tower (and we love BLT!)

 

[windcriesamy]

My only advice is to be flexible on your Disney Springs choice. There are so many restaurants opening there between now and next year!

 

[VFL]

1900 Park Fare is great. I would suggest looking at spice road table in Epcot. You can order several small plates to share.

 

[fizzymint]

My only advice is to be flexible on your Disney Springs choice. There are so many restaurants opening there between now and next year!

Ooh, thanks! I admittedly hadn't looked to see if anything new was opening in the next year -- didn't expect it since The Edison just opened. Time to investigate!

 

[maryj11]

No Ohana?

 

[fizzymint]

I wavered between Ohana and California Grill ... it sounded like a lot of people weren't very impressed with Ohana's dinner.

 

[maryj11]

I wavered between Ohana and California Grill ... it sounded like a lot of people weren't very impressed with Ohana's dinner.

I liked Ohana better than Kona.

 

[fizzymint]

I liked Ohana better than Kona.

Did you go for breakfast or dinner?

 

[Monykalyn]

Just a thought- in Epcot day do a PPO at Garden grill instead -good breakfast and character meal. Then hit Soarin right before park open, then hit Frozen standby (lines shouldn’t be bad yet) and FP test track. That will know out your tier rides. Snack around the world for lunch-hit the movies in France and American adventure for some down time (I actually fell asleep in AA-oops). Then if you want you can adr a dinner for Illuminations or just grab another QS. Really the non table places in WS are so good and it’s eash to see illuminations from many spots. I personally didn’t care for FEA though so I’d never do the dessert party.

 

[Monykalyn]

Forgive typos-on phone killing time while waiting to pick a kid up from movies

 

[maryj11]

Did you go for breakfast or dinner?

We went to both at Ohana but only dinner at Kona.

 

[absolutmey]

Only thing I can think of to add is to make sure your CG reservation is spaced far enough from your anticipated arrival time, especially if you're flying. You will want a good buffer just in case anything happens (traffic).

 

[crabbygal902]

DAY 1: TRAVEL DAY - California Grill (fireworks?) I love CG! We don't get ADRs, we prefer to sit in the lounge area and have apps and drinks. This may be a better option for you if you are worried about travel delays or need more flexibility. If you go early to CG you can come back with your receipt and watch fireworks.
DAY 2: Magic Kingdom - Be Our Guest We really like lunch here, haven't tried dinner after friends told us it is no longer worth the hype.
DAY 3: Epcot - Via Napoli (for lunch ... and then maybe Frozen Dessert Party at night, if available?)
DAY 4: Animal Kingdom - Tusker House (+ River Lights?)
DAY 5: Resort Break - Kona Cafe Breakfast, maybe 1900 Park Fare dinner? 1900 Park Fare was a surprise hit for me! The character interaction and food are very, very good.
DAY 6: Hollywood Studios - 50s Prime Time Cafe - the only mandatory restaurant for nostalgic purposes (for lunch ... Star Wars Dessert Party at night?)
DAY 7: Epcot - Le Cellier I know there's lot of folks who aren't crazy about it anymore but I love Le Cellier.
DAY 8: Disney Springs Break - Boathouse or Morimoto I'd pick Morimoto, it is so beautiful!
DAY 9: Universal - Harry Potter
DAY 10: TRAVEL DAY We love to have a last character breakfast before we leave, Cape May and 'Ohana are our favorites.