Panic... best counter service in MK?

Hi all,

We are not really counter service people... usually bring our lunch in the park and eat a TS dinner. However, in re-working my itinerary (yet again) I am finding us in MK one evening with no dinner! We are complete planners... down to what ride in what order so now I am nervous about this (leave in 5 days!)

We will have eaten brunch at 1900 park fare late that morning but need something for dinner and I don't think I really want to take it in.

However, we are on a tight budget... so I am thinking perhaps counter service would be best. Our party has some kids (not picky) and a vegetarian. Any thoughts? What is your favorite MK counter service place? Thanks!:mickey:

Columbia Harbor House is a good counter service option in the Magic Kingdom.

Cosmic Ray's is also good. They have chicken and rib meals that are large enough to be sharable as well as vegetarian options.

We love Peco Bill's with the "Fixin's Bar" that has sauteed onions, mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, pickles, condiments and I am sure more. It makes for a nice additions to the meal. We love the BBQ pulled pork sandwiches there ourselves...and it is about the only place where we get french fries...but they are great!

Cosmic Ray's has the best variety with the 3 different stations. They also have a full fixings bar just like Peco's Bills. And you can also enjoy the musical stylings of Sonny Eclipse while dining :thumbsup:

Although our personal favourite is Casey's, I would recommend Cosmic Rays. There is lots of choice for everyone, many meals are large enough to share, and there is a good fixin's bar to choose from.

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Originally Posted by JPL

Cosmic Ray's has the best variety with the 3 different stations. They also have a full fixings bar just like Peco's Bills. And you can also enjoy the musical stylings of Sonny Eclipse while dining :thumbsup:

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Ditto :D

Cosmic Rays!!!!! Fun and yummy. Good choices.:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by faline

Columbia Harbor House is a good counter service option in the Magic Kingdom.

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:ditto: Love that place.

I'm going to get on the Cosmic Ray's train here: besides your typical burgers (including a veggie burger), there's the fixings bar, entrees that are big enough to share (thinking of the chicken or chicken and ribs dinners), and also a vegetable wrap and a Greek salad in case the vegetarian in your group doesn't want a veggie burger. This might be your best choice in terms of choice and cost.

Columbia Harbour House is also a great choice with chicken nuggets, fish or shrimp baskets, a great tuna sandwich, salads (one vegetarian and one with bacon), and the Lighthouse sandwich which would be perfect for the vegetarian in your group (hummus, tomato and broccoli slaw on whole grain bread :tasty: ).

Columbia Harbour House gets my vote. Very good food. We like to sit upstairs by the windows and watch the crowds go by since it's usually pretty quiet up there.

Columbia Harbor House is a favorite of ours. It seems like they don't have the usual fare and everyone ends up happy.

Normally I would suggest Columbia Harbor House or Peco's Bills (my favorites) but for your crew (with a vegetarian) I would suggest Cosmic Ray's. Keep in mind that your group will need to split up and go to the diffrent ordering windows (unless everyone can agree). This can be a little confusing at first.

If you are uber planners, I would figure out whether I was closer to Cosmic Ray's or Columbia Harbor House at your desired dinner time and go there.

Normally I'd suggest Peco's Bills too. My kids enjoy it and we all like the fixin's bar to jazz up our burgers and/or fries. I think you might want to think about Cosmic Ray's though....the kids can watch Sonny Eclipse as mentioned. One thing to think about though is that there are three separate lines that you may need to go through to get everyone fed -- that is the reason we don't like going there unless we're super hungry (the kids that is). Another option is Casey's (not sure about vegetarian though) -- you can get food there and sit outside (possibly catch the piano "show") and people watch or sit in the bleachers and watch the tele (which the kids enjoy)

Think about what works best for your crew and also where you are in the park at dinnertime.

Cosmic Ray's will offer you the best variety and its pretty decent too

I'm a big fan of Cosmic Rays so I would suggest it. The food has always been good and we love the fix-in's bar. I always enjoy Sonny Eclipse too! My second pick would be Columbia Harbor House for a different kind of experience. It is calmer and can be a nice change of pace. We enjoy Pecos Bills but it does not have the choices of Cosmic Rays or the entertainment. Usually we just go with whichever one we are closest to when we get hungry...but I am guilty of steering us toward Tomorrowland when I know that time is getting close! :blush:

And there are a few seats at Cosmic Rays where you can sit and look at the castle, which is kind of magical.

Peco's Bill - Very good food and a fun atmosphere, but can be very crowded.

Columbia Harbour House - Good food (sandwiches and things), in our experience it has been much quieter than other CS place in the parks. Especially upstairs!

Cosmic Rays - Variety of food and lots of it, but again it can also get a bit crowded.

Cosmic Ray's or Pecos Bill's. I like to see Sonny Eclipse so I'd lean towards Cosmic Ray's.

Anyone tried....Pinocchio Village Haus? My girls ask everytime we get on IASW about why there are people up there because of course they wave at you. Just wondering if the food is good there so that my girls could be the ones waving.

The menu looks decent but I've never actually at there for a first hand experience.

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Originally Posted by nqi2

Anyone tried....Pinocchio Village Haus? My girls ask everytime we get on IASW about why there are people up there because of course they wave at you. Just wondering if the food is good there so that my girls could be the ones waving.

The menu looks decent but I've never actually at there for a first hand experience.

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This used to be one of our favorites before they changed the menu in late 2009. They had an Italian Panini that was really good, but they don't any more. Now the menu just seems to have Pizza, Chicken strips and Salad, none of which appeals to us, so, we haven't been back.

Our favorites are Pecos Bill's and Columbia Harbor House, both on the west side of MK.

I've heard they recently renamed El Pirata y el Perico to Tortuga Tavern, right across from Pirates of the Carribean, and are currently offering the same or a very similar menu. Here's the menu link. We have never tried it, but might on our next visit.

As a vegetarian I would cast my vote for the Columbia Harbor House. They have a really good vegetarian sandwich.

I'm not a picky eater but have to say I hate the veggie burger at Cosmic Rays. It's just very rubbery. When we eat there I always end up getting a salad, which is OK.

Cosmic Rays is great, my kids loved it last year we ate there twice I think. Dh and ds split entrees even chicken and ribs it was large enough. We also have always liked the Columbia Harbor House we eat there every trip too.

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Originally Posted by Momto3littlemice

Hi all,

We are not really counter service people... usually bring our lunch in the park and eat a TS dinner. :

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Are you allowed to bring food ordrinks into the parks? I thought that was resritcted.

We love Pecos Bills,I think we eat there on every trip. We also enjoy the Columbia harbour House.

No problem brining in food/drinks. We used to pack a small backpack with a couple frozen bottles of water to keep the others cold, several capri sun juice packs for the kids, crackers, fruit snacks and sandwiches.

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Originally Posted by DizNut42

No problem brining in food/drinks. We used to pack a small backpack with a couple frozen bottles of water to keep the others cold, several capri sun juice packs for the kids, crackers, fruit snacks and sandwiches.

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Good to know, we are going to be there when it is very hot and brininging bottled waters in will be more cost effective that buying 4 waters every other hour to stay hydrated.

We always bring in bottled water and some snack bars. I think they are more worried about hard coolers and glass bottles than anything else.

Columbia House just outside of Fantasyland on the way to the Haunted Mansion. It's on the left. Good food, wide selection...plus food an adult would want to consume.

Wow! What great responses! I think I am leaning toward Columbia Harbor House as I really like a quieter atmosphere - but logistically if we are in Tomorrowland I will keep Cosmic Ray's in mind. I really appreciate all the Disney minds on here!:mickey:

Another vote for Columbia Harbour House here. It's my family's favorite Magic Kingdom counter service restaurant both for the food and setting. Cosmic Ray's always feels overwhelmingly crowded whenever I'm there. We never have trouble finding a table at Columbia Harbour House, and the place seems quieter and calmer.

My favorite : Harbor House. It has all of the typical things kids like - chicken tenders, etc. but their hummus sandwich is vegetarian and it's REALLY good and DH and I got HUGE servings and we could barely finish our food when we were there last. They also give you chips with the hummus sandwich

warning: noodle terrace is the worst CS in all of disney world. IMO.

i agree with jared about cosmic rays. I'm pretty sure i will not ever go back there when it is typical 'meal times'

i also agree with his comment on seating at harbor house. When we went for lunch we probably went just a little earlier than everyone and we sat upstairs and it was really quiet and relaxed. we lovveed it.

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Columbia Harbor House is a good counter service option in the Magic Kingdom.

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:ditto:I agree. There is plenty of different foods for picky eaters and there are also some non-meat items.

I can't really add anything new to the discussion. Harbor House would probably be my first suggestion as well for you.

Frozen water bottles work great. As they thaw the water stays plenty cold and tastes wonderful. Snacks are great too, as they can keep the kids happy while not destroying a budget.