Confused diner needs help!

[CMCTxMom]

I'm approaching the time I can start making ADRs for my family's trip in Jauary. I can't decide where to start making reservations! Aside from Be Our Guest (I'm thinking lunch... which isn't going to take reservations) I can't decide where to start. I was reading the "overrated" post so now I'm even more confused!

We have a family of four - the kids are 7 and 4. My 4 year-old has allergies to dairy, egg, and nuts, so we're going to need at least one ADR per day (5-day trip) so the chefs can have notice to adapt food for him.

We're looking for at least one character meal - probably breakfast - and thought about the ADRs with VIP seating for the night shows. Advice.... go!

thanks!

[SBETigg]

My best advice would be to avoid reading or considering any reviews or posts on overrated/underrated. Opinions vary so much! A lot of the ones I find overrated, someone else finds underrated, or the reverse. You have to find what sounds good to you and your family and then ignore reviews and try it for yourself. Sometimes you will agree with reviews, and sometimes you will wonder how someone else's experience could be so vastly different from your own. You could miss some amazing places by letting reviews get you down.

Character meals are fun. I don't have little ones and haven't done them in years, but mine loved the 'Ohana breakfast and also 'Ohana for dinner without characters. 1900 Park Fare or Crystal Palace are possibilities. Depends on the characters your kids want to see. Chef Mickey's gets a lot of "must-do" ratings. Akershus is a good place to see the princesses without the high price of castle dining.

If you want to do a dinner show, Hoop Dee Doo is probably the most popular. But lots of experiences are fun for families. I like to plan for some in-park dining and some resort dining.

Some of my family favorites are:
Via Napoli, San Angel Inn, Sci-Fi Dine In, Chefs de France, Sanaa, Boma, Kouzzina, 'Ohana, Grand Floridian Cafe.

[Dulcee]

I agree with above, avoid the best/worst list for the time being. As many times as you'll see a restaurant listed as the worst here there are just as many people who love it.

Making one ADR a day with an allergy is probably a good idea. You can note it in advance and go in with the peace of mind that it won't be a fight to find a meal for your son.

Most menus (or at least typical offerings) are listed on the WDW website. Its a good way to get an idea if your family will like the choices offered.

For a character breakfast our personal favorite is Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.

Other favorites for us that are very kid friendly:

Ohana's in the Polynesian
Mama Melrose in Hollywood Studios (And you can get the Fantasmic package)
Marakesh (Morroco) in Epcot can be a lot of fun with kids, cue belly dancers and live music, and we always enjoy the food.

I personally think its hard to go wrong with most WDW dining. They aren't all 5 star but most live up to Disney expectations.

[TIGGER17179]

Just sugesstions but based on my previous dining we love the Cyrstal Palace for breakfast with pooh and friends. They seem to make it to our table at least twice and are very good at doing pictures. Also SciFi is really cool because it's like being at a real drive in movie.

[Wolf]

My best advice would be to avoid reading or considering any reviews or posts on overrated/underrated. Opinions vary so much! A lot of the ones I find overrated, someone else finds underrated, or the reverse. You have to find what sounds good to you and your family and then ignore reviews and try it for yourself. Sometimes you will agree with reviews, and sometimes you will wonder how someone else's experience could be so vastly different from your own. You could miss some amazing places by letting reviews get you down.

I can't agree with this more!! Don't read things like that, they will just make you stress that all the food there is awful. I'm just gona tell you the resturants we never miss and you can research from there if any sound interesting to you. We never miss, Kona for a breakfast and the Polynessian, Ohanna for a dinner at the Polynessian (You might want to check how the chefs accomodate allergies here because I think there is peanut sauce on some of the meat, but if you can get little ones allergies worked around this place is AMAZING) Beach club for a breakfast and dinner are both fantastic and breakfast is a character meal that I've found is more relaxed and chill than some character meals we've done.

[Katzateer]

Try to find one character meal - the Crystal Palace is a good choice for breakfast or early lunch.

We would get to MK early, do rides first thing, then go eat. If we tried to eat first, we weren't that hungry and the kids were too excited to eat.

If you want a more relaxed character meal, at EPCOT The Land Garden Grill character meal is relaxing and not as crazy and loud as other choices. And you can make requests ahead of time for a special diet. They are very good with requests- they have a lot of variety available and have gone down to the food court when one of my girls wanted chicken nuggets instead of the other meat offerings

[Tigerinvestigator]

I second Katzateer, go to the Garden Grill. It is our favorite at WDW, and the experience and character interaction is great. We absolutely love the food as well. We are a family of 5 and in more than forty trips have never had what I would call a "bad" meal. We love the food and the dining experiences. That post does more damage for people than most realize especially for new guests. For every single one of those bad reports, I can personally give you a great report or even multiple great reports. Start with Garden Grill and choose some of the overwhelming favorites like Ohana, LeCellier, Boma, and maybe Coral Reef. Make your own memories good or bad and don't worry about those who have had bad experiences. Have a great time planning and on your trip!

[NewDVCowner]

I have sent you a private message with a link that might be helpful.

[the other micki]

My kids' favorites are:

Ohana for dinner
Chef Mickey's for breakfast
Sci-Fi for lunch
Hoop de Doo Revue for dinner
Teppan Edo for dinner

There are others we enjoy, but these top the list!

Happy Planning!

[sherriepaul]

take into consideration for every person that says they hate a place, their will be one person who says they love it!

Character meals last fall were a lot of fun with my twins(7yrs). Also my DD has a tree nut allergy. All chefs came out to talk to us, about what she could have and what couldn't have. They were really great about making an alternative dessert for instance! This did add some time to our all our meals, but we were out of the heat taking a break! Some places food was okay, but it's the characters and atmosphere we were going for!

Breakfasts:
Cape may cafe great!
chef mickey's great, lots of variety
crystal palace Good!
Hollywood n' vine great!
1900 park faire Okay
Lunch/Dinner:
The plaza restaurant(a hidden gem!)
1900 Park Fare- Great!
Tony's (MK)
the liberty tree
chefs de france!!!!!! Great atmosphere(just like Paris) and we had a great waitress and their meals were great!

[CMCTxMom]

Thanks everyone - I'm enjoying your replies. Especially those of you that can empathize with the allergy situation! You're all right - I need to ignore the negative posts. Keep your suggestions coming!

[disneynarula]

I would agree that avoiding a lot of reviews on overated and underated is important. We love some of the overtated places and dislike some of the most popular. Most people are also really passionate about their favorites!

I would look at menus and then decide. That is what we do. We try at least two new places every time we go and often find hidden jems. We only really have one "must" for every trip...but I'm not telling!

As for the food allergies... make sure you call each TS place directly at least 24 hours in advance. Let them know what your specific needs are. Don't just trust the information in the online dining form to get to the TS place directly. Most of the chefs are happy to help but some notice helps.

Our DS is also allergic to eggs, milk and nuts and we had good experiences at all but one of the TS places we chose.

Even at buffets the chef would walk through the buffet with us and help us choose safe foods. He even pulled some of DSs favorites right out of the kitchen before they could become cross contaiminated. This was true at Chef Mickey's as well as Boma. They made a special dessert for DS! He felt really special.

We found that some of World Showcase TS places they are not run directly by Disney are not as allergy friendly. Not to deter you but just make sure you call in advance.

There are quite a few websites with helpful information about experiencing WDW with food allergies. I can PM you one I like in particular or just do a search in google. They can usually tell you what QS are better for allergy eating.

Even the QS should have ingredient lists. Almost everyone we visited did except for a few in world showcase.

[CMCTxMom]

IThere are quite a few websites with helpful information about experiencing WDW with food allergies. I can PM you one I like in particular or just do a search in google.

I've found two... if you've got another I'd love to know what it is! Thank you!

[Jared]

I also agree that you'd be best served to ignore most review of Disney restaurants. If you do a quick search of this board, you will find posts criticizing and complimenting nearly every single restaurant on property. I'm not sure if there's a consensus on a single one.

If you're looking for just one character meal, I'd try Tusker House at the Animal Kingdom. I think the food quality far surpasses the other popular character buffets, and it never seems as crowded as places like Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace. The characters all look pretty cute in their safari gear.

If you're considering the Fantasmic! Dinner Package, I'd go with Mama Melrose's.