This article describes all the great stuff we had to eat on our vacation. If you haven't gone to Disney World with a dining plan, you might be unaware of the fact that they have incredibly great restaurants all over the place. They're probably too expensive to go to if you're traveling on a budget, but I think they make the overall vacation experience so much better.
This article is a quick review of all the places we dined at on our vacation.
Dining Plans
No discussion about dining at Disney World can begin without first mentioning the various dining plans that Disney offers. A dining plan is a way to let you pre-pay for your meals before leaving home so you don't have to spend a lot of money on food during your trip. I think this is a great idea - nothing ruins a vacation as much as worrying about the budget. So get it all over with before you depart and enjoy your trip.
Disney offers three different dining plans, to fit different budgets and dining styles. All the plans award you (and your travel party) some number of meal/snack points. You redeem these points at restaurants and snack bars throughout the parks and hotels. I'm not going to mention the prices here, because they change over time, but I will describe the plans available for 2018.
Quick-Service Dining Plan
The quick-service dining plan is the least expensive plan. Every member of your party (over age 3) gets two quick-service meal points and two snack points for each night of your stay. Additionally, each person (over 3) gets a refillable drink mug, which can be refilled for free at the beverage islands in each hotel's quick-service restaurant.
The quick-service points can be redeemed at quick-service restaurants (cafeteria-style, not table-service) for one entrée and one beverage. Beverages include some alcoholic drinks (beer, cider, wine and some mixed drinks) and premium non-alcoholic drinks (milkshakes, smoothies, etc.)
The snack points can be redeemed at quick-service restaurants, most outdoor food carts and some merchandise locations (like the mini-marts in the hotels) and can be used for a variety of single-serving snacks, including frozen treats, popcorn, drinks, fruit and bagged snacks.
You can redeem meal points for snacks if you are so inclined. You might find yourself doing this if you get to your last day and have not used up all your meals. Never leave for home with unused points - if you have any leftover, redeem them for snacks at the hotel's mini-mart on your way out. I recommend the rice crispy treats - they're great for eating on the plane when you're flying home.
You can redeem snack points for bottles of water in the parks, which is great on a hot day. But you should be aware that you can also go to quick-service counters and ask for a paper cup of ice water or ask them to fill a water bottle. Florida tap water is not the best tasting, but I'm one of those people who would rather drink the tap water and save my snack points for fun snacks.
Disney Dining Plan
This is the mid-level plan, and (in my opinion) the minimal plan you should use for your vacation. Every member of your party (over 3) gets one quick-service meal point, one table-service meal point and two snack points for each night of your stay. As with the quick-service plan every member (over 3) gets a refillable drink mug.
The quick-service and snack points work like they do on the quick service meal plan.
The table-service meal points can be used at any table-service restaurants. Most restaurants cost one point for a meal, but some of the specialty restaurants cost two points, so be sure to look out for this when making your plans.
A table-service meal includes one entrée, one beverage and (for lunch and dinner only) one dessert. Table-service meals can also be used for buffet or family-style meals at restaurants that offer these kinds of meals.
Gratuities are not included for most restaurants. When eating at table-service restaurants, you should expect to pay a normal gratuity for your meals. You can use your magic bands to charge gratuities to your room, which we did.
Table-service meals include the character dining experiences (where Disney characters visit you at your table), "signature" restaurants (which cost 2 points per meal), dinner shows (2 points per person) room service (2 points per meal) and pizza delivery (2 points for a pizza, 2 drinks and 2 desserts).
You can redeem table-service meals at quick service restaurants and for snacks if you wish.
Deluxe Dining Plan
The deluxe plan is the high-end plan and the one we used. Every member of your party (over 3) gets three meals (table- or quick-service) and two snacks for each night, plus the refillable drink mug.
Quick-service meals, breakfasts and snacks work the same as with the other dining plans.
Table-service lunches and dinners include an appetizer (which is not included with the other two plans).
The Restaurants
Having described the dining plans, now here's a capsule review of all the places we ate at on our trip. Overall, every place was very good and some were particularly great. Our only disappointment was that some of the signature restaurants were not (in our opinion) good enough to warrant the two-point price.
When reading the description, it is worth noting that I have a dietary restriction. I keep a kosher home and although I don't make a point of only eating at kosher restaurants when away from home, I choose to avoid eating non-kosher meat when I eat at restaurants. So I eat a lot of fish, dairy and vegetarian dishes.
I have been told that you can arrange (in advance) to have kosher meals at Disney restaurants, but these meals are shipped in and are not prepared by the Disney chefs. I did not choose this arrangement so all of my food was prepared and served by Disney.
My wife does not keep kosher when away from home and has no problem eating from anything on the menu.
Please note also that I am writing this over a month after we got back from our trip, so not everything is fresh in my mind anymore. I should've written this review sooner but couldn't find the time. I'm using my receipts and Disney's on-line menus to remember what we had, but unfortunately that is producing an incomplete picture. If I got something obviously wrong, that's probably why. Feel free to correct me and I'll update the article.
Contempo Café
The Contempo Café is a quick-service restaurant in the Contemporary Hotel (where we stayed). It's nothing fancy, but the food is good and the portions are generous.
We had lunch there on our first day after arrival, before our room was ready. I got a pasta dish and my wife got a fish sandwich for our entrées and bottled tea drinks. We got cookies for dessert, but being a quick-service restaurant, we were charged snack points for them.
We also had breakfast there on our second day. We each got egg sandwiches and bottled drinks. We discovered that side dishes (I got grits, my wife got potatoes) are not included and cost snack points.
After this, we realized that it's really not worth eating meals at quick service restaurants when on the Deluxe plan because the table-service restaurants include a lot more (appetizers, dessert, etc.) for the same meal points.
On the morning of our third day, we woke up late. I redeemed snack points for danish and brought it to our room, where we enjoyed them with coffee (made using the Keurig machine in our room - a really welcome accessory!).
Aside from the fact that we used snack points for parts of our meals, we liked the Contempo Café. The food is good. They serve it quickly and the portions are generous. And the prices are low, so there's no problem paying with cash if you are traveling with a less-elaborate meal plan (or without one) and need to stick to a budget.
California Grill
On our first night, we had dinner at the California Grill. This is one of Disney's signature restaurants (2 points per meal), but is well worth the cost. The location is the penthouse of the Contemporary Hotel, with large windows giving you a view over the surrounding countryside, including the Magic Kingdom. During the Magic Kingdom's firework shows, they dim the lights and play the soundtrack over the restaurant's speakers so you can enjoy the show from there.
For appetizers, I had the "tuna three way" sushi roll and my wife had a crab and shrimp combination roll. For entrées, I had grilled tuna steak and my wife had pork tenderloin. For dessert, we split a chocolate pudding cake.
We have eaten at the California Gril on prior trips and it never disappoints. Everything is prepared to perfection, great service and an unbeatable view. It is always crowded so reservations are important, but it is one of those restaurants that you really should not miss on your vacation.
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue
The Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue is a musical/comedy dinner show. Lots of singing and dancing. A show themed as one might imagine a stage show in the wild west, with period food and drinks to accompany. Dining plan members can pay for the show with two table-service meals per person.
They literally bring buckets of food to your table (dropping them loudly on the steel plates to the beat of the music on stage), to be shared family style with your entire party, with all-you-can-eat refills. The entrées are fried chicken and barbecue pork ribs. Sides include salad, baked beans, cornbread and strawberry shortcake for dessert.
Needless to say, this food is not compatible with my desire to avoid non-kosher meat, but if you ask in advance, they have an alternate menu for those who require it. The alternate choices are grilled salmon, grilled vegetables, pasta primavera and plain pasta with sauce. I had the grilled salmon and it was very good. A generous portion, spiced the way I like it and served with a vegetarian vegetable medley.
My wife enjoyed the normal menu and was blown away by it. She tells me that she hasn't had ribs prepared that well anywhere else. Coming from her, that is quite the complement.
I did share the cornbread and strawberry shortcake and I thought both were prepared to perfection. The bottomless mug of beer was also nice.
And then, of course, there's the show. On stage and in the audience, the show involves everybody. They do take a few breaks so you can eat without missing anything, which was quite welcome.
I strongly recommend the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue. Great fun for the whole family and a meal that will leave you quite full and satisfied.
Chefs de France
On our third day, we had lunch at Chefs de France, one of the three restaurants in the French pavillion of Epcot. This restaurant captures the look feel of a restaurant in Paris in the late 19th century.
For appetizers, we started with a baked goat cheese salad. For entrées, I had a broiled marinated salmon fillet, and my wife had a mixed seafood dish consisting of cod fish, shrimp and haddock sausage. For dessert, I had a "cygne au chocolat" - a swan made from a cream puff, chocolate mousse and ice cream. My wife had an apple tart with almond cream, caramel sauce and ice cream. We both had bottles of Orangina to drink.
Chefs de France is another restaurant that we make a point of visiting on every trip. It is one of the few opportunities an American has to get good French food without actually traveling to France. It's a bit pricey, but that's what dining plans are for.
La Hacienda de San Angel
La Hacienda is the upscale restaurant at the Mexican pavilion of Epcot. It's on the side of the lake, offering a great view of the fireworks if you are dining at that time (which we were).
For appetizers, I had the Crema de Elote - a corn cream soup; my wife had the Queso Fundido - which can best be described as a deconstructed quesadilla - melted cheese with chorizo, peppers, avocado-tomatillo sauce and flour tortillas. For entrées, I had pan-seared Snapper while my wife had fried shrimp tacos. After all this much food, we were too full for dessert and gave that a pass.
One highlight of this meal was that we were dining during the Illuminations fireworks show. Our waiter noticed that we wanted to see the show and moved us to a table near the windows so we could see it without getting up. During the show, they dimmed the lights and played the music over the restaurant's speakers. This was an unexpected treat which we really appreciated (and we gave our waiter a larger-than-usual tip to say thanks).
Tusker House Restaurant
Tusker House is a buffet restaurants in the African section of Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is a character dining venue, so while eating you are visited by Donald Duck, Goofy and other characters dressed in African safari garb.
The breakfast buffet has a wide selection of fruits, breads, breakfast meats, eggs and other similar items. The signature item is their "Jungle Juice" - a blend of fruit juices that I have not had anywhere else. It's really great.
Overall, the food is good and the buffet is very large and plentiful. The character dining makes it a lot of fun if you have kids or (like us) refuse to completely grow up. I wouldn't make a special trip to the Animal Kingdom just to have breakfast here, but if you are planning to spend the day there, it is definitely worth the trip.
I have not had the opportunity to have lunch or dinner here. Looking at the dinner menu, however, I may have to try it on our next trip.
Yak & Yeti Restaurant
The Yak & Yeti is not actually run by Disney, but is actually a Landry's restaurant franchise within the center of the Animal Kingdom. We were blown away by this pan-Asian cuisine restaurant.
To start, we shared a giant "Ahi Tuna Nachos" appetizer. This is a generous portion of seared tuna, served with Asian slaw, fried wontons (in lieu of chips), wasabi aioli and a sweet soy glaze. It was huge - probably enough for three or four people. My wife ate a human-sized portion while I couldn't get enough and finished the rest of the plate. Under other circumstances, I could consider that appetizer a meal unto itself, but there was more.
For our entrées, I had a seared miso salmon stir-fry and my wife had chicken tikka masala. We were far too full for dessert after this meal.
We had never been to this restaurant before. We were at the park and looking through the Disney app to find a place for lunch and this place looked good. We could not have made a better decision. Better than the Rainforest Cafe, where we ate on our previous vacation. This place is going to be one that we must visit on future trips.
Teppan Edo
Teppan Edo is a teppanyaki restaurant in the Japanese pavilion of Epcot, and an excellent example of the cuisine.
I started off with a bowl of miso soup while my wife had the tempura assortment. For entrées, I had salmon and my wife had Asakusa - a steak and shrimp combination. I paired mine with a glass of Sapporo Black beer. For dessert, I had a slice of green tea mousse cake while my wife had a dish of ice cream.
There's not a lot to say about Teppan Edo. We are big fans of Japanese food, including teppanyaki and have dined at some very good places. This one is among the best. We have eaten here on previous trips and we will definitely be back on future trips.
The Wave... of American Flavors
The Wave is a restaurant in the lower lobby of the Contemporary hotel where we were staying. We ate at their breakfast buffet on two mornings.
The buffet is nice, although not nearly as large as the one at Tusker House. I would consider it on a par with the better breakfast buffets I've had at hotels around the country. Eggs, breakfast meats, fruit, pancakes, cereals, yogurt, etc. There are also meals that can be ordered a-la carte, but we only had the buffet.
The Wave's breakfast buffet is nothing special, but definitely better and more economical than the quick-service breakfast at the Contempo Café upstairs.
Sunshine Seasons Food Fair
Sunshine Seasons is a quick-service restaurant in Epcot's The Land pavilion. We ate here because we were hungry, nearby and didn't have a lunch reservation anywhere else. We were very pleasantly surprised.
I has a "vegan korma", which I enjoyed immensely. My wife had a sandwich of some kind (sorry, I don't remember which). Bottled drinks and cake for dessert.
Of course, being a quick service restaurant, we had to use snack credits for the dessert, but I didn't object this time around. Probably because I knew to expect it before we got to the register.
For a quick service cafeteria, this is definitely a good one. Yummy food and a quick grab-n-go environment. Definitely recommended for those in a rush or on a budget.
Coral Reef Restaurant
This is one of those restaurants that would be considered good anywhere else, but fails because it falls short of the bar set by all the other wonderful restaurants in Disney World.
The Coral Reef is in the basement of The Seas. One wall of the dining room consists of giant floor-to-ceiling glass walls looking in on the aquarium. So you get to watch sharks, rays and other exotic marine life as you dine. (The irony of eating seafood while watching the marine show was not lost on me.)
For our meals, I started with a Caesar salad and my wife had the crab cakes. We each had the seared salmon filet. For dessert, I had the citrus bread pudding and my wife had the Baileys and Jack Daniel's mousse.
The food was good, but nothing overly special. Service was not that great - there were long delays between being seated, taking our orders, bringing out each course, and getting the cheque at the end. We also noticed that many tables were not cleared long after the guests had left. Maybe they were short-staffed that night, but this is something we noticed. If the food was exceptional, we might have overlooked it, but when everything else is a little below expectations, you start to notice every single issue.
I don't regret the meal, but I would not consider it worth the prices on the menu. If you're not on a dining plan, don't bother with this restaurant - there are better ones to spend your money on.
Tony's Town Square Restaurant
Tony's in the Magic Kingdom is a reproduction of the Italian restaurant from Lady And The Tramp. We didn't even consider this restaurant when we were making our travel plans, but we walked past it on our way out of the Magic Kingdom on the first night and decided we had to try it out.
We shared the caprese and fried zucchini appetizers. For entrées, I had the fish of the day (sorry, it's been over a month and I don't remember what it was now) and my wife had the braised short ribs. For dessert, we each had the tiramisù.
The food is what you should expect from a good American-Italian restaurant. We enjoyed our meals quite a bit. And the decor and location can't be beat.
Artist Point
Artist Point is an upscale restaurant decorated in the style of the Pacific Northwest (along with everything else in the Wilderness Lodge hotel where it's located. We ate there on our previous trip (when we were staying at the Wilderness Lodge) and liked it a lot.
But that was three years ago. Back then, we had the "Premium" dining plan, where most of the signature restaurants (including Artist Point) only consumed one meal from your plan. Today, the premium plan no longer exists and Artist Point costs two meals on the Deluxe dining plan. As good as the food is, we didn't think it is good enough to be worth two meal points.
We both started with a cup of their smoked mushroom bisque. A wonderful flavor and probably the most memorable part of this meal. For our entrées, I had the cedar plank salmon and my wife had a buffalo steak (not on the regular menu, but apparently a frequently-appearing special). For dessert, I had the "dark chocolate crémeaux", which can only be described as "more chocolate than should be allowed at one sittng"; my wife had the berry cobbler.
Overall, we really liked our meals, but it's not worth spending two dining plan meals per person to eat here. Three years ago, when we had a dining plan that only counted it as one meal, and where the food was better, I would've wholeheartedly recommended it, but not today.
50's Prime Time Café
The last time we visited Hollywood Studios, we didn't have the best dining experiences. We found Mama Melrose's to be sub-par and I wasn't thrilled by The Brown Derby (although my wife liked them a lot), so we started searching for another place to try.
On a whim, after reading the description, we decided to have lunch at the 50's Prime Time Café. This restaurant is themed to look like a stereotypical eat-in kitchen from a 1950's TV show. All the tables, chairs and decor are period and there are large black-and-white TVs by every table playing clips from classic 1950's TV shows. Quite a blast from the past. Those who are old enough to have lived through the 50's (or spent time at a parent's or grandparent's home that hasn't been redecorated since the 50's) will really appreciate the nostalgia of eating here.
The food is attempting to create period home-cooked "comfort food" and they succeed admirably.
For drinks, we had cherry and vanilla Cokes - made with syrup from an old style soda fountain. For appetizers, I had onion rings and my wife had a wedge salad. For our entrées, I had vegetable lasagna and my wife had the pot roast. For dessert, I had a slice of cheesecake and my wife had apple cobbler à la mode.
All the food was prepared well and really reminded me of old-fashioned home cooking (even though my mother never once made lasagna or pot roast :-) ). And the little things like the waiter telling you to take your elbows off the table are just icing on the cake. We really liked this place and had a lot of fun eating lunch there.
Le Cellier Steakhouse
Located in the Canadian pavilion of Epcot, Le Cellier is a classic Canadian steak house. Each room is themed based on a different Canadian province, and the decor fits the themes perfectly. The food was also very good, but we did not think that it rises to the level of a signature restaurant (using two meals from our dining plan).
For appetizers, we had a problem. All of the choices include meat, so I couldn't eat any of them. Our waiter was able to cheat and bring me their signature poutine (not part of the dining plan, but meatless and not very expensive) as my appetizer. My wife started with the cheese soup (which includes bacon). For our entrées, I had the gnocchi and my wife has the filet mignon. For dessert, I had the maple crème brûlée and my wife had the cheesecake.
The food was all very good, but of course, a steak house is no place to expect to get good vegetarian meals. I defer to my wife's opinion here and she feels that it was not good enough to be worth spending two meal points.
Conclusion
And that about wraps it up. A week's worth of dining at some of the best restaurants Disney has to offer. Hopefully these reviews will help you when you're planning your vacation to Disney World. Please feel free to post comments and let me know where you think I got it especially right or wrong.
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