Christmas Dinning at Disney World

[JOSEPH D RIZZUTO]

My extended family is planning on spending Christmas week in Disney this coming year. I am looking for recommendations on restaurants for Christmas dinner as well as the rest of the week. We are currently leaning towards Flying Fish for Christmas dinner. Any thoughts or experiences?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Flying Fish is one of our favorite restaurants, so I would say that is a good choice! What are your plans for Christmas day? My advice would be to pick a restaurant close to where you are staying or where you plan to be that day as transportation and roads will be quite crowded that day. We stayed at the Boardwalk during Christmas 2015 and ate at Trattoria al Forno which turned out to be a great choice simply because we could walk there and didn't have to rely on any form of transportation. The Boardwalk was also a lovely place to be Christmas evening as it wasn't nearly as crowded as the parks, but still a lot of fun.

 

[MissionMouse]

One of the things we considered for Christmas dinner was our ability to easily get to the restaurant, beside the food offerings and theming aligning to Christmas. We selected a destination where we could walk to the restaurant from our resort. Christmas day crowds put a real stress on Disney transportation options, not to mention the amount of time it take to move around inside the parks too. If you haven't been to the parks at this time of the year, you should consider adding a 2-3x to your travel times to ensure you arrive for your ADR on time. If you select a taxi option, just beware not all taxi drivers known Disney. We experienced a driver who didn't even know how to get from BC to the Poly for breakfast on Christmas morning. Also, consider what activities, shows or events are occurring in the park or area you select for your dinner as you may be like a fish trying to swim upstream, as the event ends/lets people out, or creates a grid lock of an area as people are leaving and arriving. Flying Fish is a solid choice for dinner. On Christmas we did Ohana's breakfast, Magic Kingdom, Afternoon Tea, afternoon swim at our resort, Epcot and Chef de France for dinner

 

[Disneylover99]

We ate at Whispering Canyon Cafe this past Christmas Day. They had a special Menu. It was really enjoyable.

 

[JOSEPH D RIZZUTO]

One of the things we considered for Christmas dinner was our ability to easily get to the restaurant, beside the food offerings and theming aligning to Christmas. We selected a destination where we could walk to the restaurant from our resort. Christmas day crowds put a real stress on Disney transportation options, not to mention the amount of time it take to move around inside the parks too. If you haven't been to the parks at this time of the year, you should consider adding a 2-3x to your travel times to ensure you arrive for your ADR on time. If you select a taxi option, just beware not all taxi drivers known Disney. We experienced a driver who didn't even know how to get from BC to the Poly for breakfast on Christmas morning. Also, consider what activities, shows or events are occurring in the park or area you select for your dinner as you may be like a fish trying to swim upstream, as the event ends/lets people out, or creates a grid lock of an area as people are leaving and arriving. Flying Fish is a solid choice for dinner. On Christmas we did Ohana's breakfast, Magic Kingdom, Afternoon Tea, afternoon swim at our resort, Epcot and Chef de France for dinner

Thanks! We are staying in the Beach Club so Flying Fish is super close. What was Chef de France's menu like? I looked over their regular menu, do they do a special menu?

 

[Nancyg56]

If you are staying at teh Beach Club you have a lot of wonderful choices within walking distance. Flying Fish is excellent, but you also have a few others to think about. I have not been to the Yachtman Steakhouse in years, but the atmosphere there is really nice, and the food was excellent. You could also look at Trattoria al Forno. The food and service there is wonderful as well.

If you want to walk to the Swan/Dolphin, I like Il Mulino.

My new favorite in Epcot is Le Cellier. I had avoided it for years, however last Decemebr we gave it another try and my family really enjoyed the meal.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Thanks! We are staying in the Beach Club so Flying Fish is super close. What was Chef de France's menu like? I looked over their regular menu, do they do a special menu?

A WDW stay without a visit (or two. OK last trip it was 3 because in staying at BWI we found you can order from the FF menu via room service) to FF is just not possible for us, LOL. We tend to eat at FF for Christmas Eve instead of the Day and have found the restaurant's food excellent in preparation, the service very professional yet personable and the decor conducive to the theme. One of the few Disney places where we always order dessert as it's so worthy; extremely talented pastry chef.

I don't know whether Chefs de France offers a special menu for Christmas Day but keep in mind it has 2 different menus daily: a la carte and prix fixe.

Both solid choices and easy to get to via boat or walking. I'm sure there is a bus that takes you from the Boardwalk hotels to Epcot but never taken one since the other travel options were easy enough.

Have fun wherever you go. Your mouth is in for a treat.

 

[Nancyg56]

A WDW stay without a visit (or two. OK last trip it was 3 because in staying at BWI we found you can order from the FF menu via room service) to FF is just not possible for us, LOL. We tend to eat at FF for Christmas Eve instead of the Day and have found the restaurant's food excellent in preparation, the service very professional yet personable and the decor conducive to the theme. One of the few Disney places where we always order dessert as it's so worthy; extremely talented pastry chef.

I don't know whether Chefs de France offers a special menu for Christmas Day but keep in mind it has 2 different menus daily: a la carte and prix fixe.

Both solid choices and easy to get to via boat or walking. I'm sure there is a bus that takes you from the Boardwalk hotels to Epcot but never taken one since the other travel options were easy enough.

Have fun where you go. Your mouth is in for a treat.

I think I remember taking a boat. If you can take one anywhere I have hopped on and enjoyed the ride!

 

[Hi Pluto]

We're going to do Yachtsman for Christmas Eve (make that the big, fancy meal) and Boma for Christmas day. I'm so excited for Christmas in Disney, even if it will be crazy crowded.

 

[JOSEPH D RIZZUTO]

I think I remember taking a boat. If you can take one anywhere I have hopped on and enjoyed the ride!

Yeah love the boats. Main reason We are staying in Beach Club!

 

[Hopefully]

Both solid choices and easy to get to via boat or walking. I'm sure there is a bus that takes you from the Boardwalk hotels to Epcot but never taken one since the other travel options were easy enough.

Have fun wherever you go. Your mouth is in for a treat.

There is NO BUS from the Boardwalk hotels to Epcot. It is an easy walk via the International Gateway or a Friendship boat ride.

 

[NYCgrrl]

There is NO BUS from the Boardwalk hotels to Epcot. It is an easy walk via the International Gateway or a Friendship boat ride.

Thanks for the correction. I never even thought of taking a bus to Epcot or HS for that matter but assumed that form of transport was available.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Never been to Flying Fish, unfortunately.

Our annual go-to was always Narcoossee's. We always looked to get an 8pm reservation so that our meal would finish just as the fireworks were going off.

Narcoossee's gets some mixed reviews. It's near and dear to our family, though, and has a really great "Christmas" feel with the amount of seafood and steak offerings. My dad doesn't like seafood, so we liked the variety of seafood and steak. It had something for everyone in our family.

I'd also throw out California Grill. We did that one year when we couldn't get Narcoossee's. Cali Grill was refurbished that year and happened to open up in October. We were able to jump on reservations the moment it opened back up. It was probably one of the better-served meals at Disney. Our server was AMAZING. He timed our meal around the fireworks. He had our entree out and ensured we were finished with the meal before the fireworks. He showed us out; then when we returned the table was clean and set up for dessert.

Both Narcoossee's, Cali Grill.. and i'll even throw out Yachtsman have the bets service we've encountered at Disney.

 

[DISNEY FIX]

We ate at Whispering Canyon Cafe this past Christmas Day. They had a special Menu. It was really enjoyable.

Ohhhhh....we are planning being there this Christmas. Can you share about your meal???? Thanks!

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Yeah love the boats. Main reason We are staying in Beach Club!

You're in for a treat. Staying at Beach Club completely changed Disney for us. Being able to walk to Epcot and sometimes DHS was a game changer.

 

[NYCgrrl]

You're in for a treat. Staying at Beach Club completely changed Disney for us. Being able to walk to Epcot and sometimes DHS was a game changer.

We discovered the walk to HS the 3rd time we stayed on the Boardwalk. It's not the man's favorite park since DGD and I go for the thrill rides mostly and he's left to sit on a bench waiting for us. As such we don't go there much as a family just the grrlie and I sneaking off late at night to get our fair share of ToT and RnR Coaster; she's going to like the walk back I'm sure.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

I guess the question is if you want traditional Christmas dinner? Cape May will have a turkey carving station. We ate there one year for Christmas. I don't know if Chefs de France has any special items for Christmas Day. Like previously mentioned, we have typically eaten at Chefs de France for Christmas Eve before we see the Candlelight Processional. If you want a traditional meal, 50s Prime Time has a blue plate special that is turkey and stuffing. What we have found we like to do on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day is to go to the parks in the morning and then eat at a resort for dinner to avoid as much traffic or crowds.

 

[Disneylover99]

Ohhhhh....we are planning being there this Christmas. Can you share about your meal???? Thanks!

 

[MissionMouse]

Thanks! We are staying in the Beach Club so Flying Fish is super close. What was Chef de France's menu like? I looked over their regular menu, do they do a special menu?

They offered a la carte and prix fixe. At the same time you also could also experience various Festival of the Holiday booths. If you plan on doing this I would highly recommend checking their hours of service as they do not stay open until close.

 

[KellyHonos]

Imagine the view of the decorated castle and fireworks from California Grill.... Oooohhh...just imagining it makes me wanna take a trip there lol.