I’m not sure we made the best restaurant choices…

[scrump]

It's been a while since I went to Coral Reef, but I wouldn't go for the food. But when we did, we sat right up by the tank and that was really cool for us. It had a 'wow' factor for us back then, not sure if it stands the test of time. My 6 year old does not have an interest in going, so we do not have a reservation, otherwise I would have booked.

 

[Helvetica]

Since your kids are into Star Wars, I’d be sure to check out Docking Bay 7. It’s my favorite quick service at DHS.

 

[DrunkJam]

I personally have terrible FOMO cos I can't try ALL the places in my trip. BUT I have played about with my ADRs, and now I FEEL that it is the best it can be. I know it is right for me, because there is nothing I wish I was doing instead. There ARE places wish I could fit in AS WELL, but nothing good enough that I would swap something I already have. I think that's the best you can ever do.

 

[SwanVT2]

Personally we felt like Hollywood and vine was a glorified cafeteria. The food was awful. While at Epcot stick with eating at the countries..even quick service options might appeal to you and people could pick and choose which country they want to grab food from. France has an excellent bakery. Morocco has delicious quick service. Etc. At MK we like Liberty Tree Tavern. Relaxing atmosphere and solid American fare. Agree about picking Sci fi instead!

 

[Krystal659]

They look fine to me. Tusker House is excellent, as is Biergarten (two of my favorite places on property) and Be Our Guest is vere good (and worth it just to see inside that one!). Akershus has always looked interesting to me for the food, but you'll have a great time with the Princesses regardless. The same is true for Chef Mickeys - the food may not be that exciting, but it's quintessential WDW! Coral Reef is maybe questionable, but it's got a cool atmosphere and will likely be fine if not great.

You're good - don't worry about it at all!

EDIT: Also, if you're looking to add, I can never say enough good thing about Garden Grill at Epcot.

I completely agree, we love Garden Grill at Epcot. My teenage son (picky eater) and husband do not get involved in planning, but always say make sure you get Garden Grill.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Food is subjective, so you'll get replies that are all over the place on this. I judge a restaurant by its pleasant ambiance and the taste of its food. Some people are "foodies" who are much more picky, and some of those will verbally trash a restaurant that simply isn't to their taste. So take the "bad reviews" you've seen with a grain of salt. If I had let those intiminidate me, I never would have eaten anywhere at Disney World. There is always someone who dislikes a given restaurant.

To respond about the specific restaurants you mentioned:

• We had a good meal at Coral Reef and were lucky to sit right by the aquarium during our meal. A special experience.
• We love Tusker House. Unique and relatively peaceful for a character restaurant, with good food.
• Hollywood and Vine was kind of blah to us. Not bad, but just nothing special about it. We only ate breakfast there, though.
• Chef Mickey's is upbeat and a great place to meet the characters. We've only had breakfast there and really liked it each time.
• Be Our Guest is very nice for lunch (amazing restaurant design). We've had every meal there and lunch is by far our favorite meal, as we weren't too impressed with breakfast or the prix fixe dinner experience.
• Haven't tried Biergarten, and have only eaten at Akershus for breakfast. The latter is a very pleasant restaurant, though.

 

[NashvilleMama]

I went to the SciFi dine in as a kid in the early 90s, and my parents liked it more than me. It felt nostalgic to those that went to drive ins in the 50s and 60s.

Concur with this - my girls at 9 and 7 were NOT impressed with SciFi and it really bummed us out as we loved it. Now they beg to go to 50's Prime Time every single visit, it's a must for them no matter what else we do at DHS.

 

[RamblingMad]

Concur with this - my girls at 9 and 7 were NOT impressed with SciFi and it really bummed us out as we loved it. Now they beg to go to 50's Prime Time every single visit, it's a must for them no matter what else we do at DHS.

I still like dinners as an adult, so that makes sense to me. I used to go to Johnny Rockets before they closed. Do they get milk shakes?

 

[basketlacey]

I’d considering doing Crystal Palace restaurant in MK for breakfast. You have several buffets so it might be nice to switch it up. You could do late morning and make it brunch!

 

[Deb & Bill]

The two of us just ate at Chef Mickey's two nights ago (had not been there for nine years) and we had a blast. We were probably the oldest people in our section (even older than most of the grandparents), but we had a good time talking to the characters and the people at the table next to ours. The food was VERY GOOD. The boiled shrimp were good sized and I didn't have to peel them, just pull off the tail. I had a nice plateful of those. Salads and breads were also good. Many other good choices of entrees. Bill had fried chicken, barbeque chicken, spicy Asian chicken and I think he went back for more. We both had plenty of dessert, so many to choose from. It's so funny seeing the kids getting a bowl of gummy bears and no ice cream. But it's Disney and you gotta have some fun there. Characters were Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy. The place is noisy, but you have to expect that with so many younger people in the space. It's a big restaurant. And you have to twirl your napkin.

We also did Trails End at Fort Wilderness the night before we did Chef Mickey's and really enjoyed that, too. Again very good fried chicken, ribs, etc. The brisket might have been better; it just needed a few more hours of slow cooking to get it more tender. Desserts here were also really good. Bill said we ate there once before, but it must have been a long time ago because I didn't remember it. We'd do it again, especially if we are staying at BLT or Boulder Ridge since it is just a short boat ride over to the fort. Between Trails End and Chef Mickey's Bill got a good load of chicken since he loves it and I'm not that big a fan (but I will eat it).

We always go for the festivals at Epcot, so we mostly dine on the food sold in the food kitchens at the festival. We did eat at Garden Grill on our trip in Dec for dinner and thought it wasn't that good. It seemed dirty/messy and the food wasn't that good. I'd like to try it for breakfast, though.

 

[brockash]

Hi everyone!!! I was reading through my Disney unofficial guide and looking at the restaurant reviews, and many of the ones that we selected and reserved get bad reviews. Can you guys look over the list of the restaurants we chose and perhaps suggest alternatives or tell us which ones are good choices? We are on the Disney dining plan (one qs and one ts per night) and I have two boys, ages 8 and 5. We would like to have most of our meals in the parks and not travel to resorts just to eat. My kids are into Star Wars and Disney movies like Toy story, lion King, and superheroes. They also love animals.

Dinners: Coral reef, Tusker House, Hollywood and Vine, and Chef Mickey’s.
Lunches: Be our Guest (as), Biergarten, Akershus (I’m Swedish so I think this would be more for me)...

Please let me know if there are any other restaurants on the dining plan that you think would be “can’t miss” for our family. Thanks in advance!

If you're not doing the Fantamic package there is NO WAY we'd eat at Hollywood and Vine. The food to us is just not good. I'd do Sci-fi instead (I'd do any instead, but this would be my first choice as I think the kids would get a kick out of it.)

 

[CynBeth]

I agree with the posters who said skip Sci Fi. The food was just ok and they keep running the same clips over and over. 50’s PTC has good food and the servers interact with you both yours and others that are around so we always have e a great time there.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

My son and I always liked Sci Fi. The theming is great and the food is good. We usually get the rib basket, and it's a nice place to get a good milkshake.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Okay, here’s my best advice. Dump Coral Reef & go with Garden Grill. Tusker House is our favorite character breakfast, consider swapping into breakfast from dinner. Get an early reservation which would put you deep into the park before rope drop and then hit Safari after breakfast has been a winning strategy for us.. best of luck!

 

[rdaky]

I really think you should go with what appeals to you or your kids. We've allowed our kids to help choose restaurants by reading menus and watching youtube videos, and we've eaten at almost every table service at Disney over the years. My favorites are not the same as the next person. Chef Mickey's, for example, is hugely popular, so a lot of people absolutely love it. For me it's one of the worst restaurants at Disney. But that's me. Obviously lots of people disagree. So choose what appeals to you!

 

[rkstocke5609]

I really think you should go with what appeals to you or your kids. We've allowed our kids to help choose restaurants by reading menus and watching youtube videos, and we've eaten at almost every table service at Disney over the years. My favorites are not the same as the next person. Chef Mickey's, for example, is hugely popular, so a lot of people absolutely love it. For me it's one of the worst restaurants at Disney. But that's me. Obviously lots of people disagree. So choose what appeals to you!

Haha, I agree but I didn’t want to burst a bubble. In truth, most of the buffet’s seem similar to me (Boma excluded). There is this mystique about Chef Mickey’s — I did it once and I was done. In fact, my wife & kid wanted to go again and I refused and did something else why they went. It seemed no different than Hollywood & Vine to me. In general I think I like the buffets for breakfast more than lunch or dinner. Especially Donald’s Safari breakfast at Tusker House and The Crystal Palace in MK. But to each their own.

 

[rdaky]

Haha, I agree but I didn’t want to burst a bubble. In truth, most of the buffet’s seem similar to me (Boma excluded). There is this mystique about Chef Mickey’s — I did it once and I was done. In fact, my wife & kid wanted to go again and I refused and did something else why they went. It seemed no different than Hollywood & Vine to me. In general I think I like the buffets for breakfast more than lunch or dinner. Especially Donald’s Safari breakfast at Tusker House and The Crystal Palace in MK. But to each their own.

I agree with you. We don't care for any of the character buffets. The food is mediocre and I'd rather stand in line to meet a character than to spend a ton of money on a character themed version of Golden Corral. But obviously many people disagree with me and that's ok.

 

[MarkS2112]

Hi everyone!!! I was reading through my Disney unofficial guide and looking at the restaurant reviews, and many of the ones that we selected and reserved get bad reviews. Can you guys look over the list of the restaurants we chose and perhaps suggest alternatives or tell us which ones are good choices? We are on the Disney dining plan (one qs and one ts per night) and I have two boys, ages 8 and 5. We would like to have most of our meals in the parks and not travel to resorts just to eat. My kids are into Star Wars and Disney movies like Toy story, lion King, and superheroes. They also love animals.

Dinners: Coral reef, Tusker House, Hollywood and Vine, and Chef Mickey’s.
Lunches: Be our Guest (as), Biergarten, Akershus (I’m Swedish so I think this would be more for me)...

Please let me know if there are any other restaurants on the dining plan that you think would be “can’t miss” for our family. Thanks in advance!

1: don't always believe all the reviews. Some is personal preference others are nit picky comments.
2: look at the menu and see if there are enough choice for you to eat if not it may be best to go somewhere where there are more food choices for you.

So Coral Reef has always been good for us and the kids always like the giant fish tanks there. An alternative is Teppan Edo in Japan where the cook the food in front of you. The chef's there always put on a good show and food is always good.

Tusker House we have never been to; however, we have heard good things about it. In AK the Flame Tree BBQ is always good. While not TS it is good. Yak and Yeti has always been good for us also as a TS.

Hollywood and Vine. I would avoid this like the plague. It was horrible and we will never go back. Terrible buffet style food. AT HS go for Sci Fi or 50's Primetime. Both have a great atmosphere and are fun. 50's Prime Time can be great depending on your server. We always do one of these on every trip and have never gone wrong.

BEG is good. Biergarten have never tried but want to as menu seems good and Akershus I have no opinion on. We did years back when it was not a character meal. BEG is a tough ADR and Plaza Restaraunt is a good place to dine in MK. Skipper Canteen is good but may be limited for kids.

 

[MarkS2112]

I agree with the posters who said skip Sci Fi. The food was just ok and they keep running the same clips over and over. 50’s PTC has good food and the servers interact with you both yours and others that are around so we always have e a great time there.

Sci Fi food is nothing special but nothing terrible either; however, its the atmosphere, dining in the car, cheesy movies and clips and overall atmosphere. 60's Prime Time can be great is you get a good server or just ok if the interactions are minimal. Food there is good to very good. Again its the atmosphere and what people like over other things and that is personal preference. I would assume at 6 and 5 your kids would love the cars at Sci Fi like mine still do at 20 and 23. We like both for different reasons. One being that you don't have a huge bill at the end, the other that either is fun for different reasons.

 

[pens4821]

I wouldn't worry much about reviews, I'd just go where you want. Chef Mickeys gets bad reviews, and it's our favorite place to eat. Years ago Ohana was always raved about, so we tried it for dinner and didn't like it. If a place seems like something you want to try, just go for it.