Looking for fun dining experience recs for family, already did HDDR

[OhanaMomma]

Hi all!

Last year me, DH, DD1 (9), DD2(7), were joined on our annual DW trip by my BIL and his family of 4. They had such a wonderful time, BIL and his wife are joining us again this November, his DS may or may not be joining us with his new GF! We are also being joined by DH's cousin and his wife, along with their BIL and his GF.

I'm looking for fun, different and exciting dining recommendations for the entire family. Last year we did The Hoop Dee Do Review, BOG dinner, Cape May cafe, F&W (ate and drank around the world), The Boathouse, Boma breakfast buffet, Chef Mickey's and LTT.

WE LOVED HDDR! We were going to try the Aloha dinner show, but I heard mixed reviews and we are going in November...sitting outdoors may not appeal to everyone if it's chilly.

Thanks for the recs!

 

[Mr & Mrs DD]

The Sci-Fi at Disney Hollywood is a neat place. It is set up to look like an old drive in movie. You set at tables that look like cars and watch old movie clips.
50's Prime Time Café also at Disney Hollywood. The food here is really good. The place is set up to look like your parent's house in the 1950's.
O'Hana is a very popular place.
Coral Reef at Epcot. This place gets a lot of mixed reviews, but we had a very good meal there. They have a giant aquarium. You can watch the sharks and sea turtles swim as you eat your dinner.
Tusker House for breakfast. It is character dining and we enjoy the breakfast there.
Biergarten at Epcot. It is a buffet (German food theme). They have live stage shows if you time your meal properly.
T-Rex at Disney Springs. It is a dinosaur themed place that kids enjoy.
50's Prime Time is the one place that we go to on every visit because we enjoy the food.

 

[Clarissa McDaniel]

Sci-Fi: Sit in tables that look like cars at an old drive in movie while watching old clips.
Garden Grill: Character meal served family style in a restaurant that rotates and provides looks down over Living with the Land
50s Prime Time: Supposed to feel like going back in time and eating at an aunt's house with a home style menu and wait staff that is supposed to friendly and jokingly interact and correct table manners
Crystal Palace: Character buffet served in a beautiful building

 

[Wish Upon A Starbucks]

Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge is lots of fun especially for a group.

 

[Dr Gevil]

For a fun, interactive dining experience in the vein of HDDR, I would suggest -

Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge - just be sure to ask for ketchup!
50's Prime Time Cafe in DHS - just be sure to leave your elbows on the table!
Teppan Edo in Epcot - Japanese Steakhouse with Chef tricks if you haven't been to one before.
Splitsville at Disney Springs - bowling and surprisingly really good food - including the sushi!
1900 Park Fair at the Grand Floridian - Great Character Meal because Lady Tremaine and the step sisters are hysterical!

Enjoy!

 

[elaine amj]

All fabulous recommendations I full agree with. WCC is fun and everyone loves BBQ. And Sci Fi is the most uniquely themed restaurant in WDW, in my opinion. Love taking first-timers there.

I wanted Garden Grill for our upcoming trip with newbies - but as we are a party of 7-9 people, I ended up deciding not to do it. I only like the bottom level booths and they seem to fit only about 6 people max.

Ohana gets high praise on the Dis and IMO, completely deserves it. After so many years, it's still our fave restaurant in WDW.

 

[Parker Clan]

Ohana or 1900 Park Fare Dinner

 

[eastendlights]

Honestly, the Aloha dinner is one of the worst meals we have ever had at Disney and we have dined in almost every restaurant on property.

Raglan Road is a really fun experience and the food is fantastic.

 

[barbliny]

Raglan Road is a really fun experience and the food is fantastic.

I was coming to suggest Raglan Road. Time your meal with one of the show times, and ask to be seated in the main dining room (there are other side rooms, that cannot see the stage). When we went a year ago, I timed our ADR 15 minutes before a show time. They will usually invite children up and teach them some Irish jig steps at the end of each show. It is very entertaining and the food is very good.

http://www.raglanroad.com/nightly-entertainment

We are doing Biergarten for the first time this trip. It seems to get consistently good reviews for the food and the fun.

This link will show you the Biergarten showtimes - from what I understand they can change slightly based on the time of year. I also have read that they can get really backed up on ADR seating times since people tend to linger with their liters while watching the entertainment, so plan accordingly.

http://wdwent.com/EPCOT.htm

 

[kpearl]

Raglan Road - the dancers are phenomenal and they will bring kids on stage to dance. food was delicious. fair warning, it's loud in there but the atmosphere is so fun and energetic.
50's Prime Time - throwback to the 50's, sitting in family kitchen, black & white TVs, comfort food. some people say the waitresses/waiters are not as aggressive with the acting as they used to be, which I can agree with, but it's just enough to enjoy the gimmick. their pot roast is my ALL time favorite. it's fairly inexpensive but fun. the desserts/shakes are delicious as well.
Sci-Fi - mirroring above it's a throwback to the drive in days. you sit in mock car/table (3 rows per car, typically 2 people per row. sometimes 3 if they child is small but it can be tight) with clips of sci-fi films. it's your typical burger, fries, and shakes meal. i like it but if i had to pick i'd go with 50's.
Whispering Canyon - this meal was SO much fun and the food was so, so, so good. just ask for ketchup and straws hahaha. you can also "turn off" the fun if it gets to be too much or you had your fair share. if you can take the boat over from MK it's a relaxing ride.
Crystal Palace - breakfast only.. the dinner has been the miss part of hit or miss for me the last 2 visits.. but the breakfast, oh so yummy. pooh's puffed toast!! the characters were a lot more energetic and spent a good amount of time with each table.
Cinderella Royal Table (dinner) or Akershus(dinner) - both meals were good, Akershus more than CRT, and the princesses were attentive and spent a godo amount of time with each table. Akershus also does a princess march around the restaurant. It's your typical character meal with the main princesses and you can cross a lot of those meet & greets off your list.

 

[Moxiepup]

We did the Spirit of Aloha Luau in April and were pleasantly surprised. The food was good. Not outstanding like you would expect at a fancy restaurant, but it was quite tasty. The meat on the chicken and ribs was fall off the bone tender. The bbq sauce could have had a bit more zip. It tasted like bbq sauce you'd get at a school cafeteria versus your favorite bbq place back home. I didn't get a chance to try much of the pulled pork, as DP doesn't care for meat on the bone, and so she got most of that. She said it could have used more sauce. The bite I tasted seemed like it was made using a rub rather than slathered in sauce, but still ok. The appetizers were good. I especially liked the noodle salad and pineapple.

I've heard many state that the service was bad when they went, but that wasn't the case for us. Our server came to check on us at least 7-8 times. I now regret not having downed my sangria faster, as I could have had several refills!

The first half of the show is more high school musical than the second half, but was still well executed in that the actors and musicians did their bit well. I actually didn't mind this, as this was during the portion when we were eating anyway. It's like when you're eating dinner on a TV tray in the living room... You want to watch your favorite binge worthy programme, but know you won't be able to pay it enough attention, so you put on a repeat of a beloved sitcom. You're being entertained, but not having to give it your full attention to do so. The second half of the show was amazing! This is where they do the regional dances of various islands. It was mesmerizing! I'm glad we weren't eating during this part, as we could give it our full attention.

Overall, we had a great time and would highly recommend it. I also recomend showing up about an hour early, checking into the luau ( at the Poly lobby) to get good seats, as they are assigned (within your tier, of course) by first come first assigned. Then you can head over to Trader Sam's Grog Grotto. This is an amazingly fun tiki bar, with lots of antics going on. Kids are allowed accompanied by an adult until 8pm.

I can post pictures when I get home from work later.

 

[Moxiepup]

Here are a few pictures from the Luau.

 

[lpizzuro123]

We also just did Spirit of Aloha and were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it. We have been going to WDW for over 20 years and this is the first time we did this. I think partly because we love 'Ohana and always eat there at least once a trip and we had also heard mixed reviews.

We thought the food was very good. As stated above, the BBQ sauce was not tangy, which I like, but we enjoyed it very much. The ribs and chicken were very moist as was the pulled pork. As all the meat was served on a large tray, we kind of mixed it around abit and got some of the sauce from the chicken on the pork. We also liked the dessert, which my DH was not too sure he would like.

We also loved the way they broke up the evening with the show and dining. There are starters out when you arrive and you can start eating this, then they come out and do a bit of the show, then the main dinner comes out and then some more of the show. Our waiter was so attentative to us. As soon as he saw we had eaten some chicken or ribs he replaced them with more. Both my dad and DH stated they loved the pulled pork and our waiter came out with a whole bowl of it and put it on our tray. I loved the cold noodle starters and got more of that also. Our waiter kept refilling our drinks also and then brought out coffee and tea with dessert. About 30 minutes before the show ended he stated it was last call for drinks and food and to let him know if we wanted anything else and then the show continued.

We did the early show so it was not fully dark for the show but really enjoyed it.

Linda

 

[cat_herder]

WE LOVED HDDR! We were going to try the Aloha dinner show, but I heard mixed reviews and we are going in November...sitting outdoors may not appeal to everyone if it's chilly.

Hey, It can be hot here in Florida up until November or even December sometimes. The Spirit of Aloha dinner and show is inside with open shutters. Walking from the Polynesian Village Resort to the cove with Spirit of Aloha show is about 5 minutes and would probably only require a light sweater/jacket. Of course check the weather just before your trip. We enjoyed it a lot for our 21 anniversary in May 2 years ago.