Recommendations for counter service?

[bethnburke]

We are leaving in a week for WDW - YEAH! - and need some recommendations for counter service / food courts. We will be staying at Pop Century with two small kids 35 months/10 months so sit down restaurants arent really an option. DS just cant sit still that long.

Which places in the parks / other resorts are worth going to? Which should we avoid?

Thanks
Beth

 

[kbkids]

I understand - we have small kids too - and quite frankly, I can't stand spending the money on the sit down restaurants. In Magic Kingdom, I'm a big fan of Casey's Corner. It's literally just hot dogs, but they are really good. There's basically two kinds - small and large. We usually get 3 larges, and the kids (ages 2 and 6) will split one. We also like Pinocchio's (forget the whole name) - it's right by It's a Small World. Hamburgers are good, and if you order the double cheeseburger, you can get an extra bun for less than $1, and you and hubby can split it. Pecos Bill (Frontierland) is basically the same food - we go to either place depending on where we are at lunch time. There is a restaurant (I believe in Tomorrowland) that has roasted chicken that is supposed to be pretty good. Not sure which one it is though.

Can't give you much help with Epcot, as we don't usually go past Future World. We have ate at the Cantina in Mexico, and it wasn't bad, but not really anything kids are going to eat.

MGM, we do usually do the sit down restaurant here (Prime Time Cafe), but they've got Pizza Planet with the Toy Story theming. Not the greatest pizza, but it's not bad.

Animal Kingdom has Restarauntasaurus - basically hamburgers and hot dogs again.

If you use this link, you can see the menus for all the restaurants. It will notate which ones are counter service.

http://allearsnet.com/menu/menus.htm#ak

 

[TammyC]

I enjoyed Tusker House at AK. The corn chowder was quite good. Not much on the kids menu though - the PB & J was a Smuckers Uncrustable. We all like the Epcot Sunshine Season food court - a lot of variety for everyone. At Mk Columbia Harbor House the chicken/fish strips and fries basket was large enough to share with our little one, and they also had a good veggie chili. Yes I ate soup a lot - it was December and chilly!

 

[chuckd]

There is a restaurant (I believe in Tomorrowland) that has roasted chicken that is supposed to be pretty good. Not sure which one it is though.

This is Cosmic Rays. They have some of the best counter service food in WDW, IMHO. There is also Sonny Eclipse, an AA lounge singer, who is the entertainment. The food here is very reasonalbly priced and there is a huge toppings bar, which is nice.

 

[MikeWazowski]

My two favorite counter-service restaurants have to be the Land food court for the variety and the Columbia Harbor House for the upstairs.

At the Columbia Harbor House you can get away from everything upstairs and have good food. The land is my favorite but always very busy for lunch.

Also to add to the above post about Casey Corner, this is a definite must do. The Hot Dogs are not what I am use to up here in Buffalo, but are very big and quite good. On my past xmas trip my family ordered 1 for each of us (4 total), drinks and fries and had everything in 2 minutes. They were very fast.

After doing a bunch of sit-down restaurants for xmas I am looking forward to doing mostly counter-service on my upcoming Feb. trip. Just because it is "fast food" does'nt mean it won't be good and there are a bunch of good ones. Have Fun

 

[maggiew]

We like Cosmic Rays at MK. The kids can get corn dog nuggets which is a little different than the usual chicken strips. Plus, the toppings bar made the burgers really great for the adults. I also like the hot cheese sauce for my fries. Plus they have the robot Sonny Eclipse guy singing songs (think Chuck E. Cheese shows).

In both AK and MGM, we were able to get a big plastic container of fresh fruit (different kinds mixed). I thought this was great for the kids to snack on. In AK it was in a cart by the safari. At MGM it was in the food area by rock n rollercoaster/Tower of terror.

We love to eat at EPCOT. But my kids are a little older. I almost forget what they eat at 35 months! But, they have soft tacos at the Mexican cantina that has very finely chopped hamburger. They also have chips and cheese sauce (maybe not good for kids that young???). How about an eggroll in China or rice? My kids like the Yakitori house in Japan. They get chicken on a skewer (obviously you would want to take it off the skewer for your kids) with white rice. Would they eat the fish and chips at the UK counter service place? Italy has no fast food. There is always the good old USA too! EPCOT also has McDonald fries right before you hit Canada from World Showcase.

I think since your oldest is 35 months and not yet 3, he can eat for free at the buffets. Maybe you could try a character breakfast at Chef Mickeys. I know this is a sit down place, but it is very noisy and active and it wouldn't be a problem to have an active kid. Plus there is so much going on that he would probably be occupied. There would be lots of things to eat off the buffet.

Maggie

 

[bethnburke]

Thanks for all your feedback!

We actually have one PS for Chef Mickeys for dinner - a birthday dinner for DS. I think that might work ok since it is a buffet and the whole birthday thing will be a blast. I cant wait to see his face when Mickey wishes him a happy birthday.


It sounds like Caseys corner will need to be on our list - hot dogs and chicken strips are the two foods I know he will eat

 

[stacy6552]

we love love love pecos bills.

we hate hate hate resturauntasaurus (but not donalds breakfast)