What's the current "popular" restaurant?

[sophie832]

We have eaten at a majority of on-property restaurants. However, we haven't been to WDW since fall of 2015. At that time, Disney Springs was just getting Morimoto and Boathouse (we have never eaten at either), but I'm sure there have been some other new restaurants since then. What are the current "hard-to-book" restaurants that are popular? Are they worth it? What's new in the past couple of years that we should try?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Amongst the "newer" stuff that is bookable (i.e., not QS), Homecomin' gets a lot of woo from people. Planet Hollywood re-opened, but gets very little woo.

 

[holden]

Be Our Guest is a difficult reservation to get...very popular. IMHO it's not that great though. Of the meals offered there, our best experience was lunch.

Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' in Disney Springs is new, delicious, and not hard to book. I also liked Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen, also not hard to book. I will absolutely return to both of these.

 

[Dean Marino]

Taking over first place from LeCellier - Be our Guest. BOG would now be the most fought over "we MUST book it" place on property.

Now - having gotten past that.... a little data will help? Are you using DDP? TIW? Out of pocket? This does actually make a difference . Going for food quality, characters?

"Popular" and "Best" can be two very different things..... Chipoltle is popular . So is McDonalds .

Hoping to help in any way I can.....

 

[Parker Clan]

A new popular restaurant at Disney Springs is Homecoming. I highly recommend it, it's delish!

 

[B-Ride]

Amongst the "newer" stuff that is bookable (i.e., not QS), Homecomin' gets a lot of woo from people. Planet Hollywood re-opened, but gets very little woo.

Not sure what "woo" is but I would agree that I have never been to a Planet Hollywood that has much "woo". They do serve large portions thought.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Not sure what "woo" is but I would agree that I have never been to a Planet Hollywood that has much "woo". They do serve large portions thought.

I have read absolutely no one on the hype train for it.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Not new, but the most hard-to-get reservations seem to be BOG (dinner is the hardest) and O'hana dinner. Our favorite "new" restaurant is Boathouse. We also liked Tiffins. Not a TS, but we are looking forward to trying Satul'i Canteen on our next trip. Also not TS, but we've really enjoyed going to Nomad Lounge, AbracadaBAR and Trader Sam's.

 

[sophie832]

Taking over first place from LeCellier - Be our Guest. BOG would now be the most fought over "we MUST book it" place on property.

Now - having gotten past that.... a little data will help? Are you using DDP? TIW? Out of pocket? This does actually make a difference . Going for food quality, characters?

"Popular" and "Best" can be two very different things..... Chipoltle is popular . So is McDonalds .

Hoping to help in any way I can.....

We have done Le Cellier a couple of times, and BoG once back when it had just opened. Homecomin' seems like a good choice, although we were thinking of avoiding Disney Springs this trip, but maybe we can make it over there.

We are doing OOP this time, no TIW or DDP. We will have our 4 yr old son with us, but he is good in most restaurants...we may still do one night with a babysitter so we can have a romantic dinner. We'll see.

I guess we are looking for best (vs just popular), although sometimes it is fun to score a hard-to-get ADR. We are way inside the 180, though (less than 90 days out), so we are doing this with whatever ADRs are available. We're staying at BWV, so anything Epcot area isn't far. First night we are doing Flying Fish just because it's convenient, but nice. We have eaten there once before.

Thx for all the comments.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Make sure you check the menu before you commit to Flying Fish. It has changed substantially since your last visit, and not for the better IMO in terms of price and selection.

The hardest ADRs to get currently are any meals (B, L or D) at Be Our Guest, Akersus, Chef Mickey, 1900 Park Fare or Cinderella's Royal Table, dinner at Ohana, and lunch or dinner at Sci Fi.

You shouldn't have trouble finding something at any other venue.

 

[Lacoccinelle]

Trattoria al Forno has a Rapunzel/Flynn and Ariel/Eric breakfast.

 

[GreatLakes]

Tiffins in AK has gotten a lot of good reviews.

 

[disneyvoice]

We ate at Homecomin' for the first time on our last trip. Wow! EVERYTHING we got was simply delicious. We quickly decided it is our new favorite restaurant at WDW. We are currently building a house not far from WDW and my DH told me he thinks it needs to be our new hang-out!

 

[jsbowl16]

We went to Polite Pig a few weeks ago and it was amazing. The smoked meats are some of the best you will find anywhere and the vegetables you can get there are all prepared with very interesting flavors. I am not sure how busy it is for dinner because we had lunch which was a walk in on a weekday afternoon.

 

[jsbowl16]

We have done Le Cellier a couple of times, and BoG once back when it had just opened. Homecomin' seems like a good choice, although we were thinking of avoiding Disney Springs this trip, but maybe we can make it over there.

We are doing OOP this time, no TIW or DDP. We will have our 4 yr old son with us, but he is good in most restaurants...we may still do one night with a babysitter so we can have a romantic dinner. We'll see.

I guess we are looking for best (vs just popular), although sometimes it is fun to score a hard-to-get ADR. We are way inside the 180, though (less than 90 days out), so we are doing this with whatever ADRs are available. We're staying at BWV, so anything Epcot area isn't far. First night we are doing Flying Fish just because it's convenient, but nice. We have eaten there once before.

Thx for all the comments.

We ate at Flying Fish a few weeks ago and it was amazing as always. We had the Wagyu Beef and other than Shulas it is the best cut of beef on property. Shulas is located in the Dolphin which is an easy walk and would make for a great romantic dinner as well.

 

[Little T]

No doubt it is still Be Our Guest especially for dinner. Still very hard to get reservations for that. If you do you better keep em.

 

[sophie832]

Trattoria al Forno has a Rapunzel/Flynn and Ariel/Eric breakfast.

Didn't know that! DS would probably really enjoy that at his age. Thanks!

We ate at Homecomin' for the first time on our last trip. Wow! EVERYTHING we got was simply delicious. We quickly decided it is our new favorite restaurant at WDW. We are currently building a house not far from WDW and my DH told me he thinks it needs to be our new hang-out!

I think we will try to do Homecomin' since a lot of people are recommending it. Totally jealous that you are building a house close to WDW!

We ate at Flying Fish a few weeks ago and it was amazing as always. We had the Wagyu Beef and other than Shulas it is the best cut of beef on property. Shulas is located in the Dolphin which is an easy walk and would make for a great romantic dinner as well.

We have eaten at Shula's once and absolutely agree that it's the best beef on-property. We might do that if we decide to go through with the babysitting plan, so it's just the two of us.

 

[OKW Lover]

Make sure you check the menu before you commit to Flying Fish. It has changed substantially since you visit, and not for the better IMO in terms of price and selection.

Agree. The new FF menu leaves me cold.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Agree. The new FF menu leaves me cold.

With it being 30% off during our visit, I would be there every night if it still had the old menu. But if that were the case, they probably wouldn't need to discount it so deeply.

I wonder at what point will they admit failure with this particular "re-imagining." IMO, it's not just the unappealing and overly expensive menu that is not drawing guests. It looks too formal and fancy for a place at the entrance of a theme park.

The previous decor was whimsical and inviting. With a little freshening up, you felt fine going in there after spending time in Epcot or the Studios. The way it looks now, I'd want to be dressed like I was going to a wedding to eat there.

 

[Dean Marino]

We have done Le Cellier a couple of times, and BoG once back when it had just opened. Homecomin' seems like a good choice, although we were thinking of avoiding Disney Springs this trip, but maybe we can make it over there.

We are doing OOP this time, no TIW or DDP. We will have our 4 yr old son with us, but he is good in most restaurants...we may still do one night with a babysitter so we can have a romantic dinner. We'll see.

I guess we are looking for best (vs just popular), although sometimes it is fun to score a hard-to-get ADR. We are way inside the 180, though (less than 90 days out), so we are doing this with whatever ADRs are available. We're staying at BWV, so anything Epcot area isn't far. First night we are doing Flying Fish just because it's convenient, but nice. We have eaten there once before.

Thx for all the comments.

Now this is something we can work with . I'll mention right off - there is no WDW Restaurant that would do anything but WELCOME your 4 year old . WDW is probably the BEST place to introduce children to "nice restaurants" . My wife and I are 65.... we SMILE when we see families with little ones at Disney . I'll start with Signatures - but you may not wish to go to one every day, based on budget....

Let's start with your "night out".... our two favorites (tie).... The California Grill, Contemporary - and Shula's, the Dolphin. Other GREAT places? Citrico's, Narcoossee's, Artist Point, Il Mulino. Almost all of these will be about $100 per plate.

With a little one, you may wish to have several meals at NON Signatures (we did when our children were little). Price tag goes down.... closer to $50 a plate.

Our favorite BREAKFAST spot - Whispering Canyon, Wilderness Lodge. With Pony rides for the young ones.
Lunch? Almost anywhere (we skip lunch these days).
Dinner? General advice - get out of the parks. Disney Springs tends to offer BETTER moderate dining.

Gotta ask - have you considered DDP? My wife and I don't use it, as our children are grown. But this CAN be a very good program for a family with children. As I recall (30 years back)..... they tend to get hungry, hourly . And DDP will give your young child snacks. Night out? 4 of the 6 "night out" restaurants I listed will accept the DDP.