Hi all!
My 17 year old son and I will be going to WDW for a quick weekend trip to celebrate my 50th birthday, at the end of April. :-)
At this point, the kid is unhappy about missing any school/lacrosse games/practices, so I can only drag him away Thursday - Sunday. We are flying to WDW. we are staying the Contemporary (on my bucket list). At this point, the plans are to go to MK after we arrive on Thursday afternoon, HS on Friday, and AK on Saturday. My brother, his wife and boys age 7 and 5, might join us at AK on Saturday. I donāt know if we should do any ADRās during the day if weāre going to be busy running around the parks? but Iāve also heard that its good to sit and rest after wearing masks all day?? I was thinking maybe having dinner on Saturday nite after AK with the whole family, but have no idea where! I think one of my nephews is a picky eater. I also donāt want a fancy place that might break the bank for them. That being said, I am a diva, when it comes to my b-day, so I want to go places that will acknowledge me and my b-day!
Rope drop has always been an elusive goal, for me, but since we just have 1 day at HS, I thought weād try to make it to the park early. Not sure if I also want to try to aim for breakfast beforehand or not? I was thinking the Wave for breakfast one of the days? CA Grill for my son and I on Thursday night, but do you recommend CA Grill for a 17 year old bottomless pit??
Help! TIA!
There are lots of good places to eat of course, but one thought I had was since you are only there 3 full park days, try to do table service either before or after park hours to avoid missing out on attractions. If you want to eat in a park, try to find a reservation in the heat of the afternoon when the parks are busy and youāll want a rest.
California Grill is fantastic but it might be wasted on a 17-year-old. Or maybe not, depending on your budget. What cuisine are you looking for?
Iād say the āAmericanā style meals would be our best bet. Burgers, pizza, mac and cheese, BBQ, etc.
Hereās a poll thread I did of the best restaurants in WDW, including polls for resorts and for each park. Anything that made it through to the championship rounds is a good option, and many of the less popular restaurants have their fans. (For example, I really love Rainforest Cafe, even though many people think the food is just ok. Itās consistently one of my favorite meals at Disney. 
)
My teen boyās only request for our next trip was a repeat of CG. He loved itāgood food (got sushi, entree, dessert so plenty of food), ambience (nice/special/but not super posh), and views. We did watch HEA there so that may have upped the appeal.