Poll Time! Best Disney Resort Hotel Dining

It’s time to continue our search for the best Disney Resort Hotel! Last time we covered Location, which resulted in good showings by Boardwalk, Beach Club, Polynesian, and Contemporary.

I’m going to continue this series today with a look into which resort has the best Dining!

I’ve learned my lesson and am not going to try to group the resorts by transportation options again. :joy: I will start with three polls dividing the resorts between Deluxe (including DVC), Moderate, and Value - please vote once in each. (This information will be useful to people who only stay in a particular category.)

Which Disney Resort Hotel has access to the best dining options?

Poll 1: Deluxe / DVC

  • Animal Kingdom Lodge
  • Beach Club
  • Boardwalk Inn
  • Contemporary
  • Galactic Starcruiser
  • Grand Floridian
  • Old Key West
  • Polynesian Village
  • Riviera
  • Saratoga Springs
  • Swan/Dolphin
  • Wilderness Lodge
  • Yacht Club

0 voters

Poll 2: Moderate

  • Caribbean Beach
  • Coronado Springs
  • Fort Wilderness Cabins
  • Port Orleans French Quarter
  • Port Orleans Riverside

0 voters

Poll 3: Value

  • All-Star Movies
  • All-Star Music
  • All-Star Sports
  • Art of Animation
  • Pop Century

0 voters

You can consider access to nearby options (like Epcot / Boardwalk area / Disney Springs), but try to factor in the walking distance, etc. (e.g., a 4-star restaurant on site might be equivalent to a 5-star restaurant a half-mile walk away). Use whatever criteria you see fit to determine how you answer the question.

Any option that gets at least 15% of the vote in the respective poll will move on to Round 2.

Jeff's Official Polling Rules for Cynics and Skeptics

In case of a tournament, the following protocols will be followed:

  • All voters are eligible to participate regardless of their familiarity with the various options
  • Voters may cast or change their vote as desired until the poll is closed (generally timed)
  • The first option to receive over 50% in any round upon closing of the poll is deemed the winner
  • The percentage displayed by the forum software will be deemed the official result, regardless of the absolute number of votes cast (i.e., rounding differences may be decisive)
  • If no option receives over 50%, additional rounds will be held
    • All options receiving 15% or more will advance to the next round
    • If all options have received 15% or more, the option receiving the lowest % of the vote will be eliminated
    • In the case of a tie, the option receiving the higher % in the previous round will advance
      • If there is still a tie after following the above rules, the option listed first by the forum software in the results will advance
  • All results are final – no recounts, re-dos, challenges, or complaints will be accepted; however, discussion and debate is welcome.
  • Have a magical day! :rainbow::european_castle::fireworks:
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Remember to vote even if you haven’t eaten / stayed at each resort! Use what you’ve heard / know to vote. Just want participation.

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I had a really hard time deciding between AKL and GF.

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The answer is always Jiko. That rule makes life simple.

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To me the thing that swayed me away from AKL was the wording “access to”.

At BWV you have some great choices - Trattoria al Forno, Flying Fish, Abracadabar, and soon that bakery place. They also have the pizza window and the current bakery place. And ice cream.

And then just a short stroll away you have everything at BC YC.

And a little further, Epcot.

So although AKL is in my heart, I picked BWV for that reason

7 Likes

I think that’s a valid thought process! Boardwalk is a big contender, IMO. I also struggled with how high to place SSR, although I think its access to DS isn’t that much better than other hotels (I haven’t stayed there yet but that is my impression).

Sanaa has the bread service, which alone puts AKL over the edge for me. But Jiko and Boma are heavy hitters as well.

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I just can’t give the edge to any of the EP area resorts since they all have equal access with potentially Swan/Dolphin having the most?

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SSR itself has nothing good to offer IMO. The only thing it does offer is access to DS, which is important but I think the resort itself needs to have something to offer.

You are 100% right about AKL restaurants - which I was amending my earlier reply to say, when my boss came in - but it doesn’t have access to other than what it alone offers. I LOVE the dining there, do not get me wrong, but that’s all you have easy access to there.

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I chose BW (not even having ever stayed there) based on the restaurants that it offers on its own in addition to being close to the other resorts.

Dang I forgot to even consider SWolphin — add that to the ones that BWV can provide easy access to I guess

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So I know these are Jeff’s rules and I don’t want a repeat of the transportation issue, but I don’t think we should include restaurants outside of the resort unless we create different categories for MK and EP area resorts. If access is considered do any of the others even stand a chance?

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The poll is written with that language and that’s the only reason for my thought process.

Otherwise I would be voting AKL (or at least I’m pretty sure I would be)

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I know I just disagree with that :rofl: I chose AKL bc even though it’s an outlier it still offers the most unique experiences along with incredible food.

3 Likes

I’m excited to see Coronado doing so well, and a little bit surprised!

Clearly if this resort had some kind of transportation improvement it would be the hottest spot on property.

There is a TON of dining there, and almost all of it gets rave reviews!

4 Likes

It’s routinely the cheapest moderate too. I realy think the gigantic size and transpo issue is the only reason it’s not a #1 resort.

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And that tower! SWOOOOON!!!

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I went with AKL. The options there are universally great. So much so that I think it overcomes the lack of access to other locations.

My second choice would be Poly. I love all of the restaurants there as well.

3 Likes

Everyone has to interpret the rules the way they want, but I thought it would be more interesting to include access, because it’s relevant to the decision making process. If I’m at Beach Club, I really can walk out the door and go to France or the Boardwalk, so I think that should be factored in. But restaurants on site should be given more weight since everyone could go to Boardwalk or Epcot for a meal - it’s just a matter of how easy that access is.

I have a different poll series asking about best restaurants, so I think making this poll just about on-site restaurants would come down to which hotel has the best restaurant, which isn’t as interesting to me.

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Also I like to make my polls a little tricky to make people think and generate discussion. :rofl:

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See I don’t think Poly is all it’s cracked up to be and it lacks signature dining of any kind (I’m hoping that will come with the new tower).

Kona and Ohana are good don’t misunderstand me, but they are not standout to me the way that some other restaurants are. I do love me some Captain Cooks.

Then again, the access thing needs to be considered here: GFC, Narcoosee, Citricos, Cali Grill, Steakhouse 71, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Storybook Dining…

But without “knock it out of the park” (Sox lead 3-2 bottom of the 3rd) dining itself I think I would give the edge to one of the other monorail resorts over this one.

I’m sticking with BW though

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Yeah Poly would be 3rd on my list for dining in the MK loop.

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