Hi, for those days when we are not going to a park, which dining locations at resorts do you find the COOLEST for their THEMING?
Or just the theming/decor of the resort itself, which we can wander around and admire.
Counter service or Table service, doesn’t matter. Our kids are 18, 14, 9, and 4. We want to get the chance to see the super-coolest (doesn’t have to be the fanciest/most $$) resorts!
Thanks much!
Animal Kingdom Lodge is probably the best themed of the ones I’ve seen and offers a very nice restaurant. Wilderness Lodge is right up there as well. IMO those are the top pair for themes and both offer nice restaurants although we didn’t manage to eat at WL when we stopped by on our last trip (i.e. no personal experience, but it’s well thought of generally).
AKL likely offers more to see wandering around and animal watching, but both are good visits.
We enjoyed eating at Boma for breakfast at Animal Kingdom 
Other places to consider are Rainforest Cafe and T-Rex. We also enjoy Ohana I LOVE both breakfast with Lilo and Stitch and for dinner
What you could always do is do a hotel hop and see what you like I know I had found a Christmas one for my parents to do. You could just go and explore them
To my family, the coolest themed restaurant is Sanaa at AKL. Make sure you get a reservation during daylight hours. Watching animals outside your window while you eat has got to be one of the most unique experiences ever.
I agree about Sanaa. I also agree with the Wilderness Lodge suggestion - not the restaurants specifically, but walking around the resort generally. The Poly is great for the same. Both offer places that you can get a casual snack / drink or a sit down meal. Last idea would be to do the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue at Fort Wilderness - delicious food, excellent theming, and a hilarious dinner show. It’s a Disney classic and a Liner favorite. If you drink, order your beer by the pitcher - best advice I’ve ever gotten lol.
We always enjoy visiting Wilderness Lodge, The Polynesian and Animal Kingdom Lodge. Those three have the deepest resort themes. We’ve eaten at Whispering Canyon in Wilderness Lodge and always loved it. Atmosphere is raucous and fun. At AKL we’ve eaten at Sanaa twice, and like wahoohokie says, make sure you eat there during daylight hours. The restaurant itself is beautiful, but can’t beat the experience of looking out the windows and seeing giraffes and zebras walking by. And try the bread service there. Was fantastic and my entire party of 5 got to enjoy it.
Definitely Sanaa, very cool decorating inside, and how many places can boast (live) zebra, giraffes, gazelles, etc. right outside of the window? And OBTW, some of the best (non-signature) food in WDW…
Not a “resort”, but Raglan Road in DS is one of my favorites. It has really cool “pub” theming, and at dinner the entertainment is top-notch. For me, it ties with Sanaa as having the best (non-signature) food outside of the parks (and is better than many choices inside of the parks as well).
Rainforest Café and T-Rex both have over-the-top theming, and the kids might enjoy them, but I find them to be frenetic and noisy - especially T-Rex - with food on a par with Chili’s or TGIF.
As for resort theming, nothing comes close to AKL - especially Jambo House. The lobby is breathtaking, and there are many places where you can watch animals. Wilderness lodge is also very pretty.
Although I have made it well known that I am not a fan of the Contemporary Resort, and have no interest in staying there, I think EVERYBODY should visit it. The architecture of the main atrium is pretty spectacular, and even after 40 years of going to WDW, I still get a bit of a thrill watching monorails go through it. FWIW, I consider The Wave (TS at the CR) to be the singularly most unthemed and ugliest TS in WDW (but the food is good).
The Boardwalk area is also worth a visit, especially in the evening. If you want to splurge, Flying Fish (a signature TS) has excellent food and has probably the best theming of any of the signatures for the younger set. But I know it’s slated for an extensive refurb sometime this year (I don’t remember the dates), so it might not be open when you’re there.
Thanks for all your help! Based on your recommendations, we made dinner reservations at Sanaa during daylight hours. I’ll have to take a stroll through some of the other resorts also. It will be our 5th trip to WDW but we keep repeating our favorite activities and restaurants, not branching out much 