Why do I look at the menus?

I’m planning our ADR’s and would very much like to eat at places we haven’t been. O’Hana jumps out at me from the DDP restaurant listing PDF and I think, hey, that sounds fun! Then I look at the menu. For real? Mickey waffles and scrambled eggs for breakfast and meat on a stick for dinner??

This exact thing is actually a frequent complaint of my DH’s: “We want to try new places, you look at the menu and say eww” It’s not even like I can eat off the menu with my allergies, but still. My kids would seriously revolt if I “made them” meet Stitch and all they got was a powdered egg.

Another location that I keep trying to talk myself into going to is The Plaza in MK. But them I’m like, burgers - boring. Although, their breakfast does look promising…

Where have you eaten that you were totally surprised it was good?

I will say that we loved 'Ohana at dinner. The meat was soooooo good! There were things I couldn’t eat with my allergies, but they had good replacements just for me.

Most of the places you eat at breakfast have the same kinds of food, especially the ones which are all you care to eat. I think my favorite breakfasts that I had on our last trip were Boma and Tusker House. They had quite the variety of foods along with some you don’t see in regular places.

We love Akershus! Their buffet is delicious. I actually crave some of the cheeses they carry.

Raglan Road and Tiffins are our absolute favorite restaurants. I can’t wait to eat there again!

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We liked BOG breakfast. Yes it is expensive but if your on the DDP it is a good use of a QS credit. We did not do breakfasts we bought pastries from France and eat them for breakfast before leaving for the parks in the AM.

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We are foodies. Here’s the list from last trip - winners (some signature so pricy)

MK - Columbia Harbor House, BOG, dinner at Citricos (Grand Floridian)
EP - Sunshine Seasons, pretzels in Germany, pastries are Les Halles? Dinner at Spice Road Table
AK - lunch at Satu’li, dinner at Tiffins
HS - lunch at HBD, dinner at Rosie’s

Trying Geyser Point for lunch on this next trip as a brief midday break from MK.

I read menus like crazy before deciding and also read/watch lots of reviews.

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We didn’t think Ohana breakfast or dinner was all that great. Garden Grill is our favorite breakfast. I didn’t think BOG breakfast was all that great either, but the lunch was fantastic. Yak and Yeti and Sci Fi were also big hits for my family. While it’s not foodie food, we though 1900 Park Faire dinner was better than the reviews we heard.

The tricky part about eating at Disney is that you want to try something new, but it is expensive and I tend to be even more disappointed if it isn’t that great. But there are times I am pleasantly surprised as well.

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If the food is the important thing to you, skip CMs (with the possible exception of Tusker House). It’s Disney’s money grab; they know they can serve mediocre food at an inflated price and will still sell out because of the characters. And quite frankly, the pre-teen target audience for the CMs doesn’t really care. Not saying that a CM can’t be a very memorable experience - but go for the characters, not the food.

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I think Akershus qualifies as a CM meal that is very good! It’s as good now as it was when they weren’t a CM.

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I ask myself the same question- why do I look at the menus?

I’ve never really understood the emphasis on food & dining at Disney. At the end of the day, it’s a fantastic amusement park- with pretty good food. I guess the same thing can be said about the accommodations. For the same price, you’d be treated like a king anywhere else.

The area where it really excels? The amusement parks. :wink: That’s what I like to concentrate on because that’s what the draw is. I’m sorry I’m no help, but I think your first instinct is the best one.

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We go for the food and the immersive bubble. DH has some pretty tricky dietary restrictions which keep him from going out to eat anywhere except for WDW. We love that they can prepare a dish especially for him; even at buffets. It’s wonderful.

We don’t really go for the rides. There are very few that either of us can ride due to vertigo issues.

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I completely agree about the immersive bubble- that is very important to me as well, since I can’t ride many of the rides, either. That’s why I don’t go with the family on the one day they go over to Universal. The theming in the restaurants is definitely part of that, but the food really isn’t. Sometimes the food can be quite good, but often it’s just okay even in the best of the restaurants.

We like to have an ADR in the middle of the day, to get out of the crowds and the heat. The food is secondary, so our expectations are low and that’s fine. This year, we decided to go club level for the pleasant atmosphere and convenience. I guess we just don’t really care that much about the food at WDW so just grazing on the offerings at the lounges works pretty well for us.

I’m thinking maybe the OP is also the kind of person that doesn’t really go for the food at WDW, and that’s OK.

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It’s great that everyone is different. I love eating interesting and delicious food. I get that from all of my years overseas, I think. What’s wonderful is that WDW caters to all of our needs/wants.

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It’s hard to find really good food at WDW. I have, however, had great meals at each of the following:

California Grill
The Wave
Grand Floridian Cafe
Narcoossee’s
Jiko

Everything else has varied from bad to decent.

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Ok that’s it we need to do WDW together we can all rent ECVs and block the paths and go to all the shows and a few of the slow rides. I’m trying to plan our silver anniversary around where to eat and what dining plan to get. We don’t do too many of the coasters because I don’t fit and I won’t do IASW took me 10 min to get out of the boat.

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Sounds like a plan.

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Plenty of time to plan 1797 days to go give or take a few.

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For us it’s the fact that we rarely dine out (and I do mean rarely). So when we go to WDW our ADRs are more important than fastpasses. We’ll do three TS meals a day most days.

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Ohana breakfast was a highlight for me this summer. I had a table with wonderful views of MK. I got a great photo with Mickey. And I thought the breakfast was as good as hotel breakfasts in any hotel (Disney or otherwise) tend to be. Plenty of food. Tasty.

I would do it again.

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I completely agree. The one character breakfast we love is Crystal Palace. There’s something about the food there that my family craves. I think it’s the French toast.

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So are we. DH is a professional chef and I’m allergic to everything on the planet. Food is a big deal to us. He is super critical and hard to please (although he would never admit it). Disney has come a long way from when they had McDonalds in park, that’s for sure!

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Why wait until you get to Disney? Have more fun through the year! Even if you live out in the boonies, sooner or later most folks end up where there are restaurants as good as Disney’s or better, at less cost. I have the luck of living in a little resort town & can throw a snowball and hit four restaurants all better than Disney’s with the possible exception of V & A.

We travel a lot and do go to the foodie capitals, but there’s great food all around & easy to find with OpenTable or TripAdvisor. And still the most memorable vacation dinner we ever had was a little local restaurant in Normandy we kind of just stumbled across, to this day my kids recall that meal. The food was fabulous but the setting was unforgettable- we didn’t speak much French and they didn’t speak much English but a wonderful time was had by all. Fantastic. Paris had nothing on that little place.

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