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Restaurants

The wonderful thing about WDW is you can any and every kind of cuisine imaginable! And most restaurants are covered under the Disney Dining Plan. Tip: Before making a reservation, always check the latest Disney Dining Plan guide to make sure the restaurant you have chosen is covered under the Dining Plan. Also, reservations can be made 180 days in advance.

The other beauty of having such variety of cuisine and a Disney Dining Plan is that you can eat at restaurants that you may not have thought of.

Any themed restaurant has the décor and uniforms that go with that theme.

Here are some quick descriptions/reviews of table service restaurants that I have dined at over the years. All of the restaurants I have dined at have been good.

Magic Kingdom:

·         Liberty Tree Tavern (Liberty Square) – Old Colonial food such as pot roast and turkey.

·         Crystal Palace – Character Dining with Winnie the Pooh and Friends. Buffet style

·         Cinderella’s Royal Table – Character Dining with Cinderella and the princesses (and occasionally a prince). Seated meal – you get a choice of about 4 options for your meal

EPCOT:

·         Coral Reef (Future World – Living Seas) – The atmosphere alone is worth it! As you sit in the dining room, you can gaze into the huge tank containing fish, turtles and rays. There is a card on the table to help you identify the different animals.

·         Le Cellier Steakhouse (Canada Pavillon) – Reservations are a must! I had a $65 steak, which was absolutely delicious!

·         Nine Dragons Restaurant (China Pavillon) – Upscale Chinese food.

Hollywood Studios:

·         50’s Prime Time Café – When you walk into this restaurant you feel like you are walking into your grandmother’s house! Everything is decorated in 50’s style and they have clips of old black & white 50’s sit coms playing on old TVs in each dining area. The waiter/waitress will make you set your place at the table, makes sure you washed your hands and makes you keep your elbows off the table!! And the dessert menu is on a View Finder!

·         Hollywood and Vine – Buffet with the Disney Jr characters. During Star Wars weekends, character dinner with Mickey as Luke Skywalker, Minnie as Princess Leia, Donald as a storm trooper and Goofy as Vader

·         Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano – Wonderful Italian food!

·         Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre – You walk into the dining area and it is set up like an old school drive in. The tables are cars and are pointed towards a drive in screen playing scenes from cheesy Science Fiction movies. This is also where they have a Star Wars breakfast with Darth Vader and Boba Fett during Star Wars weekends in May and June

 Animal Kingdom:

·         Tusker House – Wonderful buffet that includes American classics as well as African inspired dishes. Both breakfast and lunch are character dining with Mickey and Friends

Downtown Disney:

·         Planet Hollywood – After you eat, you can enjoy walking around and viewing different movie props and costumes from different movies

·         Raglan Road Irish Pub and restaurant – Irish food and Irish beer. Occasionally they have live Irish music as well

·         Rainforest Café – Feel like you are eating in the jungle with animatronic animals in every section. Every 20 minutes there is a rain storm, but don’t worry, you won’t get wet. You will hear the thunder and see the lights flashing as if it were lightening

·         T-REX – Similar to Rainforest Café except with dinosaurs! If you are or you have a dinosaur lover, you must eat here!! Animatronic dinosaurs with cards that have a brief description of that dinosaur. Every 20 minutes there is a meteor shower (like Rainforest Café with their rain storm) Definitely make reservations! If not, the wait times are ridiculous!

 

Also, menus are always available online so you can see if the food options are something that you would like. If you go to https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/ and select a restaurant link, there is a link to the right that says "Show Menu". At the top of the menu page, you can select which meal menu you would like to view (breakfast, lunch or dinner)

Character Dining

If you’re like me and you love seeing the characters and getting pictures with them, then character dining is for you!

Character dining is having a meal and the character make the rounds around the room and stop at each table for photo and signature ops. Disney has all kinds of character dining! My favorites are any meal with Mickey Mouse or the princesses.

I have two preferences for dining with Mickey. The first one is Chef Mickey’s which is in the Contemporary. Mickey and friends are dressed in chef and waiter/waitress uniforms. You need to make reservations well in advance as reservations book up fast!!

The other is the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. Mickey and friends are dressed in their safari best. This is an excellent second option if you can’t get reservations to Chef Mickey’s. There is also the Cape May Café in the Beach Club Resort where Mickey and friends are in their beachwear. These are the ones I have dined at. All are buffets. Tip: If you see the characters getting close to your table, you may want to wait for that next trip to the buffet or the bathroom because there is a chance they will pass by your table if no one is there. You can speak to the cast member that is with Mickey or the other characters to make sure that your table is not missed.

When it comes to dining with the princesses, Cinderella’s Royal Table in the castle at Magic Kingdom is the best! And also the hardest to get a reservation for! I have had the privilege of dining inside the castle for breakfast on a few different occasions. If you have the Disney Dining plan it will cost you 2 table services, but I would recommend doing it at least once just for the experience! The experience comes with a Photo of you and Cinderella. You actually meet her before you head up to the dining area to be seated.  (this photo will be included in the Memory Maker package if you choose to purchase the memory maker)

Once seated you have a few different breakfast food options to choose from. It is a seated meal. As you eat your breakfast, each princess is formally announced as they enter the dining area and begin making their rounds. Princesses I have met have been Cinderella of course, Belle, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Jasmine and Snow White

There is another dining experience for the princesses. In EPCOT’s Norway pavilion the Akershus Royal Banquet is a buffet in which you can meet the princesses.

There is also the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom for Winnie the Pooh and his 100 Acre Woods friends. This is also a buffet.

There are other character experiences as well, such as breakfast with Mary Poppins or tea time with Alice in Wonderland at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian; breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at Ohana in the Polynesian resort; Disney Jr. characters in Hollywood & Vine in Hollywood Studios; among others.

Regardless on which character dining experience you want, I would highly recommend calling for reservations! You can try online reservations first and if unsuccessful, don’t give up…Call!

 

Also, menus are always available online so you can see if the food options are something that you would like. If you go to https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/ and select a restaurant link, there is a link to the right that says "Show Menu". At the top of the menu page, you can select which meal menu you would like to view (breakfast, lunch or dinner)

Magic Bands Part 2

If you have not been to Disney in some time, they have done away with "Key to the World" and are now replaced by Magicbands. It still contains the same information as your Key to the World except it is a band around your wrist. 

Prior to your visit, you can customize your Magicband by choosing your color and having your name printed on the inside of your band. Once you get to Disney you can purchase accessories for your band. They have charms, slider charms and slip covers. 

Your Magicband is your room key, park pass, Dining Plan, Photo Pass (Memory Maker) and you can link a credit card to make purchases in the park to charge against your room.

I loved the Magicband! No fear that I was going to lose a card and no more fumbling through your things to find a card. It's on your wrist. It was so easy! And no worries that someone could just use yours. You set up a PIN that is associated with your band and must use the PIN if you are using it for anything monetary. And to get into the parks, on the first day you use your finger print and have to use the same finger each time you enter a park.

Also the band is waterproof.

And the off chance that you have an allergic reaction, you can get a card instead. 

With the Magicband you can make Fastpass selections prior to even getting to Disney! You are allowed 3 per day. And after you use those 3 you can go to a kiosk and make another selection, which is a rolling selection. What this means is once you utilize the rolling selection then you can make another and so on. 

You will want to download the app My Disney Experience**. You can make changes on the go to your Fastpass selections. If you are unable to download the app, you can go to a kiosk to change your selections.

I found it very easy to make changes to selections. 

**My Disney Experience is a very helpful app to have while you are in Disney. It provides up-to-date wait times for rides, show times, park hours, etc.

Special Event - Star Wars Weekends – Hollywood Studios (May – June)

Plan on arriving at Hollywood Studios before it opens so you can see the opening show with the Storm Troopers (Storming the Park)

Figure out what you want to do the most. If you want autographs, pictures with characters, buying exclusive merchandise, etc. Regardless what you want, you will need to plan accordingly knowing that it will be crowded and wait times may be quite long.

Start checking the Star Wars weekend page starting in March for updates of events (Star Wars Weekend Official Page)

If you want to eat at a sit down restaurant during a Star Wars weekend – make a reservation!!

 

New to Star Wars Weekends at Hollywood Studios for 2014 - Character Dining!!

This year from May 4th (May the 4th Be With You) through the last weekend of Star Wars weekends (June 15)

Make reservations!!

There are two character dining experiences:

1. Star Wars Dine In Galactic Breakfast at the Sci Fi Dine In Theatre Restaurant with Darth Vader, the Stormtroopers, Boba Fett, Greedo and the Jawas
2. Jedi Mickey's Star Wars Dine at Hollywood and Vine with Jedi Mickey, Princess Leia Minnie, Darth Vader Goofy, Storm Trooper Donald and Ewok Chip n Dale (You can also do this as a Fantasmic Dining Package for an extra cost, but is not covered under the Disney Dining Plan) 

Memory Maker (Photo Pass)

Memory Maker takes the place of Photo Pass Plus

You get all the photos of everyone in your travel party taken by the Disney Photo Pass photographers at hundreds of locations throughout Walt Disney World Resort.

It's completely digital, so you don’t have to worry about any printed photos or a CD that you receive after your vacation.

There's no limit to the number of photos on your account or the number of times you can download them within the 45-day window.

You can view, download and share your photos to your favorite social media site just minutes after they're taken.

Some attractions and dining spots are included.

The ability to link family and friends makes sharing your photos even easier.

With Disney Memory Maker, all of your photos - dining, attraction and other experiences will be added to your Memory Maker account using your Magic Band. 

When you arrive home, you will receive all of your photos in the form of digital downloads and you are free to share and print your photos however you wish.  The major difference between Disney Memory Maker and Disney Photo Pass Archive Disc is that with Disney Memory Maker you will not receive a CD with all of your photos; however you are able to create your own CD once you have downloaded all of your images.

 

Magic Bands and Fast Pass+

Magic Bands replace the card that you have received in the past that is your room key, park pass, Disney Dining Plan and contain the ability to charge to your room. It is a band that you wear around your wrist. This band has all of the information associated with your trip (Park Pass, Fast Pass selections, Photo Pass, etc.) and is access to your room as well as the ability to charge purchases to your room.

There are options that you can opt out of if you choose.

You can also connect any friends or family to your Magic Bands. You will be able to make the same selections for all people in your family and friends so that you can enjoy the same experiences together.

You will have the ability to "customize" your Magic Band. Each person in your party can choose their band color and will have their name on it.

You will receive your Magic Bands prior to your vacation. Do not pack them in your suitcase. Make sure you have them with you so they are available upon arrival.

You’ll be able to reserve an arrival window to access Fast Pass+ attractions and experiences before you leave home, and make changes on your smart phone. You can reserve access to certain attractions, shows, parades, fireworks and Character Greetings!

You are assigned an arrival window for each attraction you select. Show up any time that you wish during this window. While attractions usually offer a one-hour arrival window, other experiences like shows and parades may require you to arrive during a more specific timeframe.

Depending on availability, you will be able to make up to 3 Fast Pass+ selections for attractions and entertainment each day at one theme park.

You can modify your selections online with your mobile phone (My Disney Experience app) or at a Fast Pass+ kiosk.

I recommend you make your selections earlier rather than later as some selections may not be available at the last minute.

When making your selections, select attractions that are most popular. You don't want to use a selection for something that will not have long wait times anyway, especially since you are limited to 3 selections a day.