Disney World Restaurant Tips
- Lori Spoelstra
- Jan 1, 2000
- 8 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
Updated 3/6/26
It’s finally time to make your dining reservations! We have a few tips and our favorite restaurants listed for you below.
A great place to start is by doing a little research on www.disneyfoodblog.com; this is a Disney food blog with pictures! www.DisneyWorld.com is also a great place to check out descriptions of each restaurant. Click “Where to Eat” and then “Make Reservations.” The menus for each location are listed if you click on the restaurant name. While you are there, you could also start making reservations if you find a restaurant that sounds great!
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Our Favorite
Chef Mickey Buffet (Contemporary Resort)
I highly recommend this dining option, especially if you get to your resort early with enough time to get settled and ready to go explore! In my opinion, this restaurant is the best way to get in the Disney mood.
It features all the classic characters who come to your table and visit with your personally. It is a great way to get a visit with Mickey out of the way, so you won’t have to hear the kids wonder, “Where’s Mickey?” or, “Where’s Minnie?” You can purchase autograph books at the resort gift shop when you check-in or at Disney Springs if you get their early enough and are feeling adventerous!
This is an all-you-can-eat buffet, and though I can’t say that the food is the best at Disney, we love the desserts, and I always find enough to come away quite full!
This restaurant is on the monorail, and the monorail actually travels just above the restaurant so you can watch it go by as you dine! If we get the reservation at a good time, you can even take the monorail around to the different resorts. Or, if you have time and want a sneak-peak of the Magic Kingdom, it’s just a short 5 minute walk away (or a short monorail ride!).
Princess Dining
Cinderella's Royal Table (Magic Kingdom)
This dining option is in the castle and is quite the experience! You will be greeted by Cinderella in the lobby of the castle, get a picture taken with her, and then head up to your table in the castle for your meal. During your meal, there will be four to five other princesses (whoever happens to be visiting that day) that come to visit you during your meal. It’s a great time for pictures and autographs!
Wish Makers Enchanted Dining at 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian Resort)
This dining option is especially nice at dinner time. Expect characters like Aladdin, Cinderella, Mirabel, and Princess Tiana to visit you during your dinner or breakfast. I have had clients who say this is the best meal they had when they were there.
Princess Storybook Dining at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (EPCOT)
Akershus is in Norway in Epcot. This princess meal will have about five to six princesses (these are always changing, but it will never have Cinderella) and classic Norwegian food for dinner.
Story Book Dining at Artist Point with Snow White (Wilderness Lodge)
This is a delicious dinner with music from the movie and the opportunity to meet characters from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, such as Snow White, Grumpy and Dopey. The menu options are all storybook-themed from the movie and include things like Brother’s Grimm Roasted Chicken and “Poison” Apple for dessert.
EPCOT Dining Recommendations
Coral Reef (World Nature)
This restaurant is really fun! One wall looks into a giant fish tank with sharks, sting rays, and other fish swimming by as you dine. It’s a tiered level restaurant, so everyone has a good view of the fish. If you can get there early, though, you can ask for a “tank table.” You might have to wait a bit longer, but they will try to seat you at one of the tables right next to the tank.
Chip 'n' Dale Harvest Feast at Garden Grill (World Nature)
This is a circular restaurant that moves (very slowly)! The food is served family style and is quite good. Chip and Dale, Mickey, and Pluto or Goofy will come a visit with you while you eat.
Le Cellier Steakhouse (Canada)
This is the second-most difficult restaurant to get reservations at (after Cinderella’s Royal Table for breakfast), and it is known for it’s amazing steak, so if you like steak, it is definitely worth it! You are getting quality here and not quanitity. I would also recommend the cheese soup served with pretzel bread sticks.
Teppen Edo (Japan)
This one is a really fun one because of the interaction you can have with the cook. They cook the meal right on your table in front of you, hibachi style. You are seated at a table for 8, despite your party size, and the chef performs whil he cooks your meal.
San Angel Inn (Mexico)
This restaurant’s atmosphere makes you feel like you are dining under the twilight, twinkling stars all above. With candle-lit tables, this can be very romantic! This has very authentic Mexican food (not tacos and burritos).
Biergarten (Germany)
This is a very fun and interactive German-fare restaurant. If you enjoy a large stein of beer, you would very much enjoy this location! It’s a buffet, but there is much German entertainment all around you. Make sure you pay attention to what times the band is playing, so you don’t miss out on the great entertainment! At this restaurant, they seat you at longer tables, so you may be right next to another family.
Marrakesh (Morocco)
If you like Middle Eastern cuisine, then this would be a good choice for you! There are belly-dancers during dinner.
Hollywood Studios Dining Recommendations
50s Prime Time Cafe (Echo Lake)
At this restaurant, you are transported back in time into a 50’s sitcom, and when your family is called for dinnger, you will want to be on your best behavior. Othwerwise, your “cousin” (your server) will make sure you are! We tend to play along with them a little too much and have been scolded for no eating the green beans, have recieved dunce caps, but also “I Cleaned My Plate” stickers for being good eaters.
It’a fun restaurant and the speciality here is home-made pot roast and friend chicken. You will not leave this restaurant even a little bit hungry.
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre (Commissary Lane)
Here, you sit in convertible cars with tables and are all facing the front of a drive-in movie theatre (everyone faces forward). The “movie” is just clips of old sci-fi movies, all black-and-white. The food here is mostly burgers, fries, and shakes - but GOOD ones. Clients with smaller children love this restaurant because the lights are very dim, and it quiets and calms the kids.
Minnie's Seasonal Dining at Hollywood & Vine (Echo Lake)
At lunch or dinner, you can join Minnie and Friends (usually Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto) for a buffet decked out in holiday style! This is a really good one for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas!
Animal Kingdom Dining Recommendations
Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House (Africa)
There is a great breakfast buffet here. Donald, Mickey, Goofy, and Pluto visit with you while you are dining. If you get an ealier reservation, before park opening (7:30am - 9:00am), you can get into the park when it’s still quiet and tranquil. (That’s true for any breakfast restaurants at the parks: Crystal Palace, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Disney Junior dining at Hollwood & Vine. You should plan on 60 minutes of travel time to any restaurant reservation in the morning.)
Satu'li Canteen (Pandora)
This is an amazing quick service dining location with some really fun drinks and deserts! For the entree, you build your own dish with a protein, grain, and sauce. It’s very filling, and the atmosphere makes you feel like you’re really in the world of Avatar!
Magic Kingdom Dining Recommendations
Pooh and Friends at the Crystal Palace (Main Street, USA)
This is a buffet for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and it is great for any of those! Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and sometimes Eyore will come right to your table! They do not have a PhotoPass photographer here, but they do have a cast member who can take photos, so make sure you bring your phone or camera if you want photos! It’s a beautiful open and light restaurant that has a great location!
Liberty Tree Tavern (Liberty Square)
The food here is excellent. It is Thanksgiving-type fare with family style turkey, mashed potatoes, etc.
Be Our Guest (Fantasyland)
Table service for be our guest for lunch or dinner is 2 table service credits and is prix-fixe, 3-course menu featuring French-inspired dishes. You'll dine in the Beast's Castle and meet have an opportunity to meet the Beast himself! Belle will not be there, but this is a must for any Beauty and the Beast fans.
Resort Dining Recommendations
Whispering Canyon Cafe (Wilderness Lodge)
This is a “root, toot’n good time!” It is a little cowboy themed, and definitely NOT quiet! It is a lot of fun and there is SO much wonderful food. They have bottomless milkshakes sherved in canning jars. You will be so stuffed when you leave, you will not even be thinking about dessert, but you can take the dessert back to the resort with you and have it for breakfast the next day! The apple pie and chocolate cake are delicious. The family style meals are an excellent option here, in my opionion.
'Ohana (Polynesian Resort)
This is a luau-style restaurnat that also interacts with kids. There is a cocnut rolling race, a limbo stick, and a hula dance lesson where everyone gets a flower lei. The food is excellent, and the fire-grilled pork, chicken, shrimp, and steak is very tasty! You may have to be careful that you actually eat because they can have you so busy “playing!”
Before your meal, head to the front desk of the Polynesian Resort and ask for flower leis to wear during your meal!
Kona Cafe (Polynesian Resort)
After Le Cellier in Canada, I think the best steak in the “World” is here. It’s a teriyaki steak. I’m not the biggest carnivore in the world, but this one left my plate completely empty!
Dinner Show Recommendations
Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue (Fort Wilderness Campsite)
This is a hilarious 2-hour show with American homestyle food. It’s great show for the whole family, and depending on how long your kids can sit still, it’s a lot of fun! This includes gratuities and an alcholic beverage.
Spirit of Aloha (Fort Wilderness Campsite)
This is an enchating luau 2-hour show with Polynesian style food. This show isn’t as kid-friendly as Hoop Dee Doo, but it is a pretty authentic Hawaiian luau with hula dancers, drummers, and fire and knife throwers. This includes gratuities and an alcholic beverage.
Romantic Dinner Recommendations
California Grill (Contemporary Resort)
This is at the top of my list for romantic dinners. I would schedule it about one to one and a half hours before the Magic Kingdom fireworks show, and we can request a window table for you.
Citricos (Grand Floridian Resort)
This is an excellent restaurant where you can also view the Magic Kingdom fireworks. They are not as visible here as at the California Grill.
Narcoosees (Grand Floridian Resort)
This is a great choice for a romantic dinner, as it is directly on the water and has a view of the fireworks. This is a speialty dining seafood restaurant.
Character Dining Recommendations
Best Friends with Lilo & Stitch at 'Ohana (Polynesian Resort)
This is a wonderful breakfast buffet, and Lilo & Stitch and Mickey and Pluto make the rounds.
Cape May Cafe (Beach Club Resort)
This is an all-you-can-eat buffet with New England style clam bake, crab legs, steam mussels, and oysters. There is also a kids’ section for the picky eaters with pizza and mac’n’cheese. For breakfast, you can dine with Minnie, Mickey, and Goofy. I would only recommend this if you either have a car to drive or you are staying at the Boardwalk, Yacht Club, or Beach Club Resorts.
Character Dining Cheat Sheet
Take a look at our cheat sheet to find out which of your favorite characters will be at which restaurant!
