It is hard to believe, but it has already been three months since I woke up at the crack of dawn to make my dining reservations. On the flip side of that, it is even harder to believe that we are only three months out from our exciting trip to Disney World. If the next three months pass even half as quickly as the last three, I will be sitting on the new Dumbo before I even know it and eagerly anticipating that nights yummy meal. As I was re-writing my itinerary for the upteenth time it hit me that it has been a while since I posted on sit down restaurants (or really since I had posted at all thanks to summer and traveling). So, I thought I would share the list of restaurants we chose for our upcoming meal, and why we chose them. Hopefully it will help someone else who is planning a trip.
Before I list them, let me give you a little background on our travel party so some of my choices may make a little more sense :) It is myself, my husband, and our eight year old daughter (who will celebrate her ninth birthday while we are there). We are going for ten nights, and were able to snag the free dining promotion for our entire trip. Since we are staying at a value resort, we are getting the quick service plan for free (two counter service meals and one snack per day, per person). We chose to upgrade to the regular dining plan though which is an additional $36.31 per day total for all three of us. The regular dining plan includes one snack, one counter service, and one sit down meal, per day, per person. We have done the quick service plan for the entire 10 days and found ourselves getting really tired of the hamburgers, pizzas, and wraps by the end of our trip. Thus the reason for the upgrade :). This trip we also get the pleasure of my Aunt and Cousin joining us for four nights at the end of our trip, so that played a part in deciding which restaurants we chose as well. So, that is the background, and now I will get to the choices!
Day 1
We have a reservation at Portobello at Downtown Disney. I chose a time after 6:00 as I don't anticipate us staying late at the parks that day after driving late into the night to get there the night before. I have always wanted to try Portobello as our family really enjoys Italian meals, but in the past they have not been on the dining plan. Since this is the first year they are on the plan, I figured we had better try it in case they change their mind next year :). We also really enjoy trying new restaurants while we are at Disney, so this one was a perfect fit.
Day 2
We have dinner at 50s Prime Time Cafe. I cannot believe I finally talked my hubby into trying this one. I have been trying for years, but he always fights me. To give a little background, this restaurant is set with a 1950s theme and the waitresses are all supposed to be like your Mom...telling you to eat your vegetables. Well, seeing as most meals come with veggies, and my hubby has a gag reflex with most things green, it has never appealed to him. Add that to the fact that most of the menu is homecooked "favorites" (meatloaf, fried chicken, potpie, etc) which we don't eat a lot of, and you can see why it hasn't been high on our list. However, I know several people who love this restaurant and make it a must do every trip. Crossing my fingers that this one works out for us, and my hubby doesn't spend the evening in the corner for not eating his veggies.
Day 3
We have dinner with the Princesses at Akershus in Norway at Epcot. This is another one that took a lot of convincing for my hubby to book. We have eaten here three different times, and every time he swears we will never do it again. However, my daughter begged for it. After realizing that our little girl is very quickly growing up and will soon think she is too cool to eat with the Princesses, he relented and said he would give it one more try. A quick note, the food here is Norweigen for lunch and dinner for adults, but pretty normal American fare for the kids.
Day 4
We have dinner at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom. Surprisingly, this is one of only three character meals this trip (this really makes me sad). This is an all you can eat buffet inside the park with Winnie the Pooh characters. We have eaten here before, but it was my daughter's first trip and she was only 22 months old. To say that she was terrified of the characters would be a gross understatement. She spent the entire meal under the table and her Daddy and I had to hold up napkins around her so she couldn't see the characters in order for her to eat. I am definitely ready to try this one again, and hopefully have a little less stressful meal!
Day 5
We have dinner at Les Chefs de France at Epcot. This is one that my hubby has been wanting to try for a while now. I am not usually an adventurous eater so I have resisted as long as I could. However, since he is letting my do 50's Prime Time, I really didn't have much choice :) Plus, Remy (from Ratatouille) visits the dining room on a meal cart most nights for dinner and interacts with the diners. I am looking forward to that the most! Crossing my fingers that this one works out for us as well.
Day 6
We have dinner at Captains Grille at the Yacht Club resort. This is another new one for us. I really like crab legs, and my hubby really likes crab cakes so we are hoping to enjoy a tasty seafood treat that night. Most of the restaurants that we wanted to try for seafood took two meal credits, and this was one of the few that took only one. By default, this one was the choice for the evening. Since we will be spending the day at Animal Kingdom and the water parks, and they both close at 5:00, it was the perfect day to eat at a resort for dinner.
Day 7
We have lunch at Sci Fi Dine In at Hollywood Studios. This is one of my daughter's favorite restaurants. What child wouldn't enjoy eating their dinner inside of a parked car while they watch clips from old movies on the big screen as if they were at a drive in movie? This is the first day our extra special guests will be with us, so I wanted something affordable for them since they probably won't be on the dining plan. Also, we are going to get Giordano's pizza that night, so we didn't want a super big and heavy lunch :)
Day 8
We have dinner at Teppan Edo at Epcot. This is a Hibachi steak house with the best food and cooking show of any Hibachi restaurant I know. We have only eaten here once, but I can already taste that super tender steak hot off the grill! I am not sure if my extended family will be eating this meal with us or not since it is pretty pricey, but I have a second reservation just in case that I will cancel as the trip gets closer and we are more sure of their plans. This is one meal that I don't want to miss so I made a reservation in my Aunt's name just to be safe!
Day 9
We have dinner at Paradiso 37 at Downtown Disney. This will be another new restaurant for us. This is the first year on the Dining plan for it as well, so I definitely wanted to give it a shot. It too is somewhat affordable since it has burgers and sandwiches on the menu, so I figured it was a good one to try with the family visiting as well. This restaurant has kind of a Mexican/American mixed menu that looks super yummy. I can't wait to try it!
Day 10
We have dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, and her step sisters at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian resort. We have done this one almost every single trip for the last few years. This will be my daughter's actual birthday, so she got to choose dinner for that night. This meal is an all you can eat buffet, and the prime rib here is always super tasty, along with the strawberry soup. With the characters and the yummy food, this is one of my favorites as well.
So, there you have it. Those are our choices for this year. I am still in shock that we aren't going to Chef Mickey's or Whispering Canyon, but I know that we will love the ones we chose in their place. Off the top of my head I can't think of any restaurants on property that I just refuse to ever eat at again. I definitely have my favorites, but all the restaurants are very yummy and we always walk away with a smile on our face. I can't wait to try our new choices this year and see if our streak of good luck with restaurants continues!
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