I suppose most people don't think of all the dining options at a Disney park, but being the foodies that we are, we definitely knew that we wanted to enjoy lots of different food options during our stay in Orlando. Making dining reservations at Disneyworld was harder than we thought it would be! Apparently if you want to dine at high-demand restaurants you have to be online at the exact moment you are able to book your reservations (90 days in advance of the first day of your trip.) Even though we logged on later in the morning, we were still happy with the dining options we got. And we definitely enjoyed the grab-and-go bites we had in each park. Read on to see our favorite Disney Dining bites!
Disney Springs
Being first-time Disneyworld visitors, we didn't know that Disney Springs is loaded with great dining options, and you don't have to have tickets to any of the theme parks in order to visit. There were quite a few places we wanted to try, but sadly, were only successful in getting reservations at two of them. (Chef Art Smith's Homecoming we will come back for you!)
Jaleo
We have a ton of respect for Chef Jose Andres. Check out the work he does with his non-profit World Central Kitchen for one example of why we think he's pretty amazing. We were able to snag Christmas Dinner reservations at Jaleo and we absolutely had to try the Chef's Tasting Menu. Everything we tried was delicious, and it was so. much. food. We left stuffed to the gills with delicious tapas. If you have a chance to visit, we highly recommend the tasting menu as a great way to experience a few bites of many dishes. Our favorite dish of the night was the Croquetas de pollo, a deep fried, ooey gooey explosion of cheese and chicken that we are still dreaming about!
From left to right top to bottom: Sangria de Cava, Pan con tomate with Jamon Iberico and Olives, Gazpacho de remolacha con queso de cabra and Manzanas con hinojo y queso Manchego, Croquetas de pollo and Patatas bravas and Endivias con queso de cabra y naranjas, Pimientos del piquillo rellenos con queso Caña de cabra, Carne asada con piquillos confitados, Gambas a la Zahara, Flan al estilo tradicional de mamá Marisa con espuma de crema catalana and Selva negra
Morimoto Asia
Morimoto is the OG Iron Chef so his restaurant was must-dine for us. Luckily, we were able to get reservations for the night before we started all our theme park days and it was a perfect kick-off to the next four days. We wanted to try so many things on the menu, but ultimately felt like the duck was a dish that we couldn't pass up on. The duck was fantastic, the kung pao cauliflower was the perfect amount of spicy, but holy cow the ribs were divine! Cripsy, saucy, and full of the best flavors. If you go, you must get the ribs!
Left to right, top to bottom: Happy Tiegses ready to dine, Sake Sangria, Morimoto Spare Ribs, Morimoto Peking Duck, Kung Pao Cauliflower
Disney Hotel Dining
Another thing that we didn't realize before our first Disneyworld visit, was how many great dining options there are in all the Disney Hotel Properties! Trying to choose restaurants that we were excited to dine at, as well as line them up with the theme parks we were visiting was definitely a scheduling challenge! If you are trying to maximize every single second inside the parks, then dining at one of the many hotel options may not be a good option for you. But if you love food, and can make it work, we highly recommend all three of the below options!
California Grill at Disney's Contemporary Resort
This was the favorite dining experience we had out of all of our Disney Dining. California Grill has been around a long time, and they had a three-course prix fixe menu in alignment with the 50th Anniversary Celebration happening. The restaurant is an easy walk or monorail ride from Magic Kingdom, and if you time your reservation, you will get to enjoy the Magic Kingdom fireworks from inside the restaurant. They even dim the lights and pipe in the music! Every course we tried was outstanding. We adored the Duck A'La Orange Pizza and Sushi Trio for the starter, and though it was hard to narrow it down, we devoured both our entrees: Florida Black Grouper and Plancha Seared Chicken. Our post-fireworks desserts of Grand Marnier Creme Brulee and Peanut Butter Banana Torte were the perfect finish to an outstanding three course meal. We even had time to head back to Magic Kingdom after dinner and ride a few more rides! Put California Grill on your Disney Dining list!
From left to right, top to bottom: California Grill Sushi Classics Trio, House-made Artisanal-style Duck À L'Orange Pizza, Free-range Plancha-seared Chicken, Florida Black Grouper, EARidescent Grand Mariner Crème Brûlée, Peanut Butter and Banana Tarte
The view of the fireworks from our table at California Grill. It was truly spectacular!
Topolino's Terrace at Disney's Riviera Resort
Two of our best friends are Disney Vacation Club owners and their home resort is Disney's Riviera. They told us that Topolino's is their favorite restaurant in Disneyworld and that we should try our best to get reservations there. We love French and Italian food so this seemed like a no-brainer pick for us. We were able to get reservations for our Epcot park day. Riviera Resort is an easy gondola ride from Epcot so we thought this was the perfect day to make our reservations. But, after spending our day snacking and drinking around the world at Epcot, we didn't leave as much room as we could have for this dinner! Everything we had was super delicious. We ended up sharing a three course meal and skipping dessert, which is almost unheard of from us when we're on vacation. Our first two courses, the fresh ricotta and kale salad were both fresh and flavorful. Our pasta course blew us away! The lobster to pasta ratio was so much better than we could have imagined. We would definitely dine at Topolino's again, we would just make sure to leave more rooms in our stomachs!
Left to right: Housemade fresh ricotta with bread and olive marinees, Lacinato Kale Salad, Lobster Linguine, Side of Seared Diver Scallops
Sanaa in Disney's Animal Kingdom Resort Kidani Village
This restaurant was another recommendation for our friends. We tried, unsuccessfully, to get reservations for dinner on our Animal Kingdom theme park day, but had to settle for lunch reservations instead. It ended up working out great, and it was a short bus ride to the resort from the park. We had heard amazing things about the bread course at Sanaa, and it did not disappoint. So mnay delicious dipping sauces to try with all the naan bread! Ultimately, the rest of the meal left us a bit underwhelmed. We clearly got spoiled with amazing and authentic Indian cuisine during our time living in Bellevue, WA, a city with a large Indian population. Would we go back to Sanaa just for the bread course, we might. But we'd probably skip a main course call it day with the bread.
Left to right: African Starr Mojito and Malawi Mango Margarita, Indian-style Bread Service, Potjie Journey with Pork Vindaloo, Sakuma Wiki, and Basmati Rice
Hoop-De-Doo Musical Review at Disney's Campgrounds at Fort Wilderness
Since we were staying at Fort Wilderness Campground, we knew the Hoop-De-Doo Review was a must-do evening activity for us. We managed to score these hard-to-get reservations for the 8:30 showing on our last night at Disney. An 8:30 dinner is pretty darn late for us, but we still devoured the "all you can enjoy" southern meal. We giggled at the show and were impressed with the vocal skill of all the performers. We just wish we'd saved a bit more room for the strawberry shortcake! Even if you're not staying at Fort Wilderness, we think this is worth a trip. You can ride the ferry from Magic Kingdom or the bus from any of the other parks.
From left to right: Our seats in the balcony, the starters of cornbread and salad, the strawberry shortcake
Steve definitely got into the finale!
Trail's End Restaurant at Disney's Campgrounds at Fort Wilderness
Breakfast at Trail's End was our final meal at Disney. It was a lovely walk from our campsite and a great end to our time at Disney. The Mickey waffles weren't delicious, but the rest of the meal was good down-home dinner style cookin' and if we stay at Fort Wilderness again, we will make a final breakfast at Trail's End our tradition.
Left to right: how do we still have energy after five days of going non-stop? pastries and yogurt, Mickey waffles and bacon, sausage, eggs and potatoes.
Dining in the Theme Parks
While we were in the parks, we only did one sit down meal within a park. We did a lot of grab and go and snacks, and drank our share of Joffrey's Iced Coffees!
The Hollywood Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios
Our only table service meal in all four parks was good, but not great. If given a choice, we likely would choose to dine somewhere else. But, because we wanted to stay at watch the evening Fantasmic! show at Hollywood studios, we didn't want to go off property for dinner. The highlight of the meal was the Bananas Foster for dessert, and even that left us wanting more. This is a skippable restaurant in our opinion.
From left to right: Seafood Cioppino, Sustainable Salmon Coulibiac, 50th Celebration Bananas Foster
Epcot World Showcase Snacking and Drinking Around the World
We knew there was absolutely no way we would each be able to have a drink and snack from each of the eleven countries represented in the World Showcase. With all due respect to Canada and the US, we decided to skip those pavilions and had 9 bites or drinks in the Showcase. Epcot was the park we most want to go back to, and wanting to spend more time in the World Showcase was a big reason why!
Top to bottom left to right:
Norway: Spoon Bread and Frozen Viking Coffee
Germany: Pink Grapefruit Hefeweizen and Giant Pretzel
Morocco: Trio of Middle Eastern Pastries
France: Kir Royale
China: Egg Rolls and Kung Fu Punch
Mexico: Empanadas con Queso and El Tigre Margarita
Italy: Cannolo
Japan: Sake
United Kingdom: Fish and Chips
Theme Park Bits and Bites
We mostly did a quick service lunch each day and grabbed some snacks throughout the day to keep our energy levels up. We had a few favorite bites. We loved the Dole Swirls at Magic Kingdom, and loved the Blue Milk and Wookie Cookie in Galaxy's Edge at Hollywood studios.
Left to right: Dole Swirls, Wookie Cookie, Blue Milk
Dang we ate a lot in five days! We typically try to eat a diet of whole foods with lots of fruits and vegetables, but we knew that for our time in Disneyworld we were going to eat everything we wanted and make sure it was all #worthit!
So tell us in the comments, what are your favorite Disney Dining bites? Do you stick to quick service meals and grab-and-go bites to maximize your time in the parks, or do you also like to enjoy a nice table service meal? What do we need to put on our list for the next time we visit Disneyworld?
Wow that looks so much better than what's in Disneyland! We were not impressed with either of our reserved meals there but the the snacks/bites game is strong. The chicken and cheese croquettes sound amazing! Could those be duplicated, do you think?
I loved Topolino's too! The only restaurant request I had when I went with Nich and Steve was Chef Art Smith's Homecoming and Steve was able to snag a late evening spot. Let me tell you, that place is my kind of food! It's fun to read about all your other yummies!