With hundreds of dining options at Walt Disney World there are plenty of travellers who go to Walt Disney World for the culinary delights rather than the rides. You can find world-class chefs, stellar service and gourmet food but even eating an Ice-cream Sunday in front of Cinderellas Castle is an experience you will never forget.
Walt Disney World dining experiences
There five dining ‘experiences’ at Walt Disney World to fit every budget, from a quick snack to a signature restaurant meal.
Snacks at Walt Disney World
Snacks at Walt Disney World can range from a bottle of water through to sushi at Epcot. If you travel on the Disney Dining Plan you’ll receive 2 snack credits or you can, of course, purchase them out of pocket. Snacks can be a perfect breakfast solution. All resorts with a quick service location will offer morning snacks such as croissants and muffins. You can still sit down at the quick service location to enjoy these ‘snacks’. If you have a sweet tooth, around the Walt Disney World property you’ll find many locations with signature cupcakes, such our personal favourite the Campfire Cupcake at the Wilderness Lodge. A majority of these amazing cupcakes are considered a snack.
Quick Service Meals
Also called counter service. This is the kind of food that you order at a till or counter and its served up on a tray for you to take away and eat. Around Walt Disney World there is an array of quick service options. You’ll see plenty of burgers and fries, but in addition, there’s Mexican, ribs, Chinese, pizza, healthy options and pretty much everything else. If you come away having eaten burger and fries every lunch then you’ve definitely been doing something wrong. It is easy to do though, so do your research and know what quick service restaurants to try. You’ll find quick service restaurants at all of the parks and at the resorts – they’re great for any meal; the resorts will have quick service breakfast options, as do some of the theme parks, such as the Main Street Bakery.
Table Service Meals
Technically this covers pretty much everything else, buy Disney means the regular style restaurants, of which there are many. They range from mediocre to absolutely fabulous and are located around the parks and the resorts. They may be regular, order from the menu style, buffets, and family-style. Family style involves platters being brought to the table where everyone can help yourself. If you run out of anything, just ask and you’ll be brought more!
Character Meals
One of the best ways to meet specific characters. There are numerous character meals located all around Walt Disney World. They guarantee you some face to face time with the characters in attendance – enough to get some photos and an autograph, with multiple characters at once. The other way to meet characters is at meet and greets round the parks, but that generally involves queuing up for only a minute or so of their time. The character meals are extremely popular and book up fast so you’ll want to get them booked way in advance of your trip. The most popular are Chef Mickeys, where you can meet the Fab 5, and Cinderella’s Royal Table, which is in Cinderella Castle. The latter is one of the hardest reservation to get in all of Walt Disney World – it can sell out within minutes of reservation’s opening 180 days in advance.
Signature Restaurants
This is what Disney call their most prestigious (and expensive) restaurants. The best of these can also be hard to get reservations for. These restaurants offer the best meals on property and tend to employ award-winning chefs. They are often quieter than the rest of the World, although this being Disney, they’re all kid-friendly (with the exception of Victoria and Albert’s which only allows children age 10 and above).
Dinner Shows
These are what they sound – dinner while you watch a show – usually with it going on around you! There are three available. Disney’s Spirit of Aloha Show is at the Polynesian and features hula dancers and fire eaters. Mickey’s Backyard BBQ at Fort Wilderness is an outdoor buffet and dance party. Finally, the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue is a cowboy themed family style comedy at Fort Wilderness.
Learn more about dining at Walt Disney World