Let the fireworks begin – Disney World

image from flickr by hyku

Disney’s website lists 210 different places to eat. Obviously, there is something for everyone, except for dining in solitude! Every place is busy, so don’t be in too much of a rush and, whenever possible, make reservations to quell the anxiety of waiting in yet another que.  

Where we ate

She Said:

We have our favorite places to dine.  One place we always take the “adorables” to is the Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge. It’s a family-style, all you can eat, anything but whispering, experience. The waiters knock themselves out making it so special for the kids.  Special, very loud music cues the kids to mount stick horses and race around the dining room.  And be careful when asking your wait person for a condiment. Their response is to yell at the top of their lungs “anyone have any catsup?” Everyone with catsup on their table grabs their bottle and rushes it to the requester. You now have 23 bottles of catsup for your burger and fries! This is fun, not fine, dining; the food is just good “down home cookin’”. 

I have always felt that all of the food at Disney World is very good quality, and have never been disappointed with any meal.  One very special place is “Victoria and Albert’s” at the Grand Floridian.  I’ve eaten there twice and it was outstanding – and expensive.  You also have to make a reservation well in advance, because the dining room holds only 12 tables! 

Another special place for the “adorables” is the California Grill on the top of the Contemporary Hotel.  Again, you have to make reservations well in advance, and the ideal time is right around dusk when they set off the fireworks in the Magic Kingdom.  You may watch the fireworks from inside the restaurant or there is a terraced viewing area outside of the restaurant.  The food is wonderful but a bit pricey. 

There is a little interesting tidbit about landing Tinkerbell at the Castle when she flies through the air at the beginning of the fireworks.  They couldn’t figure out how to do this safely.  Disney World had engineers hard at work trying to solve the problem.  Finally, after much thought, they came back and said, “Just two men and a mattress”.  How technical is that???  I love it!  So if you happen to be at the Magic Kingdom and see the firework show, think of Tinkerbell smashing into a mattress.

He said:

Food throughout Disney is, dependable, high quality and always ample in quantity. It is usually fairly obvious which restaurants are more children oriented versus fine dining, and what price range one can expect. For the most part, we ate at what I’d call “quick food” spots because we usually had servers versus cafeteria style meals.

Our dinner at the California Grille, high atop the Contemporary Hotel, was truly a memorable experience. Not only did Marla and I celebrate our birthday’s – they’re about two weeks apart – our meals were unique, delicious, relaxing, and, to top it all off, we were able to go out doors on a walkway and got a wonderful view of the fireworks set off each evening as darkness falls over the Magic Kingdom. This is a fine dining spot and the prices reflect it. With a glass of wine or cocktail, plan on spending over $100 for dinner for two. If you are choosing amongst Disney’s fine dining restaurants, this would be my choice as most dramatic. And, as I’ve said, the food will not disappoint you.

Category: Disney World, South, United States, where we ateTags: amusement parks, disney, magic kingdom, places to eat at disney |