In light of the topic I discussed in the previous post about dining at Walt Disney World, I thought it would only be appropriate for me to take this week's edition of Five Friday Favorites and reveal my top five restaurants at Disney World. As I mentioned in the previous post, there is something truly magical about dining throughout the resort, whether it be inside a park or at a resort. Disney is one of the greatest locations on the planet to experience high-quality dining alongside also creating some of the best memories for the entire family that you can have during your vacation.
Now just for clarification, a table-service restaurant are those dining locations where you must sit down and order something off a menu. Disney is also home to fantastic quick-service restaurants as well, but for the purposes of this list, we'll stick to the table-service locations.
As always, I'll start off by giving out some honorable mentions. I'll get started over at Epcot inside The Land Pavilion at The Garden Grill. Served family-style, this restaurant is fun for the entire family regardless of the age of your group. Here, the food comes served family-style and all-you-can-eat and the options vary seasonally as The Garden Grill is always serving what is in season and the freshest food around. The food is enough reason to dine here, but in addition to fresh vegetables and perfectly roasted meats, Chip and Dale headline this character dining experience that also features Pluto, Goofy, and even Mickey Mouse himself. The characters, outside of Chip and Dale, rotate every night, but you're guaranteed a great sampling of some of the most popular Disney characters around. If you're still not convinced The Garden Grill is a place you need to try out, the restaurant is placed on a slowly-rotating platform as you get to see the different unseen sights of The Land Pavilion that you cannot get anywhere else.
Next, I'll head on over to Disney's Port Orleans- Riverside Resort and stop to dine at Boatwright's Dining Hall. One of my absolute favorite cuisines around is New Orleans food. If someone is serving gumbo or jambalaya, I'm in! That's exactly what we have here at Boatwright's. They have all the staples you think of when you think about food from the Big Easy, and yet they also have so much more. The dessert menu is also to die for, featuring the classic Bananas Foster and the divine pecan pie. If you enjoy a phenomenal meal served with a side of comfort, Boatwright's is the place to go.
For my final two honorable mentions, I'm going inside the Magic Kingdom to visit Tony's Town Square Restaurant and Crystal Palace. If you've ever seen Lady and the Tramp, if you're like me, you've always wondered what it would be like to dine at the restaurant where Lady and Tramp shared that classic bowl of spaghetti. Now, you need not wonder anymore because right on Main Street USA is Tony's, serving the most delectable Italian food in the resort. On the other end of Main Street, you can dine with Winnie the Pooh and all of his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood at Crystal Palace. Featuring an all-you-can-eat buffet and dessert bar, Crystal Palace is an experience you will not soon forget.
Now, here's my top five!
5. Cinderella's Royal Table, Magic Kingdom
When people think about Disney World, Cinderella Castle probably comes right to mind. It's the icon of all icons, so how cool would it be to eat inside of it? You can do just that at Cinderella's Royal Table. Overlooking the legendary Fantasyland, Cinderella and a whole host of your favorite Disney princesses come around to take pictures and sign autographs while you dine with royalty. The food is also just amazing. Every course served makes you feel as you are actual Disney royalty. Let's be honest, though: the simple fact that you're eating inside a castle is the biggest reason why this restaurant makes this list.
4. 1900 Park Fare, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
Whenever I sit down to decide where to eat on my Disney vacation, character dining is always something I look at to take advantage of. At 1900 Park Fare, you can meet characters that are not seen anywhere else inside a restaurant, like Prince Charming and Lady Tremain from Cinderella. Plus, for breakfast, Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins are there to greet you while Cinderella and her entire family await you for dinner. Of course, the food is great as well, featuring an all-you-can-eat buffet, carving station, and dessert bar. It really is an experience for the entire family.
3. Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, Epcot
Once again, I enjoy eating with the Disney characters, and at Akershus, you can meet Belle, Ariel, Aurora, Cinderella, and Snow White while also dining on some amazingly authentic Norwegian food. The first time my family booked a reservation here, we were very skeptical mainly because we had no idea what food from Norway tasted like. Now, though, Akershus is one of the favorites for every member of my family. The highlight here is the appetizer bar offered to all guests. You can get an entire meal off this bar, but then on top of that, you get a fantastic entree as well as a trio of desserts brought to your table based on what's in season in Norway at the time. How awesome is that?
2. Chef Mickey's, Disney's Contemporary Resort
There's a sense of nostalgia that overtakes me every time I dine at Chef Mickey's because it remains to this day my first vivid memory of one of my early Disney World experiences. You should have guessed, too, that this is also a character dining restaurant featuring the entire Fab Five: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy. That in and of itself is worth the trip, but the food is also incredible featuring yet another all-you-can-eat buffet, carving station, and dessert bar. When you're inside the Contemporary, the legendary Disney Monorail flies by right above your head to just add to the magical time you'll have at Chef Mickey's.
1. Le Cellier Steakhouse, Epcot
Four of the five restaurants in my top five were character dining experiences, so they fact that Le Cellier does not feature characters and yet still occupies my number spot should tell you how much I love this restaurant. It is five-star dining at its absolute finest. Starting off with some heavenly Canadian bread and then proceeding to some of the best steaks in the country, Le Cellier makes you almost forget that you're at Disney World for all the right reasons. It's simply to die for.
Disney World is so much more than hamburgers and chicken tenders. There is literally an entire world of food throughout the resort that will satisfy even the pickiest of eaters. So go and explore Disney World through its cuisine; I can guarantee you that you won't be sorry you did!
-Cody Fleenor
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