I sometimes share dining info about Disney World restaurants but don't often talk about which locations I really like.
Today, I'm telling you my 5 favorite Quick Service and Table Service restaurants.
And my quick tip of the day is a trick to avoid waiting in long lines at 1 of my favorite Quick Service restaurants.
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These are notes from this episode. There's much more info included in the audio so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation.
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My favorite restaurants
9 of the 10 restaurants below are good values on the Disney Dining Plan. For more info on maximizing Disney Dining Plan credits, see my post on that at
https://wdwprepschool.com/maximizing-disney-dining-plan-credits-for-2014/
My 5 favorite Quick Service restaurants
- Wolfgang Puck Express, located in Downtown Disney. 1 pizza costs just 1 Quick Service credit and it's delicious.
- Columbia Harbour House, inside Magic Kingdom. I recommend the Anchors Aweigh Tuna Sandwich and looking for a spot to sit upstairs.
- Be Our Guest lunch, at Magic Kingdom. Line up at 10:30 or 1:30 to avoid the long lines or use the quick tip of the day (info on that below) to skip lines.
- Sunshine Seasons, inside the same building as Soarin' Epcot. Large food court-style eating area with a variety of food. It can get busy so I suggest having 1 person find seating while everybody else orders if you can.
- Flame Tree Barbecue, located at Animal Kingdom. Great barbecue platters and seating in pavilions with nice views of the water.
My 5 favorite Table Service restaurants
- Le Cellier, located in the Canada section of Epcot. Really love the cheese soup, pretzel bread, beer and steak here. This is not a great value on the Disney Dining Plan since it costs 2 Table Service credits.
- Boma, at Animal Kingdom Lodge. African buffet with fantastic soups, desserts and a chance to sample many types of entrees.
- Restaurant Marrakesh, in the Morocco section of Epcot. Music, belly dancer, chance to sample foods. People paying out-of-pocket might want to opt for lunch since it's less expensive and a very similar menu as dinner.
- Ohana, located at The Polynesian. American-style foods with characters at breakfast and great meats and fun atmosphere at dinner.
- Biergarten, in the Germany section of Epcot. German buffet, live band, dance floor, seating is with other people.
Quick tip of the day
People staying on-site can make a FastPass+ reservation at Be Our Guest for lunch to avoid the lines. Reservations often become available about a month beforehand. You'll need the 12 digit numeric confirmation number (often found on Magical Express luggage tags, emails from Disney and in your Disney account before MagicBands are shipped) and then you can go to https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/ to make that reservation.
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Questions or other thoughts on the best places to eat at Disney World?
Please feel free to share them in the comments.
I would add Sleepy Hollow Refreshments at Magic Kingdom to your list. IMHO, none of the quick service restaurants at WDW are going to win awards for the awesomeness of their food. I am so sick of the 1/3 lb. bacon cheeseburger that’s been done to death at Cosmic Ray’s, Tomorrowland Terrace, Pecos Bill’s, and that ilk. BUT at least Flame Tree BBQ & Sleepy Hollow Refreshments offer fare that is somewhat unique in the quick service milieu. Does Flame Tree make the best BBQ ever? No. Does Sleepy Hollow have the best sweet & spicy chicken waffle sandwich that… Read more »
I have my eye on Sleepy Hollow, too, especially since it would be a nice stop for a snack right before the 3:00 pm parade. But, I didn’t see it as an option for Quick Service/Counter Service on the Disney Dining Plan. So, we’ll probably just pay out of pocket for the waffle with the nutella and fruit. Looks yummy!
The “claim reservation” for the Be Our Guest link that you posted is not working for me either. I have the correct 12 digit code but it keeps telling me that the reservation ID and names must match with reservation details. Trying to reserve for February 2nd. Bummer.
Be Our Guest Fast Pass worked for me! We are officially 29 days out! I bookmarked the site just in case I need to make adjustments to the meal selections! How awesome!!! Thanks so much!
Our new favourite restaurant is The Wave in contemporary. Their menu is always changing because they use mostly local produce so it depends on what is available. The food was so fresh and cooked to perfection the atmosphere was so relaxed and it felt so spacious
OK. I think I have a fastpass+ for Be Our Guest in 2 weeks. Reading their FAQ, it seems that I just show up, so that is what we’ll do.
I’m so excited!!!! I just got fastpass reservation for Be Our Guest!!!! YAY!!!!!
I am checking daily for March dates. Shannon, if you hear of march dates becoming available, could you post or update the Facebook page? I’m sure you will know before most of us! My log in went great just waiting for availability.
No need to check daily! March will open up in mid-February. Not sure if I’ll be posting it on the FB Page but you shouldn’t have any trouble if you start checking February 13 or 14.
When I visit that site, after I log in with my Disney info it asks me for my reservation ID and first/last name, and nothing I have seems to match what it’s looking for. Does it want my resort confirmation number? (That doesn’t work.) Everyone I have talked to seems to indicate that they do not take reservations for lunch. I’m confused by this tip entirely!
You need the 12 digit numeric confirmation number, not the alphanumeric confirmation code. And dates are only available through February right now.
I did it for our Sept. visit and used the number that came with our ME package. We ordered our food at that time(you can always go back in and change your order). It was wonderful
We visited Flame Tree Barbecue two weeks ago and were VERY unimpressed. The pork sandwich was average, the ribs were dry (both needed the extra sauce we requested), and the cole slaw was bland. Maybe we just got “old” food, but it was sadly underwhelming. ‘Ohana’s breakfast was terribly overpriced, even for the character experience.
Be Our Guest (lunch) was fantastic though!
I’m currently on hold with a Disney cast member who has never heard of the beourguestlunch.disney.go link that you posted. She said that they cannot honor a reservation made via that site as it is by invitation only. The reservation that I attempted to make on that site does not show up in “My Plans” either. Has anyone else out there had problems using it?
The Cast Members on the phone often provide incorrect info and they will always tell you it’s by invitation only. I’ve never heard of anybody having trouble using it. As I mentioned in the podcast, it won’t show up in your plans but it will work.
Interesting. When I try to use it it tells me that I have an invalid email/login…. but we are still 36 days out so I will keep trying it each day. Another great podcast. Thank you for sharing and I hope we can meet up in Disney since I think we are there around the same time.
I went to Whispering Canyon a couple years back with my soon-to-be husband and really liked Whispering Canyon. We didn’t have a child yet, but the fun things they did during the meal I could see the kids had fun interacting with. I’m pretty sure when we go with our 2 year old (well she’ll be 3 a week later, but we’re going then so she’ll be FREE) in September we’ll go there because it’s fun and with good food!
Has anyone eaten at the Whispering Canyon Cafe? We are thinking about it for our trip in August. Since we’ll be making our ADRs soon, I was wondering what others think of it. I have seen mixed reviews on YELP and TripAdvisor.
I love the quick tips especially about Be Our Guest. I just have to remember to look at about 30 days out.
I keep clicking on the link for Be Our Guest and inputting my information, but it’s not working 🙁 Any advice?
We ate at Captains Grille at Yacht Club in November, all 3 of us are still raving about the food and service., going back in September and will make this a top pick to eat there again. So relaxing as well. Our all time favourite is the California Grill but if on dining plan it is a 2 . We scored the ever elusive BOG for dinner and all very disappointed in the food. Love Le Cellier, we are from Canada. Wolf Gang Pucks for sure, both the Express and the dining room, must try their squash soup, best I… Read more »
I love Via Napoli in Italy! The pizza is amazing. I agree about Marrakesh – we actually brought the kids there last year and they loved it! Plenty of kid friendly stuff for them too.
During our trip last August, we ate at 7 of the 10 you list (missed Sunshine Seasons, Le Cellier, & Marrakesh). All were delicious, and I second your suggestions of upstairs at CHH (cooler and able spread out) and lunch @ BOG-we lined up around 11 and waited about 20 mins. I was worried about my picky DS at BOG, but he gobbled the Mickey meatloaf-he would have eaten another one. Plus the desserts were incredible!
Your top two quick service are mine too. Wolfgang Puck Express was so delicious, we went back again on our last trip. I personally love Columbia Harbour House for their hummus sandwich. I enjoyed it to much that I created the same sandwich at home.
Akershus is my all time favorite sit down restaurant. Their buffet was full of my favorite food: salmon and cold veggies. I was in heaven.
Our next trip we are totally going to attemp BOG for lunch.