Disney World LOVERS Questions 1.2.3.4...help :)

When we went we did the dining plan. YES you do save money, but it may or may not be worth the money you save,

We got the 2 Quick Service meal plan plus snacks. With a child, they have to order off the child's menu, which is very limited. My daughter was very picky at the time, and she wanted the ADULT food because there were more choices. The children's meals were things like hotdogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken fingers, tacos, etc. After a few days, she got tired of that type of menu.

Every meal comes with a dessert. Who can eat that much sugar? We ended up opting for desserts you can carry with you, and sometimes we even gave them away. I saw one dad with 2 kids who wanted dessert and he was all tired and frazzled and said "no, I can't afford to get you dessert right now." So we gave him our desserts (they are individually wrapped). He was so thankful!

Snacks were OK, but too much. I liked that you could get ice cream with them. We usually got one drink and one ice cream with our snack options.

Our favorite place to eat was in Downtown Disney and I can't even remember the name. We could use our meal plan there, and we got a great dinner!

If we ever go back, we are not doing the dining plan. I'd almost rather cook my own! The food was greasy like fast food. We eat very healthy at home so our bodies were NOT used to all that grease and sugar. Combined with the heat and walking around--we didn't feel so good.

Good luck, have fun!

Also, go to www.mousesavers.com. There are some super tips there! Especially on how to save money on eating.

Meal plans are NOT worth it.
No such thing as "quick service" meals no matter how they market/sell it, you WILL be waiting in a long line.
Snack credit? Not sure what that is. We ate twice a day at Disney (lunch and dinner) and had our own breakfast/snacks back in our room. Trust me you will need a break, have a cooler with water, juice, milk, WINE, etc. back in your room, along with plenty of fruit, nuts, cookies and crackers :)

1. I would focus on Character Meals. You will get the the most "bang" for your meal plan dollar. Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom), Akershus (Epcot), Hollywood and Vine breakfast or lunch (Hollywood Studios), Tusker House breakfast or lunch (Animal Kingdom), Chef Mickey's breakfast or dinner (Contemporary Resort). Cinderella's Royal Table in Magic Kingdom is a magical experience for little girls BUT it does take 2 meal credits per person. Akershus is also a princess meal and it is only 1 meal credit and also a wonderful experience. You can look up descriptions of the restaurants and see menus on the Disney website or try allears.net

2. Columbia Harbor House (Magic Kingdom), Cosmic Rays (Magic Kingdom), Sunshine Seasons (Epcot). I can't think of another that I love. However, there is a new restaurant that is opening in Magic Kingdom called Be Our Guest based on Beauty and The Beast. It will be a quick service meal at lunch time and a table service meal at dinner. It should be great for little girls!!

3. Main Street Bakery (Magic Kingdom), Confectionary (Magic Kingdom), Starring Rolls (Hollywood Studios). Sorry, can't think of 5 here either.

4. In terms of other advice: Be sure to book your table service (sit down meals) 180 days in advance either through the website or calling Disney. Many popular restaurants book up and reservations are essential. We usually ate breakfast at our hotel either eating snacks that we brought with us or using snack credits at the hotel quick service restaurant. Also, always try to be there at park open. The crowds are lighter in the morning and you can sometimes walk on rides without any wait or only a short wait. The Opening Ceremony at Magic Kingdom is not to be missed, it is about 10 minutes before park open--go to it at least once. I have one daughter who is 5 and we've gone several times since she was 3. We try to hit the parks early, take a break back to the hotel to rest or swim after lunch and then go back out at dinner time. In terms of travel, if you are staying "on property" Magical Express (a free Disney shuttle service from airport to hotel) is wonderful. You check your bags at the airport, get on the plane and then don't have to touch them again until they are in your room. Magical Express collects them from baggage claim for you. Enjoy!! Despite the fact that it can be crowded at times, Disney World is a truly magical place for little girls and adults alike!

Disney World is my favorite place to take my kids!! We have been there 7 times and my oldest is only 10!!!

Our favorite is Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. Its a BBQ place with wacky waiters! Ask for ketchup and see what happens. Drop a fork and ask for a new one (even if its staged by mom...) see what happens!! Go early and play on the beach or stay after dinner for a movie on the beach! Beautiful place for pictures too!!

For a character meal, we love Ohana at the Polynesian. Best food, served family style. Mickey and Pluto are there and so are Lilo and Stitch. The kdis can march in a parade with instruments and the characters have always taken lots of time with our kids there!! Love it!!

Other good ones are Chef Mickey's Character B-fast (Contemporary), M. Melrose (Hollywood Studios), Tusker House B-fast (Animal Kingdom).

Your girls would love the princesses in the castle!! Book that one early or at an odd time! Pictures are included!

Cosmic Rays is good at the MK for quick service but we usually sit down for lunch to give the legs a rest. The lunch lines are usually so long that you can go to a sit down restaurant and eat in the same amount of time. Making the reservations have never been a problem for us.

If you are doing character meals or plan on doing lots of character pics, I would prebuy the photopass disk before going at a big discount. Read up on it!! My pictures are my treasures!!

T-Rex at downtown disney is awesome!!

Best "adult" oriented restaurants that we like are Jiko (AK Lodge) and the Yachtman Steakhouse (Yacht Club Resort). We take our kids to these too. They are signature and require 2 table service meals. We love them and go every visit! After leaving the Yacht Club walk over to the boardwalk (10 min walk) and be entertained with magic, jugglers, etc.!!!

Snack credits can be used at the candy shops! We always use our leftovers for candy souvenirs!!

Have a blast!!

We went to WDW every 2 yrs from the time daughter was 2 until she was 14. We never used a meal plan... in our opinion that was a waste.

The ony hotel we ever stayed at was the Polynesian... pricey but SO worth it for convenience and fun. I love that hotel.

Our favorites... O'Hana character breakfast at the Polynesian, Luau (not character) at the Polynesian, Chef Mickey at the Contemporary, Breakfast with Pooh in MK, several places at Epcot were good.

I can't answer to snack credits, etc. We jsut got snacks when we wanted them at various places.

On 3 occasions we stayed at the concierge tower at the Polynesian and there is a lot of food, including wine/beer included in your price. They have a small/light set up for breakfast, lunch, afternoon appetizers, dinner, dessert. When we stayed there, we enjoyed the 24hr snacks, drinks, fresh fruits available, etc. You do pay extra to be in Concierge but you get a lot of perks... the private Safari at Animal Kingdom was priceless!

Enjoy!

We love to get free dining . We have it when we go in december. We would pay for it anyway though. But we like to use our full service for character dinners because you really get your moneys worth. we love 1900 Park Fare dinner at the Grand Floridian. It has Cinderella , prince Charming and the stepmpther and stepsisters(they are funny not scary ). The food is good too. Chef mickeys is great because you get to see the Fab Five Mickey,Minnie,Donald,Pluto and Goofy. It is at the Contemporary . Both restaurants are close to the Magic Kingdom and are on the monorail line. The Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom has Pooh,Tigger,Piglet and Eeyore. Also, at Epcot the Ackershus Breakfast in Norway is a princess breakfast(the food is more kid friendly at breakfast). It features 4 princesses but you never know who usually Aurora,Snow White,Ariel etc. Belle is usually at the door taking pictures before you are seated(pics included with the meal). If you go to allears . net you can see the menus of all the restaurants.
For snacks we like the Dole whip at Magic Kingdom ,yogurt parfait at your resort , ice cream cone at Beaches and cream (Beach Club take the boat from Hollywood studios),all kinds of drinks and pastries in Epcot,always ask if it is a snack before you give them your card , they are all very helpful.
In Animal Kingdom I think the quick service we like is Restaurantasaurus.We like the Shrimp Po boy and you can refill your drinks before you leave. I hear that Pinnochio Restaurant is fun in MK you can see its a small world.
FYI if you have the dining plan and a dessert comes with your quick service you can ask for a bottle of water instead then put it in your frig for the next day . I like to use my quick service for a breakfast for everyone to share at the resort-fruit , yogurt and 2 juices(bottles ) . then when we have our lunch I share with the kids ( a couple of pieces of their mini pizza and some carrots ) . If you ask for a cup of water its free so i always get one when we have our quick service to fill up our thermos.
Have your girls bring a costume to wear and a change of clothes at the park in case you come across a splash pad. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo is overrated so bring some sparkly hair gel and buy a small tiara for $10 at various locations (near Akershus) and they will look like they went there . You must go to Toy Story Mania at Hollywood studios but you have to get ther EARLY and get the Fastpass also go see Ariel and the Beauty and the Beast Shows. I hope this helps ! Have a Magical Trip ;0)

Well, I can't really fill a top 5 b/c I think the food at Disney is overal not very good. I am a healthy eater though so I do struggle with pub-grub type places and the kind of places where an entree contains a day and a half worth of calories. Most people like Disney food so I realize I am an anomaly. But here IS what I like:

I LOVE Ohana at the Poly. The character breakfast is unique in that they bring out a skillet that serves a family style breakfast. Plus they have a delicious bread basket with the most amazing pineapple bread. You will get Lilo and Stich here plus a couple main characters-Pluto, Donald I think were there. Then for dinner they have a very cool theme of an open flamed barbecue where they bring to your table shish kebobs of chilen/shrimp/steak along with some really good pacific/asian influenced sides. Fun character interaction there too.
There is a little restaurant in Hollywood Studios that looks like a set from the 1950s. Very cool atmosphere but don't love the food. Also the Sci FI diner there is cool-horrible food though IMO but it was all sandwiches and stuff that I don't eat.
I would not eat in the Animal Kingdom. Nobody in my family has ever liked anything there and I think my son actually got food poisoning at Tusker House.
The Crystal Palace character meal in the MK is kind of cool b/c its right in the middle of all the action. The food isn't too terrible either. Nice salad bar selections.
My favorite quick service was Wolfgang Puck in Downtown Disney. IT is the only restaurant I would actually seek out if I we had one at home. I also really liked the quickservice at the Poly-wonderful turkey sandwiches with homeade mixed chips, good pizzas, and amazing stuffed french toast and all the dole whip you like!
The best thing I tasted at Disney was the pineapple margaritas at the tequila bar in Mexico/epcot. Take the kids and get homeade salsa and guac with chips for them.

We never felt the meal plans were a good deal. We couldn't keep up with all the eating! There was just too much and I believe we would have spent less if we had just eaten what and when we wanted. We ended up just getting bottles of water with our snack credits because nobody wanted more food. Disney isn't going to do anything that won't make them a profit. The meal deals are a good thing for THEM.

Our favorite restaurants are mostly in Epcot and MGM or whatever they call it now. Save your big meal for the sit down restaurants in the Mexican, German, Italian sections at Epcot, or Prime Time 50s Diner and the Sci-Fi Drive In Theater in MGM. We also liked eating in Cinderella's Castle, but you have to book months in advance for that one usually. The food isn't that great, but the character meal there is fun.