My family and I are planning our second family trip back in May 2009. We had a phenomenal first time experience! My husband can be a home body so I poured heart and soul into our first trip so he would love it and we all have great memories and thus here comes trip #2. We were the least 'informed' about where to eat and went through many reviews, made our ADR's, enjoyed a couple of character meals and loved all of it (Ohana's twice, Liberty Tree Tavern, Sci Fi Drive In Diner, Planet Hollywood). I am now seeking the expertise of the members of mouseplanet - where do you eat? My kids are one daughter - 11, and two sons - 8 and 6. My husband just likes to 'eat.' Thanks!! ;)

I know how you feel my hubby can eat ALOT. We all have our favorites.

1. Whispering Canyon
2. Le Cellier Steakhouse (Canada)
3. Cape May Cafe
4. Chef Mickey's
5. MaMa Melrose

These are just our top 5.

Hope this helps!!!:D

I make a sport out of eating at Disney so picking just one restaurant is hard. You didn't mention the type of meal you wanted. Character, Signature etc. Here are a few of my favorites in no particular order:

California Grill
Jiko
Boma
Chef Mickey's
1900 Park Fare
Le Cellier
Spoodles
Liberty Tree Tavern

Hope that helps!

We enjoyed the Tusker House breakfast. We got reservations for before AK officially opened. The food seemed very fresh. We had a great server.

We also got some of the best service at Biergarten. We didn't feel like they were trying to rush us out and we had plenty of drink refills! The band was fun to listen to. You may have to share a table with someone else, but our experience was pleasant. We sat with an older lady and an exchange student that was in the US for the very first time. Of course, she wanted to see WDW!

We also enjoyed Garden Grill. The atmosphere was quiet and the way the booths are set up makes you feel like you have the whole place to yourself (ask to sit on the first level).

I know it's a chain restaurant, but my kids (ages 11 and 12) are die-hard Rainforest Cafe fans.

They are also looking forward to trying the new T-Rex restaurant at Downtown Disney.

Other favorites include Ohana and Chef Mickey.

So many to choose from :D

I'll throw out a vote for Boma, it's now on our must-do list. It's a buffet and not like any place I can go near home, the food is fantastic, there's a great variety of dishes (including "normal" food for the kids), the atmosphere is great. It's a lot of fun to walk around Animal Kindom Lodge before or after you eat.

Congrats on the 2nd trip!!

You are going to get lots of varied responses-and frankly I wouldn't rule at anywhere until I've tried it myself. Also, Signature or non; Character or no???

That said:

favorites from 1st trip:

Le Cellier
Rose and Crown
Boma-dinner
Raglan Road

On the agenda for next trip:

Le Cellier
Boma-breakfast
California Grill
Les Chefs
somewhere at the Poly as we haven't checked that one out yet. depends on whether dh will "let" me do character(Ohana) or no(Kona).

Another vote for Boma at AKL from me! We ate there in August and all loved it, including the 4 boys. There is a great variety (they even tried the cous cous when I told them it was like "baby pasta" and liked it!) for everyone and the food always tastes fresh (and somewhat healthy). It's also a great excuse to go to AKL, see the animals, etc.

We're not crazy about any of the places to eat at Epcot/WS. We especially did not like San Miguel Cantina in Mexico (I think the restaurant is purposely dimly lit and not for atmosphere - LOL!). We haven't tried Le Cellier but I would love to based on all the great reviews it gets on this board.

My favorite:

Expensive:

Jiko
California Grill
Fulton's Crab House

Not so expensive:

Cape May Cafe (dinner)
Raglan Road

I am open to all ideas - character, signature, dinner shows(?), and I know there will be some quick service in there as well.

Thanks for the response so far - it's so helpful and I really appreciate it.

What about Cinderella's Royal Table? I really think my daughter would love it now, once, and I am undecided - she will be 11 when we go... so it's kind of 'now or never.'

Our family loves the Storybook Breakfast in Norway at the World Showcase for a great character breakfast. When our kids were smaller we would stick to the character meals that had table service over buffets, it just seemed easier with our kids!

Love the atmosphere at Prime Time for families, the kids get such a kick out of seeing their parents get scolded and even stood in the corner and another favorite is Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge. The food is tasty and the atmosphere is so fun!

A great fun ol' fashioned fav of ours is Beaches and Cream, it's an ol' fashioned soda fountain restaurant and if you are feeling adventurous, you can even order a dessert called 'the kitchen sink'! It is actually served in a kitchen sink and is a giant sundae with a scoop of every flavor ice cream and topped with every kind of topping in the restaurant!

Enjoy!

Boma - I really enjoy the different kinds of African-influenced food they have that I can't find where I live. I also am usually meeting friends who love to eat there too, so it's also a social experience as well as a culinary one.

Since you have 3 kids; I'll not recommend a signature restaurant (our favorite is Artist Point in the Wilderness lodge)

My recommendations, based on three children would be:

Boma - in the AK Lodge (also good if you need a break from the parks)

Garden Grill - at Epcot -Great fresh food and the least hectic character meal.
Note: I believe that the Liberty Tree Tavern (in Magic Kingdom) is no longer a character meal

Coral Reef -But only if you are on the dining plan, with 3 kids it may not be worth the extra cost.

Hope this helps

My favs: Liberty Tree Tavern, Garden Grill, Mama Melrose, Ohana, Boma, Restaurant Marrakesh, Teppan Edo. I don't consider it a favorite unless I have eaten there more than once. But I have enjoyed many of the other restaurants too! Yak and Yeti was really good!

Fav counter service places: Flame Tree BBQ, Pecos Bill's, Lotus Blossom Cafe.

What about Cinderella's Royal Table? I really think my daughter would love it now, once, and I am undecided - she will be 11 when we go... so it's kind of 'now or never.'

My $.02-I'd do the Norway Princess Breakfast over CRT. Why? You still get Princesses too-just not Cinderella. Now, if she MUST see Cinderella-think you can do that at Cinderella's Gala Feast(something of that nature, yes?) at the GF-for dinner. You still get the castle atmosphere but the food is brought to your table and the picture package is included. Dining plan-is 1 credit vs 2 for CRT. Plus, it's a little easier to get into.

We have actually had Cinderella as one of the Princess' who joined us for breakfast at the Storybook Breakfast in Norway. She is just not a guarantee.

Family of 4 here, myself, hubby, daughter 8, son 4 1/2

Favorite Table Service Meals
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Chef Mickey's breakfast
Crystal Palace lunch
Tusker House breakfast
1900 Park Fare (although it wasn't quite as good when we went in October)
Liberty Tree Tavern

(in case you didn't notice, we are fans of character meals)

Favorite Counter Service locations
Caseys (it is a must-do every trip, sometimes multiple times)
Columbia Harbor House
Sunshine Seasons in Epcot (nice change from burgers and fries)
Flame Tree BBQ in Animal Kingdom

Thank you so much! Everyone is so kind and helpful to send me their ideas. Very excited and not nearly as overwhelmed in determining 'where to eat.' Never thought that would be an issue until we planned trip 1, and saw so many options out there so we definitely want to try different cuisines this trip! You guys are great! ;)

Reading this is maaking me hungry. We love concourse steak house. The kids love watching the monerail.

Reading this is maaking me hungry. We love concourse steak house. The kids love watching the monerail.

You know that no longer exists, right? (They're expanding/expanded Chef Mickey's into the space and did a whole bunch of other re-arranging on that level.)

i knew it was coming but didn't know it had happened:mad:

My hubby and I went by ourselves to Jiko. It was wonderful! We had the deluxe dining plan. It was nice to be by ourselves for a moment. But I did see families there too. My mom was kind enough to babysit for us!

I have a hard time deciding....

Ohana Breakfast - comfort food breakfast :)
Whispering Canyon dinner - great atmosphere :)
Liberty Tree Tavern - It reminds me of Thanksgiving...yummy :)

We had dinner at the Prime Time Cafe in the Hollywood Studios park one evening and it was so much fun! The whole 'eating with your cousins' aspect was great, as well as being served by our smart-alecky, joke-telling 'sister' made the entire meal enjoyable. Food was good, solid, comfort food.

We celebrated one of the kids' birthdays there, and not only did all the 'cousins' sing Happy Birthday, but 'sister' made all of them sign a birthday card for her! It was great.