Magic Kingdom dining help

eb3257

Active Member
Original Poster
Any suggestions on good places to dine in the Magic Kingdom? Table service or quick service- I'll take any suggestions. I need to start making reservations and do not know where to start.

Also, any Magic Kingdom restaurants we should stay away from? It's my husband and I and five year old twin boys.

Thanks for the help!!! :)
 

darcol

Well-Known Member
Our favourites are, The Crystal Palace at any meal time (but we prefer breakfast) and The Plaza, and for quick service Sleepy Hollow, Pecos Bill and Be our Guest for lunch (dinner is table service)
 

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member
Congrats on your pending family vacation! Twin 5 year olds-you're something mighty brave and lucky!

Crystal Palace is a very good buffet which featured Pooh and friends characters. Also check out Be Our Guest and Liberty Tree Tavern as additional TS options.

We like Pecos Bills and Columbia Harbour House as QS spots.
 

Dana223

Member
Depending on when you are going and what the park hours are (also the personalities of your children) I would consider booking a late dinner reservation. During my August vacation, we had a 9:40 dinner reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table and 9:20 dinner reservation at Be Our Guest. Magic Kindgom closed at 10pm both nights so when we left we felt like we were the only ones in the park! Of course security is there to keep you moving but we were able to stop and take pictures on Main Street. It was quite the experience!!
 

Souvenir

Well-Known Member
Our last trip was in May and June of this year. My girls were 6 and 3 and my son was 14 months. They are all adventurous eaters and well behaved at the table. I don't like quick service meals (it's fine for a snack or a beverage) because I'd rather sit and relax instead of standing in line and having to find a table with appropriate seating. The quick service locations in Magic Kingdom are all so busy at mealtime. We enjoyed Be Our Guest for dinner but will never again do it for breakfast or lunch. You need a reservation for all three meal periods at Be Our Guest but breakfast and lunch are not full table service. You order your food in advance, find your own table, and the food is delivered to you. We have not had good experiences with this. It's hard to find a table, takes long for the food to arrive, and the atmosphere in general is very chaotic. We've had dinner there three times now, on three separate trips, and it's always been really wonderful, food and service. We also really enjoy Jungle Navigation Skipper Canteen. It's fairly new but we've managed to eat either lunch or dinner there on several occasions. The menu is a bit different, with Asian, African, and South American flavors, but not so different as to be uncomfortable. The children's menu is wonderful and offers things that are different from the usual burger and nuggets yet still suitable for little ones. Crystal Palace is a character buffet. I find the food to be quite ordinary but it's a good location for character interaction. I've seen things written here on this site where some guests say that they had a long wait for the characters but our experiences have been very good with the characters (pooh, tigger, piglet, etc) arriving in a timely manner and spending a good amount of time with my children, even posing for photos. Cinderella's Royal Table is the place for Princess interaction. The food is edible but not at all special. However you're right inside the castle and all of the princesses are very attentive to the children. The boys we saw there were having as much fun as the girls. We have also eaten at Tony's Town Square (twice) and unfortunately I can not recommend it. Great location with a nice festive feel and a good people watching view of the area just before Main Street, but truly awful food and below mediocre service. Enjoy planning your trip but don't delay at making your dining reservations if you hope to eat in any of the popular table service locations. They fill up far in advance.
 

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
MK doesnt have the number of quality dining spots other parks do.
CRT can be a unique dining experience for young ones, if youve never tried it. The atmosphere is one you have to do at least once in your Disney years. It is popular and costly. Some guests dont feel the food is worth food the cost.
Our favorites are BOG, West Wing. It is dark and maybe not an area your young ones would like. You can check videos on youtube to get an idea of what its like. The Ballroom is large and has snow falling outside window view. The Rose gallery has a dancing B&B with various art framed around the room.
Crystal Palace has a good quality buffet and the Pooh Characters that visit the tables. It is a fun dining spot for families.
Liberty Tree Tavern has large platters of Turkey breast, Roast Pork, Prime Rib with assorted veggies, stuffing and mac & cheese. Great amount to fill up a family.
Quick service you have Pecos Bills, Columbia House, or Caseys for hot dogs.
Cosmic Rays & Pinocchios Village Haus are so so in quality but can be good if you cant get into the others easily.
After multiple tries, weve found Tonys as a table dining to be not worth the cost.
 

Rsj88

Well-Known Member
We have two boys 8 and 2. Our favorite QS places are Columbia Harbor House and Cosmic Rays. Cosmic Rays is usually crowded but the kids love Sonny Eclipse! CHH is usually not as crowded and has kind of a cozy, relaxed atmosphere. The kids also enjoy eating at Pinocchio's over looking It's A Small World. We also really enjoy eating at Be Our Guest for lunch. Again, we aren't too particular about the food. We look for fun or different atmospheres.
We usually don't eat TS at MK. Most of the time we like to take the monorail to Ohana or a boat ride to Whispering Canyon Cafe. We have had breakfast at CRT which the boys loved. Not too excited about the princesses but it was such a neat experience to eat in the castle and they both got swords! It's just a bit pricy for us for the food you get but it was worth trying it once since we had free dining and extra credits.
 

eb3257

Active Member
Original Poster
Our last trip was in May and June of this year. My girls were 6 and 3 and my son was 14 months. They are all adventurous eaters and well behaved at the table. I don't like quick service meals (it's fine for a snack or a beverage) because I'd rather sit and relax instead of standing in line and having to find a table with appropriate seating. The quick service locations in Magic Kingdom are all so busy at mealtime. We enjoyed Be Our Guest for dinner but will never again do it for breakfast or lunch. You need a reservation for all three meal periods at Be Our Guest but breakfast and lunch are not full table service. You order your food in advance, find your own table, and the food is delivered to you. We have not had good experiences with this. It's hard to find a table, takes long for the food to arrive, and the atmosphere in general is very chaotic. We've had dinner there three times now, on three separate trips, and it's always been really wonderful, food and service. We also really enjoy Jungle Navigation Skipper Canteen. It's fairly new but we've managed to eat either lunch or dinner there on several occasions. The menu is a bit different, with Asian, African, and South American flavors, but not so different as to be uncomfortable. The children's menu is wonderful and offers things that are different from the usual burger and nuggets yet still suitable for little ones. Crystal Palace is a character buffet. I find the food to be quite ordinary but it's a good location for character interaction. I've seen things written here on this site where some guests say that they had a long wait for the characters but our experiences have been very good with the characters (pooh, tigger, piglet, etc) arriving in a timely manner and spending a good amount of time with my children, even posing for photos. Cinderella's Royal Table is the place for Princess interaction. The food is edible but not at all special. However you're right inside the castle and all of the princesses are very attentive to the children. The boys we saw there were having as much fun as the girls. We have also eaten at Tony's Town Square (twice) and unfortunately I can not recommend it. Great location with a nice festive feel and a good people watching view of the area just before Main Street, but truly awful food and below mediocre service. Enjoy planning your trip but don't delay at making your dining reservations if you hope to eat in any of the popular table service locations. They fill up far in advance.
I am so glad you told me that information about Be Our Guest. The reservations are so hard to find but now I will try to zero in on dinner since that sounds more laid back. I booked a reservation at Skipper Canteen! Looks like a good spot!! Thanks for all of your suggestions.
 

eb3257

Active Member
Original Poster
I was tough but I made us a reservation at Skipper Canteen. I may switch it to Liberty tree Tavern.......tough decision.
 

danyoung56

Well-Known Member
If I'm doing quick service in the MK, my choices alternate between Cosmic Ray's (love that AA Sonny Eclipse!) and Columbia Harbor House (sitting upstairs on the bridge and people watching). For table service inside the MK I'll go with Be Our Guest, the Liberty Tree Tavern or the Skipper Canteen. But usually for dinner I'll go outside of the MK and enjoy a fine meal at Narcoosee's in the Grand Floridian, 'Ohana in the Poly or my favorite restaurant on the planet - the amazing California Grill up on top of the Contemporary Resort.
 

correcaminos

Well-Known Member
Depending on when you are going and what the park hours are (also the personalities of your children) I would consider booking a late dinner reservation. During my August vacation, we had a 9:40 dinner reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table and 9:20 dinner reservation at Be Our Guest. Magic Kindgom closed at 10pm both nights so when we left we felt like we were the only ones in the park! Of course security is there to keep you moving but we were able to stop and take pictures on Main Street. It was quite the experience!!
For 5 year old twins? No way I'd ever suggest that unless they are west coasters! At 5 bedtime was well before 9pm. As a parent keep to kids' schedules to keep meltdowns and bad days from happening IMO.

to the OP our favorite there is Skipper Canteen so if your kids aren't picky I say go for that. It was a lot of fun. Columbia Harbor House was our favorite QS. Crystal Palace wasn't bad, but more for characters than food. Not worth paying dinner prices though IMO. Personally I think MK is the weakest of all parks with food choices now.
 

larandtra

Well-Known Member
I would agree with others. MK is without a doubt the weakest food park and like others, Ill jump the monorail or a boat and go to Kona, Citricos, Narcoosees, Cali Grille, or whispering Canyon for a sit down meal. The introduction of Skipper Canteen gave us one solid choice for a place to eat a sit down meal. Columbia Harbor House or Pecos for a counter service is acceptable.
 

Hockey89

Well-Known Member
For 5 year old twins? No way I'd ever suggest that unless they are west coasters! At 5 bedtime was well before 9pm. As a parent keep to kids' schedules to keep meltdowns and bad days from happening IMO.

to the OP our favorite there is Skipper Canteen so if your kids aren't picky I say go for that. It was a lot of fun. Columbia Harbor House was our favorite QS. Crystal Palace wasn't bad, but more for characters than food. Not worth paying dinner prices though IMO. Personally I think MK is the weakest of all parks with food choices now.
Could not agree more. This is why you see kids on complete meltdowns bc their parents push them to death at Disney...Way too late for a 5 year old to be up...
 

Luv4disney

New Member
i would love it if WDW parks could add non character ADULT sections for crystal palace, castle, tusker house, 1900 park fare etc...
like chef mickeys, they have brunch non character... just so people have more options
 

NiarrNDisney

Well-Known Member
__TS__

Liberty Tree Tavern
Plaza Restaurant
Skipper Canteen

__CS__

Colombia Harbour House
Sleepy Hollow
Tomorrowland Terrace

__Resorts__

Captain Cooks (Poly) CS
Geyser Point Bar & Grill (WL) CS
Grand Floridian Cafe (GFR) TS
Kona Cafe (Poly) TS
Roaring Fork (WL) CS
Trails End (FW) TS
Wave (CR) TS
 

danyoung56

Well-Known Member
i would love it if WDW parks could add non character ADULT sections for crystal palace, castle, tusker house, 1900 park fare etc...
like chef mickeys, they have brunch non character... just so people have more options

I would actually enjoy this. I'm not a character person - in the end, it's just me nodding at a college-aged kid who isn't allowed to talk to me. It's always uncomfortable, and I really enjoy a breakfast buffet when the characters are on the far side of the restaurant and won't get to me at all.
 

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