Best Resort Dinning?

[RRDallas]

I am returning to WDW in April and I will be there with a friend a few days before the remainder of our party arrives. She has never fully experienced other dining beside at their resort on previous trips (I believe it was Pop Century.) My plan was Tuesday upon her arrival doing lunch at one of the resorts to get to see some of the resorts and try their food! so I was wondering what some of yalls favorite places to eat at the resorts themselves that would be fun for her and I to try! We are also planning on dinner that night at Disney Springs. We have a reservation at Rainforest Café, but I am open to suggestions as well! thanks in advance!!

 

[21stamps]

The Polynesian, for me, has the best dining offerings...plus you could sit outside after dinner and have a dole whip for dessert

 

[MaryJaneP]

We are not sure we completely understand OP, but the post seems to ask two (2) questions
1. Best resort to walk around and visit.
2. Best resort to have lunch at.
It seems as though dinner is gonna be at DS. Unclear if OP is talking one meal (lunch) or multiple days. Also unclear if resort/restaurant should be tied to/near one of the parks.
isn't there already a thread rating restaurants?

 

[RRDallas]

We are not sure we completely understand OP, but the post seems to ask two (2) questions
1. Best resort to walk around and visit.
2. Best resort to have lunch at.
It seems as though dinner is gonna be at DS. Unclear if OP is talking one meal (lunch) or multiple days. Also unclear if resort/restaurant should be tied to/near one of the parks.
isn't there already a thread rating restaurants?

sorry if it seemed confusing. The question was in your personal opinion which resort to you offers the best dining option just for lunch for one day. Also no park is necessary in relation to the resort.

 

[MaryJaneP]

We have been in-park over our lunch time, so we can't help you there, but regarding walk-around/visit, we have been at FW/WL/Poly/GF/CR/BCT. We also hear great stuff about other resorts, including but not limited to AKL.

Since there are so many opportunities to visit other nearby resorts, we would be partial to either EPCOT resorts between Epcot and DHS or Monorail resorts. Again, while we have had great dinners at many of these locations, we are not sure of lunch being the same.

There are many ways to view amenities at the resort you choose for lunch. We would base our choice first on where we wanted to eat and make the visit a secondary goal. But that is us and our focus on good food, however, your mileage may vary.

 

[UncleFastpass]

Not sure what type of food you like(so you can alway check out the menu and see if it appeals to you)but Sanaa in Kidani Village AKL is great. The food is good and the resort is amazing,you may even see animals while you eat.Then before or after eating check out the lobby and then head over to Jambo house lobby (right next door and you can take a bus if you don't feel like walking)which is a must see and head out to the savanna and view the animals.

 

[s&k'smom]

Any of the monorail resorts would be great, Kona at the Poly or Grand Floridian Cafe at the GF. For a quieter time Trail's End at FW would be good too. One of my families favorites.

 

[tpoly88]

I am returning to WDW in April and I will be there with a friend a few days before the remainder of our party arrives. She has never fully experienced other dining beside at their resort on previous trips (I believe it was Pop Century.) My plan was Tuesday upon her arrival doing lunch at one of the resorts to get to see some of the resorts and try their food! so I was wondering what some of yalls favorite places to eat at the resorts themselves that would be fun for her and I to try! We are also planning on dinner that night at Disney Springs. We have a reservation at Rainforest Café, but I am open to suggestions as well! thanks in advance!!

Not sure what you want to spend or what your taste is, but the following places in the parks are good sit down options for lunch, MK-Liberty Tree, AK- Tiffins or Yak and Yeti, DHS- Brown Derby and Epcot- Mexico. All are pretty quiet so you can catch up with your friend but they are not cheap. If your looking for a drink, Trader Sams at Poly is fun and for dinnner AKL sanna and Jiko are real good, California Grill is good but always booked (on weekdays you can tell them your going up to the bar and sit and eat there), not sold on anything at Poly and GF- citricos and Narcosses are very good. DS has the boathouse, STK and mori motos and ragland road is a lot of fun but the food is avg. Botom line is anything that is not buffet or character dinning is pretty decent in Disney. hope some of this helped.

 

[G8rchamps]

We are actually big fans of Grand Floridian Café for lunch or dinner.

 

[dreamfinder]

Remember that most of the resort TS locations are closed during lunch. So if you are going to do resorts at lunch, you will end up having to mostly eat counter services. You should be able to flip and do lunch at DS as many of those restaurants are open during lunch.

But best dining? In terms of food quality/experience? Or something that is unique to WDW and you can't easily find anywhere else? Best food on property? I'd probably point you to V&A, but that's not everyone's cup of tea. Most of the signatures are solid choices, but I'd lean towards Jiko, or California Grill. An experience you can't find elsewhere? Boma for the food choices, or any character meal just because of characters.

 

[Figgy1]

If you have a nonpark day take your time and enjoy the monorail hop and make an ADR for GF Café or go with the flow and grab a qs meal at any of the 3 resorts. My 2 other suggestions would be make an ADR for Sanaa(make sure to try the bread service) and spend some time there and at AKL, and choice 3 go to the Fountain at Swalfin no ADR needed and walk around the BW area.

 

[TXDisney]

I think quality of food Grand Floridian has multiple good restaurants just pricey. Dining in the countries in Epcot I think is the best, but I know you desire the resort restaurants. As far as Disney Sorings goes there's several newer restaurants there worth trying. I don't ever think of going to places like Rainforest Cafe bc I have one 20min from my house. I want something that I can only get at WDW.

 

[BASS]

Good question. IMO, Animal Kingdom, Fort Wilderness, and Grand Floridian are all good options because the resorts are very nice and there's plenty of sight-seeing to do around the resorts. You can easily kill time at any of those spots. Same for anywhere on or near the boardwalk. I'm partial to Animal Kingdom Lodge because I love the uniqueness of the food offered there and the animals, but you won't go wrong with many of the choices provided.

 

[slappy magoo]

As has been mentioned, not all resort restaurants are open for lunch.
Having repeated that, I think it makes sense to either do a monorail resort or an Epcot resort, so you can not only explore the resort you're visiting, but you're in easy traveling distance to other resorts as well, why visit just one resort when a brief walk or monorail ride could offer you more?
But unless you and your friend are all about being kids at heart, you probably aren't interested in restaurants that either do late breakfasts or brunches that have characters. If I'm wrong there, then some options include a Chef Mickey's brunch, a late breakfast at 1900 Grand Fare (I believe last seating is 11:40) or breakfast at Cape May Cafe (last seating 11).

Otherwise, choices would include
The Wave at Contemporary
Kona Cafe at Poly
Grand Floridian Cafe at GF
Big River Grille and Brewing Works or ESPN Club at Boardwalk
Beaches and Cream @ Beach Club
Captain's Grille @ Yacht Club

If you want to go uber-fancy, there's the brunch at California Grill, but at $80 per person, it's pricey (it includes valet parking though)

We're big fans of The Wave, moderate fans of Kona, kind of meh on GF Cafe.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Not sure what type of food you like(so you can alway check out the menu and see if it appeals to you)but Sanaa in Kidani Village AKL is great. The food is good and the resort is amazing,you may even see animals while you eat.Then before or after eating check out the lobby and then head over to Jambo house lobby (right next door and you can take a bus if you don't feel like walking)which is a must see and head out to the savanna and view the animals.

I also think Sanaa is a great choice. However, for a less adventurous palate, Grand Floridian Cafe is also good.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

So my understanding is you're looking for a lunch at one of the resorts where you can enjoy the resort a bit too. My first choice would be Animal Kingdom Lodge. The resort is beautiful plus the animals makes it more of a something to do in and of itself or you could enjoy one of the lounges/bars. My second choice would be doing something in one of the boardwalk area resorts. If you're just looking for a fun lunch then I'd do Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge. If it doesn't have to be a resort what about disney springs?

 

[DisneyDelirious]

Chef Mickey's at Contemporary
Whispering Canyon Cafe at WL
1900 Park Fare at GF
are all favorites for us.

 

[mouse_luv]

All of the Deluxe's esp on the monorail loop have great dining. As far as DS: There are far better places to eat there than at Rainforest Cafe.

 

[tigger1968]

For a nice resort lunch I would say Whispering Canyon Café at WL. It's a fun experience and the food is good, plus the resort is beautiful. We weren't super impressed with The Wave at CR, and Chef Mickey's is not bad but its pricey and always booked up. I have not tried Sanaa yet but I know it's considered very good, and honestly AKL is one of the most well themed resorts on property and well worth visiting. It's our favorite resort.

I would dine anywhere BUT Rainforest Café. It's tacky and the food is lackluster at best, and of course it's overpriced and noisy. There are tons of new options at DS now, I would highly recommend anything else down there. Seriously.

 

[ryguy]

As far as food quality I would say Grand Floridian cafe. Atmosphere the Polynesian/Animal Kingdom Lodge are probably the best. If your looking for unique or different food items then the Animal Kingdom lodge. The Boardwalk area/Beach Club has quite a few food choices too and fun to walk around.