Disney Honeymoon - What to book in advance?

MuppetOverlord · July 2013

I am less than 90 days out and I have to make reservations for dinners and special things.

What are the top recommendations? I'm so overwhelmed by going through the guides.

kks4471 · July 2013

The only restaurant we made reservations for in advance was the Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom, and I definitely recommend it! The buffet dinner was really good, and Pooh and his friends walk around the tables for visits. Nice atmosphere within the restaurant too. We had the quick service dining plan, so that's why this was the only sit down restaurant we attended. Sorry I'm not more helpful!

jennylee813 · July 2013

Oh Muppet - a Disney honeymoon sounds amazing! Soooo jealous!

You should eat at the Coral Reef in Epcot. It's a tiered dining room with one glass wall looking into an aquarium. You can watch rays, all sorts of fish, sharks, sea turtles etc while you dine. When we were there there was divers in the tank as well!

You must also see the Muppet 3D show at Hollywood Studios. No reservation required, but so awesome!

We also liked the Sci Fi Dine In. It's not fancy, but it's set up to be a kitchy drive in, where they show clips from cheesy old movies, and the tables are shaped like old cars. The hostesses wear roller skates, and it's very cute.

We didn't do too many sit down dining experiences because there was too much fun to be had, but everywhere we ate was amazing.

daria24 · July 2013

I've only ever made reservations at Be Our Guest. We really enjoyed having dinner there, but lunch is open seating, so if you can't get a reservation I would just go there for lunch to experience it.

I've had Character Breakfasts at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. The Polynesian is served family style, which I prefer to a buffet. I don't eat a whole lot so a buffet always seems like such a waste. Plus buffet pancakes and french toast are never as good as cooked to order.

Personally I've never been big on the sit down restaurants in the parks because I don't like being married to eating at a certain time, in a particular location. Eating at the parks is basically just a necessity to me-refuel and get out there to go on more rides!

Supposedly the steak house in the Canada section of Epcot is the best, but they book up 6 months in advance. But you could make an attempt and drop the "HM" word and see what happens.

jennylee813 · July 2013

I second @darla24 - make sure you tell them it's a honeymoon. If you are staying on site, they usually ask if it's a special occasion when you check in. Tell them. They usually give out buttons that say what the occasion is, and wearing them might feel cheesy at first, but there are definite perks!

When we did our first visit, we got "first visit" buttons - see? Everything is special! - and the kids got free games at the arcade one night, special trading pins from a cast member another time ... the cast members go out of their way to make sure that it's a wonderful experience for everyone.

kathrynrf · July 2013

In Epcot, in the England spot there is a pub. Make a reservation for like 800 and try as hard as you canto get outdoor seating. Then you can eat good food and watch the fireworks!!! I would call and talk to someone to find out the best time to make a reservation to have your best chance of getting a fireworks view. We are Disney honeymooners too! My fiancé took me there after I had a rough, unexpected surgery. It was my first time going, and he proposed at the magic kingdom! We couldn't think of anywhere else to go for our honeymoon.

winelover123 · July 2013

I wish I had some dining advice, but when I went to Disney I was a poor college student and we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the car for lunch and dinner :-D Check out Downtown Disney as well as the parks - it's pretty cool.

My only advice would be to let people know that you're on your HM. For birthdays, they give you a button to wear, so they may do the same for a HM. Have fun in Disney!

Grabows14 · July 2013

It sounds like you are going during their food and wine festival (sept-oct) definitely make it a point to spend an entire day at EPCOT. I LOVE the drinks and different food from around the world, PLUS they have independent vendors selling paintings and whatnot, which would make a cute addition to your household to remember your honeymoon.

I haven't been to Belle's castle yet, but it sounds amazing from the reviews, so if you are really interested, I would reserve that ASAP (totally booked when we went around Christmas).

MY FAVORITE restaurant in Disney (right now) is probably the Yak and Yeti in Animal Kingdom. If you decide to go here, make a reservation for around the same time as the parade (1:15?) and ask for the 2nd floor corner window area. We did that once, and not only is the food delicious(asian/indian), but the parade looks very cool by viewing from above.

If you like tea, then do tea time at the Grand Floridian, very nice, but can be around ~$30 pp... I really enjoyed the last time we did that.

Also, if you are a food connoisseur, then do Victoria Albert's (very very very expensive), it's like an 8 course meal.

Great restaurants are also in Downtown Disney. Definitely do Bongo's, and their killer mojitos... Wolfgang Pucks is always delicious. They also have an Irish pub that does live music around 9pm (Raglan Road). That is REALLY fun (especially since they tore down most of Pleasure Island).

To see fireworks after dinner, the best restaurants are the castle (Magic Kingdom), Brown Derby (Disney Studios), any restaurant in EPCOT World Showcase (Rose and Crown is the best, you can see fireworks during dinner)....

Anyway, I go to Disney world 2-3 times a year, send me a message if you want more details....

I LOVE DISNEY, so I hope it's a great honeymoon for you!

strlzfan11 · July 2013

Good luck getting an ADR for dinner. The window opens at 180 days out and many restaurants book up that day (Le Cellier and Be Our Guest especially). If you want to go to Be Our Guest, plan on going during the lunch hour.

Do you have park hopper tickets? If not, you'll have to devote an entire days' ticket to the park where you manage to score a reservation.

My suggestion would be to see what's available during your trip and go from there. You don't want to set yourselves up to be disappointed when the restaurant you really want has no availability.

Cokezerofreak · July 2013

I'm from Central Florida and can't believe no one has mentioned O'Hanas:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/polynesian-resort/ohana/

It's in the Polynesian Resort -- like a Brazillian Steak House where they come around with all the meat skewers and you choose what you want. They have these Asian noodles that are to die for. I took my fiance (boyfriend at the time) last year and we both loved it. However, go with an empty stomach. It's wonderful food but a lot of it.

We also liked the in Epcot Japan's Teppan Edo Hibachi restaurant.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/teppan-edo/

And the Sci Fi was lots of fun! We were in a "car" with an older couple in the seats in front of ours that were really inspiring. You could see the love coming out of them. The commercials were sooo funny.

[Deleted User] · July 2013

If you think you might enjoy Cirque du Soleil, you can book tickets to the show in Downtown Disney.

MuppetOverlord · July 2013

Wow, thanks for all the responses.

I thought you couldnt book till 90 days...eep... i'm behind. We'll try to do this tomorrow.

How many nights do you think we should have something booked for? we'll be there for 7 full days (leaving the 8th). we haven't planned which day where yet so I feel like booking too much is going to force that on us? not sure if that's good or bad.

we are doing parkhopper pass.

Unfortunately, the dining week is the week before. we miss it.

so much insight!!

strlzfan11 · July 2013

Personally I would only pick one sit-down restaurant in each park and maybe one non-park restaurant if there's something you're really dying to try out. I'm not a huge eater at amusement parks, though.

allears.net has a link to all of the menus (including prices).

wdwinfo.com has the park hours.

chibiyui · July 2013

Try to book Brown Derby w/ the show tickets. If you do that you'll get special seating for Fantasmic, which is a nice show.

Narcossi's (sp?) was also a nice steak house with some surf options. And Victoria and Alberts is also nice ( Haven't done that myself, FI did the chef's table there with his family, hopefully next time) Coral Reef is also a nice restaurant. FI and I also both like the Biergarten as a lunch time spot. Lots of tasty food and a show!

I also had teh BEST DUCK EVER at the Jiko. Just saying.

MuppetOverlord · July 2013

I was trying to see if I could find a character breakfast with muppet appearences and I found the saddest.article.EVER

http://www.worldofwalt.com/the-muppet-restaurant-at-disney-world-that-never-was.html

MuppetOverlord · July 2013

Ok, I read through each of your suggestions and looked it up on allears and the disney website.

I want to try for Be Our Guest so badly!! I hope I can get that.
Coral Reef sounds awesome
Sci Fi dine in looks cute
Yak and Yeti looks good
and I'd like the Grand Floridian Character Breakfast.

I cant sleep thinking about how it was 180 days and not 90 days to start booking this. How sad is that? My first wedding planning stress comes a 2.5 months before the wedding about the Beast's castle.

bananasplit472001 · July 2013

You should try California grill in the contemporary about an hour before magic kingdom fireworks(8:00) you'll be able to request a window and watch them as you eat. In my opinion I would stay out of magic kingdom for dinner as options for nice places and good food are limited. If you are going in oct/nov during the foid and wine festival you should eat at the different food vendors instead of a sit down place, they are typically just as good. Recommendations for Epcot: le cellier- Canada, via Napoli- Italy, la hacienda de San angel- Mexico, tutto Italian- Italy. Also narccosses in the grand Floridian is good. In Hollywood studios the Hollywood brown derby, sci-if dine-in and 50s prime time cafe. Not the best food but the atmosphere is worth it.

strlzfan11 · July 2013

dianammobilio said:

You should try California grill in the contemporary about an hour before magic kingdom fireworks(8:00) you'll be able to request a window and watch them as you eat.

California Grill is currently closed for refurbishment, but it may be open again by the time you get there. You'll have to check Disney's website.

nikib0210 · July 2013

Definitely do Ohana at the Polynesian - their dinner and drinks are awesome!

MuppetOverlord · July 2013

I got everything that I listed above, EXCEPT for Be Our Guest. I reserved LeCellier instead there, but that's not what I wanted. They told me to call up every day because people cancel all the time. Gah. I'm so dumb. I said to the girl, "Geez, people are really serious about the 180 days, huh?" She said people call on day 181 to prepare for day 180.

We didn't book one for every night because we have a rental car and we've accumulated a lot of gift cards through our credit card rewards for things like Rainforest Cafe, Cheesecake Factory, Bonefish Grill, and Flemings which we don't have any of those around where we live. We are also going to Universal for 2 nights that we're there.

Next question: Keys to the Kingdom Tour - worth 5 hours??

daria24 · July 2013

People really do cancel all the time, especially since people know to book Be our Guest ahead of time and then their plans change.

There's a Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom (just outside the gates) and at Downtown Disney btw. We usually eat there at Animal Kingdom, it's a nice break.

I've never done any of the tours, my cousin got a tour once of the "underground" of the Magic Kingdom as part of a work training program-she said it was really fascinating.

[Deleted User] · July 2013

Yak & Yeti IS very good. I recommend but don't think you need to reserve this much in advance!

dazyabbey · July 2013

Since you are going to be there for a full week I would say the Keys to the Kingdom Tour would be worth it.

Maybe I am biased though because I want to go on it SOOOOO bad!

Grabows14 · July 2013

There's a behind the scenes tour you can do at animal kingdom that is pretty affordable... You can go into the habitats that you see on kilimanjaro safari

MuppetOverlord · July 2013

Liatris2010 said:

I've wanted to try LeCellier for a long time, but it is so expensive, you'll have to let me know if it is worth it. You do realize LeCellier is at Epcot, and Be Our Guest is at Magic Kingdom, right? I don't know if that affects your plans or not, just wanted to point it out.

If you have a rental car, you should check out downtown Orlando. There are so many really amazing restaurants and it is a very walkable area with lots of bars, a nice park, and plenty to do. It is a really nice break from the clusterfuck that is Disney. If you're interested, let me know what kind of food or bars you like, and I can recommend stuff.

I'd avoid the rainforest cafe in Downtown Disney. We went for lunch and it is the only time I have ever walked out on a bill. There were four tables in the whole restaurant, and after waiting an hour we only had gotten our drink order. We tried to get a hold of the waitress to pay for the drinks and leave, but she was no where to be found, and after another 10 minutes of trying to find her, we just left. I've eaten at the Rainforest Cafe in Animal Kingdom and Universal's CityWalk, and both were much better experiences. Not that they could have been worse, but you know what I mean

Yeah we have 9 days so I'm pretty loose about it.

What would you suggest for like, just a really good pub with a lot of beer selection in Orlando? I think we'd enjoy that one night to get away from the parks.

Thanks for the feedback, we will do RFC at Animal Kingdom or City Walk then. That would prob be good for CityWalk actually since we don't have anything planned for that night.

KDM323 · July 2013

One of my friends is a Disney travel specialist....if you'd like, I can send you her email address. She knows just about everything there is to know, including how to most effectively plan out the trip so you will see everything you want, etc

MuppetOverlord · July 2013

Whiskey Root Beer float, I might have to try.
Speakeasy bars sound interesting,....

But what got me is the entire third paragraph!!! We enjoy Shipyard so we'll definitely have to go there, and while we don't typically think of leaving New England for Lobster...Lobster Pizza sounds amazing!!! I'll have to ask FI if he'd be cool with company on our honeymoon , but I'd love meeting you.

[Deleted User] · July 2013

@MuppetOverlord When are you going to be in WDW? We're honeymooning in Disney as well.... we'll be there over Halloween.

sarahsmiles326 · July 2013

I live in south florida & FI & I go to disney at least once a month. After the wedding we plan on moving and getting jobs there. We actually just came back last week from doing the keys to the kingdom tour. If you are a disney lover & would enjoy the history behind things, you will love the tour. It was by far the best experience i've ever had at disney, trumping eating in cinderella castle. They give lots of sitting & br breaks, you get a nice lunch, and you get to go backstage and in the imfamous tunnels, which actually aren't tunnels at all... But I won't spoil it for you.

If you decide to do it, ask for Jessica as your tour guide. She's the best!

jennylee813 · July 2013

The only reservations I actually made were for Akerhuus (sp??) for the princess lunch, and DD's makeover at the Bibbity-Bobbity-Boutique. I find that when we travel, we eat at odd times. As long as they weren't rush times, we had no problem getting tables.

So I wouldn't rule out a place because you couldn't get a reservation. Cancellations do happen, and most places have walk in spots allocated.

delujm0 · August 2013

Something to think about: i don't know if you're a first-timer, but you should do some research on the PhotoPass Plus. Basically there are photographers all over the place, and they'll take pictures of you and the save them to a little card. The normal card is called PhotoPass. You get it for free, and then you come home and decide how many pictures you want to buy. Because it is Disney, they cost like $20 each.

If you think you'll want to purchase some of these, and/or any photos of you on rides, consider PhotoPass Plus. You buy it ahead of time for about $150, and then when you arrive you pick up a special card and the photographer photos as well as the ride photos all go on there. Your prepayment entitles you to every single picture. You just download them or order them on a CD when you get home, and can print them out at Target or whatever. We took full advantage of this the last time we went and it was awesome. We treated the photographers like our personal vacation paparazzi! We will be doing it again when we go in January for my bachelorette party.

Also, be sure to ask about special pictures - they can photoshop tinkerbell or sebastian in your hands, you holding baby Simba, etc. Those pictures often wind up being the funniest. Only the photographers without the tripods can do them.

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/specialoffers/wdwppp.htm

Disney Honeymoon - What to book in advance?

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