Casual first day lunch/Dinner

If you are looking for something casual but with good food at DHS, Mama Melrose's is a great choice. We have been there twice and the atmosphere is great and the food wonderful.( My profile pic is actually of my kids at Mama's for my son's 11th Birthday ) It is part of the package for fantasmic but you can certainly book it without.
We also like this restaraunt because it is tucked back away from the main hub of things.

Another great place is 50's prime time, that is not as laid back but is really fun and the food is awesome too!

I know that some people on the board will tell you Tony's is a good choice. I'm not one of them, I love rich, flavorful Italian food and Tony's did not give me that experience. Even my kids have no desire to go back to Tony's.

I would actually suggest Grand Floridian Cafe. It's on your way to MK if you're taking the monorail. I've always had good food and service there. It's beautiful and relaxing, plus there's some unique shopping at the resort. It's easy to stop there for lunch before heading to MK.

I vote for the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian. You can hop the monorail at the CR and be there in only a few minutes. It will give you a chance to explore the Poly, have a nice lunch, and then hop back on the monorail to the MK.

i agree with Kris1971 kona cafe all the way

I would recommend Kona also, they have some great food. We have never been to Grand Floridian Cafe, so I can not comment on that. I hear the Wave is pretty good too!

Don't tell my husband, but I've actually made an ADR for the Wave for our first night in October. DH does not like ADR's, because he likes to be totally spontaneous. I'm just going to "spontaneously" suggest the Wave, and be surprised we have no problem getting in.

LOL, I have to pull teeth to get my hubby to make ADR's. He loves to fly by the seat of his pants. I had him convinced for about 5 years that it was in our best interest until he somehow managed to walk up to CRT one morning and got a table! I was totally shocked! So now he is harder to convince again. LOL

I agree. This is a great place. We've used this cafe as a "park break" many times!

Ooh, and this one, too!

AND maybe check out Liberty Tree Tavern. Good food!

Liberty Tree Tavern is one of my favorites.

Well sometimes you get lucky with not making ADR's, but at some point it can also come back and bite you. We pretty much always make all our ADR's, but at times we cancel if we decide to go somewhere else and can get in, but we do call and cancel. At also depends on what time of the year you go too. But I alway see someone every trip complaining because they can't get in to someplace becuase they did make a reservation and with all the money they are spending on vacation they deserve to be able to get in.

The Grand Floridian Cafe is my favorite lunch spot at WDW. It's bright, vibrant atmosphere helps you feel like you're in the magic without having to traipse into a park. The food is excellent, fresh, and fast. They have a top shelf burger "Oscar" and, fanfare please, The Grand Sandwich. Worth a trip to Florida on its own, The Grand Sandwich is fresh deli turkey and ham, crisp Nueske bacon, heirloom tomatoes and house-fried onion straws all lain upon foccacia bread and topped with a rich, to die for boursin sauce.

Tony's Town Square is pretty good for chicken parm or shrimp. The portion size is scary and the price point is fair but it's basically "canned" Italian. It's worth a go if you want table service at Magic Kingdom.

The Plaza is just not worth bothering with. It's counter service on steroids.

We ate at The Plaza Restaurant and enjoyed it!

Always had good meals at The Plaza Restaurant, guess the Steroids are working! No burger from there ever looked or tasted like a counter service burger.