I NEED YOUR HELP!!! Your Absolute Must-DO ADR when vacationing at WDW & WHY??

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LouisianaMike's picture
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I NEED YOUR HELP!!! Your Absolute Must-DO ADR when vacationing at WDW & WHY??

With less than 180 days until our next Disney Vacation, I'm scrambling to make some Advanced Dining Reservations (ADR), but want to try out 3 or 4 new restaurants. I need y'alls suggestions and recommendations...

Tell me, what is your MUST DO restaurant while at WDW, and what keeps ya coming back to that particular restaurant? Also, tell me what is your favorite dish.. awesome

Thus far, I've made one ADR at The Garden Grill.... Has anyone eaten here? If so, what is your opinion of the restaurant and the food? Thanks again!!

I'll choose the ADR's that come most highly recommended.... awesome

Allie's picture
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We absolutely must do Yak & Yeti every trip. We've had fantastic meals and fantastic service every time we've been there. I can't imagine going to Animal Kingdom and not eating at Yak & Yeti. It is always one of our favorites, if not THE favorite, every trip.

crazycatperson's picture
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We have had a number of favorites, but not one that we felt we MUST do every single trip. Of course, having four trips total between last April and this winter, we had the luxury of being able to skip favorites one trip and visit them on the next trip.

I think Sanaa at AKL Kidani Village is now a must do for us, though. We were just there this month and have booked an ADR for the winter trip.

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You know mine will be the California Grill. The food, the view, the ambience, THE FOOD, the wait staff. Always have a WOW factor meal there. I love the Bison filet and the sushi. The scallops are another winner and scrappy loves the NY Strip. We have never had a bad meal or anything close to one there yet. I understand it can happen from time to time anywhere, but if you even hint something is not quite up to par, they fix it. Fast and right.

Brinbunny's picture
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Only been once but I loved Dinner at Be Our Guest, the theme and the food were a winner for me, be aware that I love food and while I do not hate fine dining I do not class myself as a foodie.

I also rated teppan edo in Epcot.

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Our must do is actually the Garden Grill awesome
We've been there the last 3 years in a row. Food has always been great (and plentiful) and the service has been great also. The only downside we've experienced was this past trip with a couple characters not being very interactive but that's it. We will be back again in September mickey

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We don't have any traditional ADR's or absolute must-do's, but my favorites of the places that we've tried so far are Garden Grill (love the selection and quality of the food for the price and it may be anecdotal, but we've had some of our best dinning character interactions here) and Cape May Cafe (love the AYCE crab legs, pistachio cheesecake, goat cheese, and salad selections). I will readily and enthusiastically book both again in the future, but with so many restaurants left to try, there are precious few that we repeat unless we specifically want to take someone there. Also high on our list are Tony's (if only for the pistachio creme brulee), Via Napoli, and Akershus (love the food at lunch, but don't go frequently because I don't like to pay the "princess premium" when I'm just there for the food silly )

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We always do Ohanas. Everyone in my family loves the food and always has a great experience. Whenever we go to WDW with another family we always make sure to get an ADR there with them. Everyone we bring picks it as their favorite too. I love all the food there. And Dessert is amazing! Plus its always a great excuse to get over to the Poly.

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Our "must do's" include:

The Flying Fish - atmosphere, great location and great snapper entree
The Yachtsman - love the steak here
Yak & Yeti - love everything about this place
Tokyo Dining - Ken loves sushi and I love their tempura
California Grill - great food, great location and great view

For breakfast, we go to Kona and now the Grand Floridian Cafe every trip too.

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We love The Garden Grill. We have had the best character interaction there and the food is delicious. mickey

The Watchmaker's picture
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Wow..I love million $$$$$ questions...My favourite signature restaurants are California Grill..Artist Point..Yachtsmen Steakhouse ..and Jiko...My favourite non signatures are The Wave..The Plaza..Via Napoli... awesome P.S..Kudos to
House of Blues as three visits didn't disappoint..

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Our family's must do is Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch. Best pot roast, and Ooey Gooey Toffee cake for dessert. Yum!

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My favourites change, but if I was heading to Disney soon my definates would be the clam bake at Cape May cafe, il Mulino at the Swan for Italian, and Narcoosees for something special.

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I'm a Cali Grill guy. The combo of good food, ambience, killer views and a great bar make it very special.

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Allie wrote:
We absolutely must do Yak & Yeti every trip. We've had fantastic meals and fantastic service every time we've been there. I can't imagine going to Animal Kingdom and not eating at Yak & Yeti. It is always one of our favorites, if not THE favorite, every trip.

Exactly what I would say!

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I am definitely in the Cali Grill camp. . . Unless you count my true love for Victoria and Albert's. But can't afford that each time. sad

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The Colonel wrote:
I'm a Cali Grill guy. The combo of good food, ambience, killer views and a great bar make it very special.

awesome

Ollie wrote:
I am definitely in the Cali Grill camp. . . Unless you count my true love for Victoria and Albert's. But can't afford that each time. sad

awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome mickey biggrin

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Yachtsman Steakhouse, Cali Grill, Liberty Tree Tavern (always our "goodbye" meal), and most surprising, Restaurant Marrakesh. DH is a total meat-and-potatoes kind of guy and RM was the first place he requested we go back to on our next visit. Smile

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I think it depends on where you haven't dined already and/or if you prefer eating something that's not American food. With that said, based on what I've read on countless sites and forums, the fan favorites seem to be Cali Grill, Sanaa, Raglan Road and Boma. Those are all places I haven't dined myself but I really want to try!

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Can anyone tell me what their experience at Biergarten was like?

Tiggerbelle's picture
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Oh! I forgot Raglan Road and Yak and Yeti! Must dos!

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Yak & Yeti, the food was great as was the service & even though it was very busy I never felt rushed.

Okay this one isn't for everyone but I absolutely adored the Afternoon Tea in the Garden View Tea Room at the Grand Floridian. It was incredibly soothing & relaxing to sit there listening to the music sipping tea and enjoying a light but surprisingly filling late lunch. In fact I loved it so much I plan on doing it at least twice during my next trip.

I also really enjoyed Liberty Tree Tavern & the Rose & Crown. The 50's Prime Time Cafe was both a hit & a miss. It's a hit because of the food which was excellent & a miss because I felt rushed & that they would have preferred it if I could have eaten while making my out & paying at the same time. Also it's physically crowded, noisy & busy. Based on food alone it would be a must do but factor in how rushed I felt & how physically crowded it was it becomes it was fine but have no desire to go back anytime soon.

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CdnSquirrel wrote:
Can anyone tell me what their experience at Biergarten was like?

The food is decent. However the atmosphere is terrific. You feel like you're in a little Bavarian village during Oktoberfest. Big long community tables, so you never know who is going to sit next to you. But the Oompah band is great fun. Even the little kids love to get out on the dance floor. If you've never done it before I highly recommend it. Beer Beer

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I would say after our trip Yak & Yeti, Sanaa, California Grill, and Yachtsman Steakhouse are must do's for us from now on. Everything about them was fantastic. Food, service, ambiance, you name it.

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SO Mike - What did you pick?

LouisianaMike's picture
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Kristen K. wrote:
SO Mike - What did you pick?

Kristen,

So far, I have The Garden Grill and now y'all have convinced me to book Yak & Yeti... Most others y'all have recommended have been places I've eaten at already, but plan on revisiting some this next trip in May. Keep the recommendations coming... awesome

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Good choice with Yak and Yeti. You can't go wrong with the Kobe beef burger there!

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I agree with Yak & Yeti too, love that one. muchlove I just don't get to that park often.

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I'd love to eat at Yak & Yeti but we have too many picky eaters in our family! Some of our must do's include; Boma at AKL on steak night (used to be a Wednesday but this might have changed), The Plaza at MK (these are NO ordinary sandwiches! Cheese steakwich ALL the way!) and Teppan Edo!

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Allie's picture
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If you can eat at Boma you can most definitely eat at Yak & Yeti!

LouisianaMike's picture
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Artist Point and Boma.... What's y'alls take for those that have eaten at either of these two places.. Our Disney Traveling buddies just got back a week ago from Disney and really enjoyed both of these restaurants.. We're definitely keeping these two in mind...

Your thoughts?? awesome