Disney Dining

Dining at Walt Disney World is definitely an experience. On our first trip, my husband and I made a pact to try every restaurant at WDW . There are over 130 restaurants on the Disney property, so we figured that we would never be able to eat at the same one twice. Through the years, we’ve developed favorites that we have to re-visit, but we make a point to try something new every time we go.

Years of planning for my family and helping others plan their trips has helped me come up with three cardinal rules for dining at Disney.

The number one rule for dining at Disney is RESERVATIONS. Resort guests can begin making reservations 145 days in advance so things start filling up pretty quickly. The dining reservation line (1-407-WDW-DINE) is a great number to call if you need a little advice or you are making multiple reservations, but Disney added a new on-line reservation system (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/) which allows you to make reservations at your convenience. You can sort by type of restaurant, date and time and it pulls up a list of available locations that meet your criteria. If the restaurant you choose is not available at the time you listed, it also searches for similar restaurants in a similar time frame.

The second rule for dining at Disney is THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. One of our early trips was very last minute and the only reservation we could get at Epoct was at Restaurant Marrakesh in the Morocco Pavilion. Moroccan food would definitely not have been at the top of my list, but it was wonderful. The waiter suggested some food for us and the ambiance was awesome. It’s really easy to get stuck in a hamburger and chicken rut when you are on vacation, but Disney makes it really fun to try something new.

The third rule for dining (especially if you have young children) is CHARACTERS. Disney has several dining options that include one-on-one time with a cast of Disney Friends. Each Character Dining location usually has around 4-5 characters who come to your table allowing plenty of time for hugs and pictures. We like to take advantage of the CD options in the mornings--if a park opens at 9AM, we try to get an 8AM reservation so we can be in the park before it opens. The characters help us get excited for our day in the park and the breakfast buffets are awesome.

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