Disney Dining Plans

So if you know Shane and I, it doesn't take long to figure out that we are total foodies. Our holidays and getaways kind of revolve around where we are going to eat. This is especially true when we go to Disney! You really can't top the food at Disney, and there is always something for everyone. Our daughter is typically a pretty adventurous eater, but she is completely content to live on Disney mac & cheese during our Disney vacations. To be honest, I can't blame her! Mac & Cheese in a sourdough breadbowl? Carb heaven. Take me there.

Pacific Wharf @ California Adventure

Photo borrowed from DisneyFoodBlog.com (check them out, I always do!)

If you're planning a WDW vacation, I highly recommend adding on a dining plan. It is so convenient to have your meals pre-paid for and not worry about the additional cost on your credit card statement post-holiday. If you do your research on restaurants, you can plan your dining so that you actually save money using the plan. For our family, it is more about the convenience. There are several tiers of plans, but we opted for the middle-of-the-road classic Disney Dining Plan. This package credits each guest with 1 quick service meal, 1 table service meal, and 2 snacks per day. The Table Service meals typically include an entree and dessert... but wait for it.... starting in 2018, the dining plan now includes specialty alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks! This means WINE people! This was probably the most important news to come out of 2017, just saying. Anyway, I digress...The first time we went to WDW, we came home with unused credits because I didn't familiarize myself with the plan as well as I should have. Not going to happen this time. Now that I know the snack credits can be used for Starbucks, there will be no credit left untouched!

We typically book 1 sit-down meal a day, and plan our park, attractions, and entertainment around it. I haven't ironed out all of our FastPass+ selections, but I'll get to those in a later post! So far, this is what we have for our table-service dining reservations: 

Friday, March 30th

This is the day we arrive in Orlando, so we booked a late dinner at our resort, Port Orleans. Our resort sounds like it has a lot of quick service food options, but a sit-down dinner will be what we need after a day of travelling. I am so excited to try the New Orleans inspired menu at Boatwright's Dining Hall! It is designed in the style of a rustic shipyard warehouse, and the comfort food on the menu has my tummy grumbling already. (I'm on a cleanse, so food in general is just really enticing. Probably why I chose now to update the blog.) Southern charm and hospitality -- can't be beat! 

Boatwright's main dining hall -- from www.disneyworld.disney.go.com

The menu item I'm eyeing up:

Entree - Lake Charles Risotto: Seared Sustainable Seafood over an Autumn Pumpkin Risotto with a Fennel and Pear Slaw

Dessert - St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake: Bourbon Sauce and Toffee Brittle

Saturday, March 31st 

We plan to spend this day at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Of all the parks, this is number 4 on my list. It's fabulous, don't get me wrong, but it has less to offer our family than the other 3. The reason we are hitting it up on Day 1 is because I won't feel guilty if we sleep in a little. (Who am I kidding, I love sleep more than any other living being on this planet, but I am ALWAYS the first one up and ready on our Disney vacays!) The one thing we have to do at Hollywood Studios is the Fantasmic show. Disney World has a much superior setup for this as compared to Disneyland, and we have found that the Fantasmic! Dining Package gets us great seats without forcing us to use up one of our FastPass+ for the day. The dining package includes:

• One appetizer, entrée, dessert and nonalcoholic beverage at select full-service restaurants or one full buffet (where applicable)
• One voucher for guaranteed seating at Fantasmic! in a reserved area

The 3 restaurants to choose from are The Hollywood Brown Derby, Hollywood & Vine, and Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano. In 2014, we chose Mama Melrose's and loved it,  but we thought we would try something different this time. Sophie's favourite part of Disney is interacting with the characters, so we settled on Minnie's Seasonal Dine at Hollywood & Vine. She will have the opportunity to meet and connect with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gang and nothing else will matter for the rest of the day! Hollywood & Vine is a buffet, not my first choice, but if I was planning a vacation for me, I would be sipping mojitos on a beach somewhere. We do Disney for our girl, and the joy we get from watching her makes it all worth it! I should add, Disney buffets are not your typical buffet, and chances are, it will be amazing. 

Borrowed from www.disneyworld.disney.go.com 

The menu item I'm eyeing up:

Corndog nuggets from the kids' buffet. I'm the perfect blend of high maintenance and low-budge. Just sayin'. 

Sunday, April 1st 

Day 2 will be spent at Epcot and will quite literally revolve around food. Epcot has the best food and drinks in all of Disney World. It features cuisines from all around the world, and that is totally my thing. Strangely enough, we booked our one sit-down meal at the same restaurant we visited in 2014, Teppan Edo. Teppan Edo is in "Japan" in the World Showcase, and of course features Teppanyaki style cooking. The experience is just as wonderful as the food, and these chefs are seriously top notch. They put on an entertaining show while cooking mouth-watering meals. Sophie loved the kid-friendly chopsticks last time (using a fork just wouldn't be the same). Being 4 years older and much more willing to experiment with new foods, I think she will get even more from the experience this time around! 

The menu item I'm eyeing up:

Entree - Hotate: cold water ocean scallops served with garden salad, udon noodles, vegetables, and sukiyaki beef rice

Dessert - Mango Mousse Cake: mango-flavored sponge cake with a smooth flavorful mango mousse decorated with a tropical glaze

                                  Monday, April 2nd  

Finally! We will be visiting the most magical place on earth, and my very favourite of all the Disney Parks... Magic Kingdom! Entering these gates is like walking into a new world, and you better believe I will be standing in line for park opening! There is so much to see, taste, and do that it really never gets old. I don't feel like we've "overdone" the whole Disney vacation thing, because it is honestly different every time we go. I could go every year for the rest of my life, and I'm sure the magic wouldn't wear off! In my opinion, Magic Kingdom is all about the attractions, entertainment, and experiences. It doesn't compare to Epcot in terms of dining, but the experiences are top of the line. For our first day in MK, we will be having lunch with the princesses at Cinderella's Royal Table in her castle. Like I said, experiences.

Sophie is more into the fluffy, cuddly characters like Pluto and Stitch than face characters like princesses, so I didn't originally book this dining reservation. After talking to her, she decided she wanted to go back and give it another try. We had dinner here in 2014, and the food was good (not exceptional, but good). The selling point of this establishment is really the location and the opportunity to meet several Disney princesses. It is 2 table-service credits, so this is a bit of a pricier character dining option. Ascending the spiral staircase in Cinderella's Castle to have lunch with princesses? Worth it.

The menu item I'm eyeing up:

Entree - Pan-seared All-Natural Chicken: Seared Chicken Breast over Smashed Fingerling Potatoes with Seasonal Vegetables in Madeira-Mushroom Sauce

Dessert - Jaq & Gus: Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake with a Warm Apple Compote, Salted Caramel, and a Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

** The Chef's Tasting Plate is also included as an appetizer for this meal. 

The Clock Strikes 12 dessert at Cinderella's Royal Table

                                  Tuesday, April 3rd  

Today will be our re-charge day. We are taking a day off from the parks to explore our resort, check out the swimming pools, and take the boat to Disney Springs. We have two dining reservations for this day, but other than that we are keeping our day wide open for whatever we feel like doing! It's so important to recharge and refresh yourself on a Disney vacation. The heat, lines, and long days pounding the pavement can take a lot out of a person -- especially kiddos! Pool days are a must!

For our chill day, we have a late breakfast booked at 'Ohana. We don't often get to check out the restaurants in the other resorts, so this is the perfect opportunity to explore! 'Ohana is in the Polynesian Resort and offers character dining for the Best Friends Breakfast featuring Lilo & Stitch. It is a family style breakfast (all-you-can-eat) and will be an additional opportunity for Sophie to interact with fur characters -- her favourite! Characters that are typically included are Lilo & Stitch (obviously), Mickey, & Pluto. Sophie absolutely adores Pluto, and she got a serious kick out of Stitch in Disneyland. I feel like this meal is going to be a highlight for her! 

The menu item I'm eyeing up:

The menu is set and served family style. It will include Hua Paka (scrambled eggs), Pua'a (pork -- ham & sausage), Uala Kahiki (fried potatoes), Mickey waffles, fresh fruit.... and my favourite... pineapple coconut welcome bread. YUM! 

Our afternoon is wide open to explore, but we do have dinner reservations at Disney Springs. There were SO MANY incredible restaurants to choose from, but our seafood loving family settled on Paddlefish. This is a brand new restaurant that is on the Empress Lily, the former home of Fulton's Crab House. I know very little about this place other than it looks amazing. I mean, check this place out! 

Pictures borrowed from DisneyFoodBlog.com

The menu item I'm eyeing up:

Entree - Scallops: Brown butter, cauliflower puree, crispy brussels sprouts, bacon  

I have a thing for scallops -- have you noticed?

Dessert - Doughnuts & Coffee: Cinnamon sugar doughnut holes, coffee gelato, vanilla-honey tuille

Wednesday, April 4th

I am so beyond excited for this day! We will be checking out Animal Kingdom and all its amazing-ness! The last time we were at AK, Pandora wasn't open and all of the amazing Avatar rides and experiences weren't apart of it. We only spent a half day at the park, and didn't really feel like we missed out on too much. This time, I'm not sure one day will cover all of the rides and experiences we want to take in! 

Animal Kingdom's nighttime show, Rivers of Light, opened in February 2017 so we are so excited to be able to see it! This is a light and water show, and though it only lasts 15 minutes, the lines to get good seating are said to be pretty crazy.There are so many amazing FP+ options for AK, so we didn't want to use one up on a night show. We decided to go with the Rivers of Light dining package to guarantee good seating and free up our FastPass reservations. 

The Dining Package gives you the choice of two amazing restaurants, Tusker House and Tiffins. I kind of felt like we had enough character dining options booked, and I really didn't want to do another buffet. That leaves us with Tiffins... believe me, I'm not complaining. Tiffins is a fine dining experience worth two table-service meals, but their international menu does not disappoint. I am hoping that Shane and Sophie will be brave enough to step out of their comfort zones and experiment with some of the amazing food they have to offer. The dining package comes with your choice of appy, entree, and dessert, and as long as I don't go into a food coma, we will be able to make our way to the reserved seating for Rivers of Light after a fantastic meal! So looking forward to trying this restaurant...

The menu item I'm eyeing up:

Appetizer - Apple-Walnut Salad: Artisan Lettuces, Heirloom Apples, Candied Walnuts, Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Entree - Snake River Farms Wagyu Strip Loin: Rainbow Carrots, Peruvian Purple Potatoes, Sherry-Shallot Butter, Guava Demi-glace

Dessert - South American Chocolate Ganache: Caramelized Banana, Cocoa Nib Tuile

Thursday, April 5th

This will be our last full day of our vacation, and I always plan our last day to be at the castle. In California, that means Disneyland park and in Florida, it will be Magic Kingdom. We will absolutely take in the fireworks show, Happily Ever After, and ride all of our favourite rides this day. We also saved our most coveted dining reservation for this night -- Be Our Guest. I literally set my alarm for the minute our 90-day window opened for booking to get this. We were unable to get in back in 2014, and I was worried that with all of the Beauty and The Beast Hype that we would miss our chance again. Luck was on our side, and we were able to reserve a table for the character dinner at The Beast's enchanted castle. I am looking forward to this reservation for a number of reasons: 

1) If Sophie were a Disney Princess, she would be Belle. (So would I, FYI)

2) Beauty and The Beast is my favourite Disney princess movie.

3) We will have the rare opportunity to meet The Beast!

Yeah, I'm sure the food will be great too, but that's secondary to this...

The menu item I'm eyeing up:

Entree - Roasted Pork Tenderloin: Served with Cauliflower Silk, Sautéed Greens and Turnips, and finished with a Cherry-Mustard Sauce

Dessert - The "Grey Stuff": Chocolate Shell, Cookie Crème topped with Lumiere’s special “Grey Stuff”

I mean... how can you not try the grey stuff? It's delicious!

I think that about sums it up for our table-service reservations! Stay tuned for a list of my snack credit bucket list items! 

What are your favourite Disney table service restaurants? Let me know in the comments!

xo Lisa