Disney Dining
Updated March 2023
Dining at Walt Disney World ranges from a Mickey Pretzel to 7 course fine dining and everything in between.
There are dining options to suit all budgets and dietary requirements. Every resort and theme park have so many options that planing your meals becomes an activity in itself.
Dining falls into 5 categories - Snacks, Quick Service, Table Service, Character Dining and Fine/Signature Dining.
Before we get into a bit more detail about the dining options and where we like to eat I want to draw your attention to the very important 60 day booking window. When you book your Disney trip and start adding your party and park reservations to the My Disney Experience app you may have noticed that you can only see park opening times 60 days in advance. Disney only allow you to start booking any dining at 6am Eastern Standard Time (EST) 10am Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) 60 days before the 1st day of your trip. For our June 2023 trip our 60 day booking window opens at 10am (GMT) Sunday 23rd April. What this does is give everyone booking their trip a fair change at getting the dining reservation they may want closer to their trip. If you book a trip within 60 days of it starting you will be able to make dining reservations straight away.
“How will I know what I want to eat 60 days in advance?” - I don’t even know what I’m going to have for dinner tonight, but I do know which restaurants I want to experience when I am in Disney World even if I don’t know what I want to eat from the menu.
Once you have booked your trip I would recommend taking a look at the menu’s for any restaurants that you might be interested in and start making a list of those Table Service, Character Dining and Fine/Signature Dining that you want to try. It is important to do this before your 60 day booking window opens so that you are ready on the day with a list 1st and 2nd choices. There are some restaurants like ‘Topolinos Terrace’ at the Riviera resort that are booked out 60 days in advance. It is still worth checking periodically for any cancellations that become available. We have managed to get into several restaurants at short notice by checking the app.
When making a reservation you will be asked to provide a credit card (you can use the one you have on file with Disney). You will be charged $10 per person if you cancel within 2 hours of your reservation or are a no show. You can cancel any reservation by midnight the day before without charge, so if you change your mind make sure you cancel in good time.
We have found DFBGuide to be invaluable for food reviews and recommend their website and YouTube Channel.
Lets start with my favourite type of food SNACKS.
There are so many snack options to try all over Disney World property that it becomes a bit overwhelming. From speciality cupcakes that are only available from specific locations to popcorn in flavours you have never imagined there is so much to choose from.
Ask a group of Disney fans for their favourite snack and the ensuing argument will go on for days.
As with all food at Disney World you are going to pay a premium. There are a few ways to minimise costs however. If you are a big fan of popcorn you could buy a souvenir popcorn bucket from $15 and then enjoy $2.25 popcorn refills for the rest of the day. This is a great way to combine a souvenir and snack in one.
One item we have brought is the resort refillable mug. These mugs are available at all Disney resorts for $21.99 and this gets you a souvenir mug and 14 days of soft or hot drink refills at any resort. We found this especially useful in the mornings as we would stop and get some coffee to take into the parks and then grab a tea on the way to bed at the end of the night. It is important to note that you can only refill these mugs at resorts and not in the theme parks. Each mug has an RFID chip in the bottom and the soda fountains have readers in them so you won’t be able to get a drink without paying.
Quick Service dining does not require any reservations and you could spend your entire trip eating at quick service and still having exceptional food.
Quick Service restaurants offer small menus to enable a fast turnaround of meals. I recommend ordering through the My Disney Experience app as you can select your arrival window, order your food and pay before even setting food in the restaurant. Or you can order at the till. The food will then be presented to you on a tray. (Think McDonalds style service)
There is no reserved seating and you may find it difficult to find a table doing peak times.
Each quick service offers some unique options like our favourites ‘Docking Bay 7’ in Galaxys Edge or ‘Satuli Canteen’ in Pandora.
The only dining available at value resort hotels is quick service.
As we move onto Table Service, Character Dining and Fine/Signature Dining remember that these restaurants will require a reservation. You may be able to make a walk up reservation but be prepared to either have a lengthy wait or be turned away.
All reservations can be made through the My Disney Experience app 60 days before the 1st day of your trip. Think about how you will get to your reservation and remember to leave plenty of time for that Disney transportation.
At your 60 day window you will be able to see the entire duration of your trip as long as it it linked to your account.
Select ‘Check Dining Avaliability’
Then pick your party size and the date and meal time you would like and then simply scroll the list of available restaurants. You can filter by park or resort by clicking the bottom right icon.
Once you have found a suitable time and restaurant you will be taken to a confirmation page where you will add your bank card and confirm you agree to the cancellation policy. You will then receive an email confirmation and the reservation will appear in your future plans.
Most table service restaurants serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. As with everything Disney prices range from $15 upwards but all menus and prices are available on the My Disney Experience app.
If you have any dietary requirements make sure you add this to your reservation at the time of booking or talk to your server. Disney has very clear ingredient lists and take allergies very seriously.
Our favourite place for breakfast is ‘Steakhouse 71’ inside the' ‘Contemporary resort’, I still dream about the pumpkin pancakes. We have also been to ‘Sanaa’ at ‘Animal Kingdom Lodge’ where we enjoyed their bread service while watching the giraffes on the savannah.
We have never done character dining so we can’t comment on the value for money. However if you have a character mad party member then the $35 - $60 price point per person, depending on the meal, may be worth it for you.
There are multiple character dining locations and each one offers different menus and characters in speciality costumes. ‘Ohana’ at the ‘Polynesian resort’ is especially popular as it is one of the few places you can meet Stitch.
You wouldn’t expect to find Fine / Signature dining at a theme park, but there are some incredible meals to be had inside the parks and at the resorts.
Some of the Fine / Signature dining restaurants at Disney World, only offer a prix-fixe menu like ‘Space 220’ at Epcot, which is $55 per adult for a 2 course lunch and $79 per adult for a 3 course dinner.
This restaurant is an experience in itself. You board a space elevator to get into the dining room, and the views are (literally) out of this world!
Remember if you want to eat at a restaurant inside a park you will need a park ticket and park reservation for that park.
You can also enjoy Fine / Signature dining outside of the parks.
We had an incredible meal at ‘California Grill’ which is on the top floor of the Contemporary resort for the 50th anniversary. We enjoyed a 3 course meal for $89 per person and we managed to time our reservation so that we could watch the sunset and also watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the private balcony before our dessert course. This was by far the most incredible meal we have had at Disney World and definitely worth the money.
Dining in Disney World is far more than just burger and fries. There is a vast selection of food options and they also cater for many dietary requirements, though its always advised to tell your servers and hosts if this is a need.
Be aware, American portion sizes are much larger than in the UK so you may be able to share some meals. Also you don’t have to be a child to order from the kids menu in Quick Serve restaurants if you don’t want a huge portion. One trick I have done several times is to order a couple of starters, rather than a single main meal.
One important thing to remember is that all dining is subject to tax and some restaurants add an automatic gratuity as well, however if you have had a great meal, please consider tipping your staff (I know this isn’t very British of us).
