Orlando Restaurant Tips by moiraistyx

Planet Hollywood: A RESTAURANT MOVIE BUFFS WILL LOVE Planet Hollywood Review

This was my very first Planet Hollywood experience and I have to say that I absolutely had a great time. Patrick and I enjoyed walking around the restaurant viewing all the different exhibits that were on display. Rich was thrilled because they had part of a scene from Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. As for the food well it was absolutely delicious. I enjoyed an order of crab cakes which were served with sautéed vegetables and home made mashed potatoes. I followed up my meal with the brownie dessert. To drink I had a frozen raspberry margarita. Richie had the chicken fajitas with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and to drink a traditional frozen margarita. All the children had chicken nuggets and french fries as their meal. Our wait staff was really friendly and helpful in keeping us within our dining plan. We did have a good laugh when one of our wait staff tried to serve our desserts to another table. Overall we all loved this place and will definitely pay it a visit on our next trip. This place gets busy really fast, I highly suggest that you make reservations ahead of time.

HOURS OF OPERATION:

Restaurant : 11am - 1am
Bar: 11am - 2am
Merchandise Shop: 10:00am - 2am

Favorite Dish: The crab cakes were extra yummy and the tarter sauce they served along with them seemed to have a bit of an extra kick to it, I think it may have had a dash of horse radish in it.

Address: Downtown Disney Orlando-1506 E. Buena Vista Drive

Comparison: about average

Other Contact: 407-827-7847-fax

Phone: 407-827-7827

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 4

Theme: American

Pizzafari: BREAKFAST IN A COLORFUL JUNGLE

We came to this really cool looking restaurant for breakfast on the day we visited Disney's Animal Kingdom. I fell in love with all the colorful decorations on the walls, ceiling and floor. This is another of Disney's counter service options and I have to say, they were very slow in getting our order to us. First they ran out of eggs, then they ran out of sausage, then they didn't give us our apple juice. I think it was just an off day for this troupe of cast members. Even though the food was late it was actually really good. Patrick loved the eggs and hash browns and I loved the biscuit that came with the meal.

This place opens up at 10:00 AM and closes when the park closes.

Favorite Dish: The whole meal was really, really yummy from the scrambled eggs to the hasbrown and back to the bacon.

Address: Disney-Animal Kingdom

Comparison: about average

Phone: (407) WDW-DINE

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 3

Theme: Breakfast

Toy Story Pizza Planet: BUZZ AND WOODY WOULD BE PROUD

The boys absolutely loved coming to Toy Story Pizza Planet. I think each of them expected to see the scene from the movie, its kind of like the movie not quite as many games, but just as much fun. This is one of the many counter service options available in Disney's Hollywood Studios and it's great for a quick bit to eat in between the Muppet 3-D show and the Indiana Jones stunt show. It is busy so if you have 2 adults send one off with a couple of the children and grab a table or two. All the kids enjoyed pizza either with or without pepperoni, Richie and I both had salads.

This place is open 11:00 AM to 8:30 PM. Most meals will run ya less than $10 including drink.

Favorite Dish: I had the Pizza Planet Chicken Salad which was a combination of mixed greens, chicken, cantaloupe, cucumber, red onion, tomato, green peas, fresh basil and balsamic vinaigrette. We got an extra packet of dressing just to be safe.

Address: Disney-Hollywood Studios

Comparison: about average

Phone: (407) WDW-DINE

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 3

Theme: Pizza

Trail's End: THE BEST BUFFET IN DISNEY

After our first day at Disney, Richie and I decided that we needed to start the next day with a great breakfast. The guy who had checked us in the night before told us that there was a restaurant at the campground so we decided we would give it a try. I have to say that this place had the best buffet at Disney, at least I think so.

We came here three times, twice for breakfast and once for supper. The breakfast buffet not only has the usual cold cereals, it also has oatmeal and grits. There's an endless supply of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, has, home fry potatoes, warm spiced apples, Mickey waffles, french toast, fresh fruit, bagels, rolls, biscuits with gravy, yogurt, cottage cheese, hello and so on. I really loved the warm spiced apples, each time we came here I grabbed a crock and filled it up.

The dinner menu is rather hearty and filling. We could chose from fried chicken, ribs, salads, fruits, macaroni and cheese, pizza, chicken nuggets, fresh mashed potatoes, shrimps, chili and so on and so on. Here again they had those great spiced warm apples.

This restaurant is very busy, so I suggest making a reservation. Also if you are in a group of 6 or more, they automatically add on 18% gratuity to your bill.

Breakfast-7:30 AM to 11:00 AM (adult $12, child $8)
Lunch-noon to 2:30 PM (Adult $13, child $9)
Dinner-4:30 PM to 9:30 PM 10:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays (Adult $19, Child $11)

Favorite Dish: Did I mention the warm spiced apples. LOL, yes these were my favorite.

Address: Disney-Fort Wilderness Campground and Resort

Comparison: about average

Directions: Go to Fort Wilderness Campground and resort and head towards the settlement end of it.

Phone: (407) WDW-DINE

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 4

Theme: American

Website: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdwi/en_CA/dining/diningDetail?id=TrailsEndRestaurantDiningPage

The Crystal Palace: GREAT BUFFET WITH POOH AND FRIENDS

Some of my favorite memories from our Disney trip are actually from this restaurant and believe it or not they have nothing to do with food. This was the only time the kids came face to face with any characters during our vacation. My heart bounced with joy when Patrick walked up to Piglet and gave him a great big hug. It was so cute. Even cuter was when they had the parade and Patrick and Sebastian jumped behind Tigger and jumped around the restaurant. I put a video of it up for you guys to chuckle at. Poor Thaddeus didn't like the characters at all. He climbed up on Richie's lap and very nervously watched each and every character as they walked by. Piglet was great when we asked him not to go near Thaddeus.

So now lets get to the food. The food here was really, really yummy. They had a really great selection of hot and cold dishes for the kids and the adults. I think this was the first time Patrick tried non Kraft macaroni and cheese and actually liked it. He even had seconds. I tried a little bit of just about everything. The roast pork rubbed with Adobo was really tender and melted in my mouth. I also tried the Moroccan couscous salad, the Romaine blue cheese salad, the Mediterranean pasta salad, the salmon and for dessert I had the coconut flam and some key lime pie. Richie loved his food as well and indulged with some prime rib, curry mussles, cinnamon and lemon basmati rice along with some fruit and cookies for dessert. The kids of course had chicken nuggets, pizza, macaroni and cheese, ice cream sundaes and cookies. I can't honestly say it's the best buffet at Disney as many folks think, but it was yummy.

My only disappointment was that not every character comes to every table. Seems the characters have a set series of tables that they visit, but if your child would like to see a particular character, feel free to run over to the table they are at and snap a picture of them sneaking in a hug.

The Crystal Palace serves breakfast, lunch and dinner hours are below:
Breakfast-8:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Lunch-11:30 AM to 2:45 PM
Dinner-3:00 PM to ? (time varies depending on park hours)

The price of the buffet depends upon which meal you go for and whether you are a child or an adult, plan on spending anywhere from $15.00 to $36.00 per person. Obviously children are less expensive.

You do need a reservation for this restaurant as it is very popular, Disney suggests making reservations ASAP, we made ours 2 months ahead and got stuck with a 9:30 PM eating time, so plan accordingly folks.

Favorite Dish: I loved the Adobo slow roasted pork and the coconut flan.

Address: Disney-Magic Kingdom

Comparison: more expensive than average

Directions: When you enter the park go to the left right after the stores, the restaurant is on the left right before the entrance to Adventure Land

Phone: (407) WDW-DINE

Price: US$31-40

Rating: 4

Theme: American

Website: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/dining/diningDetail?id=TheCrystalPalaceDiningPage

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café: BURGERS AND NUGGETS WITH SOME MUSICAL FUN

On day 2 of our family vacation, Rich and I brought the kids to Cosmic Rays for lunch. This is another one of Disney's quick service meal options. What made this place nice was the animated singing creature at the front end of the restaurant. I also liked the burger bar that was here. You could load your burger with a variety of toppings including freshly sliced tomatoes, raw onions, sautéed onions, sautéed mushrooms, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, mayo etc. I had a bacon double cheeseburger with french fries, a diet coke and a brownie. I couldn't finish my food due to the gross out factor. What that means is that I got one of those grizzle pieces in my burger and couldn't eat any more. Once again the boys had chicken nuggets and fries with some soda pop to drink. It was really hard finding a table for 6 here, lets face it, it was hard to find a table for 2. Patrick, Thaddeus and I scoped out the place until we saw someone leaving and then we pounced on the table and managed to wrangle up some additional chairs from nearby tables. This restaurant opens at 10:30 AM and closes when the park does, this varies to to extra magic hours. One neat aspect about this place is that it has 3 different service stations, one for chicken, one for burgers and the other for salads and sandwiches. There are a few vegetarian options as well as some kosher options.

Favorite Dish: I didn't eat the brownie until later in the day, but it was ultra yummy and moist.

Address: Disney-Magic Kingdom

Comparison: about average

Phone: (407) WDW-DINE

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 3

Theme: American

Website: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/dining/diningFinder?id=DiningFinderPage&page=4

The Backlot Express: ALL THE BURGERS AND CHICKEN NUGGETS YOU CAN EAT

This is yet another of Disney's quick service meal options. It hosts the usual burgers, fries and chicken nugget choices along with a few surprises. I was very happy with my roasted vegetable sandwich which was basically mushroom, zucchini, red peppers, tomato paste, cheese and watercress on a toasted roll served with a black bean salad. Rich and I both had the strawberry parfait for dessert, but I only ate the yogurt part of it, the berries looked gross. Rich had the grilled chicken salad and the boys once again enjoyed chicken nuggets and french fries. There really isn't much to be said for the atmosphere here. It reminded me of a mechanics shop. There was plenty of seating which was nice and the sound from the Star War and Indiana Jones events was minimal especially when compared to the outside sound levels. My most ungraceful Disney moment happened here when I stepped backwards onto Patrick who was sitting on the floor. I had one of those slow motion falls that you see in the movies. It really was funny after the fact.

This place is open from 11:30 AM till 8 PM Monday thru Friday and doesn't require reservations.

Favorite Dish: I loved the roasted vegetable sandwich, but the black bean salad was my favorite.

Address: Disney-Hollywood Studios

Comparison: about average

Phone: 407-WDW-DINE

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 3

Theme: American

Website: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/dining/diningFinder?id=DiningFinderPage