This section aims to help you find good food without going broke or tripping over one of the World’s many culinary landmines. More than 100 restaurants operate within Walt Disney World, including about 70 full-service restaurants, 26 of which are inside the theme parks. Collectively, Disney restaurants offer exceptional variety, serving everything from Moroccan to Texas barbecue. Most restaurants are expensive, and many of them serve less than-distinguished fare, but the culinary scene gets better every year.

GETTING IT RIGHT
Although we work hard to be fair, objective, and accurate, many readers, like this one from Coudersport, Pennsylvania, think we’re too critical of Disney restaurants. He writes:

You are tough on all Disney dining. . . . Everyone has to eat while there, so it benefits no one to be this critical. Lighten up a little bit and make your dining recommendations in the same spirit as the rest of the book.

In a similar vein, a Charleston, West Virginia, woman came out
swinging:

Get a life! It’s crazy and unrealistic to be so snobbish about restaurants at a theme park. Considering the number of people Disney feeds each day, I think they do a darn good job. Also, you act so surprised that the food is expensive. Have you ever eaten at an airport? HELLO IN THERE? . . . Surprise, you’re a captive! It’s a theme park!

And a mom from Erie, Pennsylvania, struck a practical note,
writing:

Most of the food [at Walt Disney World] is OK. Certainly in our
experience, more of it is good than bad. If you pay attention to what other visitors say and what’s in the guidebooks, you can avoid the yucky places. It’s true that you pay more than you should, but it’s more convenient [to eat in Walt Disney World] than to run around trying to find cheaper restaurants somewhere else. When it comes to Walt Disney World, who needs more running around?

To be as fair and thorough as possible, we display our readers’ collective
opinion of each restaurant right alongside our dining critics’
evaluations. We also encourage you to fill out the dining survey in the
back of this guide so we can include your opinions in our tabulations.
If you want to share your dining experience in great depth, e-mail us at unofficialguides@menasharidge.com.

IT’S THE ECONOMY, PLUTO
AS the recession impacts the number of travelers visiting the World, Disney is scrambling furiously to make up for lost revenue. Unfortunately, this translates to higher and higher prices at Disney restaurants. Main-course prices at some restaurants have risen more than 35%; plus, Disney levies a “dining surcharge” during the summer (mid-May through mid-July) and other busy times of year. Recently we dined at the Wave restaurant at the Contemporary Resort and ordered a wine that retails for about $10.95. It was $9 a glass (!) - about a five-times markup. Believe us, if you rent a car and eat only dinner each day at non-Disney restaurants, you’ll more than pay for the rental cost.

ADVANCE RESERVATIONS: WHAT’S IN A NAME
Disney tinkers ceaslessly with its restaurant-reservations policy. In 1997, reservations were replaced with Priority Seating, a confusing system with a befuddling name that issued reservations that weren’t really reservations. In 2005, after eight years, and just when we were beginning to understand what a Priority Seating was, Disney decided to change the name from Priority Seating to the rather redundant Advance Reservations. Indeed, the name is all that changed: When you call, your name and essential information are taken as if you were making an honest-to-goodness reservation. The Disney representative then tells you that you have Advance Reservations for the restaurant on the date and time you requested and usually explains that you’ll be seated ahead of walk-ins—that is, those without Advance Reservations.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT ADVANCE RESERVATIONS
Disney restaurants operate on what they call a “template system.” Instead of scheduling Advance Reservations for actual tables, reservationists fill time slots. The number of time slots available is based on the average observed length of time that guests occupy a table at a particular restaurant, adjusted for seasonality. Here’s a rough example of how it works: Let’s say the Coral Reef Restaurant at Epcot has 40 tables for four and 8 tables for six, and that the average length of time for a family to be seated, order, eat, pay, and depart is 40 minutes. Add 5 minutes to bus the table and set it up for the next guests, and the table is turning every 45 minutes.

The restaurant provides Walt Disney World Dining (aka WDW-DINE) with a computer template of its capacity along with the average time the table is occupied. Thus, when WDW-DINE makes Advance Reservations for four people at 6:15 p.m., the system removes one table for four from overall capacity for 45 minutes. The template on the reservationist’s computer indicates that the table will not be available for reassignment until 7 p.m. (45 minutes later). So it goes for all tables in the restaurant, each being subtracted from overall capacity for 45 minutes, then listed as available again, and then assigned to other guests and subtracted again, and so on, throughout the meal period. The WDW-DINE hotline tries to fill every time slot for every seat in the restaurant, or come as close to filling every slot as possible. No seats—repeat, none—are reserved for walk-ins.

GETTING YOUR ACT TOGETHER
If you want to patronice any of the Walt Disney World Resort full-service restaurants, buffets, character meals, or dinner shows, you should make Advance Reservations.

For most full-service restaurants, buffets, and character meals, you can make Advance Reservations 30 to 90 days ahead of time. If you fail to make Advance Reservations before you leave home, or if you want to make your dining decisions spontaneously while at Walt Disney World, your chances of getting a table at the restaurants of your choice aren’t the best, especially during the hours when most folks prefer to eat dinner.

If you visit Walt Disney World during a very busy time of year, it’s to your advantage to make Advance Reservations before you leave home, as this Houston couple attests:

Make reservations if you plan on having table service. Even trying to walk in for full service at off-times was impossible.

Another reader warns of a sea change in Advance Reservations policy that practically eliminates same-day reservations and walk-ins:

While walking around the parks and resorts this weekend, I think literally every sit-down restaurant we passed had a sign out front saying something like, IN ORDER TO SERVE OUR GUESTS WITH DINING ESERVATIONS IN A TIMELY MANNER, WE ARE NOT ACCEPTING WALK-UP DINING REQUESTS AT THIS TIME. I believe every World Showcase country had this sign, as did the Magic Kingdom, the Yacht and Beach Club, and Animal Kingdom Lodge’s two sit-downs, all weekend, so I don’t think this is a one-time thing. This may also explain why the World Showcase restaurants are going through refurbishments one by one—must be to add capacity.

A dad from St. Paul, Minnesota, changed course, much to his and
his family’s satisfaction:

We had so much difficulty booking the Disney restaurants that we just threw up our hands and reread the part of the guide about places to eat outside of WDW. We ended up eating only one meal (a character breakfast) in a Disney restaurant. The rest of the time we followed your suggestions for non-Disney restaurants in the general area. I’m happy to report that we had some super meals and that the money we saved more than paid for our rental car.

Though securing Advance Reservations before you leave home is more important than ever, there’s no need, except as stated previously, to call 30 to 90 days in advance. For most restaurants, calling 45 days in advance will get you the restaurants you desire. If you’re visiting during an extremely busy time of year, try to call about 80 days out.

If you’ve lined up many Advance Reservations, it’s a good idea to phone # 407-WDW-DINE a few days before you arrive to make sure everything’s in order. If you stay at a Disney resort, Guest Services can print out a summary of all your Advance Reservations. If you have an Advance Reservation for a theme-park restaurant at a time prior to opening, simply proceed to the turnstiles and inform a cast member, who will admit you to the park. If you fail to make Advance Reservations, most full-service theme-park restaurants will take walk-ins between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m.

DRESS
Dress is informal in all theme-park restaurants, but Disney has a “business casual” dress code for some of its resort restaurants: dress slacks (or dress shorts) with a collared shirt for men and jeans, skirts, or dress shorts with a blouse or sweater (or a dress) for women. Restaurants with this dress code are:

Jiko - The Cooking Place at the Animal Kingdom Lodge
Flying Fish Cafe at the BoardWalk
California Grill at the Contemporary Resort
Citricos and Narcoossee’s at the Grand Floridian Resort
Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge
and Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club Resort

SMOKING
Walt Disney World Restaurants adopted a nonsmoking policy several years ago, after Florida voters passed an amendment to the state’s constitution that also prohibits smoking in restaurant lounges. Freestanding bars—those that get less than 10% of their revenues from food sales—are exempt.

FOOD ALLERGIES AND SPECIAL REQUESTS
If you have food allergeies or observe some specific type of diet like eating kosher, make your needs known when you make your Advance Reservations. Does it work? Well, a Phillipsburg, New Jersey, mom reports her family’s experience:

My 6-year-old has many food allergies, and we often have to bring food with us to restaurants when we go out to eat. I was able to make reservations at the Disney restaurants in advance and indicate these allergies to the reservation clerk. When we arrived at the restaurants, the staff was already aware of my child’s allergies and assigned our table a chef who double-checked the list of allergies with us. Each member of the waitstaff was also informed of the allergies. The chefs were very nice and made my son feel very special (to the point where my other family members felt a little jealous).

A FEW CAVEATS
Before you begin eating your way through the World, you need to know:

1. Theme-park restaurants rush their customers in order to make room for the next group of diners. Dining at high speed may appeal to a family with young, restless children, but for people wanting to relax, it’s more like eating in a pressure chamber than fine dining. If you want to linger over your expensive meal, don’t order your entire dinner at once. Order drinks. Study the menu while you sip, then order appetizers. Tell the waiter you need more time to decide among entrees. Order your main course only after appetizers have been served. Dawdle over coffee and dessert.

2. If you’re dining in a theme park and cost is an issue, make lunch your main meal. Entrees are similar to those on the dinner menu, but prices are significantly lower.

3. Disney adds a surcharge of $4 per adult and $2 per child to certain popular restaurants during weeks of peak attendance, including Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and in 2009 every day from May 24 through July 11 (a week longer than in 2008). The following restaurants participate in the gouging:

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall (Princess Storybook Meals)
Biergarten
Boma (breakfast and dinner)
Cape May Cafe (breakfast and dinner buffet)
Chef Mickey’s (breakfast and dinner)
Cinderella's Royal Table
The Crystal Palace
The Garden Grill Restaurant
Hollywood & Vine (Play ’n Dine character buffets)
LIberty Tree Tavern
' Ohana (breakfast and dinner)
Trail’s End Buffet at Fort Wilderness
and Tusker House Restaurant

WALT DISNEY WORLD RESTAURANT CATEGORIES
In general, food and beverage offerings at Walt Disney World are defined by service, price, and convenience:

FULL-SERVICE RESTAURANTS Full-service restaurants are in all Disney resorts (except the All-Star complex, Port Orleams French Quarter, and Pop Century) and all major theme parks, Downtown Disney Marketplace, and Disney’s West Side. Disney operates most of the restaurants in the theme parks and its hotels, while contractorsor franchisees operate the restaurants in hotels of the Downtown Disney Resort Area (DDRA), the Swan and Dolphin resorts, Disney’s West Side, and some in Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s BoardWalk, and Downtown Disney Marketplace. Advance Reservations are recommended for all full-service restaurants except those in the DDRA. The restaurants accept Visa, Master-Card, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, and the Disney Credit Card.

BUFFETS AND FAMILY-STYLE RESTAURANTS There has been an explosion of buffets at Disney World during recent years. Many have Disney characters in attendance, and most have a separate children’s menu featuring dishes such as hot dogs, burgers, chicken nuggets, pizza, macaroni and cheese, and spaghetti and meatballs. In addition to the buffets, several restaurants serve a family-style, all-you-can-eat, fixed-price meal. Advance Reservations arrangements are required for character buffets and recommended for all other buffets and family-style restaurants. Most major credit cards are accepted.

If you want to eat a lot but don’t feel like standing in yet another line, then consider one of the all-you-can-eat family-style restaurants. These feature platters of food brought to your table in courses by a server. You can sample everything on the menu and eat as much as you like. You can even go back to a favorite appetizer after you finish the main course. The food tends to be a little better than what you’ll find on a buffet line. Family-style, all-you-can-eat service is available at the Liberty Tree Tavern in the Magic Kingdom, at The Garden Grill Restaurant in Epcot’s Land Pavilion, at ‘Ohana in the Polynesian Resort, and at the Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge (diners at Whispering Canyon also have the option of ordering from a standard menu). The Garden Grill offer character dining, while ‘Ohana serves a character breakfast.

FOOD COURTS Featuring a collection of counter-service eateries under one roof, food courts can be found at all Disney theme parks and at the moderate (Coronado Springs, Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans) and value (All-Star and Pop Century) Disney resorts. Advance Reservations are neither required nor available at these restaurants.

COUNTER SERVICE Counter-service fast food is available in all theme
parks and at Downtown Disney Marketplace, Disney’s BoardWalk, and Disney’s West Side. The food compares in quality with Captain D’s, McDonald’s, or Taco Bell but is more expensive, though often served in larger portions.

FAST CASUAL Somewhere between burgers and formal dining are the establishments in Disney’s new “fast casual” category, including three in the theme parks: Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station in the Magic Kingdom, Sunshine Seasons Food Fair in Epcot, and Studio Catering Co. Flatbread Grill in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Fast-casual restaurants feature menu choices a cut above what you’d normally see at a typical counter-service location. At Sunshine Seasons, for example, chefs will prepare grilled salmon on an open cooking surface while you watch, or you can choose from grilled chicken or pork, tasty noodle bowls, or large sandwiches made with artisanal breads. These locations all feature Asian or Mediterranean cuisine, something previously lacking inside the parks. Entrees cost about $2 more on average than traditional counter service, but the variety and food quality more than make up for the difference.

VENDOR FOOD Vendors abound at the theme parks, Downtown Disney Marketplace, Disney’s West Side, and Disney’s BoardWalk.Offerings include popcorn, ice-cream bars, churros (Mexican pastries), soft drinks, bottled water, and (in theme parks) fresh fruit. Prices include tax, and payment must be in cash.