9 Most Popular Disney Restaurants for Supper
There are hundreds of restaurants at Walt Disney World. Some of these restaurants are quick-service whereas others are table service and buffets. Many of these buffet and table service restaurants are going to require advanced reservations. Some you can get reservations for a month or two months in advanced. Some you need to be ready to reserve when reservations open 6 months in advanced. We’ve compiled a list of the 9 restaurants that are the hardest reservations to get. To figure this out I looked for reservations 5 months and 20 days out. I didn’t do the 6 months out because there are a number of Halloween parties at the Magic Kingdom over that weekend and therefore the Magic Kingdom restaurants are not open to normal reservations on those dates. I tried to get reservations for 6pm for a group of 4. The 9 restaurants that are on this list had no availability on that date between the times of 4:30pm and 8:00pm. There’s no numerical order to this list, it is simply in alphabetical order.
1900 Park Fare
1900 Park Fare is a character buffet style restaurant featuring characters from Cinderella during dinner. It’s found off the lobby of the Grand Floridian Resort. 1900 Park Fare is decorated in pastel colours and images of fair grounds. The restaurant isn’t anything too impressive and the food is adequate. The reservations fill up quickly because there’s not many tables and seats. I think many guests love to come to the Grand Floridian resort to spend time in this extravagant Deluxe resort. For a full review on the restaurant click here.
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall is found in the Norway pavilion at Disney’s Epcot. This meal features many Disney princesses which lends to its popularity. It’s a great location, placing you in World Showcase for the evening fireworks show. Dinner is from 4:55pm-8:35pm. It’s a great value for those on the dining plan because it only costs one table service meal credit and includes an appetizer, entree and dessert. For a full review of the restaurant click here.
Be Our Guest
This restaurant is found in the Beast’s castle, located in Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland. Be Our Guest is open for breakfast and lunch as a quick-service restaurant. For dinner it’s a signature restaurant, requiring 2 table service dining plan credits for those on the dining plan. It’s a prix fixed menu, serving guests appetizers, entrees and dessert. The meal features an appearance by the Beast. Dinner is served from 4pm until park close.
California Grill
This Signature restaurant is found on the roof of the Contemporary Resort. Guests have a beautiful view of the Magic Kingdom resort area in this open restaurant. If you time your meal right, you’ll get to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from this restaurant. California Grill is where the Walt Disney World Resort executives dine so you know it’s got to be good. It would be the most well known Signature restaurant on property and therefore well sought after. California Grill offers a Sunday brunch, which is also a tricky reservation to get. You can try to grab a seat at the California Grill lounge, which serves the whole California Grill menu. California Grill is open from 5pm until 10pm. It’s not one of our favourites, a meal at Le Cellier at Epcot or Narcossee’s at the Grand Floridian Resort is much better and easier reservations to get.
Cinderella’s Royal Table
Dine inside Cinderella’s castle at the Magic Kingdom. This is another Signature restaurant, and is on our list of restaurants with the most characters. The meals here are exquisite to the eye and the bouche. You can have a wonderful family meal here or a romantic evening. You’ll pay for your meal ahead of time and it includes a take home copy of your picture with Cinderella. The meal includes appetizers, entree and dessert. The largest appeal of this restaurant is dining inside the castle. It’s truly magical. Well worth the cost and effort of getting this reservation. For a full review of this restaurant click here.
Chef Mickey’s
Chef Mickey’s is another resort restaurant found at Disney’s Contemporary resort. It’s a buffet style restaurant that feature Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald. You’ll dine on carved meats, vegetable medleys, pastas and a salad bar. The dessert buffet is extravagant. What makes this restaurant such a popular choice is the appearance of these five characters. You can meet them all here and not have to squeeze in character meet and greets during your park days. Supper is from 5pm-9:30pm. We love to come here for breakfast before a park day. They’re breakfast is at 7am, which can be pretty easy to get last minute when people realize they don’t want to be up that early. And it’s so close to the Magic Kingdom, you’ll be there before park open. For a full review on this restaurant click here.
‘Ohana
This all-you-care to enjoy restaurant is found at the Polynesian resort, another Magic Kingdom resort on the monorail. ‘Ohana’s dinner has servers bringing you non-stop meat and shrimp on skewers along with noodles and salad. There’s games for the kids to participate in during the course of the meal. Get a seat by the window and you’ll have a view of Cinderella’s castle in the distance. I’m not quite sure why ‘Ohana has such a popularity. It is a fun location and the meal is delicious but no more than the majority of the restaurants found on Disney World property. Dinner is from 3:30pm-10pm. Heads up, breakfast here is a character experience but dinner is not.
Storybook Dining at Artist Point
Artist Point is a restaurant found at the Wilderness Lodge. They host a supper nightly with Snow White, Grumpy, Doopey and the Evil Queen. This restaurant was recently restructured to create this character dining experience so the popularity has a lot to do with the novelty. But we’ve also heard amazing things about the food. We dined here last summer before the change and it made my top 5 meals from that trip. This meal will include appetizers, entree and dessert and for those on the dining plan it’s only 1 meal credit. If you’re paying out of pocket you’ll pay one price and then make your choice from the options on the menu. Dinner is served between 4pm and 9pm.
T-Rex
The last restaurant on the list is T-Rex. T-Rex is a dinosaur themed restaurant found at Disney Springs, Disney World’s shopping, entertainment and dining district. This restaurant is brought to you by the same company that brings your Rainforest Cafe and Yak & Yeti at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The restaurant is filled with life sized dinosaurs that move and make noise during the course of your meal. The menu is large, with a great variety. The food is delicious. During the meal you’ll experience a storm which will make the dinosaurs yell and scream. Can be a little frightening for young ones. We dined here when our son was 2 and he was scared. T-Rex is a big restaurant with lots of tables for large groups and small. Supper is served from 4pm-10:30pm. For a full review on this restaurant take a look at this previous post.
Honorable Mention
Sci-Fi Dine In Theatre
This restaurant is found at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and has guests sitting in a 50’s car as though they’re at a drive in. The food is glorified fast food but the experience is so unique and fun. This restaurant only had a reservation for 8pm, and normally doesn’t have any reservations available. So I’m placing it as an honourable mention because I know it’s a tough reservation because of its uniqueness. Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre is open for dinner from 4pm until park close.
Now just because these restaurants are the most popular does not mean they are the best choices for you and yours on your Disney vacation. So take time to read reviews and figure which ones are. If you really want to dine at some of these restaurants and you find all the reservations are taken try these tips found on this previous post. For more ideas on dining during your vacation take a look at these posts:
Our Thoughts on the Deluxe Dining Plan
Restaurants with the most characters
All-You-Care To Eat Restaurants
The 5 Worst Restaurants when you’re on the Disney Dining Plan
The 5 Best Restaurants when you’re on the Disney Dining Plan
