Disney World can boast many superlatives, including in its restaurants. Whether they’re the biggest, the best, or the most fun, Disney World restaurants have plenty to offer. Make sure you make your Advanced Dining Reservations because these restaurants are on everyone else’s bucket list too!
Let’s take a look at the top twelve Disney World Restaurants that should be on your bucket list!
1. Chef Mickey’s
Chef Mickey’s inside Disney’s Contemporary Resort is one of the best character dining experiences outside of the parks because it’s located right in the lobby of the resort. Plus, it’s the only Disney Resort hotel that the monorail goes right through!
Chef Mickey’s Fun Time Buffet has lots of options for food like the famous Mickey waffles, cheesy potato casserole, fresh fruit, bacon, and a specialty pancake of the day for breakfast and all of this plus egg scrambles with seasonal vegetables for brunch. Dinner is peel and eat shrimp, baked chicken, mussels, roasted salmon, and a carving station.
This restaurant is easy to get to from any of the Disney resort hotels on the monorail line or from Epcot or Magic Kingdom.
If you want to dine with three of the famous Fab Five, this restaurant should be tops on your list!
2. 1900 Park Fare
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa is home to 1900 Park Fare restaurant where you can have breakfast and dinner buffets with characters plus a character-filled tea party.
The all-you-care-to-enjoy breakfast buffet includes custom-made omelets, mini pancakes, carved ham, the famous Mickey waffles, and more. Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, and Winnie the Pooh join the party too!
Cinderella hosts the Happily Ever After dinner buffet along with Prince Charming every evening. Food includes seafood, salads, pasta, and beef, and all of the plates represent “kingdoms” around the globe. There are also kid-friendly meals like chicken, pizza, and mac & cheese.
For something a little lighter, consider the Wonderland Tea Party where kids ages 4 to 12 can enjoy an hour of games, stories, and cupcakes that they get to decorate! They even make a craft to take home as a souvenir.
3. 50’s Prime Time Café
The 50’s Prime Time Café located in Echo Lake at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a special kind of dining experience. Keep your elbows off the table, mind your manners, and make sure you finish your vegetables, or the waitress (who acts like your mother) will scold you!
If that doesn’t make you feel like you’re at home, take a look at the menu because it includes the ultimate comfort food like meatloaf, mashed potatoes, pot roast, and fried chicken among other things.
4. Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater
Also at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. While it also has a 1950s theme, it’s totally different.
This is the only restaurant in Disney World where you dine under the stars while watching clips from classic sci-fi movies from the comfort of your own 50s car. The car hop will deliver your food right to your car, but you can also visit picnic tables in the back of the theater where there’s also an old-fashioned concession stand.
5. The Coral Reef
The Coral Reef in The Seas Pavilion in Future World provides a peaceful undersea dining experience. Enjoy seasonal ocean-fresh dishes plus some turf meals like steak. Watch as sharks, sea turtles, and even scuba divers swim by in the world’s second largest aquarium!
After you’re done with dinner, head over to the other side of the pavilion to see more fish, turtles, sting rays, dolphins, and even some underwater hidden Mickeys. There’s also a separate area for manatees that Disney rescued and is working to rehabilitate.
6. Le Cellier Steakhouse
There are a few delicious steakhouses in Disney World, but Le Cellier Steakhouse in the Canada Pavilion of World Showcase is by far one of the best – and most popular. The cozy atmosphere is excellent for a romantic meal for lunch or dinner.
This restaurant serves delicious Canadian-style cuisine, and it’s the only table-service restaurant where you can get poutine fries in Disney World. Other options include steak, seafood, and other dishes inspired by the different regions of Canada.
7. San Angel Inn
San Angel Inn in Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion is inside the 17th century great pyramid where it’s always sunset. While we all love tacos, San Angel Inn does not serve what we think of as Mexican food. Instead, you’ll enjoy traditional Mexican dishes like Sopa Azteca (tortilla soup topped with avocado, cheese, and tortilla strips), Pollo a las Rajas (grill chicken with red peppers, onion cream sauce, chipotle rice, cilantro oil, and Queso fresco), and Carne Asada Tampiquena (beef tenderloin with cheese mole enchilada, corn tamal, refried beans, caramelized onions, and guacamole).
The details inside the pyramid are amazing, and if you watch closely you might even see a volcanic eruption!
8. Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway is an often-overlooked princess dining experience with Belle, Ariel, Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora.
The food is served buffet/family style with a Norwegian Smorgasbord full of themed dishes. Breakfast includes more familiar dishes like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potato casserole, cinnamon rolls, and fresh fruit, so if you have a picky eater, this is a good meal to book. Lunch and dinner is for more adventurous eaters with Scandinavian seafood, imported cheeses, cured and sliced meats, salads, and fruits. Hot entrees rotate between pan-seared salmon, oven roasted chicken breast, and Norwegian meatballs. The princesses are there for all three meals, so choose the one that’s most appropriate for your family!
9. Chefs de France
Paris may be the city of love, but it’s also home to some of the best dining in the world. The France pavilion in World Showcase offers a similar experience at Chefs de France, a themed dining experience at a charming Parisian café.
With crisp white tablecloths, high ceilings, and intricate mosaic floors paired with huge windows overlooking the World Showcase promenade, it’s quite a magical experience.
The classic French cuisine only adds to the grandeur. Don’t miss the lobster bisque, the French cheeses, and the crème brulee for dessert, and any of the entrees will make your mouth water!
10. Be Our Guest
Be Our Guest was added as part of the New Fantasyland expansion in Magic Kingdom. This ornately themed castle uses forced perspective to make it look high up on a hill. Inside, you’ll find that Beast has designed a beautiful home. From the Grand Ballroom to the West Wing, make sure that you explore the whole castle!
This is the only restaurant in Disney World that is quick-service by day and table-service by night. For lunch, diners choose their meals from a touch screen and a Cast Member will magically find you via your MagicBand or a magical rose. Dinner is served by a waiter. The menus are different for each dining time, but the grey stuff is available all day. You have to try it- it’s delicious!
11. Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace is located at the heart of Magic Kingdom on Main Street USA. This magical dining experience is set in an 1800s Victorian greenhouse with tons of natural light from all of the windows.
This is a really fun character dining with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore, and the kids will love the Poohrade.
Food is served buffet style. Breakfast includes typical fare like scrambled eggs and omelets, pancakes and waffles, pastries, breakfast meats, potatoes, seasonal fruit, and cereal. Lunch and dinner offers salad, soup, breads, fish, chicken, shrimp, and vegetables plus desserts.
I like to suggest booking a character breakfast here early in the morning before the park opens, You’ll get to see the park nearly empty, and you’ll be really close to some of the best attractions in the park before any other guests!
12. Cinderella’s Royal Table
Cinderella’s Royal Table is one of the best restaurants in all of Disney World not only because of the really good food but also because it’s located inside Cinderella Castle. Disney Princesses including Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, Aurora, and Jasmine join you for your meal. It’s also one of the hardest ADRs to get.
If you’re staying on property and you don’t mind the splurge, try booking at your 180-day point for a meal time during or just before the fireworks. This will give you quite a unique vantage point!
Which Disney World Restaurant is on your bucket list?