Every December, It's a birthday tradition my nanny family and I attend Disney. We all have birthdays ranging from the end of November until the beginning of January. The five of us proudly wore our Disney birthday pins and attempted to score a free cupcake at some of the Disney restaurants. (Did you know that some Disney restaurants will give you a free cupcake on your birthday? Cool right!)
But aside from cupcakes, Disney offers some great sit-down restaurants that excel in cuisine. Many of these places are expensive, but are worth trying.
We ate at a few sit-down places including Hollywood and Vine, The Tusker House, T-Rex Cafe, Kona Cafe and 1900 Park Fare. All the dine-in restaurants we ate at were fabulous. Please note that I did not get a chance to take pictures of the fabulous food I was able to try because I was too busy devouring it.
On our first night, we arrived at Hollywood Studios and rode Toy Story Mania and The Great American Movie ride. My favorite part of the evening? A special Christmas buffet at Hollywood and Vine. We met with Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Daisy. They dressed up in their holiday attire. The buffet was scrumptious! I munched down on some mac and cheese, caprese salad, caesar salad and some cheesecake. Nom Nom! It was a great evening.
Our second day was filled with animal adventures and a safari at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We spent our morning chowing down at the The Tusker House. Featuring Mickey, Minnie and friends, this safari-themed buffet-style restaurant has a variety of options. They have almost every breakfast food item you can imagine and also offer some delicious gluten free items. I really love their complementary tropical fruit juice. My favorite food is the Gluten free sugar donut served with pineapple. Yum!
On a side note, Animal Kingdom was really fun! We went on Expedition Everest twice and Primeval Whirl three times. We also watched Finding Nemo The Musical and ended up spending the whole day at the park.
The next morning we headed to Disney Springs. One of my favorite places to eat is The T-Rex Cafe. It's a great place for dinosaur lovers as it's surrounded with other adventurous themes including an under the sea theme and an ice cave. The menu offers a selection of everything! One of my favorite things about T-Rex is there is something for everyone. As a tradition, I always get the "Brachiosaurus Bruschetta." It's one of my all-time favorite foods!
Over the next couple of days, we kept it low key and ate quick-service food at Disney. Quick service food is fast to consume and is considerably budget friendly. The con side of most quick service places at Disney World includes bland and fattening food. It doesn't compare to the taste of the sit-down restaurants at Disney.
I personally recommend packing healthy lunches and saving money instead of eating at the quick service places. With all the money your saving by not eating quick service meals, you could put that towards a fancy sit-down restaurant at Disney. I find that the kiosk, gift shops and stalls serve better food than most quick-service places. That doesn't mean you should try them!
Towards the middle of our week, we stopped by the Polynesian Village Resort and ate at the Kona Cafe. The food is very similar to O'Hanas since they are side by side and share the same kitchen. The only difference is that we didn't get to meet Lilo and Stitch and we didn't get the complementary Kona Juice they serve over at O'Hanas. The price at Kona's is more affordable for the same quality at O'Hanas. Overall, its a great place to sit down and eat breakfast.
At the end of the week, we headed to The Grand Floridian Resort and Spa and ate breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. This is a character dine-in buffet experience with characters featuring Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. They offer gummy bears and ice cream for breakfast, along with omelets, cooked potatoes and fruit. I personally like Tusker House better, but if you prefer a victorian-themed dinning experience, then this may be your cup of tea.
On our last day, we headed to Magic Kingdom and had a great time. We went on several rides including Peter Pan, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and the PeopleMover Ride.
I look forward to visiting again at the end of February for a mini getaway. Below are some shots from "It's A Small World" ride.
