Episode 12
Indulge in Disney: Top Restaurant Picks for Every Meal
Join Tony Desiere and Lauren Mallard as they dive into the culinary delights of Walt Disney World, sharing their top picks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner across the four parks. The duo highlights the evolving dining experiences at Disney, emphasizing how food has become a focal point of their visits. They explore must-try locations, from the crepes at Epcot's Le Creperie to the iconic Tonga toast at Kona Cafe, and discuss hidden gems like the Yorkshire Fish in Epcot and the barbecue at Flame Tree. With a blend of personal anecdotes and practical tips, they encourage listeners to savor the dining experiences at Disney without the rush of the rides. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a seasoned park-goer, this episode is packed with recommendations to enhance your next magical trip.
Takeaways:
- Tony and Lauren emphasize the importance of planning your dining experiences at Disney parks to enhance your vacation.
- They share their favorite breakfast options across all four parks, highlighting unique dining experiences.
- Dining at Disney has evolved; it's no longer just about quick meals but enjoying experiences.
- Lauren recommends Satu'li Canteen at Animal Kingdom for its delicious cheeseburger pods and customizable bowls.
- Dinner at Epcot can be memorable at Garden Grill, with character interactions and fresh food.
- Tony suggests Tiffins for a fine dining experience at Animal Kingdom, praised for its quality.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Walt Disney World
- Universal Studios
Transcript
Welcome to another edition of the Wands and Wishes podcast, your best podcast for planning your Walt Disney or Universal Studios vacation.
Tony Doziri:Lauren Mallard.
Tony Doziri:With all the magic travel, I'm Tony Doziri.
Tony Doziri:So who would have thought as I got older that what I would enjoy the most about going to Disney World are the restaurants and the food locations?
Tony Doziri:If you had told me that even 20 years ago as an adult, I would have said, you're crazy.
Tony Doziri:I was the kind of theme park person that was like, just give me a burger, give me fries, get me on the next ride.
Tony Doziri:That's all I cared about.
Tony Doziri:Get me in line, get me something quick.
Tony Doziri:But now I'm really, really enjoying the restaurant.
Tony Doziri:So today we thought we would have fun with picking our best breakfast, lunch, and dinner options.
Tony Doziri:If you're going to any of the four parks at Walt Disney World in Florida, and this is your idea, Lauren and I thought it was great because I had so much fun doing our culinary review of the six restaurants that we did.
Tony Doziri:And I thought, now we get to talk more about the food at Disneyland.
Lauren Mallard:I love to talk about food at Disney World.
Tony Doziri:It's great.
Tony Doziri:And like I said earlier, I have gotten more interested, where can I go to dinner?
Tony Doziri:Like, where can I go to lunch?
Tony Doziri:Like, what experiences can my wife and I at Zempty Nesters can now have going to the parks and experiencing the dining without the rush of getting out of there and getting on rides, when I know our kids were, like, screaming at us to get out of the restaurant and go back to having more fun.
Tony Doziri:Now we're really enjoying, hey, we're going to take two hours and really enjoy this dinner.
Tony Doziri:And we don't really care.
Tony Doziri:We will be back down.
Tony Doziri:We'll be back down later.
Tony Doziri:But we really came for this experience.
Tony Doziri:And I think the last trip we took was really based around the idea of going to restaurants.
Tony Doziri:And we just said, you know what?
Tony Doziri:Most of it is going to be about going to see restaurants.
Lauren Mallard:Plan your day around it.
Tony Doziri:Plan your day around it.
Tony Doziri:So I thought this was a really, really, really fun idea.
Lauren Mallard:Good.
Tony Doziri:So we're going to start with breakfast, and we're going to go to four parks.
Tony Doziri:And you kind of set the rule that you look not just the park, but resorts as well.
Tony Doziri:Where would you start your breakfast if you were going to these parks?
Tony Doziri:So which park would you like to.
Lauren Mallard:Start with on this podcast?
Lauren Mallard:You know what?
Lauren Mallard:Let's start with Epcot.
Tony Doziri:All right.
Tony Doziri:Let's go to Epco.
Lauren Mallard:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:So if I.
Lauren Mallard:I'm trying to think about the geography of the whole property.
Lauren Mallard:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:So I'm trying to think outside the box when I'm thinking about these.
Lauren Mallard:So it depends.
Lauren Mallard:And you don't have to be staying near an Epcot resort to eat at anywhere that's around Epcot.
Lauren Mallard:So you can start thinking about the Skyliner or you can think about walking around the boardwalk to have something for breakfast.
Lauren Mallard:Any of those options.
Lauren Mallard:But for Epcot, it's so obvious because Epcot is such a foodie park.
Tony Doziri:It is.
Lauren Mallard:I have to go ahead and inside the park.
Tony Doziri:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:So for Epcot for breakfast, I'm going straight to France.
Lauren Mallard:Oh, I probably took yours.
Tony Doziri:You took mine.
Tony Doziri:Yes.
Lauren Mallard:But I'm not going where you think I'm going.
Tony Doziri:Okay, go ahead.
Lauren Mallard:So I'm gonna go to the Le Creperie around by Remy's, and I'm going to have a crepe for breakfast around there.
Lauren Mallard:So I left the obvious one for breakfast.
Lauren Mallard:But what's also good about this option is if you're rope dropping Remy's Ratatouille adventure, then you can do that first.
Lauren Mallard:Go ahead and knock that out during early magic hours or entry, whatever it's called these days, and go ahead and then stop for your crepe before you move along during the in the World Showcase.
Tony Doziri:Well, I'm staying in Epcot and I'm staying at the French Pavilion because I'm going to the pastry shop.
Tony Doziri:Yes, Le Bon la Pastry.
Tony Doziri:So I'm going there, I'm getting a croissant, I'm getting a cup of coffee.
Tony Doziri:I do it all the time.
Tony Doziri:I love it there.
Tony Doziri:I.
Tony Doziri:My wife had never gone there.
Tony Doziri:She wasn't really a pastry person.
Tony Doziri:But I kept saying, you know, she went to France two years ago.
Tony Doziri:When she came back, I said, let's go get you a croissant.
Tony Doziri:These are really delicious.
Tony Doziri:Oh, yeah, they're fantastic.
Tony Doziri:Now the people get a little intimidated by it because the line can go all the way out the door, but it does move pretty quickly.
Lauren Mallard:Very quickly.
Tony Doziri:Split you up, you can go into rows and you can.
Tony Doziri:You can get your pastry or whatever you want and get your coffee.
Lauren Mallard:I think the only thing that intimidates me is that I'll stand in line for so long and I'll think about what I want in there.
Lauren Mallard:And then I feel so much pressure when I'm standing there in front of the case and I see all the yummy.
Tony Doziri:That's exactly right.
Tony Doziri:Yeah.
Lauren Mallard:I'm like, what do I really want?
Lauren Mallard:But it's all so good, so you can't go wrong.
Tony Doziri:Yeah, you're thinking you want a croissant, and then you get there and you see another thing.
Tony Doziri:You're like, wait a minute, I want that.
Tony Doziri:Instead, they just basically are lining it up in front of you as you're walking to the cash register.
Tony Doziri:So you're adding stuff as you go.
Lauren Mallard:And there's no wrong answer.
Tony Doziri:And no wrong answer.
Tony Doziri:So that's fantastic.
Tony Doziri:All right, you want to move on to Animal Kingdom?
Lauren Mallard:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:Are we going to stick with breakfast?
Tony Doziri:Let's stick with breakfast in Animal Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:So a lot of times I do not have breakfast before I go to Animal Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:So what I will do is what I'm going to pick for this one is I'm going to pick my resort food court because there's going to be one day during.
Lauren Mallard:During the week that I have to have the Mickey waffles.
Tony Doziri:That's right.
Lauren Mallard:But here's my hack.
Lauren Mallard:For the resort food court breakfast, you don't need the adult meal.
Lauren Mallard:So the kids meal at breakfast is more than enough food.
Lauren Mallard:Because what I like to do then after that is go to Joffrey's inside the park and get my coffee to have while we're touring the park.
Lauren Mallard:So what I will get is the kids meal that comes with the Mickey waffles with the bacon, and it also comes with the drink.
Lauren Mallard:So you get two Mickey waffles, you get bacon, you get your drink whether you want chocolate milk or whether you want to sub that for a Coke or something to get your day going.
Lauren Mallard:And then so I'm going to have my breakfast before I go to the park because lunch and dinner at Animal Kingdom, I think are a little bit more stars.
Tony Doziri:All right.
Tony Doziri:I'm like you.
Tony Doziri:I don't usually eat breakfast when I go to Animal Kingdom, but I picked a place that I thought you might touch on in that sauna in the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Tony Doziri:Because they.
Tony Doziri:Because I've never been there, but I heard great reviews about it.
Tony Doziri:And it is a place to get sort of the Savannah view.
Tony Doziri:If you're not staying at the lodge, you can eat there.
Tony Doziri:They've got some.
Tony Doziri:They got some traditional breakfast.
Tony Doziri:They got some after African themed breakfast.
Tony Doziri:It's kind of a unique experience, but it does give you some theming and also gives you something that you can see that you may not be able to see if you're staying on somewhere else on property.
Lauren Mallard:Great point.
Lauren Mallard:That's an awesome pick.
Tony Doziri:All right, let's go to Magic Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:Okay.
Tony Doziri:All right.
Tony Doziri:Breakfast at Magic Kingdom.
Tony Doziri:How do you start your day?
Lauren Mallard:Okay, so there were two Options here that I was trying to decide between.
Lauren Mallard:But for this one, I'm actually going to go with a sit down breakfast.
Tony Doziri:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:This is my favorite sit down breakfast on all of Disney property.
Lauren Mallard:And I'm gonna go over to the Polynesian resort and I'm gonna go to Kona Cafe.
Tony Doziri:That's right.
Lauren Mallard:So at Kona Cafe, they have the most divine thing that's on the menu.
Lauren Mallard:It's called Tonga toast.
Lauren Mallard:What it is is it's a giant stuffed Texas toast style dish.
Tony Doziri:It looks like a Minecraft bread.
Lauren Mallard:It really does.
Lauren Mallard:It is giant.
Lauren Mallard:I'm like, I don't know how this really works because it's just one giant piece of bread that's stuffed with bananas and then it's rolled in cinnamon sugar.
Lauren Mallard:And then this.
Lauren Mallard:The.
Lauren Mallard:I guess it's not a dressing.
Lauren Mallard:The syrup that they serve with it is actually a strawberry compote.
Lauren Mallard:So it helps to kind of even out the sweetness of the cinnamon and sugar without having a maple syrup.
Lauren Mallard:But it is the best breakfast on property, along with the Kona coffee.
Lauren Mallard:So that is my perfect start to a magic kingdom.
Tony Doziri:All right, now I'm going with a place that's kind of gotten reviews, but I'm staying with it because Chef Mickey at the Contemporary, I think is a fantastic dining breakfast experience for kids with the characters.
Tony Doziri:Is the buffet gonna blow you away?
Tony Doziri:Not likely, but it's good breakfast.
Tony Doziri:It's a good breakfast.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah.
Tony Doziri:There's not really anything super special about it.
Tony Doziri:It's eggs, bacon, whatnot.
Tony Doziri:It's waffles, etc.
Tony Doziri:But it's a great place to see the Fab five.
Tony Doziri:I always like the Contemporary.
Tony Doziri:I've always.
Tony Doziri:Ever since I was little, I thought this was a kind of a cool design for a hotel.
Tony Doziri:So it brings back a lot of feelings for me.
Lauren Mallard:Nostalgia.
Tony Doziri:It's nostalgia to the hotel.
Tony Doziri:First one there.
Tony Doziri: of Nowhere, New Hampshire in: Lauren Mallard:Straight through a hotel.
Tony Doziri:Like, I'm just.
Tony Doziri:My mind is exploding as a 10 year old kid.
Tony Doziri:So I've always had a soft spot for the contemporary.
Tony Doziri:But I know that a lot of people have said I was a little underwhelmed, but for a character breakfast, I think it's one of the better ones.
Tony Doziri:I've done that and I've done Kate May.
Tony Doziri:I would take the Chef Mickey.
Tony Doziri:Yeah, Cape May was fine, but it's a little off the.
Lauren Mallard:No, I agree.
Lauren Mallard:I think that Chef Mickey's is one of those that's kind of a rite of passage for Disney.
Lauren Mallard:And if you're going to choose a meal at Chef Mickey's, I think breakfast is 100% of the time the way to go.
Tony Doziri:Exactly.
Tony Doziri:All right, let's go to Hollywood Studios.
Tony Doziri:What are we having for breakfast to start that park?
Lauren Mallard:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:So I am again going to go outside the park, and for this one, I'm actually going to visit the Skyliner.
Tony Doziri:Okay, very good.
Lauren Mallard:So whether you're staying on the Skyliner or not, if you go ahead and take your bus to Hollywood Studios, then you can get on the Skyliner for breakfast.
Lauren Mallard:And I'm going over to Topolino's Terrace.
Tony Doziri:Absolutely.
Lauren Mallard:I've talked about it before on the podcast.
Lauren Mallard:It's another fantastic, fantastic character dining option.
Lauren Mallard:And so if you're, if you're traveling with kids and you don't want to stand in line for character meet and greets, these character breakfasts are such a good bang for your buck.
Lauren Mallard:And then again, we've talked about too, when, if you have a child that's under the age of three, this one would qualify, Chef Mickey would qualify as a place that that child is going to be able to eat for free.
Lauren Mallard:So this starts your day off really well if you're going and feeding the family for a little less than you would if you were purchasing Mickey waffles for that two year old.
Tony Doziri:And Topolino's Terrace, as we talked about in the previous podcast, there's almost, almost like a dual restaurant and it's so family friendly with breakfast and the characters.
Tony Doziri:But at night it's a little bit more fine dining and fancy and you can see the fireworks on the rooftop.
Tony Doziri:And it's a little bit more of an upscale dining experience.
Tony Doziri:But that breakfast and to see characters in different outfits, like you're gonna see Mickey as the painter and Donald as the sculptor, and Daisy, I think, is a poet.
Tony Doziri:I'm not sure, but those are the kind of, kind of experiences if you're looking for.
Tony Doziri:I think Topolino's Terrace is fantastic.
Tony Doziri:Yes, I'm going to Galaxy's Edge.
Lauren Mallard:Okay.
Tony Doziri:I'm going to get a Ronto roast, the breakfast one.
Tony Doziri:These wraps are fantastic.
Tony Doziri:Now, this was recommended to me not that long ago, and I decided to get one.
Tony Doziri:Lori stayed away from it, but it's eggs, pork sausage, it's got a little peppercorn sauce and the cheese.
Lauren Mallard:It's delicious.
Tony Doziri:It's delicious.
Tony Doziri:Fantastic.
Tony Doziri:And so don't underestimate some of these places that, you know, if you're walking through the park, you can get a breakfast sandwich.
Tony Doziri:A lot of these places that are sort of themed to the land and the galaxy's edge.
Tony Doziri:This is fantastic.
Tony Doziri:You see, like a big beast roasting.
Tony Doziri:It's sort of like the ideal theming of where you're at.
Tony Doziri:But to get one of these is pretty cool.
Tony Doziri:It's a pretty cool experience there.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah.
Lauren Mallard:So I would say for breakfast, what you can do is really research some of the places beforehand to kind of get an idea of what's close by, what's inside the park that maybe would be off the beaten path that you could go check out, or what might be at a rest, a resort nearby.
Lauren Mallard:So, so let's say you wanted to start the morning at Hollywood Studios, but go have a brunch like we've talked about before at Topolino.
Lauren Mallard:So all of these things can come into factor, but try to stay close to whatever park you're visiting that day.
Tony Doziri:Yeah, you can.
Tony Doziri:I mean, you can get Mickey waffles at Sleepy Hollow.
Tony Doziri:You know, there's all sorts of places to get them.
Tony Doziri:So, again, don't be.
Tony Doziri:You know, if you're planning your trip and you're planning your food and you.
Tony Doziri:Your family likes breakfast, but maybe doesn't want to sit down, plenty of great places to get quick breakfast and still have a feeling of Disney World.
Tony Doziri:Not just a quick little sandwich or something like that, but you can still make it a fun theming experience and get it done fast, for sure.
Tony Doziri:All right, so that's breakfast.
Tony Doziri:Now let's move on to lunch.
Lauren Mallard:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:All right.
Tony Doziri:Where would you like to start in our lunch journey?
Lauren Mallard:I guess we can go back to Epcot.
Lauren Mallard:I feel like it's been a minute since we've been in epcot, and absolutely 100% of the time, even though Epcot has so many good choices for lunch, I really could probably go anywhere.
Lauren Mallard:But 100% of the time, I am going to the Yorkshire Fish and having the fish and chips.
Tony Doziri:Absolutely.
Lauren Mallard:There's just something about that fish and chips.
Lauren Mallard:Now, the only thing that is a con to me is the seating there.
Lauren Mallard:There is not very much seating.
Lauren Mallard:It's all outdoors, very few umbrellas and a lot of birds.
Lauren Mallard:So you got to just know that going into it that you might not find a place to sit.
Lauren Mallard:You might be finding a trash can to put your fish on and stand there and have your fish.
Lauren Mallard:But it is just delightful.
Lauren Mallard:It is so good.
Tony Doziri:My mother is.
Tony Doziri:My mother.
Tony Doziri:My grandmother on my mother's side is.
Tony Doziri:Was from England and married my grandfather after the war.
Tony Doziri:And my mother honors her birthday by eating fish and chips every single year.
Tony Doziri:There.
Tony Doziri:Now, you can get the same fish and chips in the restaurant, but they're.
Tony Doziri:But the one you're talking about is.
Tony Doziri:Is basically the same.
Lauren Mallard:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:I've never been inside the.
Lauren Mallard:The Rose and Crown.
Tony Doziri:I guess they were very proud to tell me that.
Tony Doziri:They said, oh, it's the same fish and chips and you can eat outside.
Lauren Mallard:Very good.
Tony Doziri:They get it every year, but they love it.
Tony Doziri:They look forward to the trip to get that with me.
Tony Doziri:Only if it's open and it's not open all the time.
Tony Doziri:I'm getting the pizza outside.
Tony Doziri:Via Napoli.
Lauren Mallard:Yes.
Tony Doziri:Not open a lot.
Tony Doziri:If it is open and the window is open at lunch, get it.
Tony Doziri:It's a Sicilian thick sliced pizza.
Tony Doziri:It's phenomenal.
Tony Doziri:It's molten grande.
Tony Doziri:It's big, and it'll feed you and even feed you and somebody else if you wanted to split it down the middle.
Lauren Mallard:Absolutely.
Tony Doziri:That large, a good value and it's pretty quick.
Tony Doziri:But if.
Tony Doziri:If it's not open, I get the barbecue at Regal Eagle Smokehouse.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah.
Tony Doziri:Love Regal Eagle Smokehouse.
Lauren Mallard:Absolutely.
Tony Doziri:So that is my little lunch for Epcot.
Lauren Mallard:Yes.
Tony Doziri:All right, let's go to Animal Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:Animal Kingdom.
Tony Doziri:All right.
Lauren Mallard:I am probably going to take the obvious choice here.
Lauren Mallard:I'm going over into Pandora and I'm gonna go to Satchuli Cantun.
Tony Doziri:Yeah, I was that too.
Lauren Mallard:It is just the best quick service on all of Disney property, in my opinion.
Lauren Mallard:There's something for everybody.
Lauren Mallard:There's something called cheeseburger pods there.
Lauren Mallard:They're delicious that the children love.
Lauren Mallard:They're kind of like a McDonald's cheeseburger.
Lauren Mallard:Same taste.
Lauren Mallard:And then of course, they have different bowls where you can choose to make it a salad bowl or you can choose to make it a rice bowl, steak, chicken.
Lauren Mallard:I mean, you can really build your bowl and you can feel like you're eating something hearty.
Lauren Mallard:That's not just.
Lauren Mallard:Just run in the mill hamburgers or cheeseburgers in the park.
Tony Doziri:All right.
Tony Doziri:I'm taking Flame Tree barbecue.
Lauren Mallard:Oh, yeah.
Tony Doziri:One of the reasons is they got a really cool seating area.
Tony Doziri:They've got like a gazebo place where you can sit in underneath the elements.
Tony Doziri:And it's one of the cooler views around the park.
Lauren Mallard:It really is.
Lauren Mallard:Especially if you keep going back in.
Tony Doziri:There and the food is good.
Tony Doziri:It's really.
Tony Doziri:It's standard barbecue fare.
Tony Doziri:I like the St.
Tony Doziri:Louis ribs with the half chicken, but I really love the scenic part of eating outside.
Tony Doziri:Some of the birds come up to you.
Tony Doziri:And you got to kind of shoo them away.
Tony Doziri:But nevertheless, the.
Tony Doziri:If you really like loving just to see the scenic beauty of Animal Kingdom, it's a great place to settle in, eat some barbecue and enjoy the views.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah, I can't go wrong there.
Tony Doziri:Yeah, you can't go wrong there.
Tony Doziri:All right, let's go to Magic Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:Magic Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:I've probably said it before.
Lauren Mallard:You can probably know where I'm gonna go.
Lauren Mallard:I'm going to Main street and I'm going to Casey's Corner.
Tony Doziri:That's what I wrote down.
Lauren Mallard:100% of the time.
Lauren Mallard:I am predictable.
Lauren Mallard:At Magic Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:I'm actually getting the corn dog nuggets.
Lauren Mallard:They are mini corn dogs.
Lauren Mallard:I don't know what they're called there.
Lauren Mallard:I think they're called corn dog nuggets, but they come with fries and they are always hot, they're always crunchy.
Lauren Mallard:And pair that with a good ice cold Coke in the middle of the day at Magic Kingdom and it is just the best thing ever.
Tony Doziri:I'm with you.
Tony Doziri:I'm gonna stay with that.
Tony Doziri:Casey's Corner.
Tony Doziri:If you never get a hot dog at Casey's Corner, what are you doing?
Tony Doziri:How do you live?
Tony Doziri:It's the one recommendation I give all the time.
Tony Doziri:It's.
Tony Doziri:It's the one thing.
Tony Doziri:And I say I.
Tony Doziri:You know, just from the Casey at the bat feeling that you're in when you're in there, the old Disney cartoon and the old poem just in the, in the hot dogs are big.
Tony Doziri:They're fun.
Tony Doziri:It's a great.
Tony Doziri:It really brings that there's an element of Disney that's in there from the, from the 40s, 50s feel to it.
Tony Doziri:It's, it's, it's a great, great place to stop.
Tony Doziri:And you really have to do it to say you did it.
Tony Doziri:Because if you've gone five or six times and never eaten there, shame on you.
Tony Doziri:I'm terrible.
Tony Doziri:You gotta eat there.
Lauren Mallard:Absolutely.
Tony Doziri:So I'm staying there.
Tony Doziri:I, I mean, when was I going to take Cosmet McRae?
Tony Doziri:I can't take.
Lauren Mallard:There really.
Lauren Mallard:There really is no other choice in Magic Kingdom, unfortunately.
Lauren Mallard:I'm hoping maybe one day Disney will listen to us and hear that we need a few more things.
Tony Doziri:A few more things.
Lauren Mallard:But for now, I'm okay with eating lunch at Casey's Corner anytime that I'm in Magic Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:And another thing that I will say is take time to listen to the piano player that's outside of Casey's Corner.
Tony Doziri:That's right.
Lauren Mallard:Whoever it is, is always fantastic.
Tony Doziri:All right, let's go over to Hollywood Studios for a lunch break.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah.
Lauren Mallard:So Hollywood Studios is the other park that I think really struggle with food.
Lauren Mallard:But there is a dish there that I really enjoy at ABC Commissary.
Tony Doziri:ABC Commissary.
Lauren Mallard:It is the buffalo chicken grilled cheese sandwich.
Lauren Mallard:And it is really good.
Lauren Mallard:It's always fresh made.
Lauren Mallard:This, this is one of the few restaurants at Hollywood Studios that's actually in the air conditioning.
Lauren Mallard:So you'll find that a lot of the quick service places in Hollywood Studios only have outdoor seating.
Lauren Mallard:So if you're looking for something to be able to sit inside, get a little respite from the heat, this is a great place.
Lauren Mallard:They have a pretty good variety on their menu.
Lauren Mallard:But that's the one that I would go with is the buffalo chicken grilled cheese sandwich.
Tony Doziri:All right, I'm going to.
Tony Doziri:I went a little different.
Tony Doziri:Now, if you are somebody that has skipped breakfast and you're really looking for hearty lunch, go with ABC Commissary.
Tony Doziri:Because again, variety on the menu.
Lauren Mallard:Sure.
Tony Doziri:If you're looking for something to get some theming, something light, maybe something.
Tony Doziri:Because you're planning a big breakfast, go to Olga's Cantina.
Lauren Mallard:Oh, yes.
Tony Doziri:Because you can get a sampler platter of the meats and cheese.
Tony Doziri:There's just like two options for food.
Tony Doziri:So that's pretty much all you're getting.
Tony Doziri:You're there for either an alcoholic drink or a non alcoholic mocktail.
Tony Doziri:They're fun.
Tony Doziri:But if you're a Star wars fan, it's like the cantina in Tatooine in Star wars.
Tony Doziri:It's got that vibe to it.
Tony Doziri:You got to experience it.
Tony Doziri:It's really fun because if you're, if you're really a fan of the movie, it's going to take you into that scene where Luke and Obi Wan are trying to meet Han Solo.
Tony Doziri:It's really great.
Tony Doziri:Again, not a lot of food options.
Tony Doziri:My father took us in there.
Tony Doziri:We mostly went in there to get a drink and to experience it.
Tony Doziri:But we got a platter and I thought to myself, this could fill apart people.
Tony Doziri:You know, this could fill two people.
Tony Doziri:If you're looking for some food, a drink, and then have a bigger dinner.
Lauren Mallard:That's a great point because I've had people ask me before if that's somewhere that they can have lunch.
Lauren Mallard:And I'm like, well, it's not really somewhere that's going to fill you up.
Lauren Mallard:But that's a great way to, to talk about it.
Lauren Mallard:Because if you've had a big breakfast then.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah, sure.
Lauren Mallard:It might be a great spot for lunch.
Tony Doziri:Yeah, it's.
Tony Doziri:And the, and the platter was really cool.
Tony Doziri:Had different meats and cheeses.
Tony Doziri:Pretty standard.
Tony Doziri:Nothing.
Tony Doziri:Nothing super fancy.
Tony Doziri:The mocktails are really fun.
Tony Doziri:They'll bubble over and things like that.
Tony Doziri:So if you're looking for a big lunch, ABC commissary.
Tony Doziri:I was going to put Andy's lunchbox, but it's always crowded.
Lauren Mallard:It's so crowded.
Tony Doziri:And there's no seating.
Lauren Mallard:No.
Lauren Mallard:And the mobile order, even you go on to mobile order something there and you might be waiting 90 minutes.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah, I don't want to be in Toy story land for 90 minutes.
Lauren Mallard:So.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah, that one's a tough one.
Tony Doziri:And while seating in a lot of places are hard, this is really hard to get a seat.
Tony Doziri:Yes, it's.
Tony Doziri:It doesn't have a lot of outdoor seating.
Tony Doziri:So, you know, try it if you want, but you're going to be.
Tony Doziri:You might be there for a while.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah.
Tony Doziri:All right, now we are moving on to dinner on the portion of this.
Tony Doziri:All right.
Tony Doziri:Which park would you like to venture?
Lauren Mallard:Okay, so let's go back to Epcot.
Tony Doziri:Okay.
Lauren Mallard:But you kind of threw me for a loop here because I feel like I can't go to my Via Napoli.
Lauren Mallard:Because you went there for lunch.
Tony Doziri:Well, I went there for the pizza.
Lauren Mallard:Place outside, so I'm not going to choose Via Napoli.
Lauren Mallard:And I am actually going to go over to the Land Pavilion and I'm going to go to Garden Grill.
Tony Doziri:This is the most recommended place I get all the time and I've yet to do it.
Lauren Mallard:It is really good, actually.
Tony Doziri:It's very good.
Tony Doziri:I heard it's very good.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah, my daughter Lily and I ate there and this was the first time in years, guess since I was a kid that I had eaten there.
Lauren Mallard:And the food is fresh.
Lauren Mallard:It's a really good menu.
Lauren Mallard:It's pleasing to kids and adults.
Lauren Mallard:And the character interaction there was really some of the best character interaction we had anywhere that we went.
Lauren Mallard:You get Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale.
Lauren Mallard:And the restaurant slowly rotates around through the Living with the Land ride.
Lauren Mallard:So you can look down at different times and see boats going through the ride or you can see different scenes of the ride.
Lauren Mallard:And it's just, it's a fun place to just relax and enjoy a family style meal.
Tony Doziri:So again, my retired parents are doing this restaurant tour of Disney and I was telling Lori that of all the places, they really are highly recommended.
Tony Doziri:Garden Grill.
Tony Doziri:There was an enthusiasm to.
Tony Doziri:When they were telling me how Much.
Tony Doziri:They loved Garden Grill and I get that from everybody.
Tony Doziri:I have yet to go there there.
Tony Doziri:But the enthusiasm is great.
Lauren Mallard:It really is.
Tony Doziri:All right.
Tony Doziri:I, I did nostalgia here.
Tony Doziri:I only I chose Coral Reef.
Lauren Mallard:Oh yeah.
Tony Doziri: we were on the dining plan in: Lauren Mallard:Uhhuh.
Tony Doziri:And now became a lobster fanatic.
Lauren Mallard:Thanks.
Lauren Mallard:Coral Reef.
Tony Doziri:Yes.
Tony Doziri:I'm not a huge seafood person.
Tony Doziri:I had the and I didn't want to insult the fish.
Tony Doziri:I had the New York strip when I was there.
Tony Doziri:Again, this is one of those places that gets mixed reviews for food but the ambiance is really cool.
Tony Doziri:Big aquarium whatnot.
Tony Doziri:But I feel bad because there's so many good restaurants in the world showcase.
Tony Doziri:But some of them I, I, I have yet to try.
Tony Doziri:Yeah, I want to go to Nine Dragons.
Tony Doziri:I heard Nine Dragons is really good.
Tony Doziri:Santa, Santa and Hell in I heard kids not as good.
Lauren Mallard:Kind of getting mixed reviews.
Tony Doziri:Getting mixed reviews use.
Tony Doziri:But some of the other ones they said the Moroccan restaurant is really delicious.
Lauren Mallard:Yes.
Tony Doziri:But I have, I don't usually go in that direction.
Tony Doziri:It's outside of Vianapoli.
Tony Doziri:So I wanted to recommend something I've been to before.
Lauren Mallard:And a good point with that too is Coral Reef is one that you typically can find a reservation last minute.
Lauren Mallard:If you're looking for a sit down restaurant and you don't currently have a reservation, check it out because there are some good things on the menu for sure.
Tony Doziri:All right, let's go over to Magic Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah, let's go over to Magic Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:So I am going to leave the park for dinner.
Lauren Mallard:I thought about staying inside the park but I don't love the sit down restaurants inside Magic Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:And I want to sit down.
Lauren Mallard:And so what I'm actually going to do is on almost every trip and I'm not going to talk about the one that I talk about all the time.
Lauren Mallard:So don't think that I'm going over to the Contemporary.
Lauren Mallard:But what I'm going to do is I'm going to go over to Grand Floridian.
Lauren Mallard:I'm going to take the boat over to Grand Floridian because I think it's the best view from Magic Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:And I'm going to go to Grand Floridian Cafe.
Lauren Mallard:They have a really good menu, a good variety.
Lauren Mallard:My kids love it.
Lauren Mallard:They have a pasta on their kids menu that my kids have just adored for years.
Lauren Mallard:And there's something, there's a great burger on the menu, there's a really good steak, there's a salmon, so there's something that will please every pallet.
Lauren Mallard:And honestly, I think for the price that it is, you're getting a really good value and you're escaping the park enough to feel like you're kind of getting that break in, but then you're close enough to the park that you can just hop right back over there for the evening.
Tony Doziri:All right.
Tony Doziri:I was going to do Be our Guest, but I did that in a review.
Tony Doziri:But my wife said no, no, no, no, no.
Tony Doziri:You have to do Crystal palace with Winnie the Pooh and friends, of course.
Tony Doziri:So this is more for her than it was for me.
Tony Doziri:But I like the buffet a lot.
Tony Doziri:It was a good buffet.
Tony Doziri:Pretty much everything you'd want in a buffet.
Tony Doziri:Salads, meat, potatoes, sides, dessert.
Tony Doziri:Plenty of everything that you would expect at a typical dinner buffet.
Tony Doziri:And it is very cool.
Tony Doziri:Winnie the Pooh and friends will walk around and spend some good time with you.
Tony Doziri:And from, from many experiences that I've heard with people, you get a lot of interaction with Winnie the Pooh and fans.
Tony Doziri:They will spend really a lot of time.
Tony Doziri:Sometimes they'll come back to your table twice.
Tony Doziri:So it's, it's a very cool character experience.
Tony Doziri:You can go there for breakfast too.
Tony Doziri:But we went there for dinner.
Tony Doziri:It was a treat that I wanted to surprise her with and it was a very good buffet.
Tony Doziri:And Crystal palace is, has a number of video iterations over the years, but they've really landed.
Lauren Mallard:I really think that it has really gone up on everybody's radar because the food has been consistent lately and the character interactions as well.
Tony Doziri:Absolutely.
Tony Doziri:All right, let's go over to Hollywood Studios.
Lauren Mallard:Hollywood studios.
Tony Doziri:A lot of cool things at Hollywood Studios.
Lauren Mallard:There are some cool things.
Lauren Mallard:So you can kind of go a lot of different directions here.
Lauren Mallard:And I'm going to pick something for dinner that I honestly typically will have for lunch if I'm here.
Lauren Mallard:I typically don't have it for dinner if I'm going to have a sit down meal.
Lauren Mallard:But I'm going to go over to 50s prime time.
Tony Doziri:Yeah, that's fun.
Lauren Mallard:This is such a nostalgic one for me because we used to love to eat here when I was a kid and now it's just funny watching the faces, my kids reactions whenever the waiters and waitresses are talking to them if they're not eating their food or if they're got their elbows on the table.
Lauren Mallard:It's just a fun experience for everybody.
Lauren Mallard:And the food is pretty consistent I love the fried chicken.
Tony Doziri:I love the fried chicken there.
Lauren Mallard:It's great.
Lauren Mallard:And it's really.
Lauren Mallard:It's another one of those that I think is a really good value for the amount of food that you're getting.
Lauren Mallard:It's going to fill everybody up.
Lauren Mallard:And again, it's got a good variety.
Lauren Mallard:So I would.
Lauren Mallard:I would pick that every time.
Tony Doziri:On our last trip, we had reservations for that, but we wanted to go to the rodeo, the barbecue place, to try something different because we went there about 10 years ago and I thought it was fun.
Tony Doziri:Another place we went 10 years ago, which is on my list.
Tony Doziri:Sci Fi Drive in theater.
Tony Doziri:It's.
Tony Doziri:It's cool.
Tony Doziri:It's a cool theme, and it brings back to you to a time.
Tony Doziri:If you remember drive in theaters, maybe you're too young to not know what drive in theaters were.
Tony Doziri:It's a really cool nostalgic feel.
Tony Doziri:Yes.
Tony Doziri:It does repeat.
Tony Doziri:Yes.
Tony Doziri:There's a lot of things that you might hear over and over again.
Tony Doziri:It's fun to see the staff repeat the lines because they just hear it over and over and over again.
Tony Doziri:But the food is decent enough.
Tony Doziri:There's a variety on the menu.
Tony Doziri:The kids will love it because you get to be in a car.
Tony Doziri:And where else can you be in a car like you're in a drive in theater?
Tony Doziri:I think the theming for this is outstanding.
Tony Doziri:It's a really cool.
Tony Doziri:It was a really cool idea to add it to when you're talking about a place that's celebrating Hollywood to say, what kind of thing can we do?
Tony Doziri:Oh, drive in theaters were a big deal.
Tony Doziri:It fits perfectly.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah.
Lauren Mallard:And that's a tough reservation to get to.
Lauren Mallard:So if you're thinking you want to go to Sci Fi, make sure that you are looking for that one at 60 days out, for sure.
Tony Doziri:And it is dark.
Tony Doziri:It is.
Tony Doziri:It is dark.
Tony Doziri:So don't let your kids run to the bathroom by themselves.
Tony Doziri:Even though they say they can go by themselves.
Lauren Mallard:They might wind up in the wrong car.
Tony Doziri:They might wind up in the wrong car.
Tony Doziri:Or you.
Tony Doziri:You might be looking for them because they won't know their way.
Tony Doziri:Right.
Tony Doziri:It's.
Tony Doziri:It's kind of dark in there, but the food is actually decent.
Tony Doziri:Sometimes the theming doesn't always match the quality.
Tony Doziri:The food is actually pretty decent there.
Tony Doziri:All right, which one are we missing?
Tony Doziri:Oh, Animal Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:Animal Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:So I.
Lauren Mallard:I don't guess I've ever been here after dark to actually eat.
Tony Doziri:Yes.
Lauren Mallard:While I've been.
Tony Doziri:This was a problem for me.
Tony Doziri:Yeah.
Lauren Mallard:And so I'm like, huh.
Lauren Mallard:Well, what would I do?
Lauren Mallard:And I thought, well, I could go back to whatever resort that I'm staying at, but I'm trying to stay with the proximity of the park.
Lauren Mallard:So obviously, the choice that I'm going to go with is Boma over at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Lauren Mallard:We've already been over there once today with your recommendation for breakfast, but we're going to go over to Boma.
Lauren Mallard:This buffet, to me, is the best buffet on all of Disney property.
Lauren Mallard:It is just.
Lauren Mallard:There's such exotic things on the buffet, but then again, there's something for picky eaters, too.
Lauren Mallard:And so you can really, really just find something that everybody's going to love.
Lauren Mallard:And you're going to be able to walk in that lobby at Animal Kingdom Lodge if you're not staying there and if you've never been there before and really, like, feel so immersed in that culture and it gives you a good way to go to another resort if you're not going to visit there.
Lauren Mallard:I think we've said it before to kind of get your feet wet there and say, oh, would this be somewhere that I'd like to stay in the future?
Lauren Mallard:Because you can really kind of take in some of the animals that are outside, look at them and.
Lauren Mallard:And then go down and have the buffet there, which is a really, really tasty buffet.
Tony Doziri:I think you're.
Tony Doziri:You hit the nail on the head with the.
Tony Doziri:With the park.
Tony Doziri:It's not really open late for dinner, so again, you're probably having an early dinner before the park.
Tony Doziri:But I'm going to a place I never went, and if I hear one more person tell me to go there, I'll go.
Tony Doziri:Okay.
Tony Doziri:Okay, It's Tiffin's.
Tony Doziri:Everyone tells me to go eat at Tiffany.
Lauren Mallard:I've never been.
Tony Doziri:I've never been either.
Tony Doziri:This gets high.
Tony Doziri:Reviews.
Tony Doziri:People who've gone tell me that they'll love it.
Tony Doziri:They'll tell me it's great.
Tony Doziri:I have eaten at Yak and Yeti.
Tony Doziri:I did like Yak and Yeti.
Tony Doziri:I can't remember what I had, though so long ago ago, but I can't remember.
Tony Doziri:But that was another place that was on my secondary list.
Tony Doziri:If I'm just going to go with an experience rather than anticipation.
Tony Doziri:The anticipation is.
Tony Doziri:Tiffin is really good.
Lauren Mallard:Yes.
Lauren Mallard:And I think that was another one I was trying to think about.
Lauren Mallard:Is like, okay, well, we could go fancy in a couple different places outside of Animal Kingdom.
Lauren Mallard:You can choose Tiffin's, or you can choose Jico over here.
Lauren Mallard:Animal Kingdom Lodge, which I've never Been to either.
Lauren Mallard:So if you're wanting to end your Animal Kingdom day with a fancy dinner, there's a couple of really good options there.
Tony Doziri:I'm not telling you where not to go, but.
Tony Doziri:Rainforest Cafe.
Lauren Mallard:Yeah, you know what, there's so many cities in the US that have a Rainforest Cafe, so let's stay away from that if we can.
Tony Doziri:Exactly.
Tony Doziri:I mean, I've been to one in like, I think in Las Vegas.
Tony Doziri:I think, if I'm not mistaken, on my travels in the sports world.
Tony Doziri:So that is it.
Tony Doziri:That is the breakfast, lunch and dinner, all four park combination at Walt Disney World.
Tony Doziri:Any final thoughts?
Tony Doziri:Now I'm hungry.
Tony Doziri:Exactly.
Tony Doziri:Any final thoughts?
Lauren Mallard:Yeah, you know, I think that there's so many good places.
Lauren Mallard:So like, if you're not going to one of these places that we've listed, or if you're thinking, oh, well, they, they didn't mention any of the places that I'm going.
Lauren Mallard:That doesn't mean that they're not good because so many places at Disney World are fantastic.
Lauren Mallard:But, you know, pace yourself because you could have a snack here, a snack there, and you could actually double the amount of places that you're going in a day and be able to just kind of sample a few things and, and really just experience a lot of it.
Tony Doziri:And let people like us help you with reservations because it may get dis disheartening when you see it's booked up.
Tony Doziri:But reservations get canceled all the time.
Tony Doziri:You got to keep checking and got to keep checking.
Tony Doziri:And it's good to have somebody on your side like Lauren or myself that can help keep it up.
Tony Doziri:But we did for Space220.
Tony Doziri:Space220 did not look like a possibility at all for our trip at all because, I mean, it was booked every day.
Tony Doziri:We tried different days, couldn't get in, but we just kept at it every single day.
Tony Doziri:We kept checking and checking and then boom, next thing you know, hey, look, we may have to swipe swap our days from a Sunday Epcot visit to a Saturday Epcot visit.
Tony Doziri:But we got it for lunch, so keep checking these places because you, you never know when you might land it and have a really cool, fun meal themed meal that's really actually delicious.
Tony Doziri:We want to thank you for listening to the podcast.
Tony Doziri:Hit us up.
Tony Doziri:You can email lauren@laurenagictravel.com hit me up@travelwithtonyd gmail.com please subscribe to the podcast.
Tony Doziri:Leave us a five star review.
Tony Doziri:Share it.
Tony Doziri:It really helps us with the algorithms.
Tony Doziri:We'll be back next next week.
Tony Doziri:Actually, you'll be gone next week, right?
Lauren Mallard:I will be back.
Tony Doziri:You'll be back in time.
Tony Doziri:I know you're going to be gone somewhere.
Tony Doziri:We won't give it away because I want to hear about it when you come back on the podcast.
Tony Doziri:So a quick trip for Lauren and her family and we'll get the details next week.
Tony Doziri:But again, please subscribe.
Tony Doziri:Leave us a five star review if you like the podcast because it really does help us out for all of the traveling that you may do, for all of the planning you may do.
Tony Doziri:Thanks for listening to Juan's and Wishes podcast.
