Disney’s Best Sit Down Restaurants

One of my favourite parts of Disney is the food! There’s 362 restaurants in Walt Disney World alone! Which means that you are faced with the very difficult decision of which of those 362 amazing restaurants you are to eat at during your Disney vacation.

Of course I have not eaten at all 362 restaurants, but I have eaten at quite a few and I can certainly say I liked some more than others. So here’s a list of a few of my personal favourites.

I did my top three for WDW and my favourite at Disneyland in CA and in Paris. I also had to split up table service restaurants and quick service restaurants. My next post will be on the best quick service meals.

Walt Disney World

1. Crystal Palace. An amazing buffet that is located at the end of Main Street in Magic Kingdom. This is a character meal with Winnie the Pooh and friends that is not to be missed! Read my full review here!

2. Trails End. Now a lot of people don’t know about this hidden gem as it’s very much out of the way at Fort Wilderness Campground. I’ve eaten here once at lunch and many, many times for dinner and, though the lunch was ok, the all you can eat buffet for supper is to die for! I also love the atmosphere of this restaurant. It’s a fun and friendly rustic feeling that is consistent with everything else at Fort Wilderness.

3. The Garden Grill. They took the buffet one step further so the waiter/waitress will bring you unlimited refill’s of a huge plate of food for the whole table to share. It’s also a character meal featuring Farmer Mickey. (My full review for this restaurant can be found by clicking here!)

Disneyland Paris

Billy Bob’s Restaurant: I’m 17. I like the all you can eat feature, ok? This buffet is quite similar to Trails End, only its in France. When I was in Europe, I had a VERY hard time finding things to eat (I’m a super picky eater), and usually the things I did find to eat weren’t very good. I probably would’ve starved if it weren’t for Oreos. This was one of the few restaurants that had meals that were both familiar and half decent, so I’m not sure if the food was actually really good or if it was just really good compared to what I had been eating. Though the scalloped potatoes would’ve been amazing in any country! After eating at some of the other restaurants outside of Disney (and even some inside) you’ll definitely appreciate the rustic American food at Billy Bobs! (If your European, please don’t be offended as it really is not my intent. You have lots of other great qualities, like historic landmarks and beautiful scenery!)

Disneyland California

Goofy’s Kitchen: Wait for it… an all you can eat buffet! It’s located at the Disneyland Hotel, so you don’t need to spend a park pass to eat here. This is a character meal with Chef Goofy and friends. I’ve only ever eaten here at breakfast, and usually I’m against sit down breakfasts as they tend to take up valuable park time. However this breakfast is worth the time! And I’m sure lunch and dinner are too. Though what we’ve done in the past to avoid taking up park time is we ate here our last morning, and then headed to the airport shortly after. A character breakfast is a great way to end any Disney vacation rather than a quick bagel on the way out. What makes up a better breakfast than Mickey waffles and pizza? (Yes, pizza at breakfast) There’s also chicken nuggets, omelets, hot dogs (again, yes this is breakfast) pancakes, bacon, eggs and wayyyy more!

Honourable Mention:

Planet Hollywood: This place really has it all; award winning burgers created by the famous Chef Guy Fieri, the most over the top milkshakes on the planet (hahahahaha get it? on the planet? At PLANET Hollywood? No? Ok moving on) and cool movie props. If your a movie buff (like me) than you’ll love this place. It has the original props from all your favourite movies along with some of the costumes the actors actually wore. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Hunger Games, Alien, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Planet of the Apes, Rocky, Back to the Future, Terminater, The Princess Bride, Home Alone and Deadpool, just to name a few. This restaurant is located in Disney Springs in Walt Disney World, and there is also a location in Disneyland Paris. Also I guess this is a fairly popular place to see celebrities. We saw Jacob Sartorius doing a photo shoot. If you don’t know who he is, he’s a famous YouTuber apparently. I had never heard of him before seeing him there, but I have heard of other celebrities that have dined there before. After all, Planet Hollywood was founded by Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, so you never know who your going to see!

For any sit down restaurant in Disney, I recommend getting a reservation ahead of time if you can. It is possible to get into some restaurants without a reservation, but if you have a large party or if it’s during a holiday season, you’ll definitely be glad to have a spot reserved. If you do not have a reservation, I suggest going as soon as the restaurant opens, as that will be the easiest time to get in.

The best way to optimize your park time is to eat either early or late. Make a lunch reservation at 11 or 1:30. Then you have the time around lunch to go on rides while wait times are shorter, because most other people are eating. The ideal time to eat lunch is later, around 1:30 or 2:00. This is when the park is at its busiest for wait times and crowds, so it’s the perfect time to relax in an air conditioned restaurant and enjoy a nice meal for an hour or so.

Hopefully this list helps you narrow down some of the 362 restaurants on Disney has to offer! Bon appetite!!

The Planet Hollywood Observatory

Up until last week, I had never eaten at Planet Hollywood before. Well, my parents tell me that I had eaten there once when I was just a wee tot, but I have no recollection of that whatsoever. So last week, after walking by this fascinating building in Disney Springs over a hundred  times, I finally got to see what’s inside. 
This place really has it all; award winning burgers created by the famous Chef Guy Fieri, cool movie props, and the most over the top milkshakes on the planet! (hahahahaha get it? on the planet? At PLANET Hollywood? No? Ok moving on…)

 If your a movie buff (like me) than this place is candy land. It has the original props from all your favourite movies along with some of the costumes the actors actually wore. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Hunger Games, Alien, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Planet of the Apes, Rocky, Back to the Future, Terminater, The Princess Bride, Home Alone and Deadpool, just to name a few. 

We couldn’t get a reservation when we went so we got there as soon as it opened and got in. However if you can get a reservation I’d recommend doing so, just to be safe. We were also there during the off season, and I know it has a tendency to fill up. 

The food was fantastic. It really was. Like I mentioned earlier, Chef Guy Fieri created the award winning burgers. There’s also plenty of other options like pasta, steak, or chicken. I had the Six Cheese Macaroni and Cheese which really put KD to shame. It was probably the best pasta I ever had! Everyone at our table got something different and everyone loved what they ate. Oh! And I haven’t even told you about the best part!! The Supernova Shakes. Doesn’t that just sound drool worthy? 

I think the picture says it all! 

I guess this is a fairly popular place to see celebrities. We saw Jacob Sartorius doing a photo shoot. If you don’t know who he is, don’t worry, I didn’t either. He’s a famous Youtuber apparently. I had never heard of him before seeing him there, but I have heard of other celebrities that have dined there before. After all, Planet Hollywood was founded by Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, so you never know who your going to see! 

Disney World vs Disneyland Paris

This is not a competition, as WDW is, was, and forever will be my favourite Disney destination. I did do a little comparison, though, on what some of the major differences are between Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris.

Space: This is obviously the biggest difference between the two parks. WDW is huge! And DLP is SUPER tiny in comparison! In Paris you can walk anywhere in 10 minutes. There are buses, but I think I only rode one once during our whole trip. Meanwhile, in Florida, you wouldn’t even THINK about walking! So that’s the main difference.

Colour: Ok. So this is kind of hard to describe, but all the colours in DLP just seem…brighter. If you’ve been there, you’ll probably know what I’m talking about. It’s weird. Even the grass seems to be a brighter green than anywhere else. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just crazy.

Shows: Do not, repeat, DO NOT, have high expectations for the shows. Well most of the shows. Some were pretty good. But most paled in comparison to WDW’s shows. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was amazing! Animagiqúe was horrible. I couldn’t wait to get out of the theatre! (Mostly due to the atrocious song they played!)

Food: Food is another thing that WDW does better. But the food at DLP was better than any of the other places I visited in Europe. Being an extremely picky eater, I had a hard time finding something to eat. The only restaurant that had food I actually really liked was Billy Bob’s Restaurant in Downtown Disney. That and the Disney hot chocolate, which was the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted! 🙂

So there were good things and there not so good things. It was really cool to get to go! Especially for the International Gathering of Scottish Highland Dance, which I was lucky enough to participate in! I hope I can visit DLP again for this event. Walt Disney World is much better though, so anyone who is used to Disney World should not have such high expectations for Disneyland Paris. DLP is great though, and those four days were definitely my favourite part of my trip to Europe!

1 Year Anniversary!

Hey everyone! So I got a message today saying that it was the 1 year anniversary of Katie’s Keys to the Kingdom! Yay!

I just wanted to thank all my followers for supporting me! You guys are great! I feel my writing has really improved, and I’ve definately learned a lot in this last year. Thanks so much!

Katie xx

“I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing- that it was all started by a mouse.”

-Walt Disney

 

My Top 5 in Disneyland Paris

So as I said in my previous post (which you can read by clicking here) I recently went on an amazing journey to Disneyland Paris. I put together my top five things in DP that I can not do in Disney World. Please know that this list is not in any particular order.

1. Billy Bob’s Restaurant. Location: Disney Village. The best food I had during my whole vacation was here, hands down! The chicken was really good and the scalloped potatoes  were amazing! The restaurant has a buffet (which is what we got) but I do believe they have a regular menu as well. It has a country/southern theme to it, with a live band. If you go to Disneyland Paris you must eat here!

2. Crush’s Coaster. Location: Walt Disney Studios. Ok so this is one of those roller coasters that I hated while I was on but when I came off I wanted to go again, if that makes any sense at all. I loved it! The ride is based on Finding Nemo, and, though it doesn’t go upside down, it has some pretty major drops. It’s one of the smoothest coasters I’ve been on, and it has great theming! The cars seat four; two facing forwards and two facing backwards. I really liked how the cars were shaped like turtle shells! The shells spin, though it’s not very noticeable as it’s pitch black in there! Unfortunately, there are no Fastpasses, so the line is really long. There is a single rider line, and hopefully they’ll add Fastpasses soon! I recommend trying to do it as spoon as the park opens. I got there about 1/2 hour after the park opened and waited 45 minutes. It really didn’t seem that long, and it’s totally worth it!

3. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Location: Disney Village. This is truly an amazing show! It’s a dinner show that features live horses and buffalo, along with Mickey and friends. It’s a lot of fun and everyone gets a free cowboy hat. There’s just too much to put into words. You need to experience it for yourself!

4. Disney Magic on Parade. Location: Disneyland Paris Park. Ok, so maybe one of the reasons I loved the parade so much is because I was in the parade, but it was still different from the parade at WDW. I think the main difference was the colour. Disneyland Paris is very bright. Its really hard to explain. Its all pastel colours. Bright and neon. So the whole parade was very bright! So that I think was the main difference between the DP parade and the WDW parade.

5. Distance. This isn’t really an attraction but it is something I really liked, and you can’t get it in WDW. You can walk everywhere! Disney does have transportation to and from all the hotels, but you don’t need it. We stayed at Hotel Cheyenne and could walk to the two parks in 10 minutes. It’s the same at all the other hotels, except the Davy Crocket Ranch. (which, ironically, is the only hotel that doesn’t have Disney transportation to and from the parks.) The two parks, Walt Disney Studios and Disneyland, are literally just a hop, skip, and a jump apart! You actually have to walk through Disney Village to get to them. It was a nice change, though you must keep in mind that Disneyland Paris is much smaller than Disney World. We had a four day park hopper pass and had seen and done everything during that time. We didn’t spend full days at the park. We probably could’ve seen everything in two days if we did our usual Disney full out. There’s just something about Disney, because even though I had done everything I wanted to do, I still didn’t want to leave!

So those are some of my favourite things in Disneyland Paris! Hope you enjoyed!!

My Disnyland Paris Experience

Hey guys! I know it’s been awhile. Sorry about that!

I’ve spent the last three weeks travelling Europe! One of those weeks I was in Paris and, due to recent events, I thought you might want to hear about my experiences there.

I arrived in Paris on November 18th, just five days after the attacks. I had no idea what to expect, as I’d only heard bits and pieces on the news and social media.

I only spent one day in the city of Paris. The rest of the time I spent at Disneyland Paris. (Well really, what did you expect?)

I was very nervous at first, but my fears dissolved after I saw all the extra security. In Paris, there were military on almost every street corner, carrying big machine guns with their hand on the trigger. In Disneyland, there were police dogs near the entrance of the parks.

They put our bags through one of those x-Ray scans, and they checked our coats wherever we went. So the whole time I was there I felt incredibly safe!

The people of Paris were all very friendly. They were really excited that tourists were still coming. I remember one of the Disney cast members at our hotel actually shook all of our hands and thanked us for being there!

Now, I’m practically bursting to tell you guys why I went to Disneyland Paris! I went to DP for the International Gathering of Scottish Highland Dance. I’m a highland dancer and the IGSHD is a special Disney event held at DP for highland dancers in November. There’s a traditional highland dance competition with Disney themed awards, and a special choreography competition, where the dancers put highland movements to Disney music. But the best part of all is that the dancers get to be the pre parade for the Disney parade! Yes, I got to be in a Disney parade!!!! It was amazing! Cold. But amazing!

 I’m the one in the green and burgundy kilt. The boy behind me is my brother. 

For the choreography competition, I danced to ‘Dig a Little Deeper’ from the Princess and the Frog! That was another highlight! I danced on a Disney stage in front of actual Disney choreographers!

 That’s me doing my choreography! 

It was an incredible experience, and I felt very safe while I was there!

I’m going to do a few posts on the Disneyland Paris parks, so keep an eye out for those!

The Disney Era Tag: The Golden Era

I want to thank Natalie from The Disney Freak with a Bit of Mascara for tagging me to do the Disney Era: The Golden Era

The movies from this era are Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Bambi, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Pinocchio.

1.Are there films you haven’t seen from this era?  I have not seen Fantasia.

2.What is your favorite film from the era? Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, without a doubt!

3.What is your least favorite film of the era? Fantasia. And I know your probably thinking “don’t judge a book by its cover” and all that, but this film just seems weird. Someday I’ll watch it though, and if it is good I’ll edit this post and then you can say “I told you so.”

4. Who is your favourite character from the era? Snow White! She’s my favourite princess!

5.Who is your favorite villain? Definately the Evil Queen!

6.Who is your favorite sidekick? Hmmmm it’s tough call between Dopey and Thumper. I’m gonna go with Dopey but Thumper is a very close second!

7.What is your favorite song of the era? The Avengers: Age of Ultron has made me a very big fan of I’ve got No Strings! The original is very cute, and then Marvel made it awesome!

8. What do you think is the most underrated film of the era? Probably Bambi. (But if it were general it would be Hercules! That movie has no character meet and greets, no merchandise that I’ve seen, and no attraction. I thought it was a pretty good movie, and I really liked the music!)

 

9.What is your favorite thing about this era?  I love how Snow White was the very first animated feature film!

10.What is your least favorite thing about this era? Definitely when Bambi’s mother dies! I think that hunter is the cruelest Disney villain there is!

I’ll just tag anyone who wants to do this! Thanks so much Natalie for tagging me! I had a lot of fun!

 

Wildlife at Disney

Animal Kingdom isn’t the only place to see wildlife around Disney. There’s plenty of animals to spot around the parks. The trick is to know what your looking for and where to look!

Geckos

I would be very surprised if someone went to Disney and didn’t see any of these little lizards! They’re everywhere! Check along the sidewalks and pathways as they usually can be found soaking in the Florida sun. The place I seem to see geckos most is probably around Epcot’s entrance. My family likes to make a little game and count how many we see. We usually end up losing count though, because there’s just so many! (I’d just like to point out that, as many as there are, I’ve never seen a lizard in my hotel room!)

Bunnies

 Bunnies can often be spotted in Victoria Gardens at Epcot’s Canada pavilion. I also see them quite a bit at the Disney hotels. You have to be quiet to see them, as they scare easily. Even though bunnies can be pets, these ones are wild, so don’t try to pet them.

Ducks

Ducks are also common to see around Disney. Lakes, ponds, and outdoor eating areas are popular places to find ducks. Often times I have seen a mom and her ducklings, and they are just the cutest things!

  Alligators

You probably already know that Florida is famous for its gators, so it wouldn’t be uncommon for you to see any while you’re there. Disney likes to keep it’s lakes and ponds gator free, so it would be rare to see any in the parks or resorts.

Even if the parks are alligator-free, you may spot one sunning itself on the bank by the little swamps along the roads.

If your traveling through the Orlando International Airport, then you might be able to see a gator along the bank of the little island in the middle of the lake that the train goes around. Apparently, they let the alligators stay in the pond because they help with security…

These animals are just some of the more common wildlife that I’ve seen throughout Disney, but there’s plenty more! I do ask that you take your pictures and admire them from afar. Please don’t let your kids chase them or try to pet them. Any animal could act aggressively if they feel threatened. Just respect them and give them their space.

I hope you can spot some of these animals and more wildlife on your Disney vacation!

The Disney World This or That Tag

I’ve only done this kind of thing once before. I don’t usually do tags but this one looked like fun so I thought I’d give it a go!! 

So there are 22 set questions. Here are my answers:

1. Hollywood Studios Magic Kingdom? Magic Kingdom

2. Epcot or Hollywood Studios? Epcot

3. Animal Kingdom or Epcot? Hmmm, I think I’ll go Epcot. 

4. Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom? Animal Kingdom

5. Epcot or Magic Kingdom? Magic Kingdom. It’s my favourite park! 

6. Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom? Magic Kingdom

7. Splash Mountain or Space Mountain? Ok, so I don’t really like either in Disney World. I like Space Mountain in Disneyland though. So I guess if we are talking Disney World I’d prefer Splash Mountain, but for Disneyland would be Space Mountain. 

8. Peter Pan’s Flight or It’s a Small World? Oh this is hard! I’m a big Peter Pan fan, but if when it comes to rides I think I’d have to pick It’s a Small World. It was really close though! 

9. The Jungle Book or Pirates of the Caribbean? Definitely Pirates!!!

10. Be Our Guest or Crystal Palace? Crystal Palace! I haven’t eaten at BOG before (though I really want to!) but even still I absalutely LOVE Crystal Palace! I totally recommend it to anyone who hasn’t eaten there before! Make reservations ahead of time though. 

11. Beauty and the Beast-Live on Stage or Voyage of the Little Mermaid? Both are good shows but I like Beauty and the Beast better.

12. Toy Story Mania or Star Tours-The Adventure Continues? Another hard one! Hmmm I love both and would be devastated if i went to Disney and didn’t do one. I’m a complete Star Wars freak, though, so I’d have to say Star Tours!

13. Tower of Terror or Rockin’ Roller Coaster? I love roller coasters but I draw the line when it comes to loops or large drops. Therefore I don’t like either of these rides. I’ve actually never gotten up the guts to ride Tower of Terror (and I probably never will). However I did ride Rockin Roller Coaster once a couple years ago. I don’t picture myself riding it again any time soon. I guess that since I’ve never ridden Tower of Terror, Rockin Roller Coaster wins.

14.France or United Kingdom Showcase? I’m going with the UK purely because Scotland (which I think should have it’s own pavilion, but there’s a highland dancer for you).  I don’t really spend much time in France anyway.

15. Mission Space or Spaceship Earth? Do I really have to choose? Can I call it a tie? *sigh* Alright. This is the hardest question yet! Hmmm… I think I’d have to go with… Spaceship Earth. Whew. That was painful! 

16. China or Japan Showcase? Japan, though I usually spend much time in either.

17. The Grand Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Calabreros or Malestorm? Well, Malestorm is now closed because of the new Frozen ride, but I’ll pick it anyway! I still like the Three Calebreros, but I have memories with the Malestorm! 

18. Test Track or Soarin’? I love Soarin’ but I’m a speed demon! Test Track! 

19. Tough to Be a Bug or Festival of the Lion King? Easiest question yet! Lion King!!!!! I love Lion King and hate Tough to Be a Bug!

20. DINOSAUR or Expedition Everest?  DINOSAUR is one of my favourite rides in all of Disney! Besides, I hate the backwards part of Everest.

21. Polynesian or Contemporary Resort? I haven’t stayed at either. I’ll go with Contemporary because of Chef Mickey!

22. Pop Century or Art of Animation? Pop Century. We used to almost always stay at Pop Century when I was younger! I love it! I’ve only stayed at Art of Animation once, and it was great! However, we were in the Little Mermaid buiding, the farthest from the bus stop. First thing the walk doesn’t seem so bad, end of the day when I think my feet might fall off, not so much. 

Well that was fun! I want to thank The Disney Freak With a Bit of Mascara and The Disney Diva for tagging me! I’ll just tag anybody who’d like to do this! It’s a lot of fun! Thanks for reading! 

The Jungle Cruise

Due to Disney’s recent announcement of a Skipper Canteen coming to Adventureland (Magic Kingdom) and a live action Jungle Book movie, I have decided to do a post on the Jungle Cruise.

Take a relaxing boat tour through the jungles of Asia, as your expert guide shows you the best (and worst) parts of the jungle.  Be prepared to see all sorts of animals like elephants, crocodiles, hippos, lions, and hyenas.

*Note: There are no live animals on this ride. All animals and people, except your guide, are audio animatronics.*

  

 The Jungle Cruise is located in Adventureland in Magic Kingdom. This ride’s line can get really long in the afternoon, but it’s usually pretty short any time before lunch.

This ride is wheel chair accessible, and is great for all ages. This really is a great attraction, so don’t miss it!

Oh, and watch out for head hunters! 🙂