Believe it or not, I think the food at Walt Disney World is probably my favorite part of any trip. Yes, the attractions are fun and the theming is immersive, but deep down food is my most tightly held vice. I have a hunch that I’m not the only glutton who visits Walt Disney World, so here are five food tips that I’ve learned over the years that I believe will be handy for any Disney fan.
#5 – Where can I find Beignets?
Although getting Beignets is super easy to Disneyland (New Orleans Square or Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen in downtown Disney), they are sadly not nearly as easy to come by in Walt Disney World. In fact, you can’t buy them anywhere within the parks themselves. You can however find them at Sassagoula Floatworks within Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter resort. They still won’t be Mickey-shaped like they are at Disneyland, but they’re still delicious!
#4 – Stretch your Disney Dining Plan dollars
Don’t waste your Disney Dining Plan snack credits on a bottle of water. Instead, when you use your quick service dining credits, substitute your soft drink for a bottle of water instead.
#3 – Be a Guest at Be Our Guest, some how, some way
Some restaurants are super hard to get reservations for even in advance. Right now, dinner reservations at Be Our Guest can be pretty challenging. If you don’t luck out with reservations for dinner, try using a FastPass+ selection for a lunch reservation instead. Sure, the menu may be different, but the ambiance will be just as delightful. And another pro-tip on Be Our Guest restaurant: tell them it’s a special occasion and ask for ‘the grey stuff’ and apparently you won’t be disappointed. Sadly, I’ve not been able to try it myself yet.
#2 – Save money on the right buffet
Somewhat similar to #3, there are some other advantages to lunch-time dining versus dinner-time. Maybe of the buffet restaurants, like Biergarten (which you all know is one of my favorites!), have the same buffet menu at lunch and dinner, but lunch time prices are still lower. If you’re looking to save a little dough, always compare the lunch and dinner menus versus prices.
#1 – Eat with the Giraffes
If you’re looking to enjoy animals grazing while you dine somewhere at Animal Kingdom you’re in for a bit of a bummer when you learn that’s not going to happen. But, fear not, if you dine at Sanaa at the Animal Kingdom Resort Villas, then you can indeed enjoy a nice meal while you check out all the animals hanging out as well.
These are just five tips that popped into my mind and I’ll have many more to come. In the meantime, what are a few of your favorite Walt Disney World dining tips?
Craving more Disney insight? Check out these other fun articles:
- What to expect from the Big Thunder refurbishment at Disneyland
- Top five changes I’d like to see at Disneyland’s Tomorrowland
Thanks for reading!!
~ Disney Dork Tom
September 26, 2014 at 9:09 am
Great tips! #5- never tried them probably ’cause I live in Louisiana!
#4 We’re DVC now and don’t use a Dining Plan, but creativity w/those snack credits can really be a boost to the value!
#3- My favorite of them all! I’ve not been to BOG, but managed to score both lunch and dinner in October! So excited!
#2 Love the buffets but have, oddly, never tried Biergarten and I’m half German!
#1 A meal at AKL is an absolute MUST for our family on every single WDW vacation!
Great list!!!
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September 26, 2014 at 9:12 am
Thanks, Lisa! You should definitely give Biergarten a try. It’s one of my favs!! Great food and entertainment. 🙂
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September 30, 2014 at 6:41 am
Love the beingets at POFQ! Wish they were Mickey shaped too, but they taste delish being square. Still haven’t been able to get into BOG, sigh, maybe someday. On the dining plan, we usually use a snack option for breakfast we’re not big breakfast eaters, and there is just to much food in the breakfast menus, do a sit down for lunch (breaks up the day) and the quick service for dinner (don’t want a heavy meal towards the end of the day), Maybe that’s why I actually loose weight on these trips – I eat right. LOL
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September 30, 2014 at 8:59 am
Yes, I have heard BoG is still somewhat elusive. But, like all new things, eventually some of the fervor will die down and let the more ‘casual visitors’ take a gander. 🙂
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October 8, 2014 at 11:06 am
We are headed to Biergarten too! Thank goodness for all the walking ! Could not get a reservation at BoG – will shoot for it for the next trip. 🙂
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October 8, 2014 at 11:27 am
Sounds like we have very similar tastes in Disney dining! Biergarten is always such a blast. BoG is definitely a tough one to score FP+ or ADR for without a lot of notice in advance.
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October 8, 2014 at 8:04 pm
We had a cast member “pixie dust” our three princesses with mickey head beignets at sassagoula. It was a neat moment and they do taste different!
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October 8, 2014 at 9:21 pm
Hmmm… sounds delicious! And sounds like a very cool thing they did! 🙂
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