Disney Dining Without The Stress

Disney World dining can turn into the most stressful part of a vacation fast: alarms set for 6:00 a.m., a 60-day reservation window, and a calendar so packed you forget you’re at a theme park. We’re Jamie McMahon and Pete Morrison, and we’re cutting through the noise with a simple goal: help you eat well at Disney without letting food run your trip. If you’ve ever missed a “must-book” spot and felt your plans spiral, this one is for you.

We walk through the Disney dining basics that actually matter, like quick service vs table service and why we prefer one anchor meal per day instead of a forced march from reservation to reservation. We talk breakfast strategy (yes, it’s often the most overpriced meal), how grocery delivery and in-room food can free up your budget, and how to think about character dining with clear expectations. We also hit the viral favorites, including Cinderella’s Royal Table, and explain why the experience is the draw, plus smarter backups like Akershus when the castle reservation disappears.

Then we get practical with tools that save real time: My Disney Experience mobile ordering, when to order so you’re not stuck waiting, and how walk-up lists and app waitlists can rescue a night when you didn’t get the reservation you wanted. We also break down the Disney Dining Plan options, who it’s for, why it usually doesn’t save money, and how to get the most value anyway with credits, two-credit restaurants, and snack credit “souvenir” hacks.

Subscribe for more straightforward Disney World planning, share this with a friend who’s stressing over dining, and leave a review with the most overrated Disney restaurant you’ve tried.

Transcript

Intro And The 60-Day Rush

SPEAKER_00 0:02

All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to episode two of The Worst Beyond the Magic. My name is Jamie McMahon. I'm here with my co-host, Pete Morrison. And we're talking to you today with everything there is to do about Disney dining, breaking down the Disney dining plan, the burst the worst and best restaurants we like, our recommendations, and how not to be disappointed when you go about booking your dining.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

We'll break down some Disney dining mistakes and uh we'll see if it's actually worth your time and money.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Because somehow food has become the most stressful part of a Disney trip.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

It really has. Or it can be. This is the worst beyond the magic. Why is Disney dining so overcomplicated?

SPEAKER_00 0:40

I think that it's overcomplicated because people have this expectation, right? They they they see something online or they heard something from a friend, and they, yeah, I really want to do this particular dining spot, whether it's a character dining there or it's a uh it's a uh it's a parent night out meal or something like that, right? And then it comes to their uh dining reservation time, either they don't have anybody to help them or they're not sure where to go, what to do, and then they completely blow the 60-day uh timing that's needed for setting your your dining up. I think that's um that's a big expectation that's out there that people don't know about right away. And so that uh when they go to do their dining, they end up getting disappointed because they didn't get what they wanted. And now the trip is ruined, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Right. So, Jamie, as a um travel mission uh worst travel agent, do you um book dining for your clients?

SPEAKER_00 1:30

I do book dining for my clients, and Pete, I know you do the same. Uh, we do that at 60 days out. We start looking at the clock at 0530 in the morning, 0545, and 0600 o'clock, 0600 in the morning as when those open those reservations open up on Eastern Standard Time and we start clicking away with our fat little fingers. Uh keep in mind when Pete and I do that, or when you do that at home, there are a million other people trying to do the exact same thing, either from their desktop, their laptop, or on their phones or whatever. So they go rather quickly. Uh, and so please don't be disappointed if you don't get exactly what you're looking for right away. It's 60 days out. The world has not ended, I promise you. It's gonna be okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

Let's talk about that. Let's talk about that 60-day uh that stressfulness. Um, how are we gonna approach that?

SPEAKER_00 2:19

My preference, Pete, and I think it's your yours is the same, is to go ahead and do one sit-down dining meal a day, uh, and then one quick service meal a day. And for those who don't know what a quick service is, quick service is anything where you walk up to the counter, either you use mobile order, or you walk up to the counter and see a cast member and order from the menu in front of you, kind of like you would at a fast food restaurant, and then they deliver it to your table when you go sit down, or you can have a sit-down dining meal where you're it's a typical restaurant where you sit down, they hand you a menu, and you take a look over, and then of course they serve you from there, right? I like doing one of those a day, and I like doing one quick service meal a day, and of course, packing snacks. Uh, breakfast could be your quick service, or it could be your sit-down for the day. It all depends on how your day is planned out.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

It we'll we'll talk about dining plans a little bit later on, and that and that's important too. When when I we book, I think we try to find two or three, four of the best ones that we really want. We sprinkle those in kind of based on location to where we're at that day. I know we don't want to leave, say, uh Magic Kingdom, go all the way over to Hollywood Studios and um eat dinner there just to come back to Magic Kingdom because you're just wasting so much time in transit, as we talked about before. One of the reasons you schedule things in advance is so that you have room to maneuver and you're not getting into that six, seven o'clock p.m. fight about where you should be eating. If you have some general idea, like, hey, we're gonna hit uh quick service in Magic Kingdom, like you know where you're heading, you're not gonna chase yourself all over the park or whatever. Or if you have that dining pre-planned, it's not a fight to figure out uh what we're gonna do that day. So pre-planning is a good thing to do, but over planning is is uh is a thing as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Right. So overplan is what we see when people typically try to schedule three meals a day. You can absolutely do it. Disney will allow you to do that, but please, please, please, and if Pete of Peter or I are your travel advisor, we're not going to do that to you. Um, we like to call this, and I steal this from uh friends of ours, uh fellow travel mission advisor Joe Chung over at Disney Deciphered, uh, another fantastic podcast to listen to for Disney Planning. But he calls it uh that they like to call it the forced march of happiness. So we go from here, here, here, here, and here at to be a here at this time. And dining planning plays a lot into that, right? So if you have one sit-down dining meal per day, whether that is breakfast and or dinner, you have one thing planned for the day, and that's okay. All of those quick service meals are not planned. There's that is not in your app whatsoever unless you do mobile order, which we'll talk about in just a moment. But just as long as you have one sit-down meal per day, if that's what you're looking for, that's the perfect way to have one thing planned. And so that your entire schedule, your entire park day doesn't um revolve around that one dining meal.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Let me throw something else in there for our DVC folks, for our people that are staying in the uh one, two bedrooms, or even in the studio, you can bring, here's what we like to do, or we started doing before we started getting the two one and two bedrooms with the fridge, but we would bring an extra suitcase that would carry a lot of like breakfast-y type things um or snacks. So we'd have that extra suitcase there, use all that food. And nowadays it's so easy to just order food off of um any of the vendors that deliver groceries to the room. So you could do broke, you could do breakfast, you know, definitely get some coffee, some bagels, get some uh bananas, and do that first meal right there in the room,

Building A Low-Stress Meal Plan

SPEAKER_01 5:40

get everybody set up for success for the day. And then it allows you a little bit more flexibility to spend some money on the meals out in the park or have that sit-down meal.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

I think that's a great piece of advice. And that's certainly something that that you and I practice together whenever we go together in January. But my family and I, and whenever we're bringing friends of ours, we always try and have breakfast in the in the room itself. Breakfast is on as far as Disney goes, it is the most expensive meal or one of the most expensive meals you can have with Disney. Um, most people would think, wow, I thought I thought dinner would be pretty expensive. It is, however, uh, but people like to go out for those character meals, people like to go out for those sit-down dining meals right away in the morning. So they're usually harder to get for one, and a lot of times they're more most expensive for what you're getting, right? If you're having uh sausage, pancake, eggs, or whatever, right? Those are relatively cheap to make, but as far as Disney goes, they're gonna be expensive on the menu. So if you can have whatever you have via Instacart or DoorDash or whatever you have, you can deliver to the room or pack like Pete is saying, that would probably be suit your best. Uh, first thing in the morning. Obviously, it's much cheaper to do it that way, and it's convenient because it's already there, you don't have to wait for anybody. But worry about those meals once you get into the park, like Pete's saying.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

We're trading those Disney waffles like gold.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Oh, the Mickey waffles, you can't beat it. And I haven't yet had a Mickey True waffle. Have you?

SPEAKER_01 7:00

No, I haven't.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

No, I've I would love to have one.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

That'll be next. That'll be next. All right, so let's talk for a minute about another mistake that people make is that chasing those viral restaurants.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

So, Pete, if I were to say to you, what's the most requested restaurant by clients of yours that they want to do? And say they have kids around little girls around uh five years old or so, or four years old, but below the age of 10. What's the number one restaurant that they want to go to?

SPEAKER_01 7:26

I would say be our guest is right up there at the top.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Be our guest, really. Okay. I think I think that's an okay one too, but I'll tell you what mine are. Um, client after client after client with with small children, especially little girls, little boys can enjoy it too. But that is Cinderella's Royal Table in the castle. Yeah, that's the number, the number one. Pete, is it the best dining you've ever had at Disney?

SPEAKER_01 7:51

No, it absolutely is not.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

It is definitely not the best dining you've ever eaten there. The atmosphere, the princesses that come around to your table, that's what you're paying for. You're you're dining in the in Cinderella's castle. You get to meet Cinderella first thing as you walk through the door there. You get your picture taken with her, then you go upstairs, and all the princesses you could think of to your little heart's desire come around and visit your table. It is a fantastic experience. It is not the best food. That's a hot take. Pete, you agree?

SPEAKER_01 8:18

I do, I do. I think that's the good expectation reality. I'm going in for this best meal, I'm going in for all this incredibleness, but you're really going in for the vibe and the princesses.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

I think that counts as a vile restaurant, don't you think? That's the number one one everyone wants to get on the list. And like I like I mentioned earlier, when Pete and I booked these 60 days out, or should you decide to do that yourself, you and a million other people are doing that exact same time. The same people that are trying to book dining at this for the same time that you're there are doing it at the exact same time that you're doing it. So most more than likely, uh, they're probably gonna try to get uh Cinderosa Royal Table as well. So again, don't be disappointed if you don't get that one. Let's uh let's pivot real fast uh to a backup since we're talking about Cinderella's Royal Table. What's your what's your favorite backup to that?

SPEAKER_01 9:07

If you don't get that, no, that's definitely the uh Asker House in Norway.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

I think you pronounced it wrong. I think it's Ekershoes. Maybe folks out there. You've got the family that's Norwegian. I don't yeah, yeah. My uh father-in-law is 100% Norwegian. He's taking my son here to Norway in about three weeks. Uh, he goes three to four times a year, if not at least once a year, to see family. And my wife is nearly 100% Norwegian as well. Um, and so uh I Acreshus is a place it has a little Norwegian flair. It's in the Norway pavilion of Epcot, but here it is, all the same princesses are at the Norway Pavilion at Acershus that are at Cinderella's Royal Table. And guess what? It doesn't cost nearly as much the same as Cinderella's royal table. The only thing you're giving up is you're not dining in the castle, but everything else is pretty much the same.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

I did find there was more space, and then the buffet was actually had some Norwegian style fare to it too. So I think it had a little bit more choices for food if you're if you're feeling brave.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Yeah, if you're eventually if you're an adventurous eater and you want to eat some Norwegian food, that's certainly where you're gonna find it. But they have all the chicken fingers, the mac and cheese, the the the french fries, all those uh kid-friendly finger foods that they we that they know and love, and I like too. Um, but I like to eat a bit a bit uh adventurously. I'm not I'm not opposed to it, are you?

SPEAKER_01 10:25

No, I'm not at all.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

No, I'm gonna try it. You have to try it, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Disney's not gonna lead you as dry.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

No, definitely not.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Probably not gonna have the fermented shark.

Breakfast Hacks And Viral Restaurant Traps

SPEAKER_00 10:35

I think I think for me, I think that's definitely probably one of the biggest TikTok or Instagram uh reels that you see about Disney dining is Cinderella's Royal Table. And please don't be disappointed if you don't get it.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

I think we kind of talked about this, um, you know, peak ride times, crossing the park for food or going to another park for food, transportation. We'll touch on that real quick again.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

This is where so many people lose so much time. Like Pete mentioned, crossing the parks for food. Remember, you're not just grabbing dinner, uh, you're committing to transportation, walking, delays, crowds, right? Those are the things you have to plan or think about in advance when you're moving across the park. It's a possibility that your your whole evening could be gone just based on your transportation to and from the park. So if you are at Magic Kingdom for the day and you plan a meal outside the park or at uh at uh Epcot or Hollywood Studios, you have to take into effect how long it takes takes time to get there, right? Meanwhile, all your children are cranky hungry and they're hangry and uh they're starting to melt down. So another great tip here is to try not to plan, and this goes for planning meals in advance as well. Try if you can if you can stand it, if your family you know your family best, obviously, if you can try and not plan your meals during the high peak times, you'll have a better opportunity of getting that dining reservation.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Absolutely, absolutely agree. What's um I think it's a good time to talk about the mobile ordering and how good of a thing that is that Disney's made for us.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Oh man, once you once you start using that, you don't ever go back. What's your favorite thing to mobile order?

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Uh that's a great question.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Can I tell you mine?

SPEAKER_01 12:17

I'm gonna tell you please, please.

SPEAKER_00 12:19

It's a dull, it's a dole whip, duh. Yeah, it's a dole whip, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:23

See, you know, I'm glad we're having this conversation. I've never mobile ordered a dole whip. I'm gonna have to do that too.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Especially when it's warm and you know everyone is trying to get in line for ice cream, right? So mobile ordering can be done via the My Disney Experience app. You have to have a credit card or a debit card link to that in order to pay for it. But what you do is you pick out your restaurant that you want to mobile order from. You say, okay, uh, this is what I want to order. You you click order, right? And then it starts a countdown for you. It tells you when to show back up. Here's a little tip though, especially uh if you're trying to get something quick in peak times of the day, uh, just because you order it at 1 a p.m. in the afternoon doesn't mean it's gonna be ready at 1 15 in the afternoon. Okay, right. So it is okay to say in the app, it's gonna ask you when you're there, when you're physically at the restaurant. It's okay to tell a little white lie and tell tell the app, yes, I'm here. Because once you start, once you tell the app that you're here, the restaurant itself will start to fire that that order and it should be ready by the time you actually show up. Yeah, you don't have to actually wait till you're there to tell them that you're there, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

It is. Should we talk about the um reservations for walk-ups? Have we had much success with those lately? It's a thing.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

It's a thing, and I tell a lot of clients that for whatever reason, if we don't get if we don't get the reservation that we want, and I use a couple different tools to try and help me uh do that, get those reservations if I don't get them right away at six days out. Um walking up and talking with a cast member and being nice is the most important thing. Obviously, you don't beg this proper cast member behind the the counter, but uh being nice and just asking, do you have any availability this evening? And the worst they could say is no. But being nice to them is probably the best medicine, but well, it is in life anyway. Um, certainly to a cast member who's been there all day. Uh, and just ask, do you have any walk-up availability? A lot of times, uh, although it may not be for the exact time that you want, they can get you in.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Absolutely. I've had some where at?

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Where were you?

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Um, well, my daughter loves T-Rex, so we did a little walk-up there over at Disney Springs. Um didn't have a reservation for that. Um, I know recently when we were trying to get to Trader Sam's, they've changed things. So if you're in the area, you can sign up for the walk-up there, and we were able to get in there. Trader Sam's is a big favorite of mine.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

That's all online, right? That's all on the app now.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

As long as you're close, you have to be nearby. Proximity, that's right. Has that GPS in there, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Uh geofencing, I think is the word, right? Is that it? Yeah, I mean maybe how's that for your big word, Mr. Military again? There you go.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

Insider knowledge right here.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Right, right. So you have to be nearby Trader's Hams in order to join the walk-up list, right? Um, before they made you actually walk to the actual restaurant and meet a cast member and put your actual name on a list. No longer is that the case. You can do it right from the app, which I highly recommend.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

All right, let's talk a little bit about the dining plans themselves. So we've got the most economical one, and that is the quick service. You get two quick services a day. And with all the meal plans, you get uh two snacks per day and you get the mug that you can refill mostly at the hotels uh with soda, coffee, or whatever they have from their fountain dispensers. So that quick service is a great um economical way. So tell me, do we save money on these meal plans before we go any further?

SPEAKER_00 15:51

It depends. But in general, no. And that's another

Backups, Transit, And Peak Times

SPEAKER_00 15:55

hot take. A lot of people think if I pay for this up front, I'm getting some sort of discount, or uh we're uh we're paying for it uh 90 days in advance or 60 days in advance or whatever, that's gonna be cheaper than paying for it in the park of the case. That's not the case at all. What you're actually doing is you're just planning for it up front, you're give you paying that price up front. Um, you're not more you're more or less not really saving any money. What you are saving is time. And in Disney, time is money.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

And I think if you're you're planning your trip, you want to pay ahead of time and have everything paid and less stress, so you're not feeling that budget crunch while you're there. You've already got it, you're in your budget, you've got it all paid for, you're not worried, am I spending $120 a day?

SPEAKER_00 16:37

A lot of people ask me, is Disney all inclusive? Technically, no, but this is one way to, like Pete said, is try and pay for that up front when you pay for your reservation. The dining plan can be included in that price, and that way it's done. You don't have to think about it. It's already taken care of for you.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

So the second level of the dining plan, we get one sit-down service, one quick service, the two snacks, and the mug. So that's the mid-range, right? And then we've just brought back one. That's yeah, that's a really good one. Especially since we've like, you know, we get breakfast in the room, but occasionally you can throw that breakfast in as your big meal of the day to cover some of those costs. And now they're just recently bringing back the deluxe plan.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Disney didn't make an announcement that they're gonna bring back the Disney deluxe dining plan, and that's just a step extra than what Pete mentioned just a second ago with the one sit-down dining at one quick service, which you're looking at is three planned meals per day. Um, my first trip to Disney a long, long time ago, when I when I was, I think, less than 10 years old, I remember my parents did this. And I remember being even at that age, I thought, oh my God, if we're spending all day walking from restaurant to restaurant to restaurant just eating. And it's a lot, yeah. You do get a lot of steps in at Disney. You're looking at 20,000, 20 to 30,000 steps a day. However, I think um that may not be the best option. It certainly is gonna be the most expensive option of the Disney Deluxe Dying Plan.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

The Disney Deluxe plan comes back on January 1st in 2027. Yep, 2027. So if we're planning, we'll we'll start planning for that for next year. With doing all that, what what are we looking forward to? What are we what are we doing?

SPEAKER_00 18:24

It's simple. You're gonna do one or two anchor meals. Do you understand what I mean by anchor meals?

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Yeah, something like you're excited about, something you want to um really make for the trip.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

So if it were me, it would be one meal per day, one sit-down dining meal per day, whether or not you're on the Disney diamond plan and or not, at least plan one sit-down meal per day. Get that experience that you're looking for. Make it be a character experience, whether it's dinner or breakfast, it doesn't matter. And that gives you the flexibility for the rest of the park. Exactly. To set up your lightning lanes, to explore the different parks, to hop to a different park if you want to, right? You should have one thing in set in stone per day.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

And then we remember we're using it strategically, not going too far away.

unknown 19:10

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

And then there's flexibility everywhere else in your day, just like you said.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Yeah, those midday uh breaks with the air conditioning, the reset, uh giving you guys a chance to get out of the hot sun if you're air in the summertime.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Or uh you could go to a resort for dinner, uh, make it part of the experience. That's where Disney actually shines.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

That's great. I think that's fantastic. Uh the we didn't even talk yet about the resort hopping or the monorail line and seeing all of the magic Disney does offer, not just uh crammed into Magic Kingdom.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

I think you're absolutely right. There are some fantastic restaurants at the different rest uh at the different resorts around, especially on the Monorail line. I know our one of my

Mobile Ordering And Walk-Up Wins

SPEAKER_00 19:55

favorites and your favorites that we went to back in January, and I'm gonna butcher the name of this. It's is it Waialulu Grill? Is that is that we say there? I know we were joking about when we were there. It's Waikiki, uh uh Joba grill or something, whatever whatever the heck we were saying, but it was still good, right? You had I think you had one thing, one thing on the menu that you had had me try, which I never had before, which I think was uh was their spam. The spam wasabi, yeah. It it being a Hawaiian restaurant, right? And of course, spam is pretty big in Hawaii. I've never been in Hawaii, but that I can I can uh understand or uh only imagine what it's like there. Uh and had to have that on the menu. I think it was one of those unique things to try. Now it's not a character dining, uh, but it's still a fantastic experience. They have an outdoor sitting area, they have a really nice bar there. You can sit inside, and you're overlooking the lake in actual Cinderella's castle. It's a it's a beautiful view. It's a beautiful view. You catch her, catch her right at right at sundown, like we did. It's it's fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

As a Disney vacation club member, I own at the Polynesian, and it is one of my favorite places to just uh hang out to chill. I don't stay there all that often. Um, but when we do it hit the restaurants in Trader Sands, and it's just they've got really great options there.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

How about at uh Contemporary P? What's your favorite restaurant or contemporary? Let's hit all the Monterey Robert's virtual best.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

All right. So, I mean, we we talked about Polly. You and I have enjoyed Steakhouse 71 quite a few times because we can walk right up to the bar, get one of those fantastic burgers and some great drinks. Uh, they've got uh the Disney bourbon there, which is really fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

The Disney, the Disney Select, Knob Creek Disney Select. And it is phenomenal. For those of you whiskey bourbon drinkers out there, Pete and I enjoy it. Yep, show of hands. Yep, you and me. Okay, that's right. Uh, anybody out there listening, show of hands, okay, good. Uh, we got a couple of you. Um, you can only buy it on Disney property and they will not sell you a bottle. Or if they do, I haven't found out where yet. Because if I If if I find out, I'm definitely gonna take one home.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Hey, for our three followers, if we ever get some sponsorship, I feel like it should be bourbon from Disney.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

The Knob Creed Select is the select, right? Oh man, it's so good. It's so good. We really enjoyed Steakhouse How many one.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Have you been to um the top of the top of the contemporary?

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Have you been to California Grill? I have. My wife and I, we went there at a lovely dinner date on one of our trips, and it was phenomenal. We had a really great bottle of wine, which we tried to find elsewhere we've never been able to find before. Um we had a fantastic appetizer and we both enjoyed uh a wonderful entree together. And you look out and you're looking right at Magic Kingdom at nighttime. It was beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

All right, let's hop on that monorail and head on over to the Grand Floridian. What are we what are we doing over there?

SPEAKER_00 22:51

You know, I it's been a while since I've I've eaten at the Grand Floridian, but I have never been to uh any of the signature dining narcusias over there. Have you been to Narcusi's?

SPEAKER_01 23:00

I have not, no. I haven't eaten.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

I've only been to the bar. Let's talk about for what they have available for bars over there. I hope you all listen to out there. I know Pete and I talk a lot about alcohol and and uh where the bars are. But we when we go together, we're usually together and we don't have kids involved. Uh we're not having our families with us uh at these different at bars and restaurants. Wait till our Epcot Drink Around the World podcast that we're doing. Um one of my favorite ones there is the Enchanted Rose. And it is on the second, the second story of the Grand Floridian, and it is themed to Beauty and the Beast, as the name mentions. Uh, and it is uh one of the most beautiful themed uh lounges and bars I've ever been to. Um, they have uh every type of uh wine you could think of. Uh they have signature cocktails,

Dining Plans And Credit Strategy

SPEAKER_00 23:55

they have small bites. You're not gonna get a full meal out of there, but you're gonna have uh small bites that they have there. Um they have truffle fries, Pete. Truffle fries on the menu. They're so good. And then uh just recently, in the last, I think what now, three or four months, maybe, maybe six months at the most, they opened up a lounge in the Sydney area because that's what the contemporary or the uh Confroudian needed was another bar restaurant. If you didn't have one upstairs already, you could just walk right in, like you own the place and sit down in the lobby area. And that that name of that one escapes me. I don't know it uh offhand, but again, they have a very limited selection as far as drinks and what the bartenders are able to make there, very limited small plates. If you want to go upstairs to the and change the rows, is if you're looking for something a bit more adventurous and a bigger menu.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

So, overall, Jamie, what um you had one restaurant to pick while you're there, which one are you gonna go for?

SPEAKER_00 24:48

Pete, I think my favorite restaurant at the Glen Grand Florida is 1900 Park Fair. It's a character dining, and you get a lot of different uh a uh array of characters. It's not just princesses, there are princesses there, but there is Tiana, there is Aladdin, there's Cinderella, there's uh the sisters are there, the evil stepsisters. And I think I think it kind of rotates, they're not always the same. Um uh the young lady from Encanto was there the last time we were there. Oh, nice. Um I had a nice chat uh to Tiana and asked her who the favorite who the best musician was in her band. Of course, she said uh her friend uh the the the crocodile or the alligator. Um and it's really it's actually it's a it's a buffet, and it's actually very good food, believe it or not. I think that's a great uh character dining spot at 1900 pair at the Grand Floor DM. If you're looking for somewhere to take your family, that's a good spot. And that's definitely one to get it 60 days out ahead of time.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

I'll give you two of my favorites that I like to try to do every time. Um, I will say it both of them are expensive, so you might have to use two um meals if you're using the dining plan or plan to pay. But the very first top one I have is the Hoop Dup Review. Just a great experience, it's interactive, it's fun, the food is good. It's so much fun. Yeah, it really is. The food is all you can eat. Um, I'm a sucker for fried chicken, so there's plenty of that there.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

It's some Southern Affair fried chicken, ribs, um, alcohol is included if you're into that, beer is included if you're into that. Um, but they they keep it coming, right? If you just say more, please, and they bring more, right? Plus, you get a you get a fantastic show on top of it. And like Pete said, it's interactive, but they they call you up on stage. Um, you can play an instrument at your table. Um, it's it's such an just an incredible atmosphere inside that restaurant. How about another one, Pete? What's your other favorite one?

SPEAKER_01 26:47

My second one, um, right close second would be Artist Point, and mainly because I love the Evil Queen. No, she doesn't she doesn't feel the same way about you, Pete. You know that, right? He doesn't, but I've got some great photos that would you know that make me happy. Um and Grumpy's there, you know. I often get compared to Grumpy like most dads do. Um so Grumpy's there as well. And then the food is pretty dynamite. They um they do some I don't know that they're at gross gastronomy level, but they do some magic with the food, which is really fun.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

No, I think that's a fantastic uh and like Pete mentioned, if you're on a dining plan, that one does require two different two dining credits out of your dining plan to eat there. Uh for those we forgot to mention this earlier, Pete. Um, if you have the regular Disney dining plan, uh you're getting one uh you're getting one sit-down meal, one uh quick service meal per day. That's one dining credit per day. And some of those restaurants, some of the fancy restaurants out there in the dining plan do require, like Pete's mentioning, Hoop2D Review and Artist Point, do require two dining credits. So it's something you kind of have to plan into your week, right? So if you use two dining credits right away, that's one day where you may not have to be able to for a sit-down meal uh on that particular day throughout your week because you just spent two at that whatever at whatever restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

And here's something you may not know. When you get there, you get the amount of their their points. So if you're there for a five-day trip, you get five days' meals right up front, five quick service meals. So you could just eat your way through the first day and have nothing left. So you could have five sit-down meals, five quick service meals, um, ten. I bet somebody's done it. I bet somebody's done it. I bet they have, and they're like, oh, I thought I got more the next day. Um, you know they probably have. But um on that same note, what you can do is if you don't use your snacks every day, because it's two and you sometimes just don't, you got plenty of snacks on your own, you filled your suitcase and brought snacks with you. Um at the end, what um sometimes what we've done is taken all of the snack credits and gone into the emporium, and you can buy um bags of uh Mickey treats, the pretzels, the tea, like they're those are all snack credits. So you can go home with treats for um Rice Krispie treats, you could go home with treats for your friends or just stuff to keep the magic alive for that.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

Something that packs well and keeps something that packs well.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

Well, I I tell you, I don't know if I finished this thought before. I'll finish it now. The suitcase we brought all those snacks in is now empty. So now we can fill it up with all the swag that we bought

Resort Dining And Top Picks

SPEAKER_01 29:10

or got on this trip, and uh we have something to bring home with.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

That's a fantastic tip. I didn't even think of that. That's good. That's good. All right, cool. Welcome to the worst rapid fire edition at the very end of our episode. You ready? I am all right, rapid fire. Don't think too hard, Pete. Most overrated Disney restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

Go. Uh, San Angelo for me. Um, inside the pyramid. Man, I am not. But it looks so nice though. It looks so nice. The decor is beautiful. If you can just go and sit there, that would be great. But the food and the price of the food for me was no.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

That was the worst. I couldn't agree more. San Angelo uh in the Mexico pavilion. For those who are wondering, it is a beautiful atmosphere. It's very dimly lit. There is an Aztec um temple right there in the background, and there's some water. It's it's a beautiful atmosphere. However, the food is lacking. Think about um a very mediocre, expensive Mexican restaurant you've ever been to.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

Um, but you got the three caballeros there, that make up for it. And then you've got the tequila, the cava de tequila, because you know we're always the NB2s, apparently.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

We do love La Cava del Tequila. Um and like Pete mentioned, once we get to our drinking around the world episode, maybe. Um, pro tip: don't start Mexico. Uh, don't be like me. Uh, don't start Mexico. You'll never leave Mexico, whether we end up laying in the booth or uh draped over the chair or what have you, right? Uh you're not uh that's that was me. Yeah, we just started.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

And and you're gonna cowboy up.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

I can't do it. I can't do it. I we talk about this. I can't keep up with you. We know.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

No.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

All right. Uh next one quick service or table service.

SPEAKER_01 30:55

Uh, that's a tough one for me. We're going all quick service on the next trip, but I am bougie like we you said you were last week. I'm bougie right there with you, so I'm going with table service.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

Okay, I agree. I think I think table service, and again, planning one table service meal per day, whether it's breakfast or lunch or dinner, right? Somehow to break up your day so you have one thing planned per day is the best way to do it, not three per day, right? That's that's well over planning, and you're gonna be miserable for sure. All right, Pete. Dining plan good or bad?

SPEAKER_01 31:25

I'm gonna go with good. Um, and not because I'm saving money, because I know I'm not, but because, like I mentioned earlier, I like having a trip, feel like it's paid for, and then I can just uh feel like I'm splurging and it's not coming out of my pocket because I already paid. And we can get into um different ways that you can really get the most out of it, because as a fat kid, I'm gonna get everything on that menu, and so I'm gonna break even at least on my dining plan.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

So absolutely. So, what he's talking about, if you do go with the dining plan, order the most expensive thing on the menu. Guess what? It's not gonna cost you any more. It's still the same price. You've already paid for it, whether you buy the cheapest thing off the menu or the most expensive thing on the menu. So get the most expensive thing off the menu for sure and get dessert. You've already paid for it. It's okay. Um, I agree with you. I think the dining plan is good. However, I think newbies out there, um, it's a bit overrated for them because they don't know all the ins and outs of like you and I do, right? And so they think that uh going to just um one quick service meal or two quick service meal, or they're going to let's say they have uh Chef Mickey's as their sit-down dining for the day, right? Um Chef Mickey's, uh, I'm not a huge fan. I don't know if you are Pete or not. It's it's it's rather loud and there is a lot of screaming children. Um but but that could be that could be your your quick your uh sit-down dining uh meal for the day on the dining plan, or maybe if you don't have a dining plan, that could be your one. Um it's not my favorite. Uh there we can certainly do better, but uh what Pete mentioned is getting the most out of it. So for me, Chef Mickey's is not getting the most out of your dining plan. You can do better, we can do better, we can guide you for that, right, Pete?

SPEAKER_01 33:09

You're right, exactly. Which brings us back to uh we're here for that. Come listen to our show, listen to give us a call, we'll help you guide you through the stuff you need to make the trip successful. When

Rapid Fire And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_01 33:20

we're going on this uh next trip, like I said in the last, if you didn't listen, but uh I got four girls that I'm bringing with me. Um they're all 18-year-olds. So if I give them all the people, graduate 18-year-old girls, man.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

You are a brave man, sorry. You are a brave man.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

I do not have to um worry about it. So I've got the so you know, if you're bringing a bunch of school kids or if you're bringing a group of people, hey, here's your dining plan. There it's all quick service, just wander into any quick service and you can eat, and you don't have to give them money, you don't have to worry about them. They can they can figure out how to forage on their own.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

Can you can you mobile order quick service, Pete? You can absolutely mobile order quick service. Yes, highly recommended, highly recommended. You can you can Disney will let you walk into a quick service restaurant, wherever park you're in, and stand in line like every other person and order up front and then wait for your meal, or you could be this far person like uh like Pete and I here, and we're gonna guide you through that. And you can quick you can um mobile order your quick service and then tell them that you're there, but really not, and then work your way through the rest to the restaurant and then show up and at the whatever number counter they tell you to go to, magically your food is there, ready to go, and you have to wait at all. That's the best way to do that. That's how to get back some time. People lose time when they don't know that trick.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

Absolutely. All right, Jamie. What are we gonna talk about next week? I don't know. What are we what are we gonna talk about next week? All right, well, like we can definitely talk about when the best time of year to go is because we're getting into those time of years.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

We are, we are for sure. And we're also getting it maybe maybe the worst time of year. We're getting towards our summer months, right? Some people like our. We are definitely about the worst. We're definitely about the worst. Speaking of the worst, um Newsflash. Since our last episode, we've I think I like to think we're getting a little bit better at each one of these, don't you think, right? Yeah, absolutely. A little bit easier. So so we are now on Spotify, we're on Apple Podcasts, we're on iHeart, and we're on YouTube. If you want to see our ugly mugs talk to you, we're on YouTube.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

We're famous.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

We're famous. I think we had nine views, so you know, we're there's no word to go, but up.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

If we get less than we're ours.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

Don't tell the people that, okay? Don't tell the people that. All right.

SPEAKER_01 35:29

If we get less than that, how can they reach us, uh Jamie, if they wanna um if they want to want to help them with their travel?

SPEAKER_00 35:36

Thank you for reminding me. So if you want to reach out to Pete and I, uh, we did set up an email address and it is the worst beyond the magic at gmail.com. Reach out and Pete and I both have access to that email. We can certainly help you out. If we want to use a Peter I as your travel advisor, we're gonna we're gonna do that for you. That there's an absolutely zero cost to you whatsoever. Or if you just have a question or comment or you want to talk about something you want to hear us talk about on the podcast, please reach out that way, right? Or social media, Pete, what's your social handle?

SPEAKER_01 36:05

Uh Petri Max. You can find me at P-E-T-R-I-E Max, Petri Maxx.

SPEAKER_00 36:11

And mine is on Instagram uh and uh TikTok, although my TikTok is lacking because I'm not very good at it. Um TikTok is a bit more built, and that is five on the fly. It is the number five underscore on the underscore fly. Anyway, thank you. Uh thanks to everybody for joining us today. Uh Pete, you're the you're the absolute worst, my friend. Jamie, you're the worst. Ladies and gentlemen, this has been the worst beyond the magic. Thanks again for joining us.