The Top 10 Best Restaurants at Disney World

With the opening of Disneyland, Disney radically changed the experience of going to an amusement park. Florida's vast Walt Disney World upped the ante with multiple parks, hotels, shopping districts, and more, and changed the very notion of what it means to go on a vacation. Many Walt Disney World visitors, however, chow down on the same nondescript fast food typically found at traditional amusement parks. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But they are missing out on some extraordinary restaurants at the Florida resort and an opportunity to make their vacations more memorable.

Looking for more Disney World tips? Check out the Best Things to Do at Disney World

There are so many great places to eat, it's difficult to determine the top 10 best restaurants at Walt Disney World. That's why I turned to 10 of the most popular and respected travel journalists covering the Florida theme park mecca, including some of my About.com colleagues, for some help. I asked them to provide ten of their favorite Disney table-service restaurants and ten of their top casual dining spots. I then threw their choices into a Cuisinart, poured them through a colander, ranked the results, and developed two top 10 lists.

Whether you're planning an elegant meal, want to grab a quick bite, or anything in between during your Walt Disney World visit, you're sure to find restaurants to please your palate as well as your wallet with these top dining spots:

The Top 10 Best Walt Disney World Table-Service Restaurants- Includes both high-end and more moderately priced restaurants.
The Top 10 Best Walt Disney World Casual Restaurants- Includes buffet and counter-service restaurants.

There are dozens of dining choices across Walt Disney World, and our esteemed panel listed a total of 44 different restaurants on their top-10 table-service lists. But there was general consensus on the 10 restaurants that floated to the top.

Bubbling just beneath the surface are a few table-service restaurants that didn't make the cut but bear mentioning:

50's Prime Time Cafe at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The comfort food is fine, but the real appeal of the highly themed restaurant is the pitch-perfect 50's ambiance. The cost is moderate ($15 to $35 per adult).
Sanaa at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge. The third restaurant at the African-themed hotel, which features exotic African- and Indian-inspired dishes, draws rave reviews. The cost is high ($35 to $60 per adult).
Citrico's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. The inspired Mediterranean fare makes Citrico's among my favorite Disney World restaurants. The cost is high ($35 to $60 per adult).

Reservations, which are highly recommended for these popular Walt Disney World restaurants, can be made up to six months in advance. Call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) to make your dining plans.

Best Restaurants at Walt Disney World Video

Have you dined at a Walt Disney World restaurant and had a memorable meal? Share your review with the About.com Theme Parks community and see how other users have reviewed Walt Disney World restaurants.

Many thanks to following panel of travel writers who participated in the best restaurant survey. They are listed along with their top pick for the best Walt Disney World restaurant.

Robb and Elissa Alvey of Theme Park Review, Les Chefs de France
Charlyn Keating Chisholm, About.com's Hotels and Resorts Guide, California Grill
Mike Collins of CoasterRadio.com, San Angel Inn
Lance Hart of Screamscape, Nine Dragons Restaurant
Dawn Henthorn, About.com's Florida Travel Guide, Artist Point
Theresa Johnston, About.com's Orlando Guide, Biergarten Restaurant
Robert Niles of Theme Park Insider, Les Chefs de France
Teresa Plowright, About.com's Family Vacations Guide, 50's Prime Time Cafe
Matt Roseboom of Orlando Attractions Magazine, Jiko - The Cooking Place
Nancy Schretter of Family Travel Network, Boma – Flavors of Africa

Read more : http://themeparks.about.com/cs/disneyparks/a/WDWbestDining.htm

Walt Disney World Restaurant Recommendations

Since you will not be able to eat at each of the more than 200 restaurants at Walt Disney World during a single vacation some tough choices will have to be made.

In this section we have assembled a list of restaurants that have proven to offer consistently good food and friendly Disney service. We did not recommend restaurants that have not been personally experienced or those that left us disappointed on more than one occasion.

In general our opinions were defined by service, presentation, quality of food, value, and over all enjoyment of the dining experience. Our recommended restaurant listing has been arranged into five categories:

Choices by Meal:
This grouping breaks down our favorites for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Intimate or Adult Dining:
These selections are based on their romantic or adult atmosphere.

Family friendly:
A dining experience the whole family will enjoy, including our picks for character dining.

Quick and Casual:
Counter service fare that won’t leave you wishing you hadn’t.

Choices by Location:
In a theme park and don't know where to eat, or maybe you want to enjoy one of Disney's resort restaurants. We suggest our favorites grouped by location here.

Walt Disney World Restaurants and Menus

Here, you will find the complete list of restaurants located throughout Disney property. Please note that these Disney World menus change all the time, and the information contained herein is designed to be a representation of the type of meals available. Each week we go out and collect menus from Disney restaurant locations, so we are continuously updating them.

If you don't feel like scrolling through the list, you can use our exclusive restaurant and menu search tool to find the exact meal or restaurant you want.

Do you have menus? If you want to share them and help your fellow DISers to plan ahead for their trip, we'd love to have them! To submit them for publication on the site Click Here. Thanks and Happy Dining!!