Disney World Restaurants

Disney World Restaurants

There are more than 200 places to get food within Walt Disney World, including about 90 full service restaurants, more than 30 of which are inside the Disney parks. Disney restaurants offer exceptional variety, serving everything from Moroccan lamb to Texas barbecue. (Check the link above to find full menus, with pricing, for every place to eat at Walt Disney World.) Many restaurants are expensive, and some serve less-than-distinguished fare, but there are good choices in every area of Walt Disney World.

At TouringPlans, we attempt to balance the opinions of our staff with those of our readers—which, by the way, don’t always coincide. To be as fair and thorough as possible, we display our readers' collective opinion of each restaurant right alongside our evaluations.

Types of Dining Venues

As you read about dining at Walt Disney World, here are some terms to keep in mind:

• Full service restaurant: Also known as table service. Primarily standard restaurants where you are seated by a host/hostess, order from a menu, and are served at your table by cast member waitstaff.
• Quick service restaurant: Also known at counter service. Service similar to that at a food court or fast food location. You stand at a counter to order and bring your own food to a table to eat.
• Food stand: Also known as food cart. Free-standing sales point, usually outdoors, offering a limited selection of items.
• Bar or lounge: Primarily a sales location for adult beverages, but may also serve a limited food menu.
• Market: Typically located in the lobby of a resort hotel.
• Buffet: A subset of the full service restaurant genre. Though you get most of your own food, a host/hostess does seat you and wait staff will bring your beverages.
• Character meal: A dining location where Disney characters visit each table to pose for photos and sign autographs. Most, but not all, character meals are buffets.

And these are locations where you can find food at Disney World:

• Theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Disney Springs: Large shopping, dining, and entertainment venue
• Water parks and other recreation areas: Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, mini-golf and standard golf courses
• Resort hotels: More than 20 owned by Disney, as well as others nearby

Before You Make a Reservation

Disney requires a credit card to guarantee reservations at all full service restaurants. If you don't show up for your reservation and don't cancel before the day of your reservation, your credit card will be charged $10 per person on the reservation.

Only one person from your group needs to show up for your reservation to avoid the penalty. For example, if you have a reservation for 10 people at 8:00 p.m. at Jiko, only person needs to arrive and dine at Jiko to avoid the penalty for the entire party.

Reservations are not accepted for counter service restaurants.

Quick-Service Mobile Ordering

Several locations throughout Disney World offer mobile ordering via the My Disney Experience app. We're big fans of this service. Visit our Mobile Ordering page for full details.

Tipping at Walt Disney World

A frequent area of confusion for Disney guests is the topic of tipping at Walt Disney World. International guests may be unfamiliar with American tipping in general. Gratuities are a part of life when you travel in the United States. We have a page dedicated to everything you need to know about tipping at Walt Disney World.

Dress Code

Dress is informal at all the restaurants within the theme parks, but Disney has a "business casual" dress code for some of its resort restaurants: dress slacks (or dress shorts) with a collared shirt for men and jeans, skirts, or dress shorts with a blouse or sweater (or a dress) for women. Restaurants with this dress code are:

• Jiko - The Cooking Place at the Animal Kingdom Lodge
• Flying Fish Cafe at the BoardWalk
• California Grill at the Contemporary Resort
• Citricos and Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian Resort
• Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club Resort

Victoria & Albert's at the Grand Floridian has an even more stringent dress code. Inquire when booking.

Food Allergies And Special Requests

If you have food allergies or observe a specific type of diet such as kosher dining, make your needs known when booking your reservation and again when you arrive at the restaurant. Almost all experiences we've heard regarding allergies have been positive; in many cases the chefs will come to the table to discuss options. Disney is one of the best places to eat with allergies because of how accommodating they are.

Character Dining

There are plenty of chances to dine with favorite Disney characters while vacationing. This allows greater touring efficiency since you're eating and greeting characters at the same time, but has definite disadvantages--not the least of which is price. Our Character Dining page explains each meal in detail.

Hard to Find Reservations

Some Disney World reservations can be challenging to find. A few of the most popular restaurants on property become fully booked within hours of first availability. Touring Plans offers users a tool to help locate reservation that pop up due to guest cancellations or other anomalies. Our Dining Reservation Finder Tool can provide text or email alerts when reservations become available. See our related blog post for more details.

A Few Caveats

Before you begin eating your way through the World, you need to know:

1. Disney World table service restaurants are extremely popular, and many of them book up with Dining Reservations months in advance. If you want to sit down and be waited on for a meal in the World, read our content on Dining Reservations.
2. Theme park restaurants may rush their customers in order to make room for the next group of diners. Dining at high speed may appeal to a family with young, restless children, but for people wanting to relax, it could be more like eating in a pressure chamber than fine dining.
3. Disney restaurants have comparatively few tables for parties of two, and servers are generally disinclined to seat two guests at larger tables. If you’re a duo, you might have to wait longer to be seated.
4. At full-service Disney restaurants, an automatic gratuity of 18% is added to your tab for parties of six or more—even at buffets where you serve yourself.
5. If you're dining in a theme park and cost is an issue, make lunch your main meal. Entrees are similar to those on the dinner menu, but prices are significantly lower.