I sometimes share dining info about Disney World restaurants but don't often talk about which locations I really like.

Today, I'm telling you my 5 favorite Quick Service and Table Service restaurants.

And my quick tip of the day is a trick to avoid waiting in long lines at 1 of my favorite Quick Service restaurants.

These are notes from this episode. There's much more info included in the audio so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation.

BECOME A WDW PREP TO GO PATRON

WDW Prep To Go Patrons pay a little to unlock even more content than what’s on the main podcast feed, such as a private FB Group and exclusive audio that’s released on a private podcast feed.
 
Become a Patron Now

MY FAVORITE RESTAURANTS

9 of the 10 restaurants below are good values on the Disney Dining Plan. For more info on maximizing Disney Dining Plan credits, see my post on that at
https://wdwprepschool.com/maximizing-disney-dining-plan-credits-for-2014/

My 5 favorite Quick Service restaurants

• Wolfgang Puck Express, located in Downtown Disney. 1 pizza costs just 1 Quick Service credit and it's delicious.
• Columbia Harbour House, inside Magic Kingdom. I recommend the Anchors Aweigh Tuna Sandwich and looking for a spot to sit upstairs.
• Be Our Guest lunch, at Magic Kingdom. Line up at 10:30 or 1:30 to avoid the long lines or use the quick tip of the day (info on that below) to skip lines.
• Sunshine Seasons, inside the same building as Soarin' Epcot. Large food court-style eating area with a variety of food. It can get busy so I suggest having 1 person find seating while everybody else orders if you can.
• Flame Tree Barbecue, located at Animal Kingdom. Great barbecue platters and seating in pavilions with nice views of the water.

My 5 favorite Table Service restaurants

• Le Cellier, located in the Canada section of Epcot. Really love the cheese soup, pretzel bread, beer and steak here. This is not a great value on the Disney Dining Plan since it costs 2 Table Service credits.
• Boma, at Animal Kingdom Lodge. African buffet with fantastic soups, desserts and a chance to sample many types of entrees.
• Restaurant Marrakesh, in the Morocco section of Epcot. Music, belly dancer, chance to sample foods. People paying out-of-pocket might want to opt for lunch since it's less expensive and a very similar menu as dinner.
• Ohana, located at The Polynesian. American-style foods with characters at breakfast and great meats and fun atmosphere at dinner.
• Biergarten, in the Germany section of Epcot. German buffet, live band, dance floor, seating is with other people.

QUICK TIP OF THE DAY

People staying on-site can make a FastPass+ reservation at Be Our Guest for lunch to avoid the lines. Reservations often become available about a month beforehand. You'll need the 12 digit numeric confirmation number (often found on Magical Express luggage tags, emails from Disney and in your Disney account before MagicBands are shipped) and then you can go to https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/ to make that reservation.

SUBSCRIBE TO GET NEW EPISODES

There are a few ways to get new episodes of WDW Prep To Go.

• Subscribe in iTunes (and please leave a review!)
• Subscribe to the feed
• Listen on Stitcher

*************************

Questions or other thoughts on the best places to eat at Disney World?

Please feel free to share them in the comments.

FastPass+ is a super hot topic right now as all of Disney World officially converts from the old legacy FastPass system to the new system as of this week.

Today, I'll talk about how to use FastPass+ for both on-site and off-site guests.

I also have a quick tip about who should buy Park Hopper tickets.

These are notes from this episode. There's much more info included in the audio so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation.

BECOME A WDW PREP TO GO PATRON

WDW Prep To Go Patrons pay a little to unlock even more content than what’s on the main podcast feed, such as a private FB Group and exclusive audio that’s released on a private podcast feed.
 
Become a Patron Now

WHAT IS FASTPASS+?

FastPass+ is the new system being used by Disney World that replaces the old paper-based FastPass system. The new system is digital and allows people to make 3 FastPass+ reservations per day in 1 park (so if you plan to park hop, you have to choose which park to get FastPass+ reservations in).

HOW TO MAKE FASTPASS+ RESERVATIONS

On-site guests can make FastPass+ reservations up to 60 days before their trip begins using the My Disney Experience website, the app or at the kiosks in the parks.

Off-site guests can make FastPass+ reservations at kiosks in the parks after arriving. I suggest writing everybody's names on the tickets so you know who has which reservations. The kiosks don't print out the reservation info so you will have the option to email it to yourself, write it down, take a picture of the screen or view it in the My Disney Experience app (you can view but not edit).

When you're making FP+ reservations, the system will give you 3 (even if you only request 1 or 2). After giving you times for each, you can go into individual FastPass+ reservations and edit the times if you'd like.

STRATEGIES FOR MAKING FASTPASS+ RESERVATIONS

Choose the attractions that are higher priority and avoid low-priority attractions that don't require it.

Epcot and Hollywood Studios only allow you to choose 1 FP+ from the top tier and 2 FP+ from the second tier. Here are the tiers for each park:

Hollywood Studios
Tier 1

• Toy Story Midway Mania!
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
• Fantasmic!
• Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage

Tier 2

• Voyage of the Little Mermaid
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Star Tours - The Adventures Continue
• The Great Movie Ride
• Muppetvision 3D
• Disney Junior – Live on Stage
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!
• Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show

Epcot
Tier 1

• IllumiNations
• Character Spot
• Soarin’
• Test Track

Tier 2

• Captain EO
• Journey into Imagination with Figment
• Living with the Land
• Mission: SPACE
• Spaceship Earth
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• Turtle Talk with Crush

Make your FastPass+ reservations for late morning at the earliest and use the first couple of hours to tour without FastPass+.

You can't make FastPass+ reservations for the same thing twice. You can make a FP+ reservation, ride it and then edit one of your remaining FP+ reservations to be that ride again (as long as there are still times available). You may also choose to make a FP+ reservation for a ride, show up when the park opens to ride it and then ride again with FastPass+.

There are always things that happen during Disney World trips that are less-than-ideal and people traveling during the first part of the year often have to handle more of that than anybody else.

Today, we'll talk about how to deal with closures, refurbishments and other disappointments during Disney World trips.

I also have a quick tip about shopping for Disney World trips when it's not summer where you live.

These are notes from this episode. There's much more info included in the audio so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation.

BECOME A WDW PREP TO GO PATRON

WDW Prep To Go Patrons pay a little to unlock even more content than what’s on the main podcast feed, such as a private FB Group and exclusive audio that’s released on a private podcast feed.
 
Become a Patron Now

DEALING WITH DISAPPOINTMENTS

People traveling in the first part of 2014 are having to put up with a lot of changes at Disney World which include:

• The normal refurbishments that take places this time of year
• Festival of the Lion King being closed for 6 months (reopening in summer 2014)
• Magic Kingdom monorail closures from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. on weekdays beginning January 21 until the end of March (the Epcot monorail will remain open like normal)
• Construction at The Polynesian as a new DVC section is built
• Miyuki the candy maker retired
• The afternoon parade at Magic Kingdom is gone (the new one will open mid-March)
• FastPass+ is being rolled out fully this month to all guests - including those staying off-site - and legacy FastPass machines are being removed

So how do you deal with all of that?

Well, here are a few ideas:

• Attitude. "There are 2 ways to be happy: improve your reality or lower your expectations" is a quote I recently came across and it's a good strategy when approaching a Disney World trip that might have some disappointments. Parents in particular should make sure to frame everything in a positive way to help kids see it that way.
• Make new plans. If necessary, change your plans a bit. You might consider renting a car, switching to a different hotel or changing your trip dates.
• Focus on other things. Take the time you would have been doing something that will be closed (like seeing Festival of the Lion King) to do something else you might not have (like seeing Finding Nemo - The Musical).
• Research and stay flexible. Know as much as you can ahead of time about the changes and then make a plan but stay flexible during your trip.

QUICK TIP OF THE DAY

Is it cold where you are but you're headed to warm Florida for a trip? It's likely that your local Target isn't selling shorts, swimsuits and personal misting fans then. If you need to buy some of those things, be sure to look on eBay which often has a good assortment year round.

SUBSCRIBE TO GET NEW EPISODES

There are a few ways to get new episodes of WDW Prep To Go.

• Subscribe in iTunes (and please leave a review!)
• Subscribe to the feed
• Listen on Stitcher

*************************

Do you have concerns for things happening during your trip?

Please share them in the comments.