Listen, we here are DFB love Disney food, but there are some restaurants that we don’t recommend.
Takumi-Tei
And we don’t mean because the food isn’t good (although that is the case sometimes), but some table service restaurants can take up a TON of your time in the parks, and if you’re visiting for a short amount of time, you don’t want to spend hours inside of one restaurant. Here are the restaurants we recommend avoiding in Disney World because they take up so much time!
Takumi-Tei
Takumi-Tei is one of the best restaurants we’ve eaten at in Disney World! However, it’s wildly expensive (but we do feel the meal is worth the price), and it takes up a ton of park time.
Takumi-Tei
This definitely isn’t a meal you want to rush through — you’ve spent a lot of money on this dining reservation and you want to take in the full experience. This does mean though that you’ll easily be spending at least an hour sitting down and eating, so if you’ve got lots of plans for the rest of the park…maybe sit this one out, or plan it for the end of your day.
Cinderella’s Royal Table
We promise we don’t hate Cinderella’s Royal Table, but it does end up on a lot of these lists.
Dining Room at Cinderella’s Royal Table
This meal also takes up a lot of time. It’s a prix-fixe meal, and you pay for it all ahead of time, so you’ll be sitting down for at least an hour waiting for all your courses. The Princesses will come around and say hello to you as well, and you don’t want to leave before you’ve seen them all! Once again, we recommend this for the end of your Magic Kingdom day, so you’re not wishing you were riding rides or watching shows instead.
Be Our Guest Restaurant
Also in Magic Kingdom and in Fantasyland is Be Our Guest Restaurant. This meal is also prix-fixe, so it falls in the same vein as Cinderella’s Royal Table.
Be Our Guest Restaurant
However, unlike Cinderella’s Royal Table, there aren’t characters coming around to say hello as you dine. The Beast walks out once and waves hello, and that’s about it. But you will still spend an hour or so waiting for all your courses to come out, so this is another one we recommend saving for an end-of-day meal if you plan to dine here.
Monsieur Paul
Also over in EPCOT is Monsieur Paul, another one of the most expensive restaurants in Disney World. This is a fancier restaurant with a prix-fixe menu that will cost you $195 a person.
Monsieur Paul
As you’re already likely thinking, you’ll really want to savor your meal for that price, so it’s not a quick meal. This one will take you an hour at MINIMUM, and will likely take you closer to an hour and a half. Being that it’s not a restaurant you can or want to dip in and out of fast, save it for the end of the day, or plan out a chunk of your day where you know you won’t get anything else done.
Victoria & Albert’s
Although this incredibly fancy and expensive restaurant is technically outside of the parks, it’s close enough to Magic Kingdom that we’re going to count it. Because if you think this meal will only take an hour out of your park day, you’re sorely mistaken.
Queen Victoria’s Room at Victoria & Albert’s
Victoria & Albert’s is a multi-course meal that will take up a LARGE chunk of your time. This is not a restaurant where you can hop on the monorail and sit down for a quick dinner reservation — no, you need to block out a whole section of your day for this meal. Not only for eating itself but also for the travel in and out of the parks.
Victoria & Albert’s
We also want to point out the importance of not wasting your time at a table service restaurant during an after-hours event such as Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Why? Well, you can enter the park before the party starts with your ticket, but if you spend your time at a table service restaurant reservation, you’re spending a ton of that limited time you have in the park already! The only time we suggest that this could be a good idea is if you’re going to be in the park all day, so you have both a normal park ticket AND an after-hours ticket.
Halloween in Magic Kingdom
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Victoria and Alberts shouldn’t be on this list. You can’t just “dip out” of the park, go there and go back. They have a dress code. It isn’t a “park day” restaurant. It’s after-the-parks fine dining.
I don’t understand the ‘at least an hour’ complaint. These are sit-down restaurants; I would expect to take my time and enjoy my food instead of stuffing it into my mouth and dashing out the door. If all you want to do is fill your belly and dash, it’s best you eat at a quick service place. Any sit down table service restaurant should take at least an hour.
I disagree. Cinderella’s Royal Table saved us a BUNCH of time because we didn’t need to wait in line for any of those princesses.
These are not time-wasters, they are basically dining attractions in themselves. If you’ve been to the parks several times, and now you want a different experience, choosing one of these restaurants for a leisurely meal may be just the thing. Especially if you are adult foodies, Takumi-Tei and Victoria and Albert’s are going to be worth the couple of hours you’ll spend there.
Victoria and Albert’s is a dining experience. It shouldn’t be on this list.
To me, it’s like another park to enjoy.
I agree that V &A is its own experience. It should be an entire evening dinner. You have to plan your evening accordingly and not be in any rush to get to the parks . The servers there are so professional and polite. You will want to savor every minute of it. You will always remember your dining experience there.(just be aware of the menu and the price before you book a reservation there , it is very expensive )
DFB! Come on friends! These are not “time wasters”. They are sit down restaurants. NOT quick service. And honestly the quick service aren’t so ‘quick’ you can easily wait up to an hour on mobile orders. And standing in line to order and receive. We know this as factual, we’re AP and visit weekly. I’m wondering if whoever wrote this has ever been to V&A’s! This is ABSOLUTELY NOT A TIME WASTER! This place is AMAZING!! But it’s not a park day restaurant. It’s a leave the park early to go back to resort and shower and dress restaurant.
For those reading this post, if your only at the WDW Resort for a short stay then I would suggest, only suggesting, no matter what type of dining you chose plan an hour. Other than V&A. And pick whatever one looks appealing to you. It’s why your at WDW. So enjoy your experience! We love Casey’s Hot Dogs!
Each dining destination is in itself its own attraction. That is what you are paying for, the ambiance, the setting, the mood, the atmosphere and the. The food. It’s like going to the shop it do Review at every restaurant. They are all different, all unique, and take about an hou or more to experience. It’s like space mountain with food…. Enjoyed every dining experience .