Top Ten Kids Restaurants at Disney World

Hey! Are you planning a Disney trip? Are you looking for the best restaurants for young kids at the theme parks and resorts? Take it from me, a ten-year-old that loves all things Disney! Here's a list of the best Disney restaurants to make your Disney World trip the best vacation ever! So here, in no particular order, (some of) the Disney World restaurants and what I personally rate them! This is all for Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL, not Disneyland.

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1.  Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue (Fort Wilderness) 

Here are all the ridiculous actors at Hoop Dee Doo!

The Hoop de Doo is a wonderful dining experience. You will get to see an amazing show while eating food from an amazing menu. The restaurant holds one of the only dinner shows in Disney World, so it’s a lot of fun. It’s very western-themed. There’s music and dancing, and it’s an interactive show, where you can swing your napkins like lassos! I personally LOVE the Smoked Barbequed Pork Ribs. Long name worth saying. And if you have time (or space for it, that food is just so darn good), the delicious strawberry shortcake dessert! The food is all family style, so they give the table big plates, and you grab what you want.

Here we are swinging our napkins. Not sure why I picked a Cinderella dress for this.

Also, getting there is tough, but it’s totally worth it, I promise! To get into the restaurant area with Disney transportation, you’ll need to take a bus from one of the theme parks or Disney Springs, or you can take a boat from Magic Kingdom. What we did was a little easier. We took an Uber to Fort Wilderness, but then we had to walk a long way. But again, I promise, it is so wonderful and absolutely totally worth it! 9/10. 

2. Space 220 (Mission Space area, Epcot)

I don’t think they usually send children to space.

Space 220 is a dine-in restaurant where you get to go “to space” (not really, but it looks realistic). First, when you enter the restaurant, you will get your “boarding pass” and make your way into the space elevator that takes you 220 miles up (hence the name, “space 220”, but you’re really only going to the second floor, and weirdly, some people with a fear of heights skip this part…it’s just one story), where you are seated in a room where you can see astronauts, stars, and the Earth, outside the window (which is actually a screen. They have a dog in space?!). I’m a meat lover, so my favorite food was definitely the Smashed Burger and Space Fries. 8/10.

3. Chef Mickey’s (Contemporary Resort)

Posing with Mickey on one of our first Disney trips. Look how little I am!

If you're looking for character meals, this wonderful dining experience is a great option for all ages (especially  parents who like watching their kids have fun)! A few of the Mickey Mouse characters (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy) come to your table for meet-and-greets and autographs while you wait for food. It's located near Magic Kingdom in Disney's Contemporary Resort. So it's a great place to start the day before Magic Kingdom, or a great way to relax after a long day there. The breakfast menu consists of the classic Mickey waffles and pancakes, buttermilk biscuits, and warm cinnamon rolls. The dinner is more “adventurous” with seafood, meat, cheese, international food, and many more options. Both are buffets, so get as much as you want! One time my little brother and my parents went there without me….grrr…on a night that wasn’t busy, and he got to dance with and take pictures with all of the characters. 9/10

The ceiling is really high at Chef Mickey’s. The train tracks are near the lights on the left.

Fun fact: The monorail goes straight through Chef Mickey’s restaurant (a few floors up), so you can catch a glimpse there.

4. Via Napoli (Italy, Epcot)

Look at the size of this pizza!!

    Via Napoli is an Italian pizzeria with a menu of pizza, salad, and pasta. It looks homemade and it’s also some really good pizza. I’d say 9.5 out of 10 (most of it is for the cheese). Now I’ll let you in on a secret. Via Napoli birthdays are AMAZING. They sing you happy birthday in Italian (or at least that’s what I think they’re doing, but if you speak Italian, then try to tell if they are)(Second Dad to the Right’s note: it’s definitely Italian) and give you donuts with cream inside and chocolate drizzle and powdered sugar on top, all for free! 9/10. I know the birthday thing because my brother had his birthday there, (4 yrs!) and he was wearing goggles!

The birthday boy! In goggles for some reason.

Second Dad to the Right note: the great thing about Via Napoli is that if you order an enormous cheese pizza, you can feed an entire family for much cheaper than just about anything on property. But the birthday thing is cool too. Also try the limoncello if you like that sort of thing. Via Napoli is one of the best places in EPCOT if you have a family of picky eaters.

5. Raglan Road (Disney Springs)

Here are the awesome dancers at Raglan Road. We got front row seats!

    Raglan Road is an Irish restaurant with an amazing show! Raglan road is known for its almost nonstop (there‘s about 15 - 20 minutes or so between shows.) show, with singing, tap dancing and  pictures of scenery in the background. The dessert is also fantastic. There is bread pudding (my parents’ favorite), vanilla ice cream on brownies (my personal favorite) and caramel, and a sweet strawberry cheesecake. Just like any normal Disney restaurant, they have burgers and chicken, me and my sister Della’s favorites. This is probably our family's favorite place. We've been here more than any other restaurant, like 10 or 15 times.

(Second Dad to the Right note: the show is only at certain times. Figure out when the shows start, and then book a reservation 15 minutes before that. Show up. Ask for a table that can see the show. Be okay with wandering around Disney Springs until your table is ready. It really is awesome.)

Ok, so after that note from my dad, Disney Springs is an awesome place with a carousel and a mini train kids can ride on (Fun fact: Walt Disney loved trains) and good shops for all kinds of things everywhere. So have fun while you wait for your table.

6. Be Our Guest (Fantasyland, Magic Kingdom) 

Look how cute I was in my Belle dress!

    The Be Our Guest restaurant at Magic Kingdom is a Beauty and the Beast-themed dining experience, complete with an almost EXACT replica of the “West Wing” from the movie (Second Dad to the Right: Not West Wing the TV show), and “Gray Stuff” cupcakes, as in the song, ‘Be Our Guest’ “try the gray stuff, it’s delicious. Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes!” And, as I mentioned, it’s easy to get to, right there in Fantasyland. Belle is my favorite Disney Princess because she’s pretty AND smart, not just asleep or mad at her dad. My only problem with the restaurant is that you don't get to see my favorite character, but you might see the Beast!

7. Cosmic Ray’s (Tommorrowland, Magic Kingdom)

Here’s Sonny Eclipse!

    Cosmic Ray’s, the fast food restaurant for if you’re hungry, and in search of entertainment, you get your food in about ten minutes, and you can eat while watching the amazing “Sonny Eclipse”, a very human-like alien that sings and and plays the piano (an animatronic alien, of course). Is the food good? Not really, but it’s fast, and I like burgers. I think I mentioned that already. It's one my favorite restaurants even though it shouldn't be.

8. Hollywood & Vine (Hollywood Studios)

My siblings and with Mickey at Hollywood and Vine.

    Hollywood & Vine is a great restaurant for the whole family. They have a character meet-and-greet with a wide variety of Disney junior characters, including Vampirina, Fancy Nancy, Doc Mcstuffins, and Roaster Racer Goofy at breakfast, and Minnie Mouse as the host, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck at lunch and dinner. The restaurant has a buffet with lots of different options for food, so it's one of the best options for lots of people. My favorite was probably the chicken tenders. Have fun, and try the soft serve!

9. Rainforest Café (Disney Springs and Animal Kingdom)

Here’s the inside of Rainforest Cafe.

    This restaurant has two locations, one is Disney Springs, and the other is in Animal Kingdom. They have the regular restaurant food, burgers and chicken and stuff that most people are used to eating at Disney, and the restaurant is pretty cool.

They have fun animatronic animals, and the Disney Springs one has a volcano exterior. The whole thing looks like a rainforest (hence the name), and it looks really real, so enjoy! 

My dad wants you to know that this and Yak and Yeti below are owned by Landry’s, which has separate gift cards and a loyalty, discount program. The T-Rex restaurant is also very similar and owned by Landry’s.

10.Yak & Yeti (Animal Kingdom)  

Here’s the entrance to Yak and Yeti

    Yak & Yeti is a fancy shmancy (don’t worry, it is also good for kids, believe me, I went with my little cousins, too) restaurant in Animal Kingdom. It is an easy option when you need food and when you are near the Mount Everest ride. It is one of the few restaurants in all of Animal Kingdom that I have ever been to (I don’t eat at Animal Kingdom much).

The food is Asian, but they have a kids’ menu if you’re feeling boring (my dad’s words, not mine).  

My dad wants you to know that both Yak & Yeti and Rainforest Café aren’t owned by Disney, but are owned by a company called Landry, so you can use that company’s gift cards there and memberships and stuff.

Conclusion

I hope this list was useful! Have an awesome Walt Disney World Resort experience! I know I left a few off the list. Cinderella's Royal Table is a great experience, but I haven't been there since I was three because my dad says it's hard to book and expensive. Crystal Palace is also a favorite if you're looking for character meals. My parents personally love the Snow White dinner at Wilderness Lodge for a character dining experience. Disney's Hollywood Studios has some other great options like 50's Prime Time Cafe and the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater that might be great dining options. If you're looking for Disney princesses, you could also try Akershus, but the food wasn't great. If all else fails, beg your parents to buy a popcorn bucket. Then you can keep filling it up for really cheap!

Honorable mention because my dad reminded me. Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge is also amazing. The waiters are crazy. Ask for ketchup. Trust me.

This article was made by the daughter of Alex, the Second Dad to the Right, Amelia, who was 10 years old, in the Fourth Grade in the making of this article. And now I’m hungry.

For more articles written by me, check out my article about things that are scary at Disney World.