Vote of the Week: What's the hottest restaurant reservation at Walt Disney World?

January 4, 2013, 12:42 PM · Amanda Jenkins' delightful review yesterday of Disney World's new Be Our Guest restaurant revealed an interesting bit of news about New Fantasyland's signature restaurant - it's booked for dinner all the way through May.

Wow.

For years, Epcot's Le Cellier Steakhouse and the Magic Kingdom's have provided the toughest "gets" in Disney's Priority Seating system. Getting a ressie at the California Grill atop the Contemporary Resort (the restaurant closes Monday for refurbishment, reopening this summer) also has frustrated many Disney visitors. And Disney's just debuted Monsieur Paul, the replacement for the multiple Theme Park Insider Award-winning Bistro de Paris, in Epcot's France pavilion.

I suspect that many Disney fans would be thrilled to be able to land a table at any of these fives popular restaurants. But which is the one where you'd most want to dine?

Let's dream here, shall we? Imagine that a Disney cast member walks up to you at the park gate and tells you that you've won a special "Limited Time Magic" contest. You get to dine, for free, at one of the five restaurants for dinner tonight. (Let's assume this is happening after the California Grill reopens.) Which one do you pick?

That's our vote of the week.

Tell us in comments why you'd select your choice. And if you've dined at one of these restaurants already, please do click through to their listing pages (linked above) and submit a rating and review, if you haven't done so already. Theme Park Insider reader ratings will determine which attractions, restaurant and hotel win the annual Theme Park Insider Awards, which we will announce this July 4.

Thank you, again, for being part of Theme Park Insider, and, again, Happy New Year!

Replies (17)

robert morris

January 4, 2013 at 12:48 PM · Le Cellier is great...but it used to be even more of a "holy grail"... in that it only cost you one meal against your dining plan while the yachtsman steakhouse and others were worth two meals against your plan.

So this made it much more coveted for our family

Buit for those traveling with kids, sometimes chef mickeys or crystal palace are great because you can "kill two birds with one stone" by getting some meet and greets done while eating and thus also saving valuable time

Michael Barker

January 4, 2013 at 1:11 PM · I would actually prefer the Chef's Table at Victoria and Albert's. Talk about a tough reservation to get!

Russell Meyer

January 4, 2013 at 1:40 PM · I'm with Michael...V&A's Chef's Table is the Holy Grail of Disney dining reservations. There is only one party per evening at the exclusive table...I've tried to book this ellusive reservation every time I've gone to Orlando with no luck because on-site guests get first crack since they can book for the entire duration of their trip 180-days in advance of their check-in date.

I do have to say that the Flying Fish Chef's Counter along with V&A's Queen Victoria's Room are more accessible that are just a notch down from the pinacle of Disney Dining experiences.

173.65.125.85

January 4, 2013 at 2:25 PM · Been going to Disney for over 35 years and have now stopped eating dinner there. WAY too much hassle for a good dinner. There reservation system is terrible. Too many good places outside of the parks.

166.205.68.42

January 4, 2013 at 2:59 PM · We booked at Be Our Guest the day they started accepting reservations and it took us four hours on the phone to get the reservation. The meal was exquisite, though. I've yet to make it to let celliier because it's always booked every time we go so that's the one I want to go to

Robert Niles

January 4, 2013 at 3:16 PM · Darn it, I forgot V&A - I knew I was missing a biggie. I should have replaced CG with that one.

MP is actually a relatively easy get, given the price, but I threw in the wrinkle of "free" to see if that would elicit some votes. That would be my pick, BTW.

Tony Duda

January 4, 2013 at 3:23 PM · By far I would have picked V&A for a FREE dinner since it has the best food and is the most expensive. I thought you excluded it because of cost difference with the other poll choices. For the poll, I picked Be Our Guest for dinner since I've eaten lunch there twice and would enjoy the table service.

Kelly Smith

January 4, 2013 at 4:00 PM · I agree, V&A would be my first choice. The MP menu looks amazing, though, so I'd take a free dinner there any day.

Steve Alcorn

January 4, 2013 at 5:01 PM · The food at V&A is much better than any of these. In fact, it's one of the best restaurants in the country. And the most difficult to get reservation is the Chef's Table at V&A, by far.

70.188.154.187

January 4, 2013 at 5:16 PM · because of the view and fireworks great seat tom gelfuso RI

71.200.195.51

January 4, 2013 at 7:03 PM · I think Be Our Guest is least dire for me since you can at least check it out without a reservation. Sure, you have to wait in the long lunch line, but it's at least possible.

Mark Kausch

January 5, 2013 at 12:23 AM · I picked the Grill because of the fireworks seating.

Joseph Catlett

January 5, 2013 at 6:36 AM · You can keep all of these. My wife and I will take Victoria and Albert's any day of the week. We make reservations for this great place every time we make it to WDW and have always enjoyed it.

208.65.59.11

January 5, 2013 at 1:47 PM · I dined at "Be Our Guest last night. The restaurant itself is quite beautiful, as expected. However, the meals of my party, and the server, were fine, but not of the extraordinary caliber we expected. We also felt very rushed. Nothing bugs me more (when dining at a "nice" restaurant) than having a server deliver my main course when I am not even close to finishing my appetizer (and not offering to take them back and bring when appropriate). Also, the dessert carts are very visible when being taken to your table. You would think that a server here would automatically bring one of the dessert carts by for you to make a choice. We had to ask to see the desserts as well as for coffee. Don't get me wrong. I love Disney....have an annual pass. It's just that the expectations were set so high for this place, it was hard not to be let down. We just had to remind ourselves that no matter how nice a restaurant it is, it is still in a theme park. Since there are so many other really nice restaurants to choose from, I don't think I'll be returning to this one for a while unless bringing Out-of-towners. GianniQuest

Anthony Murphy

January 5, 2013 at 2:06 PM · I got one for Be our Guest in May (though I made the reservation in Novemeber!), Very excited.

I am still going for the old familiar: Canada. It appears to be keeping its charm with all its price increases.

98.21.200.25

January 7, 2013 at 12:11 AM · I ate at Le Cellier on Wed. Jan 2 of this year. It did not seem that hard to get a reservation.... just reserved on-line about a month ahead. Now, New Year's Eve I think pretty much every resteraunt in the park was booked pretty far in advance.

Anyway, the meal at Le Cellier was very nice. It was the best filet mignon steak I have ever eaten. The Risotto that was also served on the plate was also great. Really enjoyed that particular plate of food. Having said all this, I chose be our guest because I have not eaten there and it is the new thing.... and really the only resteraunt of that sort in the Magic Kingdom.

Scott B

January 7, 2013 at 8:46 AM · The thing about Cinderella's Royal Table is that the restaurant is just, so, tiny. So even with that new hotness across the way in Fantasyland, the sheer size of Cinderella's Royal Table will assure that it is a hard seat to get.

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Vote of the Week: What's the hottest restaurant reservation at Walt Disney World?

Replies (17)

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