Dining in style at Walt Disney World

Last week, I blogged about some of the table service restaurants we visited while we were on holiday last month. This week, as promised, I'm going to focus on signature restaurants.

As I explained in my last post, signature restaurants are worth two credits each per person on the Disney Dining Plan as they're generally in a prestigious location and on the pricey side. These restaurants are all very deserving of their 'signature' tag and provide a dining experience like no other.

We used our Disney Dining Plan credits on the first three restaurants I've featured - Narcoossee's, Citricos and The Yachtsman. Although Morimoto Asia is classed as a signature restaurant, the food isn't hugely expensive which means it feels like a waste of credits, so we paid for that meal out of our spending money. And, last but not least, you can't use the dining plan in Shula's Steak House but it would definitely be a signature restaurant if you could!

Just like in the standard table service restaurants, you can order a soft drink, main course and dessert with your dining plan credits. You then need to pay for the service charge, alcoholic drinks, starters and sides. I love it that the Disney Dining Plan gives you the option to visit these amazing restaurants in such an affordable way!

Get ready for some serious food envy...

Narcoossee's, Grand Floridian Resort & Spa

This is one of my favourite restaurants in the world due to its amazing location and lovely food and drinks. I had a Mango Mojito, Black Angus New York strip steak, and the strawberry shortcake for dessert. We stood outside on the balcony to watch the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom in between our main course and dessert... a definite perk of this restaurant! At roughly $150 for two people, it's well worth using the Disney Dining Plan.  

Citricos, Grand Floridian Resort & Spa 

This was the first time we'd visited Citricos and it was one of our favourite meals of the holiday. There was a lovely atmosphere in the restaurant with a beautiful view of the Grand Floridian, and the food was really delicious. I drank a Solerno Prosecco cocktail and chose the oak-grilled beef filet for my main course. I ordered the lemon-scented cheesecake for dessert and could have eaten it ten times over! Again, the bill came in at roughly $150 for two people. 

Yachtsman Steakhouse, Yacht Club 

We ate at the Yachtsman on our last night and definitely saved one of the best until last. We had a view of the Yacht and Beach Club's pool from our table and had a really friendly waiter. Even the complimentary bread (and accompanying baked garlic!) was amazing. I ordered the 10-oz Black Angus filet mignon for my main course with caramelized onions on the side, and went for the carrot cake for dessert. Absolutely delicious! With a couple of glasses of wine, this meal came to roughly $160 for two people. Again, a complete steal on the Disney Dining Plan. 

Morimoto Asia, Disney Springs 

I love the decor in Morimoto Asia and eating here always feels like a special occasion. The portions aren't massive and don't come with rice, so just bear in mind that you might need to order a couple of extras. I ordered a Strawberry Ginger cocktail, the chicken dumplings to start, and the orange chicken for my main. As I mentioned above, we decided to pay for this meal as the bill came to roughly $80 for two people - definitely not worth two Disney Dining Plan credits each when you compare this with the prices above. 

Shula's Steak House, Dolphin Hotel  

One of my favourite meals of the holiday. You feel completely immersed in high quality as soon as you set foot in Shula's and the food is absolutely stunning. I ordered my favourite Blueberry Martini to drink and barbecued shrimp stuffed with basil for my starter. For my main, I chose the 8-oz filet mignon and we also ordered grilled asparagus spears and mashed potatoes on the side. This restaurant is very pricey but completely worth it as a special treat!

I didn't realise until I wrote this post that I ate steak in nearly all the signature restaurants we visited... would you believe that I'd never even tried steak until our honeymoon nearly three years ago? 

Have you tried any of these signature restaurants? Do you have any more recommendations to share with me? Let me know in the comments below!

Eating our way around Walt Disney World

We're off to Florida in just 13 days and I can't wait to eat EVERYTHING as soon as we step off that plane. We're trying out a few new restaurants this year so I thought I'd give my readers a run-through of what those new ones are, as well as a quick mention for some old favourites.

One of the many perks of going on holiday to Walt Disney World is that you can book your restaurants in advance, so we already know where we'll be eating nearly every day. We also have a list of 'maybe' restaurants up our sleeves for the days where we haven't made any reservations yet... we spend an awful lot of time talking about food!

Here are the new restaurants we've already booked for this year's holiday:


Yak & Yeti
We never usually eat a sit-down lunch at Animal Kingdom so we thought we'd change that this year. I've heard great things about Yak & Yeti so I'm very excited about this one!

Cítricos
I love everything about the Grand Floridian and, having tried two restaurants there so far, we thought it was time to try another one of the resort's signature offerings.

Kona Café

I've never visited the Polynesian Resort apart from whizzing through on the monorail, so I'm looking forward to exploring the resort after our breakfast at Kona Café.

Tutto Italia Ristorante
Tutto Italia comes highly recommended from my in-laws so we're looking forward to giving this one a try. You can never cram too many Italian meals into one holiday!

Teppan Edo 
We've been meaning to try Teppan Edo for a few years and have never managed to fit it in. It always smells amazing when we walk past so this is another one we're very excited about.



The difficult (and fantastic) thing about going to Florida is that, although we always want to try new restaurants, we also have a huge list of favourites which we just have to keep going back to. It's almost impossible to narrow down, but I think these are the five I'm looking forward to the most...

Shula's Steak House

Narcoossee's

Via Napoli

Yachstman Steakhouse

Cheesecake Factory

And, last but not least, Walt Disney World offers an amazing array of quick service options for those occasions where you just want a quick and casual bite to eat rather than taking your time at a table service restaurant. Here are the five quick service options I'm most excited about...

D-Luxe Burger

Earl of Sandwich 

The Artist's Palette 

Lotus Blossom Café
(I weirdly haven't got any photos of the food from there!)

Ghirardelli 

Have you tried any of these restaurant options? What did you think? Let me know if you have any more recommendations! 

My dream hotel... Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa!

It's no secret that I love going to Walt Disney World. So far, I've been fortunate enough to stay in four beautiful resorts - Coronado Springs, Old Key West, Port Orleans French Quarter and Saratoga Springs. However, there is one gem in Walt Disney World where I'd love to stay more than any other... *drum roll, please*... Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.

The Grand Floridian opened in 1988 and is classed as one of Walt Disney World's 'deluxe' resorts. The resort was inspired by the beach resorts built along Florida's east coast during the Victorian era, and its different guest areas (Sugarloaf Key, Conch Key etc) are all named after islands in the Florida Keys. 

The Grand Floridian is in a perfect location, on the shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon and just a few minutes away from the Magic Kingdom by monorail or by boat. Imagine waking up every morning and hopping on a short ride to the most magical place on earth... sounds pretty amazing to me! 

I could wander around the Grand Floridian all day with its beautiful buildings, majestic turrets, immaculate white walls, comforting gables and relaxing surroundings. Everything about this resort is comforting yet luxurious and I always love our visits there. It's always pretty busy and I do feel a tiny bit jealous when I see people walking back to their beautiful rooms inside this dream hotel... who wouldn't?! 

The Grand Floridian is home to some spectacular restaurants. So far we've been to the Grand Floridian Cafe for breakfast and to Narcoossee's for dinner, and we've booked Citricos for our next stay in April/May next year. The prestigious Victoria and Albert's restaurant is the ultimate dream, but that one might not happen any time soon due to its hefty price tag! The Grand Floridian also hosts 1900 Park Fare and the Grand View Tea Room, along with a few counter service offerings. So much choice! 

Narcoossee's is possibly my favourite restaurant in the whole of Walt Disney World. It's really beautiful, both inside and out, and you can watch the Magic Kingdom's night show fireworks from the restaurant's balcony. The night show's music is also streamed into the restaurant which makes for a pretty unique dining atmosphere. The service is always outstanding at this restaurant and the food, as well as the wide array of cocktails, is exquisite. It's not cheap, but it's well worth the money (or two Disney Dining Plan table service tokens) for this special experience.

It's highly unlikely that I'll ever be fortunate enough to stay at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, but I can dream! In the meantime, I'll continue to find as many reasons as possible to visit this beautiful location whenever we travel to Walt Disney World.

Have you ever stayed at or visited the Grand Floridian? What did you think?