“I Begin Chicken Checking at 5:45 AM.” Disney Fans Reveal Why They Don’t Waste Their Time Eating at Any Other Restaurants

There are SO many restaurants to eat at in Disney World, and we know firsthand how intense and overwhelming it can be to try and decide where to eat on your vacation.

If you’re like us, you probably have a list a MILE long with different snacks, meals, and restaurants you want to try, and with how often menus change, we know our personal list requires adjustments at least once a week. We asked our readers on Facebook what Disney World restaurants they KNOW are always going to have options they love and can’t get enough of, so they keep going back again and again. While some of them we expected to see, a few of them really took us by surprise!

Homecomin’

One of the first restaurants that was mentioned a few times was Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’, which can be found in Disney Springs. This table service restaurant requires reservations, and while it’s often not too hard to find spots for lunch or dinner, breakfast and brunch can sometimes feel IMPOSSIBLE, and that’s because it’s SO good!

What really caught our eye was one comment from reader Tracey Reisman Barbour, who said,

“Art Smiths Homecoming. I begin “chicken checking” at 5:45 am the very instant the reservation window opens.“

We LOVE the term “chicken checking,” and Tracey, we hope you don’t mind that we’ll be stealing it to use from now on. While this may sound intense, this is truly what’s needed to grab a reservation for this sought-after spot! Reservations for table service dining open 60 days in advance of your vacation at 6 AM ET (sometimes a few minutes early), and for some of the resort’s most popular dining spots, you’ve gotta be up at the crack of dawn to grab them — brunch at Homecomin’ is one of them!

Liberty Tree Tavern

Another restaurant we saw mentioned multiple times that often goes unnoticed in Magic Kingdom is Liberty Tree Tavern! This is a family-style, all-you-can-eat restaurant that focuses on Thanksgiving classics like turkey and gravy, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and the dessert that many readers say brings them back time and time again, the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake.

We’ll tell you one thing — we GET IT. We really haven’t been disappointed with this meal as a whole often, but that dessert gets us every single time. It comes out warm, truly lives up to its name of “ooey gooey,” and has flavors that blend together beautifully. And the best part? Since it’s an all-you-care-to-enjoy restaurant, you can ask for MORE for no additional cost!

‘Ohana

We also weren’t shocked to see lots of people say Ohana, which is inside Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort! This all-you-can-eat restaurant has a character experience during breakfast, where you can say hello to Lilo and Stitch, as well as a few other iconic Disney characters, but the lunch and dinner options are often just as popular. This is another dining reservation that can be tricky to get!

However, we do feel the need to offer a quick disclaimer here — we’ve long been fans of ‘Ohana, but we’ve noticed many reviews recently from readers on our website that warn that the service at this restaurant may have gone downhill a bit. Some of our readers report feeling rushed by their server, and not feeling like they got to fully enjoy the endless food, so that’s something to keep in mind! That Pineapple-Coconut Hawaiian Bread, though? Yeah, that’ll get us booking a reservation STAT.

Yak & Yeti

Seeing Yak & Yeti on this list from multiple readers was not something we had on our bucket list, but we were excited to see it was so! There are two versions of Yak & Yeti in Animal Kingdom — the first being Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafes, which is the quick service, and then the other, just Yak & Yeti, is the table service — that’s the one we’re talking about here!

Specific dishes mentioned by our readers from this post were the Ahi Tuna Nachos, the Duck, the Korean beef, and the Sweet and Sour Chicken. This is a restaurant that we feel is totally underrated and never lets us down. The menu is quite large, making it easier for everyone to find something on it that they’ll like (even the picky eaters, although if they’re REALLY picky, be sure to look at the menu ahead of time).

Crystal Palace

Multiple readers of ours also mentioned the Churro Waffles found at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom, but they’re ONLY on the buffet for breakfast, and boy, is that a hard reservation to grab. Not impossible, but again, another one you’ll have to wake up before the sun over two months before your trip to snag.

Even if your favorite restaurant didn’t make it onto this list, stick with what you love in Disney World! What works for you and your family is great, no matter what other people think of it. However, if you’ve been looking for a few new options to try out for your next trip, these are a few to consider adding to the top of your list.

If you’re looking for a travel agent to help with your vacation, we recommend our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!

Be sure to stay tuned to AllEars for all the latest Disney World dining news, tips, and tricks to ensure you plan the best vacation possible!

REVIEW: This Disney World Lounge is Hard to Get To, But It’s WORTH IT

What restaurant do you always go to in Disney World, knowing you’ll love it every time? Tell us in the comments!

Post a Comment