The More Responses the Better!!!

For the healthiest non-reservation place - eat at the land. They have a good selection and the vegetables are grown in the hydroponics garden there.

Just be really careful about making reservations in places that make you put $50 down on your credit card. We were told we could change our night, but they didn't credit the $50. I was never able to get that charge reversed. So though they tell you that you can change your night, they will rip you off of that $50.

Our favorite place to eat a nice dinner has to do with how many children and how old they are. For your kids? The buffet style restaurant in the Magic Kingdom. I don't remember the name of it, but I do remember that Eeyore came to see us at our table. I like the place because the kids loved the food.

If you want your kids to drink milk during the day, bring your own in your cooler. Their milk is very expensive and they only have little containers of it.

Personally, I would NOT get the meal plan. You will have to pay a tip on dinner and that tip is really expensive, especially when you would have ordered LESS food if you were paying for that meal separately. (That was part of the Disney union settlement a couple of years ago.) If you have breakfast foods in your hotel room (milk in the fridge, cereal, plastic spoons and and bowls, and fruit) and bring peanut butter and bread, and healthy snacks to make sandwiches to bring in a small cooler bag, along with bottles of water, you will save so much money. Take an umbrella stroller for the 4 year old and hang your cooler bag on it. I missed having a stroller when my kids were older, just so I had something to hang my "stuff" on! I brought a lot of water bottles because the water in the water fountains at Disney tastes so nasty. (If you have a freezer in your little frig, freeze them, and they will keep your food cold as they melt for you to drink.

Fun fact that I found out yesterday (nothing to do with your question). When you go into the Haunted House, and you hear a soprano singing during the ride, she is the same lady who sang in the first year opening theme to the original Star Trek series. (She had a wonderful voice!! Wish I had known that the last time I was in the Haunted House!) LOL!

Have a wonderful time!

Dawn

With girls that age, the castle is a must. Though Akershaus is just as good if you can't get the castle - you just don't get the castle ambiance, but better character interaction.

I also really like Tony's in the magic kingdom. Food is really good, service has been excellent, and it's always nicely air conditioned on hot days.

We always eat at Chef Mickey's for our first breakfast of the trip. We like the food and it's always nice to see the Fab Five the first day.

Counter service: the Cosmic Ray's is large and has a lot of choices.

The restaurant Dawn mentioned is Crystal Palace. Never been there myself, but it always receives good reviews!

I like Liberty Tree Tavern in the MK and Coral Reef was good at Epcot. For Quick Service, I liked the Japanese restaurant in Epcot. Cosmic Ray's in MK is also pretty decent. Oh, and 1900 Park Fare is a must princess meal...Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Prince Charming, and some mice all made appearances the last time we went and the buffet was one of the better ones I've had in my life...I'm not much of a buffer person...Plus it is cheaper than some of the other princess meals...

I would say with a 4 and 6 yr old...skip Epcot and Hollywood Studios and just enjoy the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. I also wouldn't waste the money on a Park Hopper ticket with that age, because though traveling on the Disney transport system isn't all that hard...hopping from bus to bus and place to place can really take the fun out of it for the little ones. We're going with my kids for their first time (not my first time with kids, just first time with mine...have been with in-laws kids and friends' kids before we had ours) and I'm planning on MK and AK only and no hopping because of previous experience.

Also, I agree that taking some water bottles in a cooler is a great idea! You will have plenty of places to fill them up and you can always ask for a cup of water or ice...just not a bottle of water...and you do have to specify. :)

Love Disney! Enjoy it!

My kids liked the character meals. For princesses... I'd say cinderella's royal table in the magic kingdom and akershus in Epcot. I heard great things about 1900 fare park (I think) that has the step sisters. It is supposed to be fun for girls and boys because they fight over the boys. We will go there next time.

We had the deluxe meal plan and ate really well; however, there was no way we could use all our points. I would go with less than that. We didn't do any quick service in the parks. We liked the quick service at our resort (Caribbean beach). There was plenty of variety. I would only commit to one table meal a day. Some of the character meals are 2 table service credits. I do think a meal plan is the way to go.

My kids needed naps and down time. They enjoyed hanging out at the pool. My kids are 6 & 4 also.

Have fun! It is an experience.

I wanted to add... We booked through dreams unlimited travel. It's free and they made all the reservations for us. We worked with Beth fejer. She had a wealth of knowledge. I had no clue what I was doing when we decided to go to Disney. I will use them every time now.

Ohana in the evening might be my favorite reservation place to take the kids. It is a really fun and different experience with pretty good food.
My favorite quick service by far was Wolfgang Puck in DTD. Actually that might have been the best food that we ate the whole time (NOT a big fan of Disney food-just don't think its that good) I also really like the quickservice in the Polynesian. Delicious Tonga Toasf for breakfast and really good lunch and dinner items. I found them to be far superior to the other deluxe hotel quick serves. Its worth a hop on the monorail to the Poly even-esp breakfast.

You MUST try the pineapple margaritas at the little tequila bar in Mexico at Epcot along with some guac and chips. Best drink ever!

We like Cape May Cafe a the Beach Club Resort for breakfast and dinner. It's not as crowded as most of the restaurants, so we got much more character time. Minnie and Goofy stood there and "talked" with us, took pictures, etc. The dinner is a "clam bake" (indoor seafood buffet), so only go if you love seafood. The best clams I've ever eaten!

I also like the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom. I like seeing Pooh and the others, and it is magical, due to it's location.

For counter service, we loved the ribs at Flame Tree in the Animal Kingdom. One thing we like about it there (in addition to the ribs!) is that the seating was spaced out, so we could relax a little and watch the birds that liked to come and dance around the tables.

But my FAVORITE food that I look forward to, and I want you to have for me since I can't be there right now, is a Dole Whip Float at Aloha Isle in the Magic Kingdom. Oh, so goooooood and refreshing. I like the traditional pineapple ones.

And my other favorite food there is a good, old fashioned Mickey Ice Cream Bar. If you are on the Dining Plan a Dole Whip Float and a Mickey Ice Cream Bar can both be gotten for a snack credit.

You didn't say when you were going, but I hope that when you return you'll write and tell every little detail of your trip. I love it there and enjoy hearing of the experiences others have at the most magical place on earth!

Restaurant Marrakesh is very good - Moroccan with a fairly extensive menu. If the kids eat sushi (my son LOVES it - we just go with the cooked/non raw fish options), Kimonos at the Swan hotel is excellent. Last time I ate at both was about 7 years ago so no guarantees.

We live 20 minutes from the main gate so we visit often and sometimes just go to eat dinner (usually at Epcot).

If you are looking to see characters then the Crystal Palace (pooh bear and friends) or Akershus (princesses) Chef Mickey's in Contemporary. I have to say that I have never had bad food in any of their restaurants (quick service or sit down). Our favorite places to eat are either Germany or Italy in Epcot, although the others are just as good and the 50's diner in Hollywood Studios. Make sure you visit the bakery on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom (yummy!!).

Cinderella’s Royal Table is very nice too but you need to pay in advance. They do that so that people will show up for their reservation (sometimes people get busy and forget). Not all will have you pay in advance but it does make it a little easier when you go.

The different quick service places have different options at the parks so it depends on what you are in the mood for, but all have stuff for the kids.

If you are looking for options outside the parks then try Medieval Times or Arabian Nights. There are also some really good places at Downtown Disney, Rain Forest Café, T-Rex, Planet Hollywood and so many others.

Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner at the Grand Floridian. We do it everytime. Cinderella, prince Charming, Anastasia, Drizella, and the Step Mother are there. The later 3 are Hilarious! Drizella was asking my kids what chores they are best at and inviting them to come over and do them because you know Cinderella is married to the prince now and she cant do them anymore. It is a buffet and they have the best food. They kids get to get up and dance with the price and Cinderella. It is so much fun. A little easier to get reservations to compared to others. We did the Castle thing and that is nice but it is super expensive or 2 dining credits on the ddp. We also did akershus at epcot. That was cool with all the princesses but we did not care for the food. So that was disappointing. we do enjoy primetime at hollywood studios and coral reef at epcot as well. My fav quick service is the mexican place at epcot. when we last did the dining plan we didn't use many snack credits but on the last day we were at epcot with quite a few left. we didnt have any meals so we went and got a snack or two at each country. best thing ever. It was meant to be!

My husband and I went about 7 years ago, pre-kids. The Mars spaceship ride is a must...take turns taking the little ones on different rides so you can both go on it! Apparently they had actual astronauts ride on it and it feels very close to actually being in a space shuttle! So so cool. For the kiddos, I would definitely go on the Figment ride, can't remember the name. Epcot is so cool, plan on a full day there if you can. If you have to skip one park, I would probably skip the studio park, but if you go there the Muppet Show is really cool. Mostly if you used to watch the Muppet Show when you were little, because it is like being inside that show. Other than that, the main things at that park are the Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith coaster, both probably too scary for your kiddos.
The animal kingdom has an amazing breakfast buffet and the Earth building at Epcot has great food, too. You can't go wrong with any of the nice restaurants in the Epcot "countries."
I am planning a trip to Disneyland this fall, which will be a first for this (formerly) East Coast girl! I am super excited, too :)

We've been numerous times, never bought in to the meal plan deal.

We enjoyed these at each visit ( appx 8 visits)

Chef Mickey at the Contemporary
Original Luau at Polynesian
O'Hana breakfast at the Polynesian

We always stayed at the Polynesian, love that place!
Private safari for Animal Kingdom... Up close and personal ( must be at a particular resort and extra $ $160 each but worth it)
Love Animal Kingdom
Enjoyed Epcot but don't recall exact name of restaurants

Make reservations early, I dealt directly with Disney on specific reservations. Never any issues.

Enjoy!