Places to eat in Orlando

Art of Animation – Disney Springs – TRT-DisneyMK-food – Disney’s Polynesian village resort – Animal Kingdom Pandora – Universal City Walk – Panda Express – Champions gate (Miller’s Ale House, Panera Bread, Baskin Robins), More food option (Olive Garden, Cracker barrel, Topgolf, Discovery Cove).

Note – All menu options, prices and places may have changed since we where there, so please check first.

Art of Animation

Landscape of Flavours restaurant – Quick service, some Disney dining plans are accepted. There is a choice of hot and cold refreshments and ample seating. We ordered chicken strips with fries twice ($10.49 approx per serving) and drinks, this was enough for the four of us. It was a good quick meal. In the evening we also ordered a large pizza (approx $29.99) and Mermaid cupcake for collection from the restaurant, again it was a good size and would have fed us all but we also chose to order a Panda Express (see our section on Panda Express below) takeaway via Uber eats.

Disney Springs

Blaze Pizza – Quick service; some Disney dining plans are accepted. You can choose from the signature pizzas or build your own (approx $9) . There is seating but not lots and it can get very busy but saying that it is worth it – the pizzas are very good. Definitely a must if you like pizza.

Chicken Guy – Quick service; some Disney dining plans are accepted. This is a very popular place. We went at dinner (evening) time and people where queuing outside, it didn’t take too long – maybe 20 minutes. The staff members guide you inside and give you a menu to choose from whilst you wait. Our daughter got the three chicken tenders with a choice of two sauces and fries (approx $9). She would go back again but at a quieter time.

Sprinkles – Serves Cupcakes, cookies, ice-cream and brownies. This is a good place to visit for a tasty treat. If it is busy inside you can also use the cupcake ATM machine outside. This is a novelty way of getting your cupcake or brownie. Just place your order, pay and the treats are dispensed from the ATM.

Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Aloha Isle – Quick service; some dining plans snack credit are accepted, just check first. A DOLE whip is a nice treat for those hot days in the park. It’s a dairy free, soft serve frozen pineapple treat. There can be quite a queue sometimes, but it is worth the wait. Try going when the parades are on to have a better chance of it being quieter.

Eat them quick before they drip!

Churro carts – Look out for the churro carts in Magic Kingdom. A churro is a fried dough pastry, topped with cinnamon sugar, you can also choose a dipping sauce but I like them on their own. If that’s too sweet try the Mickey pretzel or for a cold treat there is the Mickey ice cream sandwich (these can also be picked up at Target).

Liberty Square’s sleepy hollow – Quick service; some Disney dining plans are accepted. The Funnel cakes here are so tasty, the fried sweet dough can have different toppings such as powdered sugar or chocolate to name a few. They are also available in Epcot’s world showcase by the American pavilion. At different times throughout the year Disney add extra snacks and on this trip we tried the Mickey and Minnie celebration waffle sundae (above), but don’t worry they have many other waffle desserts available even if this isn’t. We don’t think you will be disappointed. Just to give you an idea of price, the funnel cake is approximately $6.99.

Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

Ohana Restaurant – Character and themed dining, some dining plans are accepted but check first. Our daughters went here (as a treat) for the character breakfast, whilst we went on a boat trip. The booking was made 180 days before our trip, this was the earliest we could book it. You have to provide a card to secure the booking, you can cancel but you need to follow their cancellation policy to not be charged – this information is given when you book with them. If you have the Disney app you can also control your dining from this too. As it was the character breakfast (including Lilo and Stitch) it booked up fast. We were able to drive into the resort, through security and take them to the restaurant because they had a booking, otherwise we could not have got through security. Our daughters didn’t have any Disney dining plans, so we paid for the breakfast. For both of them it cost approx $90. They both agreed it was worth it for the experience and amount of food and drinks they had.

Animal Kingdom – Pandora

Satu’li Canteen – Some dining plans are accepted, mobile orders accepted. The theming is good in here and so is the food. We had heard about the Cheeseburger steamed pods and so tried them, they didn’t disappoint. It tasted just like a well know cheeseburger but inside a soft steamed bao bun. You will find it on the kids menu and it comes with vegetable crisps (chips), grapes and a drink. The cost is approx $7.99 so for two it was ok for a snack between us all.

Universal city walk

There are many places to eat in City walk, these are what we tried this time round. You might have guessed we do like the sweet stuff.

Voodoo Doughnut – It was the first time we had visited voodoo doughnut in Universal City walk. You cannot miss the pink shop front. On entering there is lots to look at, merchandise (t’shirts, mugs etc), a revolving carousel display case of just some of the doughnuts and make sure you take in the theming of the place. There are a few seats inside, a doughnut seat (for the insta pics) outside and the treats come in their famous pink box. We ordered the glazed round doughnut and the original bacon maple bar – a long doughnut with maple frosting and bacon on the top. The sweet goodness of the maple is cut through with the salty bacon (delicious!!!). A mug also found its way back home with us.

Bread Box – The bread box is situated near voodoo doughnut, the opposite side to Hard Rock cafe. You go up the stairs and you have Panda on your right and bread box on your left. We had a sandwich and a melt between us all, both came with either fries or Tater tots, we got the fries. They also have salads, desserts etc but we just needed a quick bite to eat.

The food was fresh and tasty and there was good amount of seating inside, including colourful benches suspended from the ceiling. The food cost approximately $12.00 each and between $3 and $5 for each drink.

Cinnabon – These treats of cinnamon inside a dough swirl, covered in frosting are just one of life’s little pleasures. We have had the classic roll, the bonbites (smaller versions of the big ones and just as good), the packs – these sharing packs are good to have for breakfast the next day and come in different sizes, but the ultimate (according to my husband) is the caramel pecanBon – a cinnabon with caramel frosting, covered in pecans. We’ve tried them in many cities and have never been disappointed.

Panda express

Panda Express is one of our go to takeaway choices whilst in the USA. They do sometimes have seating inside but it is limited if they do. We have had it delivered by Uber and have also collected it, if we have one nearby. On this trip we had it delivered to our Disney Resort and to our villa. The orange chicken and rice is a must. It is the sweet and spicy orange sauce that makes this dish. We get the plate that has two portions of orange chicken and a side of rice, this will generally feed two of us.

Championsgate

Millers Ale House – It is classed as a sports bar and has screens on every wall, so you will never miss the action, but most of all it has mouth watering food, welcoming staff and a great atmosphere. Some of our favourites are the zinger mountain melts (zingers – chicken tenders with sauces, cheeses and bacon on fries), the grilled chicken BLT with fries, and the zinger flatbread. We thought the cost was good – mountain melt $16 approx, BLT $13 approx and the flatbed $9 approx and with extra fries this fed the four of us.

Well…we did also have a dessert too. It would have been wrong not to. So we devoured the pull and pop doughnuts.

Panera Bread – These offer a delivery, collection and sit in option. We chose to go in and look at the food. We ordered using the touch screen pads, which was a little confusing at first. We had two sandwiches $9 approx, pastries $3 approx and drinks. The food was fresh and tasty. They had a lot of options on the menu, including soups, salads, breakfast items and the calories were displayed on the menu, if this was a requirement for you. We did visit a few times as it was also handy for where we were staying.

Baskin Robins – Ice cream and other treats. We had tried Baskin robins in other cities so we of course had to compare them. They had a Stranger Things promotion on at the time, which meant we got a Stranger Things themed bucket and ice cream. The staff could have been a bit more helpful as there was a little confusion about the offer, it was sorted in the end and the ice cream was just as good.

Mall of Millenia

Cheesecake Factory – We have eaten at this restaurant every time we have visited Orlando and never been disappointed. There is a good choice of food and even more choice of cheesecake. Our recommendations would be to try the Roadside sliders (mini burgers with onions, pickle and ketchup) or the Southern fried chicken sliders, the orange chicken and rice or the Club sandwich (roasted Turkey with blt). Above all try a cheesecake, one will normally do two of us or have left over for the next day. The food can be wrapped up to take away with you if you can’t finish it all.

There is lots of seating, however because it is so popular you may have to wait for a seat. If you are asked to wait they will give you a buzzer that will light up when your table is ready. We try to go before or after the busy times, for example 11.30am for lunch time.

More food options

Olive Garden – an Italian restaurant that has a lot to choose from on the menu but make sure you get the famous bread sticks (we just can’t stop eating them) and the house salad (it is big compared to salads in the UK). We always share two meals between the four of us as they are filling. Again this place gets very busy and you may have to wait. Some restaurants have a tablet on the table for you to give feedback and pay for your meal, which is good if you are in a rush. We have only had one time that the service was lacking a little.

Cracker Barrel – As you pull into the car park you will see rocking chairs on the porch and games on the tables (the games are outside and at your table). You enter the restaurant through the old style country store, which sells an array of items, including the furniture outside. It is open all day serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. We have visited every time we have been to Orlando. There are lots of options for breakfast, my favourite is the buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup and a side of bacon. If you’re like me and need a cup of tea they have a good breakfast tea and provide unlimited coffee. Definitely one to try!

Top Golf – Now I’m not a golfer and neither are my family, crazy golf is the most we have ever participated in but we really enjoyed this place (see our what we did in Orlando blog). You can order a variety of food and drink (including alcoholic drinks), it is served at your own designated golfing and seating area, so whilst you watch someone trying to hit the illuminated targets, you can enjoy the relaxing area with your refreshments. The atmosphere is great, music is playing throughout the different play zones. We ordered sliders to share and drinks (cokes and a mocktail for me), the food was nice and the staff very helpful and friendly. Our tip is to go in the evening if you can because the golfing hit zone are lit up and sometimes responds along with the music. The top floors also give the best views.

Discovery Cove – This was the first time we had visited here and after reading the information sent to us, we decided to get there early to book our activities and make the most of the complimentary food and drink.

We were split over our reviews of some of the refreshments. All of us agreed the unlimited snacks and soft drinks available throughout the day were very good and there was enough choice, including pretzels, cookies, ice cream, fruit and crisps, however my husband and I felt the main meals (breakfast and lunch) were just ok but the girls liked them, especially the desserts.

To find out where we stayed and the things we did in Orlando, visit our Orlando, Florida and What we did in Orlando blogs.

Until our next adventure x TRT