The best dining in Magic Kingdom echoes the magic, wonder, and detail found throughout this flagship Florida park. Magic Kingdom food keeps getting better and better, and the options are endless. But, before you set your eyes on Cinderella’s Castle, you need to have a plan on where you’d like to eat, especially if your plan features sit down dining.
Best Quick Service Dining in Magic Kingdom
Quick service dining is counter service dining. This means that you order your Magic Kingdom food at the counter, and then retrieve your food when it is ready. Food is typically served piping hot in just a few minutes, but offerings are more limited than at table service dining establishments.
Determining the best quick service dining at Magic Kingdom is not an easy task. This park lacks the diverse quick service options you might find at EPCOT or Animal Kingdom, so many of the counter service meals feel the same.
In the past, we loved Pecos Bill, with its burger toppings bar and deliciously fast tex mex options. But, recently, Pecos Bill has seen a sharp downturn in quality, disappointing many fans.
These days, we think the best dining in Magic Kingdom in the quick service category is Columbia Harbour House. With most MK quick service places serving up the same old burgers and fries, Harbour House stands out.
The restaurant is themed to a cozy New England fish house, with a nautical theme. Lunch and dinner options include shrimp skewers, lobster rolls, fried fish and chicken strips, fish sandwiches, a shrimp boil, and the well beloved hushpuppies.
If fish is not your thing, but you’d like something other than a burger, Pinocchio Village Haus is designed to look like a cottage right out of the Pinocchio movie, and serves up various flatbreads, salads, and chicken strips. This Magic Kingdom food establishment also offers tables in front of a large window overlooking the It’s a Small World ride.
Best Table Service Dining
The best dining in Magic Kingdom comes in the form of table service dining. Table service is your sit down dining. This includes being served by a waiter or waitress, with a longer dining experience, and may or may not be a buffet.
The best dining in Magic Kingdom comes down to two restaurants, both of which envelop what it means to experience fine dining: Cinderella’s Royal Table and Be Our Guest. Both serve up Magic Kingdom food fit for a Princess (or queen/prince/ king.)
Cinderella’s Royal Table is located inside of the castle. Yes, you heard that right! You can dine inside of Cinderella’s Castle. The Royal Table is a fine dining character experience. While enjoying delicious plates of your choice, various Princesses will come to your table for a meet and greet. Additionally, you’ll meet Cinderella as you are brought to your table, and pose for a photo with her.
The best dining of Magic Kingdom includes the menu at Cinderella’s Royal Table. Dinner offerings include: pork tenderloin with couscous, beef tenderloin with potato Pave and veggies, Parisian gnocci and more. Breakfast choices are: Shrimp and Grits, beef tenderloin and egg, caramel apple stuffed French toast, and many more.
Another delectable Magic Kingdom food option for table service is Be Our Guest. Be Our Guest is of course themed to Beauty and the Beast. Here, you are invited to dine inside of Beast’s Castle, in the Ballroom, West Wing or the Rose Gallery.
Be Our Guest is currently open for lunch and dinner, and is some of the best dining in Magic Kingdom. Here, the meals are three course feasts, with menu items such as French onion soup, duck and pork terrine, dry-aged pork chops, roasted poulet rogue chicken, and a dessert platter that features the grey stuff from the restaurant’s namesake song.
Magic Kingdom Dining Experiences Not to Miss
The best dining in Magic Kingdom isn’t always a counter service or table service experience. Magic Kingdom has other dining experiences you don’t want to miss.
For example, Gaston’s Tavern is an elaborate snack shack, where you can sip on Lafou’s Brew, a frozen apple juice slushie topped with a mango passion fruit foam.
For snacks at Gaston’s, you have to try one of their giant, moist, and fluffy cinnamon rolls. Additionally, there are rotating seasonal snacks and desserts. Currently, one of them is the “Grey stuff,” so you can try it even if you do not have Be Our Guest reservation.
Another tavern on the list of best dining in Magic Kingdom is the Liberty Tree Tavern. At Liberty Tree, you can experience a Thanksgiving dinner, in an all you care to eat style The tavern features 6 rooms, each named and themed to a different influential figure in American history.
The Patriot’s Platter is all you care to eat, served family style, with endless refills. It contains turkey, pot roast, roasted pork, mashed potatoes, stuffing, homemade mac and cheese, seasonal veggies, salad, and ooey gooey toffee cake.
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Affordable Dining Options in Magic Kingdom
We all know that Magic Kingdom food, and all food at Disney World is not known for its affordability. But, there are a few options inside of MK that cost a bit less, and there are a few tricks to saving a buck as well.
The best dining in Magic Kingdom for those on a budget is Casey’s Corner. Casey’s serves up hot dogs, chili dogs, and corn dog nuggets with various toppings. Here, you’ll also find fries, loaded fries, and even plant-based options.
Meals here are big, and filling, coming in at around $12 per person for a dog with toppings. A footlong hotdog with chili and cheese is more than enough for two people and costs 14.29 currently.
Sleepy Hollow is another great Magic Kingdom food option to keep you on your budget. Sleepy Hollow is the best dining in Magic Kingdom for a counter service breakfast.
Breakfast includes mickey waffles, with or without powdered sugar and or fruit, waffle sandwiches, and funnel cakes with toppings. All of these options come in between $6 and $9.
If you’d like to save some cash while trying the less affordable options, consider splitting a meal with a member of your group.
Dishes and Restaurants that have meals large enough to share:
- Tony’s Town Square Restaurant has many pizza and pasta dishes big enough to share
- Columbia Harbour House Trio Platter
- Flatbreads at Pinocchio Village Haus
- Footlong hotdog and chili dogs at Casey’s Corner
- Funnel Cakes at Sleepy Hollow
- Turkey leg at Liberty Square Market
- Cinnamon Rolls at Gaston’s Tavern
Another way to cut back your dining budget is to avoid any restaurants that are buffet, or “all you care to eat” style. Buffet options are some of the most expensive dining options. While you can eat as much as you’d like, it is hard to eat enough to get your money’s worth.
Character Dining Experiences in Magic Kingdom
We’ve already discussed two of the best dining options in Magic Kingdom that feature characters: Cinderella’s Royal Table and Be Our Guest. At these restaurants you can dine with Disney Princesses and the Beast, respectively.
In addition to these, Crystal Palace, located near Main Street USA, has character dining. This breakfast, lunch or dinner buffet is one of the few places to experience the Winnie the Pooh characters.
Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore make their way from table to table to meet guests and pose for photos.
Other Things to Consider
Now that you know the best dining in Magic Kingdom, you should be prepared for visiting these places. For the counter service and snack locations, no reservations are required, but lines can get long.
To avoid the lines, consider utilizing mobile ordering, or visiting during non-peak dining times.
Table service restaurants take a bit more preparation, especially the beloved ones, like Be Our Guest and Cinderella’s Royal Table. Advanced Dining Reservations, or ADRs, are a necessary part of any Disney vacation.
ADRs can be made 60 days prior to your trip, and we highly recommend making them as early as possible. Or, if you book your Disney vacation through us, we’ll make them for you.
In the end, you cannot go wrong with it comes to the best dining in Magic Kingdom.
