Family-style Polynesian dinner and a Lilo & Stitch breakfast · $$$
The Polynesian's family-style room, next door along the lagoon. Breakfast, from 7:30am to 12:15pm, is the Best Friends Breakfast with Lilo and Stitch: a skillet of eggs, Hawaiian-style ham with pineapple, potatoes and Mickey and Stitch waffles, at $58 an adult and $36 a child before tax and tip. Dinner, from 3:30pm to 10pm, keeps the teriyaki beef, grilled shrimp, chicken wings, dumplings and 'Ohana noodles coming until you stop, then bread pudding, at $69 an adult; there are no characters at dinner. Book as early as you can. Disney warns that exterior work at the Polynesian may block the lagoon view.
Reserve aheadDisney's Polynesian Village Resort, 1600 Seven Seas Drive, Lake Buena Vista
Tiki bar off the Polynesian's lobby · $$
Something only Disney does: a tiki bar dressed as the hideout of Trader Sam, Adventureland's explorer turned bartender; its open-air Tiki Terrace is shut until late October 2026 for work on the Great Ceremonial House. Order a Hippopoto-Mai-Tai at $20 or a Tahitian Torch at $18, or the Uh-Oa at $29 and the Nautilus at $66, both made for two or more, with kalua pork tacos or pan-fried dumplings at $12 from a kitchen that serves until 10pm. It is open from 11am to midnight; children are welcome until 8pm, after which it is 21 and over. There are no reservations, and a wait at the door is normal.
Walk inDisney's Polynesian Village Resort, 1600 Seven Seas Drive, Lake Buena Vista
All-day café in the Polynesian's Great Ceremonial House · $$
The breakfast worth the walk. Kona Cafe is open to the Polynesian's Great Ceremonial House, and the order is the Tonga Toast: banana-stuffed sourdough French toast rolled in cinnamon sugar, with strawberry compote, at $18; macadamia nut pancakes and a loco moco are the alternatives. Breakfast runs from 7:30am to 11am, lunch from 11:45am to 2pm and dinner from 5pm to 10pm, when the menu turns to sushi rolls, poke bowls and a Kona-braised short rib at $40. Book a table ahead. Pineapple Lanai, just outside the Great Ceremonial House, sells Dole Whip from 10am to 10pm.
Reserve aheadDisney's Polynesian Village Resort, 1600 Seven Seas Drive, Lake Buena Vista
Disney Signature dining on the Contemporary's 15th floor · $$$$
The Disney Signature table with the fireworks. A private lift takes you to the 15th floor of the Contemporary, which looks over Seven Seas Lagoon and Cinderella Castle, and when Magic Kingdom's fireworks start the lights dim and the soundtrack plays in the room. Dinner is a three-course menu at $99 an adult and $45 a child of 3 to 9, before tax and tip: Dungeness crab salad or a spicy Kazan roll, then oak-grilled filet or cioppino, with a wine list drawn mostly from California. It serves from 5pm to 10pm; book early and ask for a table that spans the fireworks. By monorail it is two stops.
Reserve aheadDisney's Contemporary Resort, 4600 North World Drive, Lake Buena Vista
Smokehouse counter at Disney Springs, in the MICHELIN Guide · $
The cheap and good counter, and a Florida barbecue: a family-run smokehouse by the Town Center fountain, listed in the MICHELIN Guide. Order at the counter and the food comes to the table. The coffee-rubbed USDA Prime brisket is $22 with jalapeño cornbread, slaw and a side; the Southern Pig pulled-pork sandwich is $13 and the maple-Dijon cedar plank salmon $26. The drinks pour from taps, cocktails included, by the glass or the pitcher, and the bourbon bar runs to more than 200 labels. It is open from 11am to 11pm, and to 11:30pm on Friday and Saturday, with no booking.
Walk inTown Center, Disney Springs, 1536 East Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Pan-Asian dining room from Masaharu Morimoto, in the MICHELIN Guide · $$$
The famous chef's table at Disney Springs: the Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's two-level pan-Asian room on The Landing, listed in the MICHELIN Guide. The menu runs from dim sum and sushi to ramen and American-Chinese classics; order the orange chicken in a Florida orange sauce at $32 and, for a table to share, the Peking duck carved for you at $85. Lunch runs from 11:30am to 3:30pm and dinner from 4:30pm to 10pm, to 10:30pm on Friday and Saturday, with the bar open until 11pm or 11:30pm. Book on its own site.
Reserve ahead1600 East Buena Vista Drive, Disney Springs, Lake Buena Vista
Florida farm cooking and a moonshine bar · $$
Florida on a plate, from Art Smith, a sixth-generation Floridian and two-time James Beard award winner who was Oprah Winfrey's personal chef for ten years. The kitchen cooks from Florida farms and his family's recipes: order the fried chicken, brined in buttermilk for 24 hours, as Art's Famous Fried Chicken at $34 or the Thigh High Chicken Biscuits at $20, with fried green tomatoes, and a moonshine cocktail from the Southern Shine bar. It is open daily until 11pm, with a Southern brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Book on its site or on (407) 560-0100.
Reserve aheadThe Landing, Disney Springs, 1602 East Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Breakfast is not in the standard room rates, which are room only; club-level rooms and suites include a continental breakfast in the Royal Palm Club. Gasparilla Island Grill, the counter by the marina, opens at 6am, with a platter of scrambled eggs, a Mickey-shaped waffle, bacon and chicken sausage for $13.49. 1900 Park Fare's character buffet runs from 8am to noon at $59 an adult and $37 a child, before tax and tip. The Grand Floridian Cafe is closed for a refresh through October 2026, and until it reopens its brunch is served at Cítricos. The best outside option is Kona Cafe at the Polynesian, 12 to 18 minutes on foot along the lagoon, for Tonga Toast from 7:30am.
