7 Best Restaurants in Walt Disney World Orlando, Florida

One of Disney World's finest restaurants—a high-ticket night out that's worth the price—has a menu heavy on seasonal seafood as well as steaks. Options include filet mignon, oak-grilled salmon, and swordfish, as well as exotic fare like Verlasso salmon. Those looking for an extravagant meal can try the shrimp pearl pasta with shrimp, lobster, scallops, clams and mussels. Special chef's table menus are available by reservation. The sparkling dining room is decorated with schools of glass fish flying overhead and gold highlights everywhere. Free self-parking is available; inform the entry booth that you are dining.

With the feel of a New England seafood house—the type your grandma might enjoy—this bustling spot in the Beach Club Resort features popular buffet meals. For breakfast, Minnie and other cast classics visit tables while families help themselves to American classics from waffles to sausage links from the buffet. In the evening, seafood is the star of the show. Instead of characters, diners dote on a turf platter of slow-roasted strip loin or a seafood boil with mussels, clams, shrimp, and a catch of the day.

With stunning views of the 5.7-million-gallon aquarium, dining at Coral Reef is as entertaining as it is delicious. As you watch marine life—and sometimes scuba divers—swim by, enjoy dishes from a seasonal menu that's heavy on seafood offerings. Options might include shrimp and grits or seared mahi-mahi in a coconut and cilantro-lime sauce. This is a great option for those wanting to try upscale dining with younger kids, as they'll be able to either test new items such as lobster bisque or play it safe with grilled chicken. Plus, the aquarium is a great distraction while waiting for the food to arrive!

The dining room, with Victorian-style columns, high ceilings, and hardwood floors, is not only a great place seafood and steaks, but also to gaze out at the nightly fireworks over the Seven Seas Lagoon (an announcement is made when fireworks commence, and music is piped in). The menu changes regularly, but typical choices are wild Alaskan halibut and the surf-and-turf centerpiece—a butter-poached lobster tail and a tender, grilled filet mignon. The name of the place, incidentally, was not coined by Disney Imagineers; it's the name of a river and a small Central Florida town, both of which predate Disney. The bar, one of the more intimate in the resorts, specializes in fine whiskeys and spirits.

Housed in a paddleboat on Lake Buena Vista, this sophisticated seafood destination has multiple outdoor dining areas, where same-day, fresh-catch selections are presented in any number of ways, from raw bar delicacies to the traditional Gulf-shore jambalaya or the Build-Your-Own Seafood Boil. There are non-seafood dishes like filet mignon and pork chops, as well as vegetarian options. The casual rooftop bar offers views of the entire Disney Springs complex.

Who knows why the contemporary and upscale BOATHOUSE on the Disney Springs waterfront uses all CAPITALS in its name, but it does. Maybe it's just to draw attention to itself and its fresh seafood, raw bar, and premium steaks and chops. Dockside dining or classic boathouse settings are on offer. After dinner, save room for dessert—Key lime pie in a mason jar, perhaps—and allow time to explore the restaurant’s impressive on-site fleet of classic boats. Not on the menu are guided tours by Amphicar, vehicles that drive like cars on land and glide like boats on water—they depart from the dock by the restaurant.

Celebrity chef Todd English designed the menu for this upscale seafood eatery, known perhaps more for style than substance. It resembles a sleek, modern, underwater dining hall, with blue walls and carpeting, aluminum fish along the wall behind the bar, and bubblelike lighting fixtures. The menu is pricey, with entrées like lobster bucatini at $42, and there's a surprising number of steak dishes.