5 Hidden Gems at Disney World Every First-Time Visitor Should Know
We’re Han and Alex, and we’ve been visiting Disney World for several years now, documenting our trips on our YouTube channel.
While we’re incredibly grateful to have visited a few times now, we sometimes get messages on social media from folks who are planning and booking their first-ever trip. That first trip is one you’ll never forget, and we always want to make sure visitors get the very best out of their stay.
We have talked about these places a ton in our videos, but if you’re stumbling across this blog and planning your first stay, you might find this list useful.
So whether you’re staying in a Disney Hotel, an off-site property or a Florida villa, here are five of our favourite Disney World hidden gems.
Disney’s Boardwalk
Disney World is incredible, but it can be a lot. It’s easy to get tired, overstimulated, or simply need a break from the bustle of the theme parks. What a lot of first-time visitors don’t realise is that all of the surrounding resorts are very accessible, and you don’t have to be staying there to visit them.
That’s right, you can wander into Disney’s Grand Floridian resort and sit and have a drink at the bar, or head to Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and toast s’mores on an open fire with a lakefront view. You might even catch the fireworks in the distance. All of the resorts have their very own vibe, and they’re absolutely worth exploring.
I’m sure we’ll talk about each of these individually here at some point, but one of our favourites is Disney’s Boardwalk, and it’s one of the easiest to get to.
In between the UK and the French Pavilions at Epcot, there is a walkway called the International Gateway that takes you out of the park. If you venture under the Skyliner line and follow the water, you’ll find yourself at Disney’s Boardwalk.
Disney’s International Gateway is located between the United Kingdom and the France Pavilion, on the right-hand side of the World Showcase.
The Boardwalk loop and Crescent Lake play host to three of Disney’s resorts. Disney’s Boardwalk Resort, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, and Disney’s Beach Club Resort. They are all stunning, but you don’t have to stay there to visit.
When Epcot gets busy, and you just need an hour or two to compose yourselves and take a break, the Boardwalk is the perfect escape.
Head out left over the bridge, and you’ll find The Cake Bake Shop, places to grab a slice of pizza, a deli sandwich, or a footlong mozzarella stick that is absolutely worth the hype. Or, you could simply pop into Boardwalk Ice Cream, grab a cone, and sit by the water to soak in the view.
It’s one of our favourite places to go, and something of a hidden gem that many don’t even know is there.
2. Disney’s Yachtsman Steakhouse
Sticking with the theme of the Boardwalk area, this is, and has been for a long time, our favourite steak restaurant on Disney property. Now, in fairness, we still need to try some of the Yachtsman’s greatest competition, and we will, but for now, if you want a steak dinner, you cannot beat it.
Located inside Disney’s Yacht Club resort, the Yachtsman Steakhouse offers the perfect venue for a date night or a family celebration. It is one of Disney’s ‘signature dining’ locations, so expect to spend at least $70 per person, but for us, it’s been worth it every time.
We recommend a filet mignon, ordered with sides and a sauce of your choosing, with the hot honey-bourbon brussels sprouts as a side dish for the table. They’re incredible.
Oh, and we recently discovered the French onion soup on Marje’s recommendation (she is the sweetest lady serving at the front of house for the restaurant). But the French onion soup is outstanding, and it’s huge. We shared it.
In fact, you can watch that here in our vlog. We were lucky enough to stay at the Yacht Club, and went back to our favourite restaurant to celebrate.
Oh, and if you time it right, you can get out of the restaurant just before the Epcot fireworks, which you can watch over Crescent Lake. Typically at 9 pm. We usually book a table for 7 pm, eat, leave, and take a stroll around the lake to watch the fireworks. Depending on your table, you might even be able to see them out the window of the restaurant.
Han and Alex stayed at Disney’s Yacht Club resort, with the most incredible view, before heading to the Yachtsman Steakhouse for dinner.
3. Chef Art Smith’s Homecoming at Disney Springs
We will need a separate blog entirely to talk about all of our favourite places to stop and eat at Disney Springs, but on recent trips, Chef Art Smith’s Homecoming has taken the cake.
If you haven’t been to Walt Disney World before, Disney Springs is a shopping complex on Disney property, which you can visit for free. You don’t need park tickets to visit. In fact, it’s a very popular destination for evenings and weekends, and is often bursting with life during those times. If you’re looking for a bit of an evening atmosphere or a place to grab a drink, Disney Springs is the answer.
Back to Chef Art’s. We will warn you, this is one location in which the portion sizes are HUGE.
The first time we went we ordered burgers, and they were really good, but our followers told us we’d made a mistake. We had to try the famous chicken plate.
‘Art’s Famous Fried Chicken.’ It’s $34, (you can view the menu here.)
We ordered a portion each. It was A LOT of food. But the crispy buttermilk fried chicken and the mashed potatoes were so good. It’s a lovely location to eat at, the staff have been amazing for both of our visits so far, and you will absolutely not walk out of there hungry.
If you wanted to ask us about any of the locations on this list, you can follow us here on Instagram.
4. Geyser Point at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Disney’s Wilderness Lodge holds a special place in our hearts. It’s the first deluxe resort we ever stayed at, just for one night, and it was everything we dreamed it would be.
Wilderness Lodge is exactly what you think it is, a lodge, in the wilderness. Wild I know. But considering how close it is to the magic kingdom, the peace and tranquillity of the resort is stunning. You immediately feel like you’re in an entirely different world, and I’d recommend it to everybody, just to visit and grab a drink.
It’s super easy to get to. You can either take a short bus ride from the Magic Kingdom or Disney Springs, or take the boat from Disney’s Contemporary Resort, which, if you’ve got the time, is our preferred option. You can walk directly to the Contemporary from the Magic Kingdom, and out the back of the resort, there’s a boat dock that will take you to Wilderness Lodge.
So, if you find yourself wanting to visit Wilderness Lodge, we love to recommend Geyser Point for lunch, but even better, for dinner.
Spending the evening at Geyser Point is a great way to have a peaceful meal outdoors. Especially when the fireworks go up, or the game is on…
And, gentlemen, it doubles as a sports bar, so if you get there and the game just happens to be on, how could anybody blame you?!
This is a great location for a relaxed meal at an open-air restaurant located on the waterfront. They toast s’mores right next to the restaurant, too, so if you wanted to take the kids, that’s a great little bonus for them. You can also see the fireworks at Magic Kingdom go up from the water’s edge. It’s not the clearest view, but enough to cap off a nice, peaceful night at Wilderness Lodge.
Geyser Point is great all day. You can sit at lunchtime and have a drink in the sun by the water, or head down for dinner on a warm Florida evening. You could even just go down and sit at the wrap-around bar with a drink and watch the game. Highly, highly recommend.
5. Disney’s Wailulu bar & Grill at Disney’s Polynesian tower resort
Disney’s Polynesian Resort is a staple of on-property luxury, but it recently opened it’s Polynesian Tower expansion right next door.
Located on the Magic Kingdom loop, you can get the monorail from the park to the Polynesian, and then take a short walk over to the Polynesian Tower.
The Poly Tower is stunning, with a lot of theming guided towards Disney’s Moana. So if you have little ones who are big Moana fans, it’s worth walking through just to show them around.
That said, there is a bar/restaurant located right at the front of the property, which overlooks Disney’s Seven Seas Lagoon, with a view of the Magic Kingdom castle in the distance.
A view across the Seven Seas Lagoon from Disney’s Wailulu Bar and Grill at Disney’s Polynesian Tower.
Standing by the lagoon and watching the fireworks from either the Polynesian or the new Poly Tower is a great hack for a quiet evening. But the restaurant adds a whole new element.
When we visited, they weren’t yet taking reservations, only walk-ups. That may change. But if you can get a table at around 7:30/8 pm, you’ll have an incredible seat for the fireworks over the lagoon.
On top of that, the food was delightful.
We ordered the Ahi Tuna crisps and grilled Shishito peppers (shoutout Auntie T). They were excellent.
The short rib was amazing, the grilled fish of the day was a winner too, and the general theming of the menu makes a really nice change if you want a break from fried chicken. Which we all do at some point during our Disney World visit.
You can view the full menu here.
For the location, quality of food, and theming of the restaurant, it feels like incredible value for the price.
Anyway, that wraps it. If you need any more tips or want to find out more about these locations, we have plenty of videos on our YouTube channel that should provide a little more info!
