Any one done Big Thunder Ranch BBQ recently? Thoughts/Comments?

[vickiea]

Hoping for some reviews, seating times, current costs (have seen conflicting info on this), etc.

Thanks
Vickie

[aussiegirls]

We did it about 3 or 4 weeks ago (mid October) and we loooooooooved it. I have to say that it was one of the best meals of our entire trip. The food was amazing (and so much of it), the service was very friendly and the entertainment was fun and funny.

If we were to go to DL again I would definately not hesitate to do it again.....and again, and again, and again.............................

xxxx

[Lostgirlz]

Me, and my cousin in law, and her dbf did this in July. It was pretty much empty, and it was a lunch time peak. It's no longer a char dining like it originally was. The food was good nothing to write home about, but it was good. Sodas are no longer included in cost nor are the cupcakes they gave for dessert those are now an extra 5-6 dollars for them. The entertainment portion is now hit or miss meaning you might get lucky, and be there when the cowboy is out doing his show, or it might be just the meal with no show. I know he was not out when we went. It depends on your group is 20+ per person is worth it to you now that they have changed it from what it originally started as. I personally am not sure I would do it again since to me it was very dead, and located in the back area where there really isnt much there.

[LavenderPeach]

We went in the middle of october, I believe it was a saturday. We didn't have PS (it was a last minute decision to go there) and we had to wait about 20-30 minutes to be seated around 12pm which surprised me since I had been hearing it was empty all the time. Maybe more people were over that way visiting the halloween round-up stuff. They gave us a beeper so we went over and looked at the petting zoo and the carved pumpkins while we were waiting. Also saw Woody over there.

We thought the food was great. We especially liked the chicken. DH is not a fan of getting chicken at restaurants since we tend to have it a lot at home but he really liked the chicken there and has proclaimed that to be his favorite food at DLR. It wasn't dry at all. The ribs were good too but we like the ones at TPG a little better.

I loved the entertainment. It's hard for me to have a conversation during a meal if I have to feed DS ( DS has had a feeding tube his whole life and is just now learning to eat and he doesn't particularly like it so it takes a lot of work to get him fed. Anyway....) but I was able to feed him while i listened to the show which was great. But the atmosphere is relaxed enough if I had to talk to DS about finishing his food, i wasn't disturbing others who were watching the show. I was able to be entertained even while i was hard at work feeding DS so I loved that.

We didn't get very good service though. It wasn't horrible but we had to wait a long time for the waitress to come get our drink order and bring our food and then when we asked for more of something we had to wait a long time again. We probably would have asked for more of a few other things but it took too long. I'm assuming it was just this particular waitress and not how the service always is. It was especially annoying since everyone eats the same food there so I'm assuming they have the food all ready to go.

The price is a little expensive for us to go there very often but I think we will go back again sometime. I agree that if you're not there when the entertainment is going that it wouldn't be as good of a meal since that added a lot to the experience. I can't remember the exact price but allears.net should have the correct price listed.

[Disney*Happy]

Is it all you can eat? Thanks!

[LavenderPeach]

Originally Posted by Disney*Happy

Is it all you can eat? Thanks!

Yes, you just have to ask for more of whatever food you want.

[Quilter007]

We went on Saturday:

- We got the singing cowboy -- he was very good.
- They were all about emphasizing the all you can eat aspect. They also brought 'to go' boxes for the leftovers. I think the kids drinks were included -- with their souvenir cups. Adults drinks were extra.
- Food was good. Coleslaw was a little spicy. DS 9 ate half a chicken by himself! DS 6 ate 3 pieces of the cornbread. We liked the chicken better than the ribs.
- We got there about noon on Saturday and didn't have to wait -- they had about 2/3 of the tables full.

It still isn't a 'must do again' spot for us. It was good, but other than the coleslaw (which was too spicy for me and WAY too spicy for the kids) it was food we could easily and often do make at home, so why pay $60 for the 4 of us to eat it at DL while a cowboy sings to us since we live in the Cowboy state in our real life?

[iKristin]

DELICIOUS. I went 3 weeks ago and it was so dang good. It was the ONLY meal I ate that day because it was so filling and that was about 11:30 when they opened up for the day.

[dlander]

We just went last week, again! It was fantastic! The chicken is amazing and hello? the beans are to die for. The singing cowboy is terrific and our service was topnotch! Enjoy

[minnieandmickey]

Originally Posted by Quilter007

We went on Saturday:

- We got the singing cowboy -- he was very good.
- They were all about emphasizing the all you can eat aspect. They also brought 'to go' boxes for the leftovers. I think the kids drinks were included -- with their souvenir cups. Adults drinks were extra.
- Food was good. Coleslaw was a little spicy. DS 9 ate half a chicken by himself! DS 6 ate 3 pieces of the cornbread. We liked the chicken better than the ribs.
- We got there about noon on Saturday and didn't have to wait -- they had about 2/3 of the tables full.

It still isn't a 'must do again' spot for us. It was good, but other than the coleslaw (which was too spicy for me and WAY too spicy for the kids) it was food we could easily and often do make at home, so why pay $60 for the 4 of us to eat it at DL while a cowboy sings to us since we live in the Cowboy state in our real life?

We went Friday and liked the ribs better than the Chicken. Not sure why but I thought the chicken was going to be fried Wish it had been, I'm not big on skin on chicken if it's not. Ribs were a little spicy but good, sausage was very good, we liked the sides as well. Only complaint, price, I don't think it's worth it, plus if I'm paying $25 pp then I want dessert and drinks ($2.99 pp). If you want to do this, I would suggest going at lunch before 4pm it's $19.99 pp.

[Spacepest]

My husband and I went midweek in October for dinner. We didn't need an advance place seating, which was quite surprising how busy the parks were in October. This might all change on weekends though.

We thought about going for lunch, but decided we wanted the expanded dinner menu instead. Dinner was about $25 a person, and did not include drinks or dessert.

First off, the food. Keep in mind this is not gourmet, family run BBQ with a smokehouse. The meat is not really smoked, and the BBQ sauces on the meat are really mild, not spicy at all. However, the meat was tender and good, not overcooked jerky like alot of low end BBQ joints tend towards. But for what it is, it is not bad. If anything, this is the kind of BBQ that would be good for kids with picky palates, or people with sensitive stomachs (food is not greasy or spicy). The sides were good, my husband even ate the cole slaw and he hates coleslaw. We ended up ordering extra beans, sausage, and corn muffins. Portion size, for two people, it was huge. The first round of meats (ribs, chicken, sausage) were brought in a large metal bucket, and our servers informed us that the food would be served family style, and we could order all we could eat. Dessert was extra, so we ordered one strawberry cupcake to split (as we were really full by this point). Dessert was ok, but it came in a huge fancy table center piece that looked quite impressive. For desserts you have a choice of cupcakes and those seasonal dessert demitasses in the souvenir cups. But seriously, we were so full, we could easily see skipping dessert at this place.

Second, service. We had no problem with the service, as it was prompt and friendly. Waiters and waitresses came to us many times during our meal to see if we wanted any extra helpings of food, and there was always someone there to make sure our drinks were refilled, bring us extra napkins, etc.

Third, entertainment. There was live entertainment and we really liked it! There were two singers, a male and a female (a cowboy, can't remember his name, and Miss Chris) who took turns on stage singing hokey cowboy and Halloween related songs. They would also wander through the audience and encourage the children to get up and dance on stage with them, or line up and dance around the restaurant area. The kids looked like they were having a blast, and if I had children with me, I would not hesitate to take them to this place.

Now, I've heard this place changed from when it originally opened. What I didn't see-no characters meeting and greeting children in the restaurant. Which also meant no photographers going to our table to harass us for our pictures. I'm quite okay with that. There is also a small fenced off area next to the restaurant that the general public can wander into...its more like a stroller parking area than anything. So while people can sneak in and watch the live entertainment beyond this boundary, the servers make it quite clear, if you aren't ordering at the restaurant, you are not allowed to sit at the tables. (IMHO, which is a good thing. The park was quite crowded and I would have been beyond irritated if I had people jammed in around while I was trying to eat).

Would I do this place again? Definately. Especially if I had small children, as they looked like they were having quite a bit of fun with the entertainers!