Buffet Remorse

[ThistleMae]

Um, I think you meant Arendelle, not Switzerland. Bon appetit.

Most of the buffets and AYCTE have lost their lustre for us. Especially the character meals. Some of them have decent quality food, but without small ones clamoring to meet the characters, we just prefer something less chaotic. There are still a very few that we do, usually only one or 2 per trip. Biergarten, Boma, LTT dinner (DH loves it), and rarely CP.

Too funny! Adrendelle! I was not aware they actually changed the name. Thanks. I still love the "school bread" no matter what it's called!

 

[quandrea]

I love breakfast buffets. I have one per trip, but no more than that. For lunch/dinner I do TS because the quality of food is better.

I completely agree. We do Cape May quite often as a brunch at 10:50. The characters have lots of fun, the food is fresh and hot and they are fantastic with my dd's allergies. It makes for a fun, relaxing morning.

 

[minnie mum]

Too funny! Adrendelle! I was not aware they actually changed the name. Thanks. I still love the "school bread" no matter what it's called!

They didn't change the name. Its the Norway pavilion. Always has been. Some of us refer to it now as Arendelle after the unconscionable decision to replace Maelstrom.

 

[bumbershoot]

This year we are doing Crystal palace breakfast buffet, lol the big draw is that we picked a before opening time and I have always wanted to get MK pictures when the park was mainly empty. expensive way to get pictures.

I am sure you know this but just in case...watch for changes in opening times. Since a big draw is the early entry, make sure they haven't gone an added an hour to the MK day thereby ruining your plans. Happened to us first time we went to MK but I didn't know they would or could do that, and it was very disappointing.

As vegetarians, breakfast buffets are even more disappointing than others for us, so paying that much for gross eggs and a pancake but without the empty park was just rotten.

We would like the atmosphere of Biergarten I think and would love to try it if it were more suitable for our diet.

I have read several positive reports of vegetarians and Biergarten. I haven't yet braved it, but they do have some things.

 

[BuzzyBelle]

I think my DH and kids would do a character breakfast every morning if I let them Luckily I make the ADRs so we're only booked for 4 We obviously enjoy the character meals. DD5 likes to see the characters and DD12 does, too, but I think she likes the independence of going up and making her own choices. We usually skip lunch and then eat TS for dinner. We did Beirgarten before and are doing 'Ohana dinner this year, but tend to avoid buffets for dinner. I think the characters get you excited and going for the day, but we like to sit down and have a nice relaxing meal for dinner.

 

[OKW Lover]

Does anyone ever regret doing too many buffet or all you can eat meals? I find that sometimes I book several buffets instead of normal TS resturants for the characters or location but disappointed that all my meals feel the same. I know they all have their differences but I enjoy sitting down for a relaxing meal and a menu. Anyone else ever get this feeling?

Yes, this is a good point. We've done buffets and fallen into the trap of over-eating so that we can get our money's worth. We much prefer to do a sit-down, order off the menu meal these days.

 

[mombrontrent]

I hate buffets, hate them, at Disney or not. They kind of "gross" me out, knowing serval people including kids and adults with less then perfect hygiene are up there touching everything, breathing, sneezing and coughing over everything and even downright touching things with their hands. Call me a germaphobe or paranoid but it bothers me.

I also find most if not all the offerings at most/all buffets to be of poor quality. It needs to be cheap food since people eat and waste so much. I MUCH prefer quality over quantity and cannot eat enough nor do I care to try to eat enough to get my money's worth. I hate that uncomfortable feeling of being to full and refuse to over indulge. Also being vegan leaves me with little choice at most buffets, I have never tried a breakfast buffet but would assume almost everything would be "off-limits" to me.

That being said I have never eaten at a Disney buffet and it has been over 10 years since I have eaten at any buffet but my family did have the AYCTE skillet at WCC in 2008 and we are going to HDDR in May but that is for the show as much as the food. I don't mind the concept of family style eating since I am sharing with only my family but the price is usually not in line with what we would spend by just eating a la carte so it's not really worth it for us.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I love buffets too. Dessert buffets the most. I even like that Illuminations stand up Dessert Party. Last year we did food overload. Garden Grill (awesome), Boma (awesome), MBBQ (awesome), Whispering Canyon Skillet (just kept bringing the ribs) Chef Mickeys for breakfast and Spirit of Aloha that night. Plus we did both Illuminations and Wishes Dessert Parties. It was nuts.

I will never do this again...oh who am I kidding of course I will.

 

[greentea]

As vegetarians, breakfast buffets are even more disappointing than others for us, so paying that much for gross eggs and a pancake but without the empty park was just rotten.

Aw, that sounds frustrating. The Tusker House breakfast buffet was really good as a vegetarian. I had a lot of options and really liked it! In case you want to try another buffet sometime.

Dinner buffets are often more of a problem for me.

 

[Mikka]

Buffets at Disney are better then most buffets I can get up here in Tourist Trap, PA- the way they heat them and their smaller portions that are replaced faster makes for a tastier buffet then, I don't know, Old Country Buffet/Golden Coral/Generic Chinese Buffet Number Five Hundred and Fifty Six.

Having said that, I generally would rather order a three course meal at a sit down then pay for a buffet. Am I paying more? Yep. Am I getting better food? Almost definitely.

Boma's is not bad, especially if you're in to trying say, the breakfast pap. If we're doing two days where we're at AK and don't want to leave it, I'll take Tusker House over Rainforest Cafe anyday (though I'll choose Yak and Yeti first). The Wave's odd little healthy multigrain WOO breakfast buffet is very simple, but not bad. The buffet in Germany has food I couldn't get here where I live, sadly (despite this being PA Dutchland), so although it's not my favourite, I wouldn't discount it totally.

But if I want Crab, I'll go to Bluezoo, not Cape May. If I want, um, ANYTHING, I'll go there instead of Chef Mickey's.

If I had a child interested in the Princesses, I suppose I could see taking them to Norway. But otherwise, buffet's don't appeal. All You Can Eat's aren't my kind of thing, either, but I'm more likely to go for them then a buffet. More sanitary. Hopefully.

 

[monica9]

I love buffets! I love when I'm starving and don't have to wait for my food and love that you can get in and out quicker than a sit down.

on a side note....We are still debating on doing Tusker House or Boma for breakfast on our AK day if anyone wants to chime in. Makes more sense to do Tusker since we need to take the bus to AK and then transfer to AKL if we do Boma. Are they similar? I am Gluten free if that makes a difference.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . Some of them have decent quality food, but without small ones clamoring to meet the characters, we just prefer something less chaotic . . .

1) We would rather do a TS meal.
2) The buffets are just too chaotic and noisy.
3) Besides, we don't pig-out any more, so AYCTE doesn't do anything for/to us.
4) Plus, the buffets simply don't have good enough food for the prices.

 

[mullysisters]

Well...you will get as many different answers as there are people. So here is mine. I love buffets. I love Boma, Cape May Café and Ohana. I also love several restaurants. Rainforest Café and T-Rex. I also really enjoy the Crystal Palace, even though it is not for the character meal. The bottom line....you can't go wrong no matter where you eat! Try something new every time you go. I love the countries for lunches, so much variety there. France has the best selection of pastries and Switzerland has great sandwiches and the "school bread" is delicious. Bon a petite'!

Agreed!
The buffet at captains Grille is great too and the service outstanding. Buffets allow me to have what I want instead of a large plate of one thing. As far as value, I would pay the same price for a meat entree and it may not be so great. Each to his own

 

[ThistleMae]

I love buffets too. Dessert buffets the most. I even like that Illuminations stand up Dessert Party. Last year we did food overload. Garden Grill (awesome), Boma (awesome), MBBQ (awesome), Whispering Canyon Skillet (just kept bringing the ribs) Chef Mickeys for breakfast and Spirit of Aloha that night. Plus we did both Illuminations and Wishes Dessert Parties. It was nuts.

I will never do this again...oh who am I kidding of course I will.

Party On! You only live once....unless you are a Buddhist!

 

[ThistleMae]

They didn't change the name. Its the Norway pavilion. Always has been. Some of us refer to it now as Arendelle after the unconscionable decision to replace Maelstrom.

Oh...okay....thanks! Anyway, I love the food there!

 

[Mikie]

At home we don't love, don't hate buffets, but usually eat at menu sit-downs. At WDW, I pick based on location, atmosphere, characters, experiences like Fantasmic! package and last trip ended up with 5 out of 7 TS as buffets. We definitely relished our couple of full-service, get off our feet sit-down meals! For the most part, we really enjoyed our buffets (Boma, Akershus breakfast) but some were strictly for the characters or F! package (Chef Mickey, Hollywood &Vine)

Next trip, especially as our kids age out of characters, we will probably return to Boma or Tusker House or maybe an 8am Crystal palace, but will definitely focus on more menu locations!