Buffet vs. Family Style character meals

[loralie]

Which character meals do you like better...Buffet or Family style? We have only done buffet character meals and we love them. I am a little nervous to try the family style, I don't think I would like all the food on one platter touching each other. We like that the buffet has more choices for everyone in the family. My DH and 2 boys are pretty picky about what they eat so we need to make sure that they will have something for everyone.

What are your thoughts about buffet or family style character meals?

Loralie

 

[loopner67]

It's definitely personal preference. From what you said about the food touching and having picky eaters, a family style meal might not be for you.

We had a character bfast at Ohana and all the food came out on one big skillet - eggs, Mickey waffles, bisquits, breakfast meat (can't remember if it was just sausage or also bacon). You can have more, so the amount of food isn't the issue. Their pineapple bread is great. My husband *loved* having the food delivered to the table vs. the buffet and he swore the food was hotter/tastier. He's not a buffet guy, though.

We'll be trying out the Donald breakfast in AK coming up this March and I hope it's a good time for all - including the buffet and the food. We'll see, but I'm staying positive.

 

[bcsmom]

I think the Crystal Palace has one of the best breakfast buffets around. The food has always been very fresh, & there is alot to choose from. I like either family style or buffet. For dinner we had the WCC, it is family style & I thought there was a good bit to choose from. I liked the pulled pork, while DH ate the chicken, & DS had the ribs. We also had CRT for breakfast, & it was good. I mostly ate the stuffed french toast, my DH mostly ate the eggs. I hope this helps, I just wanted to give you a few of my opinions.

 

[lillygator]

at this point in parenthood for convienence I love the family style because my girls are too young to get up and go to the buffet by themselves or even with one of us. I am sure once that changes we will love the reg buffets. I personally like them both as its instant food which can usually tame the great big bear (DH).

 

[tjmouse]

I prefer the family style because I am there with my dd alone and it's so hard to go to the buffet and have to drag her with me. You can request that meat is brought on a separate platter if that bothers you. My sis is a vegetarian, so I requested that the meat be on a separate platter and they didn't have a problem at any of the family style places.

 

[Hanover]

We really like both kinds of character meals. Our favorite family style meals are the Garden Grill in Epcot and Liberty Tree Tavern in MK. We didn't really care for the food at the Princess Storybook Breakfast in Epcot. As stated before, the nice thing about family style meals is that you are served the food without having to get up and go through a buffet line. At LTT, the only food that came together was the meat. The veggies, mac-n-cheese, potatoes, etc. came to us in different bowls. At the Garden Grill, everything (but the salad and bread) came to us in one skillet. At PSB, we got sticky buns, and fruit in seperate dishes and then the eggs, bacon, potatoes and sausage in a skillet.
We also really love the Crystal Palace, Donald's breakfastsaurus and enjoy the atomosphere (not the food though) at Chef Mickey's. The real benefit of a buffet is the variety of food offered. You can also eat at your own pace and not rely on wait staff to have to bring more out.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

I was a little unsure about this concept too, but I really enjoyed the meal at LTT. It was just like being at home and passing the bowls around at Thanksgiving dinner. It was a nice change of pace and allowed us to relax a little.

 

[AmyKevinMikeyLovers]

We loved the Chef Mickey's breakfast April 2005, the food was good and varied-everyone was happy. This time we're looking at going in March 2006 and thinking of doing the Lilio &Stitch breakfast, any thoughts?

 

[AmyKevinMikeyLovers]

We loved the Chef Mickey's breakfast April 2005, the food was good and varied-everyone was happy. This time we're looking at going in March 2006 and thinking of doing the Lilio & Stitch breakfast for my son's 6th birthday morning, any thoughts?

I want it to be a perfect birthday in WDW for him, help??!!

 

[lorik]

The family style dinners are more relaxing than the buffets. You actually get to sit down and be served like in a regular TS restaurant. After a long day in the parks this is a good thing. Also, your family actually gets to stay together the entire meal instead of someone always being up at the buffet line. The downside is the lack of variety. Especially if you have picky eaters you have to make sure that there is something on the menu that everyone will eat since the options are so limited. For example, years ago we went to Garden Grill. At that time the meats were catfish, flank steak and chicken. Now the chicken has been replaced by pork. Well, I am not fussy and will eat just about anything, but DS will not. He is fine with chicken, but fish, steak, and pork are out as far as he is concerned. I was not happy with the menu change because I really love the catfish and flank steak, but we had to skip it this past visit. We were able to go to Liberty Tree Tavern and Akershus though because they have turkey or chicken, respectively, for my picky eater.

 

[crisi]

Family style.

For me, the biggest driver is what Lilygator said, I really don't like buffets when kids are too little to handle their own plates.

But, I don't like buffets at all. I do enough walking at WDW - getting my own food is more walking. And even when its just my own plate, I don't like juggling all the food. I'd rather have the food touching each other than the little hands touching the biscuits that seems to be a feature of buffets at WDW.

 

[bleeps]

A vote for buffets!
We've done both and have consistently found the food AND the service better at buffets. The platters of family style meals just haven't been appealing, and we find the food gets too cold to enjoy. We've also thought the quality of the food has consistently better at the buffets. But, all that said, we (1) put the experience/restaurant first (we don't avoid a particular character meal or whatever if we really want to do it for the experience, even if it is a family style place) and (2) would always, always prefer a regular menu at any time -- over buffet or family style!