Has anyone ever had a good meal at these kinds of places in Disney? Weve tried HDDR, Spirit of Aloha, Ohana, Crystal Palace, Liberty Tree and a few others that Ive erased from my mind. Maybe large quantities of food cant be prepared properly at once?
You raise a good point, DizGeek. It's also a big big moneysaver for Disney as more and more folks, particularly those with very young kids, flock to the buffets and family-style meals.
Now that my kids are (can sit still and order several courses - lol) and more adventurous food-wise, we tend to cut back on the number of the meals we do that are buffets.
That said, have we had a "good" meal at these kinds of places?
Crystal Palace - yes.
LTT - adequate...sad when the best offering is the cobbler.
Biergarten - okay +
Hollywood & Vine - for some reason my family loves it, tho we haven't been back last two trips
Chef Mickey - sliding into buffet-dismal land over the last few years, but the character interaction is still some of the best I've seen. I can see the corners being cut at every stop at the buffet bar!
Trail's End - overlooked and underrated -
We have yet to do HDDR, Spirit of Aloha or Ohana. Others keep encouraging me to try, but there's probably some instinct at work in these in 8 trips!
Thanks for bringing this up, DizGeek. It's simple reasoning that tho they do a fairly decent job at mass-producing large amounts for the buffets and family styles, I'd probably rather have a plated meal brought to the table for me. Depends on the needs, expectations and experiences of different folks re:buffets, dinner shows and family style meals.
And, yah.... GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO PATS!!!!!!!!!!!