Buffets

[smiths02]

I have been to allears.net and raed reviews on the buffets....so everyone seems to love or hate a certain experience...

In 2005, I went to Boma (dinner) and Crystal Palace (lunch)...I enjoyed both...

So are the buffets really as bad as some people make out? Now, I am not asking if they are worth a TS credit or $29.99 or anything like that....I just want to know if the food is edible and the place is reasonably clean...

My family is not fancy...we have no problem eating at Ryan's, Golden Corral, Sizzler, Great American Buffet, etc. So in your experience...are the Disney buffets at least up to this level?

 

[KatMark]

We are trying Boma for breakfast for the first time in September--understand it is wonderful. Our three other favorite buffets are: Crystal Palace (breakfast), Biergarten (Lunch or dinner) and Cape May Cafe (breakfast). For all the all food you get, I think it is worth it. We often on these buffet days will share a counter service meal as we fill up on the buffet.

 

[catne]

O.K., we regularly go to Golden Corrals in our area - and we like it, and have gone to Great American Buffet and Sizzler when traveling. In our opinion, Disney buffets are 10x better. Cleaner, much better quality of food and usually better recipes too, better service.

If you've ever been to casino buffets...would put Disney closer to a fancy casino buffet than to Golden Corral.

That said, we didn't care for the food at Boma - too exotic on the spices for our tastes (but many people love it.) For Dinners, we really liked Tusker House, Crystal Palace, and Cape May Cafe. We thought Chef Mickey's was good for breakfast, and Hollywood & Vine, and Biergarten for dinner were good, too (but not our favorites.)

 

[NorweJenNY]

O.K., we regularly go to Golden Corrals in our area - and we like it, and have gone to Great American Buffet and Sizzler when traveling. In our opinion, Disney buffets are 10x better. Cleaner, much better quality of food and usually better recipes too, better service.

If you've ever been to casino buffets...would put Disney closer to a fancy casino buffet than to Golden Corral.

I believe you are right on target... I fully agree!

I must add that I've always had the best service at Disney restaurants - better than any place else!

 

[MickeyNicki]

DH and I never do buffets except at Disney..we have eaten at just about every single one, breakfast and dinner and the best (to us) are:

Boma breakfast
CP breakfast and dinner
Chef Mickey breakfast
Cape May breakfast and dinner
Beirgarten

The worst are:

1900 PF breakfast and dinner
Boma dinner
Chef Mickeys dinner

 

[BreTyPres87]

DH and I never do buffets except at Disney..we have eaten at just about every single one, breakfast and dinner and the best (to us) are:

Boma breakfast
CP breakfast and dinner
Chef Mickey breakfast
Cape May breakfast and dinner
Beirgarten

The worst are:

1900 PF breakfast and dinner
Boma dinner
Chef Mickeys dinner

I've got both of those on my list of ADR's

 

[OklahomaTourist]

I've got both of those on my list of ADR's

I can offer a mixed experience w/Chef Mickey's. We got a last-minute call-ahead reservation when we arrived late Sunday afternoon in '01, and had what I thought was a very nice supper from their buffet. I was pleased enough to try breakfast there last year, but surprisingly, I was a little disappointed...the eggs were a little runny, the service a little rushed...not bad, but just a little below par from my prior expectations.

There was quite a bit of construction around the CM area with another restaurant having closed and being torn down, so who knows if that may have had some sort of unexpected consequence, but I'm cautious about trying CM again this year...

 

[perla75]

I've got both of those on my list of ADR's

Take opinions on here with a grain of salt Everyone has different tastes & it's best that you try & decide for yourself.

Boma dinner is hands down my FAVORITE buffet on WDW property! We thought it offered the best variety, best quality food, and most amazing desserts!! I also thought the restaurant was gorgeous, service was great, and it was a clean & comfy atmosphere.

 

[AMB1]

DH and I are usually big signature restaurant diners and don't generally care for buffets. On this past trip with our young children, however, we booked a ton of character buffets. The food was absolutely fine. You certainly don't have to worry that it is "inedible" or "unclean". Some of the breakfast buffets were downright yummy and we have no regrets about the couple of dinner buffets we scheduled (CP and Park Fare).

 

[Tricia1972]

Take opinions on here with a grain of salt Everyone has different tastes & it's best that you try & decide for yourself.

Boma dinner is hands down my FAVORITE buffet on WDW property! We thought it offered the best variety, best quality food, and most amazing desserts!! I also thought the restaurant was gorgeous, service was great, and it was a clean & comfy atmosphere.

I definitely agree with that. I have pretty strong opinions about lots of Disney restaurants, and give a bad review of one of the Dis's favorites. People have eaten there since my bad experience and still love it. Go and cultivate your own opinion, don't let one bad review sway you regardless of who is giving that review.

That being said, the buffets at Disney are certainly no worse than any of the buffets that you've listed.

 

[n2mm]

I have been to allears.net and raed reviews on the buffets....so everyone seems to love or hate a certain experience...

In 2005, I went to Boma (dinner) and Crystal Palace (lunch)...I enjoyed both...

So are the buffets really as bad as some people make out? Now, I am not asking if they are worth a TS credit or $29.99 or anything like that....I just want to know if the food is edible and the place is reasonably clean...

My family is not fancy...we have no problem eating at Ryan's, Golden Corral, Sizzler, Great American Buffet, etc. So in your experience...are the Disney buffets at least up to this level?

I think one of the things you will notice is the change from what you remember in 2005 to now. Buffets have change alot since then. We use to enjoy going to CM back in 2005 and earlier. The selection is much less now and we no longer enjoy it. Same for many other places. Plus you will notice the difference in portion sizes too that you will remember from 4 years ago. We only go to one buffet now and it's Cape May dinner. While the selection is not as great as it once was, it's still a good deal for us. Since we stay at the BCV or BWV, it's also convenient. I would love to hear your opinion after you returned since you would notice the differences more than someone like our family who go every other month.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

We ate from buffets at Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, Akershus, and 1900 Park Fare in November and we loved them all. I think they have very good food and seemed very clean to me. The food is more creative than a standard buffet place. The dishes seem more like something you would get from a non buffet restaurant. And we always had good service.

I think you should take reviews lightly and make up your own mind. I read terrible reviews on every place we ate at (all 9 of them), but we loved every single place. I think some people are used to a higher class of living than I am, and therefore, their opinions are very different from mine on what a good experience is. If I had listened to the reviews on San Angel Inn, we would have never gone there. I am so glad that I chose to decide for myself, because we loved it!!! Yes the chips and salsa were Tostidos, but who cares.............the place was beyond beautiful and our main dishes were excellent. So if you are not VERY picky about every little detail, you will love just about any place at Disney.

 

[Don Disney]

Once again-Disney Buffets(especially character buffets) are pretty good for our family! Everyone can find something they like,and different desserts like ice cream,cookies,bread pudding etc are readily available. As I have said before"they can keep those little plates of food with the drizzle and twigs". I'm sure the Signature places are great,but I just don't want to have to order 2 entree's,2 appetizers,and 2 desserts to get a nice enough variety to really enjoy the culinary offerings!!