Buffets

[goofy4prez]

I am not a big fan of buffets, especially for lunch/dinner; to me they are mostly about quantity and not quality and serve nothing more than institutional quality food prepared for the masses of people and sitting on serving stations to be scooped up. I'll take a prepared meal with service any day over a buffet and standing in a line dishing out my food. However, there are a few that are decent.

Breakfast Buffets that I have done.
Crystal Palace: Love getting into the MK early... Pooh & friends are great...I have always had good service here... The stations have been well stocked and maintained... The food for a buffet is decent... The breakfast lasagna is to die for.
The Wave: The biggest surprise for me... Not very crowded and quite... Smaller buffet... Food is fresh and good... Service is excellent...
Tusker House: Early access to AK... Food is good... A bit of an awkward layout for me... service was not very good... Excellent character interaction
Cape May: Excellent character interaction... Noisy... Average food offerings but maintained... Noisy... Good service... Convenient to HS and Epcot...
Chef Mickey: Close to MK... Good character experience... Terrible service... poorly maintained buffet table... Worst food I have experienced at Disney... Never again!

Dinner Buffets I have done.
Boma: One of the exceptions that offers very good food... Good service... Well maintained and stocked... A bit difficult to get too... One of the few outside of breakfast that is worth going to.
Biergarten: Awesome atmosphere... Decent food offerings... Well maintained and stocked... Some may not care for the community type seating... Another dinner buffet worth going to but not at the level of Boma.
Cape May: Not much I really cared for. Crab Legs were stringy and not very meaty... Offerings were very institutional in quality... Service was ok... Not one I will return to outside of breakfast.
1900 Park Fare: Perhaps the best character interaction I have experienced. From there- Food below average... Service average... Only thing memorable was the strawberry soup... A one and done for me.

In short for breakfast there are only two that I think are very good in Crystal Palace and The Wave with Tusker House being ok. As for dinner there is only one buffet that is a must do in Boma and Biergarten as a must be in the mood place. Of course this is the opinion of yours truly and I"m sure there will be some who agree with me and many more who will disagree with me.

 

[herewegoga]

1900 Park Fare is our favorite character breakfast. The food is good. The character interactions are some of the best we've experienced. Always fun.

Crystal Palace is a close 2nd for breakfast. Good food, service is consistently good and the characters are my favorites.

Chef Mickeys is the worst by far. Noisy, characters don't spend much time, the buffet was a mess. They did have grapefruit on the buffet which I love and the Mickey waffles were delish but other than that it was just gross.

Cape May for dinner is highly over rated.

 

[GreatLakes]

Tusker House and Boma are the only two above average buffets on property IMO. I haven't been to them all but those are really the only two that stand out. I do enjoy Biergarten but it isn't really exceptional, it is good for what it is though.

 

[Misha72683]

We did buffets mostly so that my adventerous eating 2 YO would be able to get his own plate. We ate at Boma, Biergarten, Crystal Palace (breakfast), Hollywood & Vine and Akershus (only partially buffet) and would happily eat at them all again except for H&V which was awful.

 

[jolene63]

I would definitely try Biergarten. I'm a pretty picky eater and wasn't really looking forward to this dinner. I was pleasantly surprised on how many things I actually liked. It is a must now for our next trip.

 

[shortnsassy730]

Tusker House, Boma, and Biergarten. That's about it for quality food buffets. If you are planning on going at a time when there is a chance for free dining you may want to consider upgrading to the deluxe plan. Children on the deluxe plan can order off of the adult menu or the children's menu. It is three ts credits a day and app, entree, and dessert each meal. We generally do one early lunch or late breakfast and then a Signature dinner. This uses up our credits and allows for better "foodie" options but still only two meals a day.

If you're sticking with the standard plan, there are some QS places that offer more unique offerings. On the dining plan, children can order off the adult menu at QS locations. So Tangerine Cafe in Epcot, Wolfgang Puck Express ( not really unique but very good food) at Disney Springs, Sunshine Seasons at Epcot, Pecos Bill. Also, for TS, Raglan Road has one of the bigger kid's menus on property.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

I'm not normally into buffets, but we liked Tusker House 'brunch' (breakfast scheduled late enough to also have lunch foods) and Boma dinner. My parents and brother also went to Biergarten and loved it (they tend to like buffets, though; but the combination of their raves and the menu makes me want to try it on our next trip). We didn't dislike 1900 PF dinner, but if we returned, it would be for the characters and not because the food was anything special.

As others have stated, though not a buffet, Ohana is another option for AYCTE food where children are served the same foods as adults (I've read that things like chicken nuggets are available upon request but have never asked for them ourselves). Ohana is probably our favorite dinner restaurant on property aside from V&A. Likewise, Whispering Canyon Cafe offers an AYCTE platter, with children receiving the same foods as adults.