Cape May Cafe Seafood Buffet OR Garden Grill

[Kristineamb]

for dinner???
Our party will consist of 2 adults, 13yo, 5yo and 3yo
We are staying at BWV and wanted to go somewhere we could walk to
We have NEVER been to either
Both menus are equally appealing
We will be using a TS dining credit
Anyone been to either recently and can share their experience?

 

[evilqueenmindy]

Last meal at Cape May for me was in November, it was our third time there, we've never had a bad meal, its clean, the items on the buffet have good turnover, they don't sit there dying under a heat lamp. We've never eaten at Garden Grill, the advantage there would be not having to get up and serve yourself. . .but Cape May has Oreo Bon Bons, that has to count for something.

 

[SusieBea]

for dinner???
Our party will consist of 2 adults, 13yo, 5yo and 3yo
We are staying at BWV and wanted to go somewhere we could walk to
We have NEVER been to either
Both menus are equally appealing
We will be using a TS dining credit
Anyone been to either recently and can share their experience?

We've eaten at both - the Garden Grill for the first time early this past December. I won't go back to the Garden Grill. The characters were wonderful; the service was indifferent; and the food was tasteless (except for dessert which was very good). Cape May had something for everyone. It's a buffet! That's our experience.

 

[bluenosemickey]

Have done both. Definately Cape May! We continue to go back there and recommend it to others.

 

[LILOLO]

I haven't been to cape may (yet) but i did not like garden grill. The service wasnt good and the food was cold, tasteless, and cheap tasting.

 

[mdelano4]

We go to the Garden Grill nearly every visit. I am pretty picky about food quality, but we have never had a problem.

We made one trip to Cape May Buffet and hated it. The food was very mediocre and the fish selection that night (can't even remember what it was) didn't appeal to a single member of the family.

The bigger problems were that we are also a family of 5, only the kids are a bit older than yours. They sat us in a booth for 4 and put a chair on the end. That meant my son got bumped by every 3rd person who walked by (including CMs) and he had to get up anytime someone on that end of the table needed to get out. The other problem was the service. I realize that all we needed were drinks, but I had to send out Search and Rescue to find our waitress for refills, then she gave us an attitude like we had no business asking for more drinks. We are very easy going when we go out to eat. Almost never complain about the food (unless there's "something" on the plate that shouldn't be there) and never, ever hassle the wait staff, so her demeanor was uncalled for.

 

[Ginny Favers]

I love the Garden Grill! It's one of my favorites and I've eaten there every time I've gone. I don't understand the comments about the food being tasteless. I found the food to be quite yummy, and the character interaction was superb. My daughter got a kick out of the fact that the place was rotating over The Land.

 

[hailbug]

The characters at Garden Grill are great, food is okay. I love the buffet at Cape May! It is very good, they have a nice variety. I would definitly go with Cape May!

 

[Brit17]

We always make it a point to go to Cape May Cafe for dinner when we're in WDW and we have always loved it ... however, I couldn't believe how disappointed we were with it this past November 2011 ... I don't know if they were just having an off night or what ... the crab legs weren't refilled very quickly, and if you were lucky to get a few, they were cold ... the salad/soup bar was a total mess with empty containers and spilled contents all about ... the fish of the day was inedible ... the dessert station was also messy with empty trays ... and I could go on ... it wasn't like the restaurant was overcrowded or it was late in the evening either ... as I said before, it had always been one of our favorite Disney restaurants, but I would have to think twice before eating there again ...

 

[vacation_junkie]

When you say seafood..do you mean fish..or is there crab legs there and stuff for dinner ?

 

[DAZY3BYZ]

We LOVE Cape May! My son adores the crab legs! They have such a wonderful variety of options to please everyone..even the non-seafood lovers in our family. The desserts here were the best of our trip! Absolutely to die for! I'd choose Cape May!

 

[ppony]

We love Cape May as well. For our mom and dad get away next weekend, hubby requested Cape May dinner and we're only eating out twice. He really enjoys it and so do I though I'm not a seafood eater. It's just a nice place. We've always been happy there. We also pay OOP so money talks.

 

[Kristineamb]

Thanks for the responses so far!
I am actually NOT a seafood lover but my DH & 13yo DS are......
we are doing CRT, Donald's Safari Breakfast, Crystal Palace and Princess Storybook meal in Norway so the characters at The Garden Grill aren't a deal breaker...

 

[North of Mouse]

Another vote for Cape May . We did not care for Garden Grill at all. The clam chowder & crab legs at CM are delicious and there are other seafood dishes. But, there are also plenty of non-seafood dishes for the "seafood challenged" Enjoy, makes me hungry just thinking about CM. We always go there 2-3 times while we are there.

 

[Brian Noble]

Our party will consist of 2 adults, 13yo, 5yo and 3yo

With two younger kids, I really liked "family style" service much more than buffet service. It's my dinner too, and I don't want to have to spend it running around making plates for the kids---I'd much rather have someone bring dinner to me. As the kids have gotten older and able to fend for themselves a bit more, we've added more buffets to our rotation.

Edited to add: but you have A LOT of character meals already. We can only do a couple or so in a week before they all start to run together. YMMV.

 

[doclegler]

and while I do enjoy BOTH restaurants a great deal, the tie-breaker for me was when I recently looked at the menus for both on allears.net and Cape May has now raised their prices to $42.59/adult!! (Garden Grill is $34.96) I can't justify the food at Cape May being worth THAT much money sadly....
They are both great restaurants depending on what you like. GG's character interaction is GREAT though too.
Best of luck with your choice!

 

[ppony]

Thanks for the responses so far!
I am actually NOT a seafood lover but my DH & 13yo DS are......

And the great thing about this for people like you and me who don't eat seafood... we can graze the rest of the buffet almost unfettered as everyone waits in line for the seafood!

 

[North of Mouse]

Allears is not always accurate. Sometimes they put the high season (holiday pricing) and sometimes not. Cape May has not been that expensive when we went, and they definitely have the better variety of food. It's better just to call on the dates that you've selected and get the correct pricing for that time.