Family Style

[Katwillow1]

We're doing all Family style, buffet and ordering. I have a question re LTT on their family style is mac. & cheese DGS 5 would love this and it,s a kid's menu item would we need to order him this or could he just eat from our 4 family style. Seems a waste to me to use a credit for somethoing twice????

The mac & cheese is usually the first side to go...especially when my girlfriend has her grandkids with her. The waiters were really good about keeping the bowls replenished and the kids were quite happy. They don't do individual menu items for dinner at LTT. If all he / she eats is mac & cheese then it's all he / she eats and you are going to be docked a TS for a child.

 

[BlindTyldak]

Maybe I'm not thinking clearly, but the only family style places I can come up with are:

Breakfast:
Ohana
Akershus
Cinderella's (actually, this one is pre-plated, which is a bit different)

Dinner:
Liberty Tree Tavern
Ohana
Garden Grill (lunch also)


And, of course, Hoop De Doo.

There are a few other places that have family style options included along with a regular menu (like Whispering Canyon Cafe).

With the exception of Akershus, those have all been family style for as long as I can remember. No changes or additions, that I know of.

Honestly, in all of WDW, that doesn't seem like an over-abundance of family style meals to me.

Now add buffets to that, and the number of places you can get your own entree drops significantly again. I'm not counting resort restaurants since adding them as options is not for everyone (park time, transportation). Yes, many places have been family style or buffet from the start, but it does seem as if they are building in more buffets and family style as they build the new restaurants. The new Asian TS coming up? CM said they think it is supposed to be a buffet as well, but she wasn't positive.

 

[gigi1313]

the only park that might have more TS-buffet/family style dinners than it does TS-menu dinners is MK (menu = Tony's and Plaza; buffet/fs = CP and LTT) if you consider pay-one-price of CRT as not "menu"... AK has RC which is menu and Donalds only for breakfast as buffet... MGM has H&V as its only buffet/family style and BD, 50s, SciFi, Mama Melrose... Epcot has Akershus, GG, Biergarten for buffet/fs and coral reef and all the other WS restaurants (mexico, china, japanx2, francex2, england, canada) for menu...

the other dynamic of buffet/fs restaurants is the turn-around time... you can get patrons in, seat them, serve them and get them out a LOT faster at a buffet/fs restaurant than at a menu restaurant... i would bet that a LOT of guests prefer that 'cause while they want a decent meal and to be waited on, they don't want to forfeit huge amounts of precious park time, kwim?

 

[GEM]

Now add buffets to that, and the number of places you can get your own entree drops significantly again.

I understand that, but the thread (as started by the OP) was about how she thought they were making too many family style meals in what she thought was a cost-cutting measure - not about buffets, etc.

So, that's why I responded by pointing out that there are only a handful of family style places, really. Even if you add all the family style plaes and buffets together, there are still many more menu restaurants than buffet/family style.

So, I really can't see that there's been any "switch to family style" or that menu service restaurants are becoming harder to find.

 

[gigi1313]

Yes, many places have been family style or buffet from the start, but it does seem as if they are building in more buffets and family style as they build the new restaurants. The new Asian TS coming up? CM said they think it is supposed to be a buffet as well, but she wasn't positive.

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::forgot to finish my post LOL::

i don't know anything about the new Asian TS... where will it be?

the only new restaurant that recently opened in wdw that i can think of is raglan road and that's menu, not buffet/fs...

 

[chigirl]

Maybe being from the Chicago area where many weddings are "Family Style" has caused me to like this set up for vacations...DS is 8 and a light eater and DD is 13 and picky, picky. We had family style at Ohana and Hoop Dee Doo last Sept and it worked out well for us. This year we are doing LTT and GG for that same reason. It is likely a cost-cutting measure, much like "self-check out" at places like Jewel and Home Depot, plus I-Pass (which wasn't put into place to speed up travel times but to put $22 an hour toll collectors out of work). I work for a major nationwide company and I know we cut costs whenever and wherever we can. I still think these places are magical with the character interaction and how darn happy the CM's are. As a manager, I am impressed with the customer service everywhere I go in WDW!!!!

 

[jcemom]

I actually wish there were more family style options, LOL. I don't care for buffet because I feel as if I'm always jumping up and down (with three kids) and don't get to taste my own food. Ordering from a menu is great when it's just DH and I, but with three kids it often takes too long. Family style suits us perfectly...faster than menu, good variety of foods, all you care to eat, but you don't have to get up to get it.

 

[thunderbird1]

I'll be the oddball and admit that I love buffets, but don't care for family style. The offerings at family style restaurants are so much more limited than the buffets. I hear what you're saying with the not having to get up (especially to get food for the kids), but I'm a vegetarian and there are very few family style sides that make a decent meal for me. The choices at HDDR were so bad, that I ended up with a plate of pasta with marinara sauce. Not bad, but not worth anywhere near what we paid for it. Which is another issue for me--family style means everyone pays the same (generally inflated) price, regardless of what you eat. Vegetarian meals, on the other hand, are usually the cheapest thing on the menu, not to mention a much better meal than just eating the sides at a family style place.

A buffet, while it still has the inflated price issue, has a whole lot more to choose from, both for vegetarians and everyone else. Plus, at the end of a meal, you get to sample lots of different desserts instead of just having as much as you want of one dessert.

Does anyone else think the switch to "family style" in some WDW restaurants is cop out by Disney? I think they've ruined the Liberty Tree Tavern. Its just a way for Disney to reduce the amount of waiters/waiteresses and talented chefs they need.

I agree! With family style, you get the worst of both worlds--the quality of a buffet without the variety. If I can't have the variety offered by a buffet, then give me a real menu!

(I was reading this to dh, and he said I could add his $.02 as a carnivore. He also loves buffets, but hates family style, mainly because he doesn't like to share his food. He knows they'll bring you as much more as you want, but he hates having everyone's fingers in the community pot.)