Grand Floridian Cafe vs. the Wave

[BlueSuitDonald]

We will be staying at wilderness Lodge next summer. I am needing a restaurant for one of our magic kingdom nights. Already planning BOG and OHana. Which would you choose? Grand Floridian Cafe or the Wave?

 

[CraigInPA]

The Wave. While the GFC is a pretty room, the food for dinner is really nothing special. The Wave has a nothing atmosphere, but food that rivals many of the signature restaurants on property.

 

[JZCubed]

We will be staying at wilderness Lodge next summer. I am needing a restaurant for one of our magic kingdom nights. Already planning BOG and OHana. Which would you choose? Grand Floridian Cafe or the Wave?

Kona.

 

[Marthasor]

They are both good. For atmosphere, I give GF Cafe the edge. It's just beautiful resort to visit. The food at the Wave is slightly better, though and if you are returning to MK or going back to WL afterward, CR is definitely more convenient.

 

[BlueSuitDonald]

The menu at GF seems more "normal". Is the food at the Wave "normal" because it sounds really fancy.

 

[eeyoresmom]

We had dinner at both in Sept and enjoyed both equally. I was surprised how upscale GFC felt at 8:30 p.m. More so than some of the signature restaurants I've eaten at. The Wave felt more urban and modern if that matters to you. Service was relaxed and friendly at both. Sorry, I've been no help!

 

[clayfolks]

We had an excellent meal at GFC in September. Our Wave dinner was a disaster. We ordered the risotto and it wasn't fully cooked (read that as very crunchy). Our medium rare meat was medium well. It was the second marginal meal we have had there in a year. We won't be back for a while.

 

[Dumbo7]

Grand Floridian Cafe is my children’s ( ages 17-22). It’s easy going, good food and good service. If you are going back to the park you should do the wave because you can walk and not waste your time with the monorail.

 

[Mazz519]

The Wave over the GF cafe.....both places not in my top 10

 

[Euby]

The menu at GF seems more "normal". Is the food at the Wave "normal" because it sounds really fancy.

While it may sound fancy, it may not really be. I had a steak, potatoes, and carrots at the Wave. Though I'm sure some fancy words like Heirloom and Saute were thrown around to make it "fancy". I enjoyed the meal.

 

[Eastern]

What about LTT? Nothing crazy but pretty consistent.

They burnt my burger at the Wave last visit so I wasn't happy. Atmosphere is just so-so. GFC the service was the slowest I have ever experienced and it was lunch. Food was meh. I don't think either one is worth leaving the park for. I would probably do Kona instead, since you already have 'Ohana.

 

[BlueSuitDonald]

How is the food at LTT? Is Kona much different than ohana? I'll have to check out the menu

 

[Farro]

We went to the Wave on a whim this past trip - so good we ended up going again for a late lunch!

I actually had the crab cake appetizer as an entree - delicious! I would fly back to Florida just to have that for dinner. And for lunch, I had a burger and it was one of the best burgers I've had in a long time.

 

[luvdisney00]

The Wave! We ate dinner in 2016 and loved our food and everything about the restaurant. We weren't expecting it to be much, but we will definitely be back this summer. I had the crab cake app and the steak.

 

[Newsies]

I thought GF dinner was just okay, but I seriously loved The Wave. I was a little apprehensive since the dinner menu does sound fancy, but I had a "standard" steak with potatoes and vegetables and it was to die for.

I don't like LTT. I adore Kona Cafe, but it does have some pretty similar dishes to 'Ohana, so if you're going to 'Ohana, I'd do The Wave.

 

[BriLovesDisney]

GFC. Always been extremely underwhelmed by the wave.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

I thought GF dinner was just okay, but I seriously loved The Wave. I was a little apprehensive since the dinner menu does sound fancy, but I had a "standard" steak with potatoes and vegetables and it was to die for.

I don't like LTT. I adore Kona Cafe, but it does have some pretty similar dishes to 'Ohana, so if you're going to 'Ohana, I'd do The Wave.

This is the exact entree I had a few weeks ago (except some of my carrots were green). It was delicious! My DH had the pork tenderloin, and it was amazing as well. We had already tried The Wave for breakfast and fell in love. On this past trip, we tried dinner and decided it is our favorite restaurant. And we have eaten at almost every signature restaurant on property! We can't wait to go back to The Wave. We will be eating breakfast AND dinner there on our next trip.

I have only had breakfast at GFC, and I wasn't impressed. Beautiful room, but weird tasting food.

 

[Newsies]

This is the exact entree I had a few weeks ago (except some of my carrots were green). It was delicious! My DH had the pork tenderloin, and it was amazing as well. We had already tried The Wave for breakfast and fell in love. On this past trip, we tried dinner and decided it is our favorite restaurant. And we have eaten at almost every signature restaurant on property! We can't wait to go back to The Wave. We will be eating breakfast AND dinner there on our next trip.

I have only had breakfast at GFC, and I wasn't impressed. Beautiful room, but weird tasting food.

The Wave is seriously underrated. It was a last-minute ADR, we needed some place to sit for dinner and The Wave was one of the only places on property with a table open that evening. We fell in love. We're also hoping to do breakfast and dinner when we go back next year!

I wasn't a fan of the GFC dinner so I was apprehensive to go for breakfast, but I ended up really liking the pancakes. Granted-- they were standard Disney pancakes with a handful of toppings that complimented each other. But given how bad my burger was when I went for dinner, I'm not surprised you had a dish that tasted weird. Like you said: beautiful atmosphere, very odd food.

 

[NavyDad]

If you are looking for casual food in a cool atmosphere the GF Café is a great choice. We recently stayed at the GF for the first time. We only made 1 ADR for GF Café but enjoyed it so much we ended up eating there probably 3-4 times. Parents and kids loved the food. I think we had "brunch" each time which is a very flexible menu. The GF Lobby is really nice place to relax and the resort is beautiful. You can catch the resort monorail from the lobby but we also really enjoyed the resort water taxi over to MK. Nice view from the pier and just a relaxing ride.