Well, let me weigh in, just to give you a little more info.
This was last year, so some things might've changed. But several of the countries had "stations" in the old Odyssey restaurant - you just sort of circulated around and helped yourself. A couple of the items were really excellent - the pasta was freshly cooked and tossed, as I recall. Other items were just OK, but nothing was awful by any means. Service was minimal, as you'd expect from a buffet, but our plates were cleared and our glasses refilled promptly. The entertainment was not anything extraordinary, but there was plenty of character interaction and photo ops. Kids loved to dance with 'em! I do remember our hostess/MC was sorta cheesy.
BUT - desserts on the edge of the lagoon were pretty wonderful (lots of small portions, so you could sampe to your heart's content), and there is no possible way to improve on the view for Illuminations. It made the evening very, very special. Thumbs up from our whole party.
Illuminations is DH and my favorite. 
So I cannot wait to see it from this view. I will hopefully have pictures and a review when I get back.
