How are the buffets??

[pinksrvivor]

We ate at quite a few buffets our trip for character dinners- The Crystal Palace, Ohana-not tech a buffet, but similar, Hollywood and Vine- all 3 were "eh". If not for the characters would not be worth it. We also ate at Boma- now that was one of my top 3 places to eat at the whole trip. Soooooooo good. They have standard American fare for the kids or the less adventurous, but my kids loved the African foods as well. The atmosphere is also really cool- one of the staff was doing an African dance while we were there

 

[redlawyer]

In the real world I'd never go to a buffet type restaurant. At WDW, though, we have often done the buffet. Tusker house for lunch was probably our favorite, liked the great food, the freshest at any WDW restaurant we visited. The kids liked having their own buffet, lower counters and kid friendly food. I loved the tabbouleh and the hummus. I was sick of all the burger lunches and this was light and tasty. Crystal Palace was loved by my DH, a real meat and potatoes kind of guy. They have a few tasty salads, a steak and blue cheese one I recall favorably. The kids like the soft serve ice cream, go figure. After reading the horrible reviews for Chef Mickey's, we went for breakfast thinking they couldn't mess up eggs. We had to meet Minnie, so we went and were pleasantly surprised. We are not usually big breakfast eaters, but the kids and DH liked all the variety and I don't think you can ever have enough Mickey waffles. Biergarten we loved for lunch. Pretty authentic German food, but not so alien that the kids won't eat. There were kid selections, but mine were fine with the knockworst and potatoes.

My usual opinion on buffet foods is "lots and lots of mediocre food", but by and large I was pleasantly surprised at WDW buffets.

 

[Planogirl]

I like Crystal Palace for breakfast and don't think that it's anything like Golden Corral. I think that Boma and Cape May are both quite good too. I don't like Chef Mickey's.

But then I can eat at Golden Corral. I get a salad (how do you mess up salad?) and dessert (same here ) and I'm good to go. As for buffets, a chain by the name of Ryan's was far better but they seem to have disappeared.

 

[Andrea73]

Thanks everyone!! I do have Ohana's booked as well as Chefs de France, 50's Prime and CRT. I am wavering between keeping CRT and tossing it for Park Fare. One day I want to eat at the castle, the next I am convinced that no one in my family will eat he food and want to ditch it.

 

[Figment1990]

Of what you have listed, I've only ever done Tusker House for breakfast and it was absolutely delish! I am not a buffet person "in the real world" either - I refuse to even consider Golden Corral. But I loved our Tusker House breakfast! Very good food, good variety, nice big buffet area.

 

[BreanaAbagailButler]

I like buffet system.I really want to go a buffet type restaurant.

 

[caseybruna]

Although the character interaction at Chef Mickeys is great, the food was pretty average. We were there for breakfast, and the food was all pretty untasty...

 

[bex272]

I would avoid 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey’s.
All these have fans, but I think many people are swayed by the experience of meeting the characters.

That being said they are all better than Golden Coral.[/QUOTE]

I agree with this we have been to all of these and had fun we are not big buffet eaters but go for the character interaction and the food has always been fine but nothing outstanding, we stick to the carved meat etc so it feels 'fresher' iyswim

 

[texasgirl73]

I despise Golden Coral...blehhh......but had good experiences at 1900 Park Fare(dinner), Hollywood and Vine (breakfast,) Tuskerhouse (breakfast,) Crystal Palace (breakfast,) Chef Mickeys (breakfast,) and Boma (breakfast and dinner.) Boma was the best foodwise but the rest of them were considerably better than Golden Coral.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Thanks everyone!! I do have Ohana's booked as well as Chefs de France, 50's Prime and CRT. I am wavering between keeping CRT and tossing it for Park Fare. One day I want to eat at the castle, the next I am convinced that no one in my family will eat he food and want to ditch it.

Take a look at Whispering Canyon...

 

[Chellymouse]

WE were not very pleased with the food at Chef Mickey's either. It just wasn't good. The characters were very good, but the food was not.

1900 Park Fare was very good the last time we were there and we will be going back for dinner again on our upcoming trip. The prime rib was delicious and I ate quite a bit of it!

CP is ok, not the worst, not the greatest. Definitely better than the Golden Trough

Ohana is one our of favorites! Can't go wrong with this one!

Beirgarten in Germany is also pretty good, but only if you like German food. If you're not big fans, I would bypass this one.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I'm not a big fan of the buffets (the exception is CP for breakfast). The last one we ate at was Chef Mickey's for dinner and it just wasn't good. No it wasn't as bad as Golden Corral, but still it was pretty bad. Also I think it was $100+ for three of us, so that was like adding insult to injuy .

I think in 2005, we did DDP for the first time. We ate at maybe two or three buffets, we thought DS would like the characters. It was like eating the same meal over and over. I remember DS saying that 1900 PF might have been good if we hadn't ate the exact same meal two days before at CM's.