Need help deciding which restaurants!

[Tippy 6]

We are going to Disney in December on the dining plan for the first time. Usually we just do the counter service places. My husband and 11 year old love buffets and we don't really care if it is a character meal or not. I would love some help/opinions on some of these places:

Tusker house
Crystal Palace
Liberty Tree Tavern
The Garden Grill
The Coral Reef
Hollywood and Vine
Boma
Cape May
1900 Park Fare
Chef Mickey's
Whyspering Canynon

Thanks!

 

[missmun52]

I Boma. I think most will agree that boma is really good.

I also loved my meal at the coral reef but service does not seem to be consistant according to the reviews on here. And I would never sit by the tank again as people stand over you to take pics of it.

 

[Nadjalu]

I can tell you about Crystal Palace and Whispering Canyon Cafe.
Both were great. My DH had the bbq skillet at WCC and he almost couldn't walk after eating that night. LOL
I had the Ribeye steak, it too was wonderful. Would recommend them both. I know that WCC gets a bad rap on the boards here but we are doing it again this trip.
CP was excellent. The food was very good, the CMs all outstanding. The carver kept calling me princess......lol I turned 40 that trip!!
We will also be eating there as well. CP is buffet and the skillet is all you can eat.

 

[vcgirl925]

Tusker house - Never been.
Crystal Palace - Love CP for breakfast
Liberty Tree Tavern - Never been.
The Garden Grill - AWFUL! Worst meal at disney.
The Coral Reef - Never been
Hollywood and Vine - We had lunch there and it was ok.
Boma - LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It's a must do for us on each trip. We've only done dinner.
Cape May - Never been but we have ressies next month!
1900 Park Fare - Been to the dinner and enjoyed it.
Chef Mickey's - Another good one!
Whyspering Canynon - Have ressies next month.

I would recommend:
Chef Mickeys
Crystal Palace
Boma
'Ohana
Le Cellier

 

[ash&abby'smom]

We love Boma's and must go every trip. We also really like Crystal Palace. My dd's requested 1900 Park Faire, so we are going there again. While I didn't find the food that great, the characters were hilarious.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

We are going to Disney in December on the dining plan for the first time. Usually we just do the counter service places. My husband and 11 year old love buffets and we don't really care if it is a character meal or not. I would love some help/opinions on some of these places:

Tusker house - enjoyed breakfast - lots of variety, good food
Crystal Palace - ditto, plus it's a beautiful placeLiberty Tree Tavern - never been
The Garden Grill - never been
The Coral Reef - never been
Hollywood and Vine - never been
Boma -never been (jeez, I better try some new places!)
Cape May - never been
1900 Park Fare - dinner was good, food decent, characters fun, nice place
Chef Mickey's - breakfast - fun activities, yummy buffet food
Whyspering Canynon - never been

Thanks!

We have eaten breakfast at Ohana and loved it - plus they bring you the food, so you don't have to get up and fight a crowd.
Other places we've eaten, not buffets, were Mama Melrose's (good, but took a while), LeCellier (YUMMY!)

 

[cndnchicky]

All I can tell you about is the places I've been to so far.
Tusker House-We went for breakfast on our last trip and loved it!!! LOTS of choices and really amazing food!!!
Crystal Palace-We've been there for supper. Once again a really nice restaurant. Quite a bit of choices, and I love seeing Pooh
Coral Reef-We've been on the past 2 trips and are going again in 2 weeks. I looooove their steak-delicious!!!! Its also nice to watch the aquarium, very unique setting.
Chef Mickeys- a must do on our trips!!! Really good character interaction and LOTS of food choice. If you do go make sure you try the mashed taters....im drueling just thinking about it!!!
Hollywood and Vine- This actually is one that I wont try again. The food was ok at best. Nothing worth writing home about, thats for sure. All of us agreed that the entire experience was just ok. With all the other amazing restaurants Disney has to offer, this is one that can be skipped and not missed.
Whispering Canyon- Been 3 times...its an absolute HOOT!!!! Its such a fun place, and the food there is very good. I think everyone should try it at LEAST once!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

We are going to Disney in December on the dining plan for the first time. Usually we just do the counter service places. My husband and 11 year old love buffets and we don't really care if it is a character meal or not. I would love some help/opinions on some of these places:

Tusker house
Crystal Palace
Liberty Tree Tavern
The Garden Grill
The Coral Reef
Hollywood and Vine
Boma
Cape May
1900 Park Fare
Chef Mickey's
Whyspering Canynon

Thanks!

We love Tusker House Breakfast buffet (good selection of food and yummy juice). We like CP (we had lunch and a great selection of food...my husband loves the salmon there and good selection of salad). We went to LTT when it was a character meal (1st time we really like it but 2 time was so so). The Coral Reef we had a very bad experience (worst service in Disney we have gotten and food was really bad...my son food was undercook and it took for our check 20 mins and then gave her our card to pay and took another 30 mins...after we left here we had to go to Sunshine Season to feed my son). Boma we went for breakfast and dinner (breakfast was one of the best buffet we have ever eaten)...dinner was ok, we rather eat at Jiko b/c Jiko was so much better food. 1900 Park fare we ate there breakfast and dinner (we enjoyed the breakfast food selection but dinner selection was not so good but great character interaction). Chef Mickey dinner was so so but we will be trying Chef Mickey for breakfast in our December trip. Hope this helps.

 

[Mich123]

We loved Boma, too! Highly recommend it. We went to Boma after a day at AK. We took the bus there and arrived early so we could check out AKL, what a relaxing place. The lobby has comfy couches and a beautiful view of the Savannah. We then went to the lounge and had a drink (can't go wrong there!) before dinner at Boma. There were so many choices and I enjoyed everything I tried. Save room for dessert!

I'd also recommend 'Ohana, both for the character breakfast and for dinner. It's a lot of fun. Breakfast is pretty straightforward, but the characters are lots of fun. Dinner is delicious and your son will like all of the activities---coconut races, singing, games--it's also nice that dinner is served quickly when you're hungry after a day in the parks.

We went to Garden Grill when they served lunch and we did enjoy it. DD13 said it was one of her favorite meals. I thought it was decent, but have read several reviews that disagree. It's a neat restaurant because it rotates and the characters are fun.

 

[zbugs3mom]

Loved Chef Mickey's!! See my review/pictures!
http://www.expotv.com/videos/reviews/21/188/Chef-Mickeys-Contemporary-Resort-Florid/299139

 

[disneyforme33]

Out of everything you have listed Crystal Palace is my favorite. I agree with everyone of Chef Mickeys. You must give it a try. I also agree on O'hanas. Definitely worth a try. My family also enjoys the Biergarten in Epcot.

 

[MJMcBride]

Boma, Tusker House and WCC are the best of that bunch, especially Boma my favorite place to eat in WDW

 

[91Coupe]

Tusker House for Breakfast is Awesome. We did it last year and are going to do it again this Oct. One of the best things on the Buffet is Donuts.

 

[jen2207]

Tusker house - great place for a breakfast ADR! The restaurant location is waaaaay inside the park so if you can get an ADR for about an hour before rope drop, you're in good shape for your day. And the food is really good too! No complaints - the #1 place I recommend people to go for the start of their AK day.

Crystal Palace - Gets a lot support here - but honestly not my fav. Good for a pre-park opening breakfast, but I'm not working hard to fit it in this year. Kind of a been there, done that.

The Coral Reef - my kids loved the aquarium and we arranged for a diver last year for my daughters birthday (they don't do this anymore). Food was good, our server was good. But not on my "must do" list. There are so many great restaurants in Epcot, this one got squeezed out of my list.

Hollywood and Vine - never heard a good review. I haven't been personally, I had an ADR last year and cancelled it because of timing, but is not on my list of new places to try.

Boma - GREAT!! had breakfast and diner - great! In fact we are staying at AKL this time because the whole ambience there was so great!

Cape May - I would like to try this one for breakfast. I was there dropping my kids off for the pirate cruise and saw the people coming and going for this one. I think it would be a great character breakfast because you get the fab 5 in a less crowded area.

1900 Park Fare - I haven't had the dinner but many rave about the step-sisters fun interactions! We had breakfast there last time and will do this again this time. Kind of along the lines of Cape May - it's a character breakfast but not as huge as the Crystal Palace. And I loved that the breakfast had characters that could talk to you - rather than pooh etc. who can not.


Hope this helps you decide!!!

 

[Ms.Mouse]

Tusker House..........have not been since it became buffet style
Crystal Palace.........have not been in many years but heard it's pretty good
Liberty Tree............Character interaction made the meal...Characters not there anymore so I would say skip it if you are going for dinner.
Garden Grill............old menu was better than this one.
Coral Reef............There are mixed reviews but we like Coral Reef
Hollywood and Vine...some foods on this buffet are good and others are fair...We like it for both breakfast and dinner...breakfast has GREAT character interaction
BOMA..............LOVE Boma...both breakfast and dinner are great!!!
Cape May.......Great character interaction for breakfast...Love the Clam Bake Dinner...it is huge and satisfys both the fish lover and the turf lovers
1900 Pk Fare.......Have not been but am planning to on our next trip
Chef Mickey........Have not been in a long time but heard the food is still fair and the character interaction is still good
Whispering Canyon Cafe.... Did not enjoy our dinner or the interaction there. I think its overrated.

 

[mavdav]

My experience has been that the meals with character isn't about the food. Its all buffet style and the food isn't great. I guess you are there for the characters and not the food. Also, I have boys so I can't comment on the princess dining

Crystal Palace - The food isn't great, but if you can go for breakfast before the park opens its the best! You get great pics in front of the castle with no one is there!

Liberty Tree Tavern - haven't been here.

The Coral Reef - Food is not good, and service is always iffy. However, if you can get a table in front of the tank its cool.

Hollywood and Vine - You are there for the characters...

Boma - One of our favs! A friend of ours came with us and they are super picky and they loved Boma too! In fact they are going back with us in a month and they want to go there again.

Cape May - the food is better here,

Chef Mickey's - great characters! my son was 2 at the time and terrified of the characters, and finally warmed up to Pluto here at Chef Mickeys. May be my favorite character meal

Whyspering Canynon - great bbq and the service is funny! beware that they are obnoxious and silly

Have a great trip!

 

[Tippy 6]

Thank you everyone for all the great feedback. It's going to help me make some decisions since we have to start making reservations Friday.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Crystal Palace Breakfast has always been fantastic, dinner is ok, alot of the food is way too salty for me.

The Coral Reef Went in January and I was the only one in my party that ordered fish and liked her meal..DH was not thrilled with the steak and the kids didnt like the pizza at all because it was a pita shell. The atmosphere was awesome and the kids enjoyed the view

Hollywood and Vine BAD food, BAD service, BAD all around and there is no way you could get us to eat there again...(dinner)

Boma Breakfast is our favorite WDW place, the food is great! Dinner, well we didnt care for it at all...not our tastes I guess.

Cape May Done breakfast and dinner about 6 times each and we have never had a bad meal here ever!

1900 Park Fare Another place that you can not pay me enough to try again...breakfast was horrible and the character were loud and obnoxious...dinner was even worse (the food was inedible) but the characters were a hit with the nieces.

Chef Mickey's Breakfast was fun and the food was great! Dinner was terrible, great character interaction but the food was just gross.

Whyspering Canynon Ate lunch here about 2 weeks ago (click on Aug link for full review and pics). No fun, no games, no gags from the CM's so that was a huge let down...the food was even worse, all the meats were too fatty and just plain blech!....just bad all around.

 

[puntagordabob]

Crystal Palace food is way too salty for me.

The Coral Reef not thrilled with the steak and the kids didnt like the pizza at all because it was a pita shell.

Hollywood and Vine BAD food, BAD service, BAD all around and there is no way you could get us to eat there again...(dinner)

Boma well didnt care for it at all...not our tastes I guess.

1900 Park Fare Another place that you can not pay me enough to try again...breakfast was horrible and the character were loud and obnoxious...dinner was even worse (the food was inedible)

Chef Mickey's the food was just gross.

Whyspering Canynon No fun, no games, no gags from the CM's so that was a huge let down...the food was even worse, all the meats were too fatty and just plain blech!....just bad all around.

I know the poster was giving their honest critiques of the places but when i read that, this is what I got from it... made me laugh so I figured Id cut and paste it back this way to share the humor.