Need some help and suggestions

[eletymom]

We will be going to Disney for the first time in November. The only adr I have is for Mickey's Backyard BBQ the night that we get there. First of all, is this worth it? Second of all, I am quickly running out of time to reserve before everything gets booked, but am so overwhelmed by all the choices. What are some of your favorite restaurants? I am considering quite a few but can't decide. Finally, my DH would like to have seafood a night. What are your suggestions for a good seafood buffet and what do you think of either Cape May Cafe or Garden Grove? Possibly considering Coral Reef also but don't think they have a buffet, Help me Please!!

 

[jlk806]

Coral Reef is good food, but not a buffet. Cape May has an awesome seafood buffet.

Personally I think Mickeys Backyard BBQ would be great in November, because its not too too hot like in the summer.

How many people are in your travel party and are there any children? If so, I would definitely consider doing another character meal. Mickeys BBQ is nice the characters come out for dancing but at the other character meals they come around to each table.

Also, are you doing the dining plan? Garden Grove is not on the DP if thats a consideration.

With that said, here are our favs:
Coral Reef
Chef Mickeys (character buffet, Mickey & friends)
Ohana
Crystal Palace (character buffet, Winnie the pooh & friends)
Tonys town square (italian)
Rainforest Cafe (not on the dining plan)
Tutto Italia (Italian)

 

[eletymom]

It will be me, DH, DD who is 11, and DS who is 8. I am leaning towards Cape May over Garden Grover at this time, and thanks for the other suggestions. I will definitely be looking into those.

 

[Tinker Pam]

We did Cape May last year and enjoyed it, it was on our must do list this year.
Another one your children might enjoy is Whispering Canyon Cafe.

 

[Grumpy92]

Cape May is a good New England buffet. They also have alot of great selections beyond seafood.

Just pick a few restaurants and make a couple of ADRs. Remember F&W is in November so getting into many of the restaurants for dinner can be difficult.
If you like eating after 6pm then you definitely need to make ADRs.

If you want to eat in EC, which I would suggest, think about Via Napoli, Marrakesh or the Biergarten (has a show). I would skip Coral Reef, reviews lately have not been that good.

If you want a fun meal think about 50s PT or Sci Fi.
Take a look at the menus on this page that will help alot.

 

[eletymom]

What is F&W?

 

[OhThePain]

What is F&W?

F&W is the Food and Wine Fest. at EPCOT. It begins in the beginning of October and ends mid-November. There is a sticky at the top of the forum with a lot of the information.

As for your other questions:

What time do you arrive to WDW? Are you flying or driving? You just might want to be careful about having an ADR for a meal that you may be charged for if you don't cancel in time incase something happens that keeps you from getting there in time. So, for example, if your plane is scheduled to land at, say, 2:30 or 3, you might want to reconsider MBYBBQ on oyur arrival day, just in case.

Cape May is a pretty good seafood buffet but we have not tried Garden Grove so I cannot give any input on that. CR has fallen from a must do and a childhood favorite to a restaurant we will not return to anytime soon.

Are you on a dining plan or paying OOP? If you are OOP buffets are awfully expensive and are not worth the price you have to pay, but are good deals on a DDP. If you are interested in buffets, Biergarten in EPCOT and Boma at AKL are both pretty good. The breakfast buffets are all pretty standard and will mostly depend on what characters you want to see if those interest you.
Some other 1 TS restaurants that are pretty good are 50's PTC or Sci-Fi at DHS, Sanaa @ Kidani, Les Chef's at EPCOT, RR at DTD or LTT @ MK. That should get you started with some ideas. Check the menus at allears.net to get an idea of what each restaurant serves (but note that the menus do change).

 

[thegoof213]

biergarten- buffet in germany pavilion in epcot
1900 park fare- buffet in the grandfloridian
crystal palace- buffet in magic kingdom
raglan road- irish pub themed in downtown disney

hope this helps

 

[eletymom]

We will be driving and are expecting to get there early that morning. We are camping at Disney so I scheduled that for the day we arrive because we will already be in the campground and can do some relaxing campground activities before we start heading to the parks all day on the other days. We will be paying OOP for our meals since we have our camper and will be able to make food as we want or need. However, I do want to dine at Disney a few of the days for character breakfasts, dinner buffets, etc.

 

[OhThePain]

We will be driving and are expecting to get there early that morning. We are camping at Disney so I scheduled that for the day we arrive because we will already be in the campground and can do some relaxing campground activities before we start heading to the parks all day on the other days. We will be paying OOP for our meals since we have our camper and will be able to make food as we want or need. However, I do want to dine at Disney a few of the days for character breakfasts, dinner buffets, etc.

I wouldn't worry about not making it in time for MBYBBQ, I was just throwing caution to the wind incase you were flying in. If you plan on doing a lot of buffets I would consider getting a dining plan if you can. OOP it's really hard to justify the cost of the dinner buffets, especially the character dinner buffets. I can almost justify the cost of Boma, Biergarten and Cape May but it's still awfully expensive OOP, so you might want to keep that in mind. Remember, your DD11 will be considered an adult, even if she doesn't eat much. To spend $150 for your family for a character buffet for pretty lousy food (dinner) may not sit well with you.

 

[tinkerbellnsnowwhite]

Unfortunately because you are staying in the campsites you are not eligible for the dining plan. It will cost at least $120 for your family to eat at a buffet, some of the other table service restaurants will cost $150 or more. Personally that's to much to spend on dining. If you are interested in eating more character or table service meals you would be better off changing your reservations to a different resort and adding the dining plan. You can stay at a value resort with the dining plan for less then what you pay at the campsites.