We had 7 adults and 5 children to eat at the Plaza October of 06. We were on the dining plan and had not made ADR's at the Plaza but ended up there as a last minute substitute when we realized our 8:30 p.m. reservation at another restaurant was just too late for our kids to make it without major problems.
The Plaza was the only thing they could find us that was open for 12 people and we had to take a 3:00 reservation. Actually it was three separate families and we sat at different tables with different servers so it wasn't like one huge party of 12 at the same table. We were in the restaurant over 1 1/2 hours. I thought we would NEVER get out of there. I can't imagine what it would be like at an actual dinner or lunch hour.
The food was outstanding. I have eaten there before and have always had fantastic food. The hamburgers are excellent - thick and juicy on this great bread and with the dining plan we got a dessert. In my opinion, a much better hamburger than I would have gotten at some place like Ruby Tuesday.
They have the most wonderful ice cream creations. We did have to ask for it - our server was going to bring us the ticket without even asking if we wanted dessert. I wondered if they were not used to handling the dining plan people because our ticket was all screwed up when we reminded her that we got a dessert - she seemed like I was asking her to go over and beyond her job to get it. When we had to get the manager to straighten the ticket out - I had to walk him through what was wrong. I even made a comment that I didn't expect to spend almost 2 hours out of our day at Magic Kingdom just eating one meal and I didn't even get an apology.
Everyone in our party commented on how good the food was. I give the food an A+, customer service gets a D-
There are outside tables to sit at but we wanted air conditioning. I might be wrong but there aren't many tables and I didn't see many people actually eating there (it might have been the time of day also). There is a major walkway right beside where the tables were that runs down by a large restroom area that I imagine will fill up at firework time. You could probably get a good spot over there to see the fireworks though depending on the crowd. There are trees between you and the castle, I just don't remember how thick they were.
