Our Ratings of Garden Grill: (*rev 5/28/2014*)
. . . food price value: B
. . . food quality: C
. . . food quantity per serving: A
. . . food prep speed: B
. . . food selection: C
. . . seating quantity: C
. . . seating comfort: B
. . . eatery atmosphere: B
. . . eatery convenience: B
. . . staff friendliness: B
. . . staff attentiveness: B
. . . character interaction: A
Our Recommendations:
. . . appys:... Living-with-the-Land Harvest-inspired Farmer’s Salad
. . . entree:.. Turkey Breastwith Lemon Caper Sauce
. . . dessert:. Skillet Cakewith Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
NOTE1: The eatery revolves within The Land pavilion and portions of spin include farm
scenes from the boat ride. The food is plentiful, but quality merely average. You pay for
the characters and not the food or food quality. Food is served family style and there is
always more, as it is All You Care To Enjoy. Characters include Mickey, Pluto, Chip-n-Dale.
As the eatery is one of the smaller character locales, the character interaction is GREAT.
NOTE2: The lower deck tables have one-side seats which can make talking among the
table diners tough, especially if you have six-to-eight people, which takes about 12-feet
in linear distance. This means that you cannot easily stand to interact with characters.
The upper has standard tables that seat people facing each other and you can stand and
interact. I recommend upper tier for characters; lower for viewing the river-ride scenery.
There is little chance of motion sickness, as the eatery moves so slowly. If you do have
a concern, the upper level happens rarely.
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Our Ratings of Tusker House Buffet (Lunch/Dinner): (*rev 04/07/2014*)
. . . food price value: B
. . . food quality: C
. . . food quantity per serving: A
. . . food prep speed: A
. . . food selection: C
. . . seating quantity: C
. . . seating comfort: C
. . . eatery atmosphere: C
. . . eatery convenience: B
. . . staff friendliness: B
. . . staff attentiveness: C
. . . character interaction: Lunch=B, Dinner=n/a
NOTE1: The buffet is reasonably priced for a Disney park eatery. The selection
could be more varied, there are menu items for most tastes. Although Americanized,
the dishes do have an African flair. The dinner almost always is not crowded and has
room for walk-ups. There are at least four-to-five really good vegetarian options on
the buffet. No characters at dinner, and almost always good for all of the walk-ups
without an ADR. Be prepared for a VERY loud environment.
NOTE2:There have been some menu alterations, of which I am personally disappointed.
The seasoned beef carving station now has ordinary beef, and not spicy or seasoned.
Chicken Curry has little curry and is VERY mild; cucumber & tomato salad is something
one can find on any home table. On the plus side; the bread pudding is still to-die-for
and the chocolate cookies are still soft and ooey-gooey. But, overall, still one of the
best buffet meals at WDW, especially for the price (or, at least until characters start
during the dinner and the prices leap upward).
