When will character buffets return?

[deelovesdis]

I love Disney Buffets! I always have used gloves when I had to pick up utensils hundreds of people touched and always used sanitizing hand wipes. I carry my own gloves at all times, yes I am a germophobe. Each restaurant could leave gloves out for use or as you arrive, they can give you a few pairs of gloves. Or staff could serve food items family style on table or have servers cafeteria style serving the food on a line, without any people ever touching any serving utensils. on slower times one staff member could handle a few food items. People would need patience as things could take longer than self service. also with family style you might not get the items you want .All items should be available and they should bring out what you like. There is a standard family style menu in Lancaster .It works in Lancaster,PA.

 

[olwyngdh]

cute, but there will never be an option to give/sell guests their own serving utensil to wander from item to item with. Two words cross contamination.

Yeah, I know, but a girl can dream...

 

[BethanyMouse]

I guess we'll see. We did most of the character meals every time we visited. I personally won't be doing that with the diminished experience. Maybe there's a line of people waiting to take my place. Some will definitely keep paying for whatever Disney serves up. Whether it's enough to keep Disney happy as they move back to full capacity remains to be seen.

I agree with you. This trip we didn't plan any character meals with the exception of garden grill. And that was solely because I have a 2 and 7 year old and I want them to have at least a semi close experience.

If the characters are only going to wave from a distance, I am not going to regularly pay for "character dining". We skipped CRT this time for that exact reason. I cant see paying $100 pp to wave at Cinderella.

 

[DDad4]

Family style can be such a waste of food. We went to Biergarten last fall as a party of 2. Way more food than we needed. The server actually shamed us for wasting so much. We like buffets to sample many items we might not order as a meal. our experience converting that buffet to family style was a failure. We also did Chef Mickey on that trip and family style worked fine. Generic breakfast food is a little easier. If they shift to family style, I expect more creative offerings to go away. Really hope they don’t ruin a place like Boma.

 

[stephk1981]

We love Disney buffets, but I also don't see them coming back soon. We make it to chef mickeys once a month, it is always packed, so having a non buffet and no contact t with characters hasn't hurt them it would seem.. While the server offers to bring more of everything, we always decline....if nothing else disney might be saving on food costs of people eating less than they would if it was a self serve buffet. As far as the character interaction, my DD3 always has a great time even with them at a distance.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Buffets were disgusting pre-COVID and should never come back. Family style is the way to go. Or at best buffet style served by CMs.

 

[Sadeesmom]

I think buffets will be back early next year. I think they may come back as either family style or a serving line like on cruises first, some starting this fall.
Personally, I am hoping they all come back next week just as they were pre-COVID The sooner we go back to normal, the better - I am more than ready. We have eaten a few times over the last year at a Chinese or international buffet, and they require fresh gloves for each trip to the buffet line. It's not a big deal, or too much extra hardship.

Personal opinion: Venues could be up and running as family style now or have folks serving. However, at 35 percent capacity all the eateries probably do not need to be open. I think fastpasses should be reinstated and capacity limits should be increased. Personal opinion.

The most frequent complaint I hear about the current WDW status is lack of food options, so I don't think they need to increase park capacity in order to open more restaurants. I think they are having staffing issues, and space issues (like using the space as break rooms for cast members or added ride line space).

Family style can be such a waste of food. We went to Biergarten last fall as a party of 2. Way more food than we needed. The server actually shamed us for wasting so much. We like buffets to sample many items we might not order as a meal. our experience converting that buffet to family style was a failure. We also did Chef Mickey on that trip and family style worked fine. Generic breakfast food is a little easier. If they shift to family style, I expect more creative offerings to go away. Really hope they don’t ruin a place like Boma.

I could see some places going to family style - especially during breakfast. But I for one would also miss the variety buffets offer, especially for dinner.