Weeat a lot at Golden Corral (a lot like OCB) -- but I don't think the food is quite as good as WDW, either. Put it this way -- I've had good meals there, but I've never been so impressed that I wanted a recipe off of GC or OCB yet... however, I have been known more than once to go looking for the recipes of things I've had at Disney!
We found out a long time ago that by and large, the WDW b'fast buffets didn't pay off well for us. Our kids were always too excited to eat, and let's face it, while you might be able to fathom a pricey plate of carved ham or steak or an elegant cheesecake dessert costing some moolah -- breakfast by all accounts should be the cheapest meal of the day. Give me a peice of fruit, some cereal or an egg, some toast or a biscuit, a glass of juice / coffee -- even throw a krispy creme or, ok, some blintzes or crepes in there -- it STILL isn't price-comparable, to me anyway. And yet the prices for the WDW b'fast buffets (versus the lunch or dinner) just aren't that different. NAd in our case, our kids eat a LOT more at the later meals! Just the dessert bar alone is probably worth it, haha... (Plus -- they are more apt to sit down after running around all day, versus trying to get them to sit still at the day's start!) So with rare exception, we tend to do lunch and dinners morethan b'fast buffets. I do admit that we did 2 b'fasts last trip and they were tasty (Cape May and Cindy's for the gals -- the guys, who hate all things princess, did Cape May and subbed Crystal Palace for Cindy's!) However, we all agreed that we got more bang for the buck out of the dinner meals (Chef M's, Ohana, Crystal Palace, HoopDeeDoo, etc.) We also do some non-buffet meals, but I have to say, one of the things I love about buffet is that with kids, you can easily get them more options than just the kid's fare. My son loves salad, my dd loves soups and veggies and -- who'd a thunk it -- seafood, and middle son is a real meats/potato man. THe standard kid fare doesn't offer that sort of variety -- it's nuggets and fries and dogs and maybe mickey pasta, over and over and OVER again. And yet, because our kids are so different, we can't have them split an adult meal -- they would never be able to decide what to get! So at least at the buffets, they can still have the occasional nugget, but also the "other" stuff too -- a refreshing change from the typical kid fare, and better for them, really!
I also like that it's READY and waiting -- that waiting stuff, after a day in the park of it, is hard on hungry kids! ANd as any mom knows -- if the kids aren't happy, then mom isn't happy, and if MOM isn't happy, ain't NOBODY happy... just ask my DH!
Disney is the only place that I'll even bother with a buffet. You just can't compare a Disney buffet with the typical Ponderosa type.
