which buffet?

[lovin'fl]

We're thinking about our trip for 8/11 and want to try as many new TS places as we can. There are @ 38 we have not done yet. Of those we're going to try Chefs de France, Teppan Edo and Kouzzinas. We want to do a nice buffet and are torn between Trail's End (my choice), Crystal Palace (DH's choice), Garden Grill (DD's choice)and Tusker House. Which is best? I've read some reviews, but want to get a fresh poll of sorts. Also, we're going to do 1 signature dining place and these are still on our haven't done list: Cali Grill, Yachtsman (my choice)and Narcoossee's. Which is best out of these? Thanks!

[DizneyRox]

Last time I was there, Trail's End was a winner. We converted a relative who came to visit us as well. If you're paying OOP for a meal though, this would be the one to pay for. It's a bargain for what it is, and one of the cheapest buffets in WDW if I recall correctly.

[lynnek]

In regards to the signature dining, we tried Narcoossee's and loved it. Really nice restaurant, very relaxing, great food, service, atmosphere. DD2 was able to see "her purple castle" through the entire meal and loved it. You didn't mention who was in your party though, that could be a factor. We would like to go to Yatchsman next time as well. Hopefully someone will give a recent review.

[Disney4us2]

We loved the Garden Grill. It is not a true buffet, they bring the food to your table. Everything was soooo good. I can't wait to go back there.

[lovin'fl]

DR- Thanks. We will need to pay oop for 1 meal, so great info about Trail's End.
Lyn-We will have 2 boys-14 and 2 girls-12 with DH and I-38. Thanks for the info.
Disney- Shoot, I forgot that's not a buffet, but family style. But, it was good though, it sounds like. I think I've read some reviews that said it wasn't that great. Thanks for the info.

[lynnek]

O.K. my 10 and 12 yr old LOVED Narcoossee's. They are big seafood eaters and loved the lobster. Our bill came to about $450, including tip and an adult beverage for DH and one for myself.

[Tinkermom]

For the signature restaurant hands down California Grill! Awesome food and the best view in all of Disneyworld. Even if you are not dining during the fireworks you can save your receipt and show it at the check-in desk (4th floor of the Contempory if I remember correctly) and they will escort you up to view the fireworks from the Calif Grill balcony!

As for the buffet our favorite of the ones you gave isTrails End. DisneyRox is right on - best buffet price in all of Disneyworld and my kids loved the all you can eat fried chicken. :thumbsup:

[Basket Mommy]

That's a hard one! I love Trail's End because it's cheap. It's a smaller buffet, though - mostly American standards. Nothing spectacular, but budget friendly. It's also out of the way, so if you're in a park and trying to get over to Fort Wilderness, it will be a trip for you.

Crystal Palace is one of our favorites. Great food, and interaction with Pooh and the gang is always great. We LOVE this one.

Garden Grill is another favorite. They're not open for lunch anymore, so we haven't been there in awhile. We prefer to eat our TS meals at lunch time. It's great food - the flank steak is the best. Meeting Mickey and the gang is a plus.

We ate at Tusker House for the first time in 2009. I LOVED it. It's a bit like Boma to me, lots of great flavors. The Samosas were my absolute favorite. I think I made myself sick eating so many of them! It's got enough on the bar for picky eaters who don't like the flavors of Africa. This one is one of my favorites.

As for the signature dining, they all have their positives. Cali Grill has a spectacular view of the MK and wonderful food/atmosphere. Narcoosee's has a great view of the MK from a different perspective, great atmosphere and wonderful food. But, if I had to choose between the 3, I'd vote Yachtsman hands down. The service was amazing, the best steak I've ever had, and wonderful desserts. I'd pick that one over all 3 you mentioned.

I"m going to send you a link to the menus via PM.

[Crow]

Trails End def for buffet...it is a good deal also.
And I like CA Grill. been there a few times

[MarkC]

Here are two more buffet ideas that haven't been mentioned: We love the Biergarten at the German Pavillion, not just for the food but the music and overall atmosphere. We've taken different friends and family there and had pretty much everyone enjoy it. I've been to Hollywood and Vine a couple times and really enjoyed that as well, and we enjoyed Crystal Palace last year when we tried that. I don't think you can go wrong and Trails End is the cheapest, but I would recommend Biergarten to anyone.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Can't really comment on the signatures but we do enjoy Crystal Palace Buffet...although I haven't been there my family says Garden Grill is quite good....

[crltkcagle]

I would pick Garden Grill out of those choices. They bring the food to you like they do at Ohana's. But its really good and very different from your typical buffet food. We also enjoy CP but for breakfast.

[mom2morgan]

I'll be the voice of dissent - I really did NOT like Trail's End at all. I just didn't find there were a lot of choices, and I didn't think the BBQ food was prepared particularly well. It's also a giant pain to get to. We decided to take the boat from Magic Kingdom, but didn't realize it was a "Hoop-Dee-Doo" night, so the transportation was WAYY backed up. Despite leaving in what we thought was plenty of time, we were over an hour late for our reservations. Much too their credit, they still seated us within 15 minutes, but I had the 3 hungriest, coldest, crankiet kids on the planet by that time. And a mom and dad to match.

[lovin'fl]

Thanks for all your replies.
We've done Biergarten and loved it, though we did it for lunch and missed the show, so it's on the list as is Ohana and Sci-Fi (we've done these before). We are planning on 6 nights, so 5 TS(1 we'll pay OOP) and 1 Signature TS. DH wants to do the Luau again, but I'm going to veto that. Decisions...decisions.

[mom2morgan]

Thanks for all your replies.
We've done Biergarten and loved it, though we did it for lunch and missed the show, so it's on the list as is Ohana and Sci-Fi (we've done these before). We are planning on 6 nights, so 5 TS(1 we'll pay OOP) and 1 Signature TS. DH wants to do the Luau again, but I'm going to veto that. Decisions...decisions.
Tell me more about the Luau since I'm trying to decide whether or not to do it :-)

[Gator]

Crystal Palace has the biggest selection of the places you mentioned. However, you should have someone in the family that likes the Winnie the Pooh gang to really appreciate it. Otherwise, try Chef Mickey's - you get the Fab Five and pretty good food.

[Mousemates]

For the overall meal experience my favorite signature meal is a late dinner at the California Grill to be timed with wishes. However, my second favorite (and most enjoyable on a food only basis) is Artist Point (we actually had our single best meal ever at WDW there this past September).

[lovin'fl]

Tell me more about the Luau since I'm trying to decide whether or not to do it :-)

I didn't want to go, but my inlaws took us and paid :thumbsup: so we went and it surprised me. The food was better than I expected and adult drinks are included so that's always a :thumbsup: The show was nice. And Poly is gorgeous. And afterwards we watched the fireworks from the beach. We all enjoyed it. Our DS was turning 10 and they called him and the other birthdays up on stage and had them hula dance. He actually loved it.

[lovin'fl]

Crystal Palace has the biggest selection of the places you mentioned. However, you should have someone in the family that likes the Winnie the Pooh gang to really appreciate it. Otherwise, try Chef Mickey's - you get the Fab Five and pretty good food.

Our kids are past the character thing, so we're just looking for good eats. We did CM in 2005, when our kids were 6 and 8. We loved it and I've always wanted to go back, but there are so many others to try.
MAybe instead of trying all new places, we should each pick 1 place (we're going for 6 nights and there are 5 of us plus we're taking DS's friend, so he can pick a place too). My DS would pick Ohana, 1 twin DD would pick Boma and other twin would pick Sci-Fi (they both also like T-Rx, but that's not a DDP). I don't know what I would pick...there's just too many...I've been dying to try Yachtsman and Teppan Edo, but I did love Chef Mickeys and Cape May and Biergarten. Well, good thing we have until Feb 14 (when we can makeour ADRs).

[lovin'fl]

For the overall meal experience my favorite signature meal is a late dinner at the California Grill to be timed with wishes. However, my second favorite (and most enjoyable on a food only basis) is Artist Point (we actually had our single best meal ever at WDW there this past September).

At some point we want to try Cali Grill, but for some reason we keep putting that 1 off. Don't know what it is. We did Artist Point in 2008 and it was good but not remarkable(for us). Jiko has probably been our fave signature thus far (did Brown Derby for lunch and it was ok, Artist Point was ok, the dinner shows were a good time and yummy food but not 4 star fine dining and we did Coral Reef when it was a signature and it was delish, oh and we did CRT for breakfast and were not impressed and felt like it was a waste of 2 TS).

[forever a child]

My vote from your list is Garden Grill. I just love that place! :thumbsup: