When it comes to food, Walt Disney World brings the quality. You have everything on offer, from five-star haute-cuisine at restaurants like Victoria and Albert’s to down-home comfort food at places like Homecomin’. There’s fairly authentic Cajun food at Port Orleans French Quarter, and there’s incredible New American flavors at California Grill.
If you’re looking for delicious food, Walt Disney World has you covered. But, what if you’re more interested in sheer amounts of food? Thankfully, Walt Disney World has mastered that area of cooking too.
Yes, Disney has tons of all-you-care-to-eat buffets available for guests at nearly any time of day and at nearly any resort area. While some of these buffets trade quality for quantity, most manage to serve food that is just as amazing as that which you might find on the menu at some of Disney’s best restaurants.
Let’s take a look at some of the best buffets on Disney property — all of which offer a great value, if you’re someone who likes to eat a lot.
Trail’s End Restaurant
Image: Dakota Gardner
If you’re interested in the cuisine on offer at the world-renowned Hoop-De-Doo Musical Revue, but you can’t or won’t snag a reservation, you’re in luck: Trail’s End Restaurant offers a very similar menu just next door. And, much like the dinner theater it neighbors, the food is all-you-care-to-eat.
With fried chicken, barbecue, cobbler, and fresh-sliced beef, even the pickiest eaters will find something to enjoy here. The decor is rustic and spartan — much like the rest of the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground — but therein lies its true charm. It feels like the mess hall of a mid-century summer camp, with warm wood touches and forest as far as you can see.
While reservations aren’t too difficult to come by, Trail’s End Restaurant can be a bit challenging to locate. Guests arriving by car or bus must transfer to an internal shuttle back to the restaurant — but, you can bypass this if you opt instead to take the Fort Wilderness ferry from the Magic Kingdom.
A ferry ride and as much fried chicken as you can stomach? That’s a slice of Disney heaven.
Cape May Cafe
Image: Dakota Gardner
Cape May, NJ is a charming seaside village on the iconic Jersey Shore, and it’s home to hundreds of fishing boats that dock in its harbor to sell their fresh catch. Clams, mussels, crabs, shrimp, and all sorts of sea creatures make their way into everything from fried seafood platters to chowder and bisque.
Disney knew that its Deluxe nautical-themed resort would need a restaurant that evoked that classic seaside flavor, and so it created the all-you-can-eat buffet, Cape May Cafe.
Located in Disney’s Beach Club Resort, this buffet serves everything from peel-and-eat shrimp to king crab legs and even steamed clams. Crab can be polarizing, but for the aficionados, having a never ending source can feel like a dream come true.
Add to that delicious vegetable sides and creative desserts, and you’ve got one of the best values on Walt Disney World property.
Chef Mickey’s
Image: tjung, Flickr (license)
Now, look: Chef Mickey isn’t going to find himself cooing at the James Beard House any time soon, ok? But who says buffets have to only be about top-notch cuisine?
Chef Mickey’s — located on the Grand Canyon Concourse of the Contemporary Resort — should be on the bucket list for every Disney vacationer. It is the quintessential character dining experience, with the famous Fab Five characters serving classic American food in heaping portions.
Yes, it’s loud. Yes, it’s rowdy. No, Mickey probably isn’t back in the kitchen shouting like a high-pitched Gordon Ramsay. But none of that matters. For generations of families, Chef Mickey’s is — for better and for worse — Walt Disney World. It’s the most iconic dining experience at the most iconic Disney resort.
When the kids get older, you can take them upstairs to California Grill. For now, cherish the chaos while you still can.
Tusker House Restaurant
Image: harshlight, Flickr (license)
If you absolutely must go to a character buffet, but the Pee Wee’s Playhouse vibe of Chef Mickey’s is a hard no — or, if you’re sick of chicken fingers and hot dogs and desperately want something else so you can feel like an adult again — Tusker House Restaurant in Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a pretty solid compromise.
Featuring African-inspired cuisine alongside more traditional favorites, Tusker House’s character dining is the best combination of meet-and-greet and quality food that you’ll find on Disney property. The major characters are there, and they come dressed in full safari regalia. The restaurant itself is gorgeous, with the attention to detail you’d expect after spending a few hours exploring Animal Kingdom.
But, the food is indeed standout — creative, but not overwhelming. There’s enough there for choosier eaters as well that no one should finish the meal starving. And, importantly, it’s one of the few places on property that you can have a genuinely good meal while goofing off with Goofy.
Boma: Flavors of Africa
Image: lorenjavier, Flickr (license)
If you want the best, most adventurous, and most unique dining experience at Walt Disney World — or, if you want the culinary delight of Tusker House but without the mayhem that character dining often begets — make your way to Boma: Flavors of Africa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Famously, the buffet concept here is elevated slightly by some marketing mumbo jumbo: Your experience in this restaurant is meant to evoke the animals of the African Serengeti grazing for their food in the sun. Yes, you’re still scooping meats and sides from chafing dishes onto lukewarm plates — but man, doesn’t that sound poetic?
The food is, legitimately, outstanding. With a variety of soups, cleverly-spiced meats and fish, delectable gourds and sides, and famously-amazing desserts, every single bite at Boma is incredible. It’s certainly a restaurant designed to cater to those with more adult palates, because while there are the more standard Disney meat and potatoes on offer, they’re overshadowed by the yogurts and spices and curries the African continent is famous for.
Go back for seconds and thirds. And, if you have any dietary restrictions, make sure to let the chef know — they’ll gladly walk you through the buffet and help you find everything you can eat. If nothing suits your special needs, they’ll make something special.
No matter what, do make sure to save room: The Zebra Dome desserts are arguably the most underrated sweet snack on Walt Disney World property.
Boma is a hard reservation to get, which is saying something for a buffet themed around a fairly niche cuisine. That simply goes to show that it’s amazing, and nearly worth the trip to Walt Disney World on its own.
