Dining Review: Biergarten

Biergarten is the restaurant located in the Germany Pavilion in Epcot.  For years I avoided this location.  I thought it was going to be a bunch of sausages and mediocre food.

To be honest my opinion may have never changed if not for Disney podcasts.  I listen to about seven different Disney podcasts.  Time and time again I heard how good Biergarten was.  In particular WDW Today really had a positive opinion of this location.

When I made our ADR my wife thought I was nuts but I assured her it had positive reviews.  After saying this I couldn't help but hold my breath and hope it didn't end up being a total mess. 

When we first entered Biergarten our waiter explained that it was tradition to sit with people you didn't know.  This seems like an ok idea when it works.  In our case it didn't really work.  We were seated with a another party that didn't speak or understand English.  They didn't know Spanish either so we didn't really have any way beyond gestures to communicate with them.

As we were brought to our table something hit us.  

Biergarten is one of the best, if not the best, themed restaurant in Walt Disney World.  Like the Mexico Pavilion you in the blink of an eye you are transported to night time.   In this case an outdoor banquet hall in Germany in the fall.  The detail level is amazing.  Click on the picture on the right and check out the details.  There are going to be a number of additional photos to expand on some of the cool details.  I'll be honest I was blown away because after all of the times I have been to Disney World I didn't think there could be such a detailed corner that I had not seen.  It just goes to show that no matter how many times you go to Disney World there will always be something new to experience.  Experiences like this make me excited to go back again and find another hidden gem.  They are out there.  Just being open to new experiences can lead you to a some amazing memories.

  

Here is a close up of a fall tree and a water wheel that could be overlooked.   It's just another example of how the imagineers go above and beyond when they design something.

In the corner you can find a full moon.  It's a really nice touch and I'm not 100% sure how they pull it off.  I don't know if it's an illuminated painting or a projection.

Now for the food.  I low expectations for the food.  After all I'd never really heard good things about German cuisine.  I honestly thought Germany mastered the art of beer making because bad food taste better after enough beer.  I now know that I was not only an idiot for believing that but I was completely pig headed.  The food at Biergarten is not just good it's great. 

Sure there are some sausages but there is a ton of other options too.  Oh and I should mention, the sausages are awesome.  To explain how good the food is I have to make some comparisons.  I have been to a bunch of buffets in Disney World.  I have been to Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, Tusker House, and Akershus.  Biergarten beats all of them hands down.  Yes the food is that good.

Now when you go to Germany you have to do what the Germans do.  You need to drink beer! Now Biergarten has some of the best beers you will find in Disney World bet there is something else that  makes the beers special.  You can get them in liters.  Yes a one liter sized beer as seen in this picture.  When the beers came all I could think of was the scene in the Lord of the Rings when one of the hobits comes back to the table with a pint sized beer causing one of the others to say "It comes in pints!?!"  That is how I felt as I lifted my beer.  Best of all you burn calories with a beer like this.  Just picking it up is like doing a bicep curl.  If take small sips you'll need to change arms before you are done.  So now you have an excuse to order a beer bigger than your head.  You need the exercise!

Next the service.  The service was top notch.  In fact it was the best service I'd ever received at a buffet.  Our waiter was very friendly and attentive.  I also tested him right off the bat.  I tested him on the beers on the menu.  I wanted to order the most bitter beer they had.  I like a good IPA so I wanted something close.  He hit the nail on the head.  We also asked him about the lightest beer because one of the members of our party didn't really like beer but we threatened to disown her if she didn't order one.  He did a good job with that too.  Overall he did an amazing job.

Unlike most restaurant reviews I have to add another section to this review, the entertainment. Yes Biergarten offers some entertainment.

The entertainment consists of a ompa band.  It's fun music and fits right into the theming but they really go beyond just playing some music.  They really do entertain.  There is one part where the tuba player goes out and scares people who are not paying attention, another part where they play an Alps Horn, and a fun part when one of the members plays the bells at an insanely fast pace. Click here to see the tuba guy scare people and click here to see the fastest bell player in the "World."  Overall the entertainment is really fun and almost everyone will enjoy it.

The end result is Biergarten is one of the best restaurants in Disney World and I don't say that lightly.  For what you pay it's hard to find a better dining deal in all of Disney World.  The food is great, the service is great, the theming is amazing, and the entertainment is fun.  Biergarten is truly a hidden gem.

Review: The Crystal Palace

The Crystal Palace is one of the most popular dining locations in the Magic Kingdom. It’s an all you can eat buffet with characters with from the Winnie the Pooh series. Kids love this dining experience, but is it worth the cost?

Food: The food at the Crystal Palace is decent. They have a nice mix of foods. The carved meats and the desserts are what stand out. Everything else is just average. There are a couple of buffet style restaurants in Disney World that are better.

Atmosphere: The Crystal Palace is a beautiful well lit restaurant with lots of windows and has a Victorian style to its decorations. The seating areas are the downfall of the atmosphere. They designed them to cram as many people into as small a space as possible. I didn’t get the same feeling from Tusker House which seemed a little more open. At times getting from my table to the buffet and back was an adventure and somewhat difficult. Because they cram so many people in so small a space it can get really loud inside. Keep that in mind if your kids are volume sensitive. It’s no where near as loud as Kouzzina but it’s still loud.

Entertainment: If you like Pooh and his friends you’ll like the entertainment here. I’m not a big fan of Pooh. The only one I really wanted to see was Eyeore. The ones that were out and about when I was there were: Winnie the Pooh, Eyeore, Tigger, and Piglet. Every so often they do a little show where all the kids follow the characters around while music plays. It can’t be easy to be a character here. Each character needs a handler because things are so cramped they can’t get around without them.

Service: The service is decent. At a buffet you don’t expect much and they lived up to that. However there is one big failure where service is concerned. My wife and I had an ADR. When you have an ADR you know you are not going to get seated right away but you know after a few minutes you’ll get seated. It took the Crystal Palace thirty minutes to seat us. Thirty minutes to seat a party of two. That’s insane.

Cost: The Crystal Palace is very expensive for a buffet, even a character buffet. You will take a serious blow to your wallet while eating here. We went here during lunch which made the cost even more of a shock.

Overall I won’t be going back to the Crystal Palace. It’s too expensive, too crowded, the food doesn’t match the cost and the overall interaction with the characters was better at the Garden Grill.

Buffets Are Fun

Most buffets have barely passable food. Sometimes they have awful food or food you refuse to eat because you know you’d be stuck paying homage to the porcelain god for the next week if you did. The server is normally non-existent which is better than the rude smelly person that sometimes brings you your drinks.

So why would you want ever want to go to a buffet? The answer varies depending on where you are. If you are in Disney World, it’s because the above rules don’t really apply.

Disney has a bunch of buffets. Most of them have good food, most of them have pleasant servers, and most of them attract some of the most interesting crowds you’ll ever see. You will never find a stranger mix of people. Here are the usual suspects at Disney Buffets:

Ms. Picky – You would think that a buffet would have something for everyone. You think that until you see this lady. It’s the lady who goes through the entire buffet and adds two tiny things to her plate and then has a disgusted look as if she’s offended by the selection.

Ms. Skin and Bones – Sometimes this is Ms. Picky too. It’s the person who doesn’t even eat one plate of food. You scratch your head and wonder why on Earth did she go to a buffet?

The Runaway Kid – It’s not really a run away kid. It’s a kid who was allowed to go through the buffet by himself and has filled his plate with French fries and deserts.

The Man With His Own Gravitational Pull – This person typically needs two seats; one for each cheek. He’ll plow through at least five plates. He’s the one that’s determined to get his money’s worth! If the server asks if he’s done, he waives her off and says “No. I still have some room left in my esophagus.”

Mr. Big Eyes, Little Stomach – You always seen this person. It’s the person with the full plate but he’s turned green because he ate too much already.

The Carnivore – You know this guy when you see him. He’s the one with two plates. One plate has nothing but ribs and fried chicken on it. The other plate has enough bones on it to make a model of a dinosaur.

Mr. Helpful – This guy annoys me! This is not someone in your party. This is a total stranger. He’s the one who sees what you brought back to your table and then decides to comment on it. He’ll also recommend something you may have missed.

Mr. Everything is Better at (insert name here) – This is the guy who just can’t enjoy his meal. No matter what he eats he’s been somewhere better and believes he shouldn’t have to pay because he views the food as substandard. This is the guy who somehow forgot that he’s at a buffet.

Lou Mongello – Look out for this guy. There won’t be any food left.