Restaurants that are buffets or all you can eat at Walt Disney World are quite varied across the resort. There are dining establishments that offer up high quality food and there are those that are more value based. Some all you can eat restaurants offer a fun theme or character dining experience, other restaurants have the merit of a great location for dining in Walt Disney World, and many are great options for groups with picky eaters or vegetarians. What all of these have in common though, is that guests can eat as much or as little as they desire of the food offered.
Character Dining Non-Character Dining Family Style Service MouseForLess Picks
Character Dining
All you can Eat Restaurants with character dining are very popular at Disney World. It is highly recommended that guests book a dining reservation as close to the 180 day booking window as possible for the best choices of dining locations. Check out our Dining Reservations page and our Character Dining page for more information. Character Dining restaurants that are all you care to enjoy include: ‘Ohana (breakfast), Akershus, Cape May Cafe, Chef Mickey’s, Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, Hollywood and Vine, Tusker House.
Best Value: Cape May Cafe
The best value for character dining is Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club in the EPCOT Resort Area. This restaurant offers an all you care to enjoy buffet and features characters including Minnie, Goofy, Daisy, and Donald.
Most Popular: Chef Mickey’s
The most popular character dining location that is all you can eat is Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary Resort. This restaurant has a loud, upbeat atmosphere and is all about family fun. Characters may include Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald.
Princess Dining: Akershus
There are a few all you can eat locations where guests can dine with royalty, but our favorite is Akershus in EPCOT. This restaurant include princess interactions along with an all you can eat menu.
Non-Character Dining
Of the restaurants that are all you can eat at Walt Disney World, there are many that are not character dining but are well themed and well rated. Some of the non-character dining locations offer more variety and quality of food as compared to the character dining options. These all you can eat restaurants include: ‘Ohana, Boma, Whispering Canyon, Biergarten, Sebastian’s Bistro, Fresh Mediterranean Market, Garden Grove Cafe.
Best Food Variety: Boma
Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is a buffet restaurant featuring a plethora of African inspired cuisine options. There are some normal American buffet choices, but there are also many options that are not commonly found on a buffet line. It can be a lot of fun to sample more adventurous food choices!
Best Value: Sebastian’s Bistro
Sebastian’s Bistro at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort may be a little out of the way for many Guests, but thanks to access via the Disney Skyliner, it’s certainly a great option for Guests looking for something a little off the beaten path that is a great value. This family-style meal features Oven-roasted Citrus Chicken, Slow-cooked Mojo Pork with Mango Sambal, Grilled Chili-rubbed Beef with Mojito Relish served with Cilantro Rice and Beans, Vegetable Curry, and Grilled Seasonal Vegetables.
Family-Style Service
Many of the all you can eat locations at Walt Disney World are buffet style dining, but others are served family style. These locations serve food to the table and diners eat as much as they desire. These locations are: Whispering Canyon Cafe, ‘Ohana, and Garden Grill.
Best Atmosphere: Whispering Canyon Cafe
This one is a hard choice for best atmosphere, because the Garden Grill is also not a bad choice considering that it is a character dining restaurant. The reason that Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge wins the prize in this category is because of the sheer volume of food that is available for guests to devour. Whispering Canyon serves up ribs, chicken, brisket, and sausage along with side dishes all in a big family skillet. This restaurant is a carnivore’s dream! It’s also the place to go if you’re looking to have a little fun, as the restaurant team will joke around with diners. Just be sure to watch out when asking for ketchup or large drinks.
Best Character Experience: Garden Grill
If you are looking for characters, look no further than Garden Grill at EPCOT. Guests are able to enjoy an all-you-care-to-enjoy feast of homestyle favorites like turkey, mac and cheese, vegetables, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. For breakfast, there’s cinnamon breakfast loaf, scrambled eggs, bacon, seasonal fruit, cheesy potato casserole, and grilled flank steak with ranchero sauce. Oh and Mickey waffles are available too! In addition, favorite characters meet with Guests like Farmer Mickey, Pluto, and Chip n’ Dale. This restaurant is on the smaller size, so in our experience, Guests usually get great interaction with the characters when dining here.
MouseforLess All You Can Eat Restaurant Best Picks
Overall Vest Value: Whispering Canyon Cafe
Whispering Canyon Cafe wins the prize for best value because the canyon skillet offers as much food as you can enjoy at at good price as compared to similar restaurants at Disney. The food is delicious and the atmosphere fun for the entire family. This is a meal fit for a hungry cowboy or girl just in from the range.
**All menus and recommendations are subject to change at any time. **