Liberty Tree Tavern or Grand Floridian Cafe

[svarhall07]

We are trying to decide on our last days lunch. We'll be up late the night before, so we plan on waking up around 10am and getting to Magic Kingdom by 11am. We want to do a 11:45-12:30 lunch and are trying to decide between LTT or GFC.

We've never been to LTT for lunch or dinner, but I like that the lunch menu isn't family style. How is the food? To me it seems like a Cracker Barrel?

[PETE FROM NYC]

I never did lunch at LTT, but did have several dinners,and always enjoyed myself.
Never did anythingin GF.
I look at it this way, LTT is in MK, and that alone is what I look for. I hate to leave any park to eat.
As far as comparing LTT to Cracker Barrel, I don't see any resemblance. I ate in a Cracker Barrel once last year and did not care for the menu at all.

[SBETigg]

The Grand Floridian Cafe is excellent, well worth leaving the park, and it's not far to go. You have a relaxed meal in a lovely environment, and good food. Why stay in the park for mediocre?

[queenmom9497]

LTT is one of my husband's favorite restaurants, especially at MK. That would be our vote.

[olivegirl]

Grand Floridian Cafe allll the WAY!!! GREAT food, GREAT service.........!!!

[faline]

We often eat lunch at the Grand Floridian Cafe on the day we are traveling home. It's very relaxed, dining reservations are not generally needed, food is good, and the service is usually excellent. It's an out-in-the-open gem that is often overlooked!

However, if you plan on eating 45 minutes or so after you get to the park, I'd probably go with Liberty Tree Tavern; otherwise, it's not really worth it to visit the park!

[MinnieMommie]

I have to agree with Faline. GF has a nice, relaxed atmosphere and the food is good but if you plan to dine within an hour or so after getting into the MK it may be a more comfortable use of time to stay in the park.

One more thing: I have had lunch at LLT and it is nice and the food is good. If you like the type of food on the menu it should work for you.

[LandFan]

I agree - GF Cafe definitely has better food and is a relaxed, beautiful environment (and would definitely be my choice) but if you are only going to the park for an hour or so before you would have to leave for lunch, it may not be worth it to you to leave the park...

[svarhall07]

The replies are very conflicted, but are leaning towards Grand Floridian Cafe.

Reasons for pro Liberty Tree Tavern:
1) never been
2) have eaten at GFC many times
3) inside the park

Reasons for pro Grand Floridian Cafe:
1) we KNOW the food is excellent
2) we love visiting the Grand Floridian

Our main hesitation is the food at LTT. We understand the time and location issues, but we're always for trying something new. I never eat at a table service in MK because I think they are poorer quality than other resort/park options.

So, how is the food? I don't mind southern fare as long as its high quality - I don't want to eat at Shoney's!!!!!!!!!!

[SBETigg]

From what I've seen, lunch at LTT gets better reviews than dinner. From most reports, it's a decent lunch.

Dinner gets mixed reviews. Keep in mind that it's a restaurant sponsored by Stouffer's. If you like Stouffer's frozen foods, you'll probably like your Thanksgiving-style dinner, featuring some Stouffer's dishes. But for lunch, they have more of a typical salads and sandwiches lunch. If you want a great meal, stick to GFC. If you want more park time and don't mind decent but maybe not incredible food, I think you'll be okay to stick with LTT.

[Fastpasssteve]

Once you get in the park, you're not going to want to leave to have lunch...especially your kids. If you don't want to do Liberty Tree Tavern, try something else. Perhaps stop at the bakery on Main Street. Ala carte items are available and you won't have to pay for a lot of extra food they might not eat, like at Crystal Palace. Perhaps an egg roll or two, a drink, a turkey leg from that cart in Adventureland.

Either that, or eat before you get into the park.

If you're having a big breakfast, you may just want to snack for lunch and grab an early supper.

Enjoy your trip.

[diz_girl]

I'd recommend that you do an early lunch at GF Cafe. It has excellent food and a wonderful atmosphere. If you're getting to the MK at 11 and have an 11:30 reservation, you won't have time to do anything in the MK before your lunch. So you might as well go the GF cafe and enjoy a nice, relaxing lunch before you get into the park. The MK is just one stop away on the monorail, so it won't take much time at all to get there after lunch.

[CuteAsMinnie]

We've never been to LTT for lunch or dinner, but I like that the lunch menu isn't family style. How is the food? To me it seems like a Cracker Barrel?

Cracker Barrel is awesome! That being said, we've never eaten at LTT because we find it too loud and too crowded and tables too close for comfort.

GFC is a nice open airy spot and usually pretty quiet for lunch.

[svarhall07]

Just to update everyone, we decided to eat at Grand Floridian Cafe. We just can't get passed the Stouffer's sponsored, most likely sub-par food just for the convenience of being in the park - heck its a monorail/boat ride away for excellent food!!!!

Thank you everyone for your input!!

[ElenitaB]

We have ADRs at the GFC for our next trip as we've never been, so I can't speak to that end of the equation.

What I can say is that lunch at LTT is a very different experience than dinner, both in terms of general atmosphere (not loud or as crowded as dinner) and food.

I think the decision boils down to timing. And it's always nice to try a new place. Besides the lunch choices, I enjoy checking out all the room decorations at LTT. Unique atmosphere.

[Kairi_7378]

Are you trying to use a DDP credit for this meal? I think that ANY table service meal will eat up a lot of precious park time. There are always so many things that you'll want to do on that last day and there rarely is enough time to do them... so we never do a TS meal on our last day. (But that's just us, your needs may be different :-) )

From a purely logistical standpoint, I think that of your two choices LTT is the way to go. But for restaurant quality, GFC is a clear winner.

[DisneyorBust]

We have dined at both locations and found:

That lunch at LTT is far superior to their dinner selections.

The GFC is always high quality in both service and food offerings.

Don't think that you could go wrong with either decision. Enjoy! And have a great vacation!

[SurferStitch]

I just wanted to say that I probably would have chosen the GFC, too, mostly due to atmosphere and menu. Lunch there is so relaxing.

But, I just had to defend LTT food. Their lunch menu is very, very good. The Colony Salad is fantastic, as is the William Penn Chicken Pasta. To not try a restaurant because you fear the food won't be to your standards is truly passing up a great dining opportunity. And, Stouffers or not, their dinner is excellent. Everything is very tasty. Sure, it's no Narcoossee's or anything, but not every meal needs to be gourmet.

I just wanted to mention that another favorite lunch spot in the MK for us is the Plaza Restaurant. Their strawberry chicken salad is to die for, as are their shakes. Everything there is excellent!

I agree that an early lunch at GFC is the best use of time on your last day. That way you're not really losing any park time versus eating in the park only 30-45 minutes after you arrive.