The meal is a "family style" buffet, brought to your table by a server. You may not be offered additional entrees, but you could ask for more if you were still hungry. It's unlikely, however, that you will have room left to eat anything else. The cost of the meal ($27 adult, $13 child) includes the drink, rolls with honey butter, tossed salad with strawberry vinaigrette, Stouffer's macaroni and cheese, slices of turkey, beef, and ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, garlic green beans and an enormous apple cobbler dessert with a too-large dollop of premium vanilla ice cream.

All of the food was of a baseline quality that ranks as "good" or better. The salad dressing was unique and flavorful, really encouraging you to take another bite. The rolls were particularly good when hot, though they came across as less fresh as they cooled. The mashed potatoes and stuffed are best described as pedestrian and unremarkable, and the same could be said for the turkey. Meanwhile, all other items were superb. The ham was spiced right and sliced thin. The garlic beans were not overdone and exuded freshness. The beef strips were the best of all. Succulent and peppery, they tasted as though they had marinated overnight in au jus. The occasional streak of fat in any of the three meats were but temporary aberrations in an otherwise perfect meal.

Despite arriving with no reservations, we had to wait slightly less than 30 minutes for an early dinner (this is doubtless impossible to do at a "normal" dinner hour). We were asked for drinks almost right away, and the drinks came quickly, as did the rolls and salad. The food followed twenty or so minutes later, after we had been visited by numerous costumed characters (on our visit: Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Goofy, all dressed in colonial garb). The character interaction was ever so slightly rushed, but I was amazed to see that we were visited at least twice by each character (save Goofy) - they really work the room!

It's the character interaction that will drive most happiness or unhappiness in visits by tourists, and to judge by the folks around us, everyone was happy. The hordes of kids anxious to see the characters led to a boisterous environment, with lots of yelling for attention (both by parents and children), and birthdays were announced with a too-loud bell, but by and large it stayed pleasant. The question of value is highly subjective. Is it worth $30/adult for the food alone? Probably not - though $20 would have been a bargain. So the question becomes: is the character interaction worth the premium? By selecting just such a meal, you can arrange to have your child meet the characters without having to sacrifice time in the middle of the day for long lines. For many travelers, that's a win-win. For others, if it's less important, they may find the money less well spent.