Fare Thee Well My Fair Feast Fare

I intended to talk about character dining. A hotbed of bullets and buffets on the Internet, especially if you mention Cinderella's Royal Table. I'll dodge that bazooka of a subject this time though and talk about a less volatile meal. The Garden Grill lunch. Ignore my tears of sorrow.

I didn't go to a character meal until kids became involved. Really, it's a much preferred way to have encounters with certain big ticket characters than standing in a long line in Florida. Of the ones I've been to so far, my favorite has been the Garden Grill lunch in The Land at Epcot.

First, it revolves! It gets points for that alone. The turning is really very slow, though. I hardly noticed it until I looked up and the diorama was suddenly different or Mickey had appeared. Which is another plus. Because it's a revolving restaurant, the time you get with a character is far more personal. There's absolutely no way someone from the neighboring table can jump up and horn in on your character time. And with such blinders on, it seemed the characters often didn't hurry to the next table. It's probably best if they didn't hurry, seeing as they have bulky feet, limited vision and well...there's rotation.

The characters are Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. The food is served family style with a variety of dishes that hits the beef, poultry, fish and vegetarian categories. You can eat as much of each dish as you like and ask for more of whatever is preferred. They bring mac and cheese for the kids too, but the kids can try for the catfish as well.

I found, even despite the Free Dining Plan going on at the time, that the restaurant wasn't very crowded. It satisfied my natural hermit tendencies. Perhaps that was the problem. Perhaps not everyone was as childishly thrilled by a rotating restaurant as me. Because it has been announced that as of October 6, 2008 lunch will no longer be served at Garden Grill. There will still be dinner. However, I preferred lunch since it was timed perfectly. I got to tour Future World's attractions early before the crowds hit. During the hottest part of the day, I was rotating around outside of Soarin' in perfect air conditioned coolness. When we got out of lunch, the World Showcase was opened and the initial rush of its opening was past. The price was also slightly cheaper. Because I'm also a cheap hermit-even when I'm on the Free Dining Plan or the basic paid Dining Plan that makes going to character meals possible without putting me into debt.

So, of course, they close down my favorite, least crowded character meal. The meal where my toddler first really recognized, met and was physically able to hug the Big Mouse for the first time. And without another kid trying to run over her while doing so.

A moment for the lunch, please. No need to remove your hat. Farmer Mickey doesn't.

Defend the Commissary! Find Lost Fish!

Out of all the counter-service places in the four Parks, the ABC Commissary probably earns the greatest amount of hate. It's theming isn't that Disney. Just a great big ad for ABC shows. Some don't like the food. There isn't much very Disney about it, except that Disney owns the network.

So why do I like it? For one, it's tucked in the back of Hollywood Studios and easy to overlook. Unlike Rosie's and the Backlot, it's indoors. That means cool, cool air conditioning. It's pretty quiet, making it once again an oasis from chaos. This seems to be a theme in what I like. I liked a bit of calm before having a toddler, now I appreciate it even more.

The food here does seem to change pretty often. It's different every time I go. Recently, I saw they got rid of their Asian noodle dish and have an Asian salad instead. It's almost as if it doesn't know how to theme its food, which is one of the complaints against it. For me, I always welcome the change it provides me from the usual burgers and chicken. I walk in thinking, "What will there be this time?"

They do have a burger, called The Ugly Betty Burger. Which just proves my point, for the first time since I've been there, the food all had ABC names! I very nearly ordered the Cuban sandwich based on it's Dancing With the Stars name alone. Who wouldn't want Lost fish? Desperate Housewives mousse? And I have no idea why the no sugar-added parfait has been paired with All My Children. I ordered the new The Extreme Home Makeover Asian Salad, last time. I felt like a new house when I was done...I think.

Unlike the other three parks, Hollywood Studios lacks counter-service places. Between finding a seat, having a lot of room and the quiet, the Commissary is always one of our stops. It's saved us more than once when staying at an All-Stars resort with it's insanely crowded food court. It's the only place in the Studios that serves breakfast without having to have a priority seating reservation or being restricted to pastries.

Unfortunately, the hatred for the Commissary and it's lack of traffic are also it's undoing. Breakfast used to consist of actual plates of eggs and sausages. Now those have been cancelled and only the bagel sandwich, like a reality show during a writer's strike remains.

I hate it when networks cancel the good shows!