September 2024
Nearly all Disney operated quick service and table service restaurants now offer allergy-friendly menus - read on for details.
As a huge Disney junkie, I was more than excited to finally pay a visit to Disney's new Art of Animation Resort for the first time on my last trip in August. I was overwhelmed! All of the friendly Cast Members were on their best game! The entire resort is gorgeous; we found ourselves standing in the middle of the spacious Landscape of Flavors Food Court, the walls flanked by murals, the ceiling by lights colored with trees and blue skies, and the floors with pixellated splotches of color. It really was like stepping into an animated film. The drink stations are sleek and bright. There is plenty of room. I was also heartened to see recycling bins, dish bins, and garbage bins connected in one setup--it's clean, green, and efficient! The dining setup is similar to Seasons food court at The Land pavilion at Epcot and the Port Orleans Resort food courts--a variety of food stations at which to order different options. The menus rotate on the screens above the stations and display photos of the various dishes. While we were staring at the various tasty and HEALTHY food options (many which seemed to be Indian-inspired) unable to make up our minds, the chef came out and walked up to us to give us more information about the menu. He even brought us extra samples from the kitchen to help us reach a decision! (The chef was very open, personable, interesting, and talkative. He's actually a Vietnam veteran who went to culinary school on the GI Bill.) We wound up with the turkey burger, Portuguese sausage, which came with Roti, rice, and chickpeas. The portion sizes were not bad, and neither were the prices! After a tasty, satisfying, wonderful dinner, we stepped just outside the restaurant to take a stroll by the beautiful pool and around the incredibly heavily-themed resort. I hope to return someday to eat AND to stay!
I really think that what Disney have tried to do with Landscape of flavors is fantastic! I love that there are healthy and interesting options and that a number of the dishes are made fresh to order. You don't see nasty chicken fingers, french fries and dried out burgers everywhere like you do in a typical Disney food court. I dined there twice, the first time the food was remarkable! Nearly on par to what you would get at a table service restaurant. It was hot, fresh and very well seasoned. I had the mongolian fish with cauliflower with tomato and the whole grain rice. Each meal from the grill/tandori section comes with fresh naan bread. As they were plating our food we watched the man making the naan to order. We decided to treat ourselves and have dessert as well- I chose the everything brownie and it was out of this world! I went out on a limb choosing the brownie because I find Disney brownies to be more like bricks than any kind of baked good, but they definately got this one right! Its fudgy and covered with mini marshmallows, mini M&M's, walnuts, and brown sugar. So good! Unfortunately, our second visit was a huge let down! We were ordering 3 dishes for our party- 2 fish and one chicken. The chicken sits under a heat lamp and the fish is cooked to order. We ordered our two fish but they only put one on the grill, we pointed it out to them and the second piece of fish was added. While we were waiting for the fish the cast member began plating the chicken at this point the fish isn't going to be ready for more than five minutes. The already dried out chicken is now sitting fully plated with rice and vegetables while we wait. The naan bread wasn't being made to order either and was sitting under a heat lamp. Our first fish was ready and plated before the second fish came off the grill. Overall the execution of the concept was a disaster on our second trip. The food was cold and just nowhere near as good as it had been the time before. It was a huge disappointment. We had the brownie again to try to salvage our feelings about Landscape of flavors. It was just about as good as the first time but it was missing the brown sugar. Its amazing what a difference a few weeks can make at a Disney dining location! If our second trip had been our first we would have left with a very poor impression. We're going to go back again at some point to see which of our two visits is the norm.
We stayed at the new Finding Nemo suites & this food court totally exceeded our expectations! The prices were similar to what you'd find at any other value resort, but the food was SO good! Surf & turf burger, fresh smoothies, & whole wheat chicken pasta - all of these & more were totally worth the money. Plus your surrounded by great themed rooms! We'll for sure be back...