Have You/Would You Do Rainforest Cafe?

You know, we haven't done Rainforest Cafe yet -- either in AK or DTD. I've been to a couple of other ones in other cities and have never been overwhelmingly excited about them. We really should try one of these though, I've read good reviews about them.

I also wonder about T-Rex...

I have to agree with Brad, that I don't generally spend time doing things at WDW that I can do in other places...hmmm...maybe that's why we've never eaten at China in Epcot. I am curious though once the renovation is complete-for all I know the rehab is complete and I just haven't paid enough attention.

That said, we did eat at RC in AK on a day trip to the park...this was during the time we were living in Orlando so we didn't have the "vacation" time constraint at that time. I have also eaten at RC in Niagara Falls Ontario. I've never really been that impressed. The food at Niagara Falls was mediocre at best and the food at AK was average at best.

I would say if you have kids in your party it could be fun, but I certainly wouldn't go for the food...

This just reinforced what I've heard, that the food is mediocre. If I'm only going for the "show," there are plenty of WDW restaurants with a great show.

I have to agree that it just doesn't seem worth it to me. Growing up near the Mall of America, I visited the Rainforest Cafe there a couple of times. It was entertaining, but the food wasn't great. Disney has so many other great entertainment meals with good food that rainforest cafe never even crosses my mind as an option.

We've been to Rainforest Cafe and enjoyed it. It's not someplace we need to go on every trip, but the atmosphere is fun. Might scare little kids, though, so you've got to take that into consideration, too. It can get loud/dark in there.

Me too! That "Octopus Bar" with the moving tentacles seems kind of cool!

I've been to RC in Nashville and was extremely disappointed (even with already low expectations). Both times I went were among the worst restaurant experiences I've had. Once, service was so bad, we had to leave - we were seated for something like a half hour before we were even greeted and it got worse from there. The time we did eat, the food was mediocre at best. I can see the appeal, but the delivery falls way short for me.

It seems like everyone has one in their mall! It almost seems like something that they do in non-Disney towns to pretend they have some Disney magic. I can see why they thought there'd be good tie-ins at the Animal Kingdom though.

I've eaten at the one in Vegas. The atmosphere is fun to check out once or twice, but the food is overpriced and, well, it's chain food. Nothing special. Best bet is to just have a drink at the bar to check out the decor.

Hmm...interesting thought, there.

I was just going to make the same suggestion.

On another note, this is also a good suggestion for those restaurants that are on your dream list but a little out of your price range. Picked this tip from Rachel Ray's $40/day show (I think it was $40!) If your budget is tight, go for appetizers or desserts...but to be fair to the wait staff...do it at an "off" time so you don't tie up a table when they'd stand to make a good tip

The specific show was on Washington DC and she had dessert at a rooftop restaurant that had a fabulous view of the Mall & Monuments (sorry, can't remember the name of the hotel)...she got to enjoy a fabulous view and a delicious dessert for a fraction of what a full meal would have cost.

I like that idea but only during an off time as you said. Otherwise I feel like everyone will be glaring at me

That is excellent advice. I am actually thinking of doing this during my Vegas trip.

there are lots of people who eat that way more often than not i think. at lots of the restaurants i go to i see a lot of people, particularly solos who just eat at the bar. sometimes they have entrees, sometimes not. the restaurant i think actually likes it because the number of tables is more of a limitation than the size of the kitchen. same reason they like people who get food to go.

Hi,

I've been to the RC in Atlantic City, NJ and Seattle, WA as well as the one in AK. Food is decent but not great, but the atmosphere is pretty good. Service can be poor. On my first trip to the RC in AK, on October 18, 2000, the waiter bused my table when I went to the men's room.

Jim

Oh no! We're always worried about this because we get up and go to wash our hands after we order, so we fear they'll just decide that we're fed up and left!

Hi all. We go to the RC every trip. We usually eat breakfast there before we go into the AK. I can honestly say we have never had a bad meal, or bad service there. As for overpriced, it's in WDW, plus your paying for the atmosphere. We have never had to wait to get a seat. We've even been the only one's in there at times. We have eaten at the one in DTD, same thing, no problems other then the wait is long sometimes there, especially at dinner hour.

I've never thought about getting breakfast there after a morning at AK. What a great idea! I imagine it would be pretty empty on some days, and a nice relaxing stop between parks. Great idea.

I went in 1999 and we didn't have any near us, so my family LOVED it..it was actually not too too expensive for us to get meals and desserts (and their desserts are cool) and the atmophere was cool too!

We also went with the choir for breakfast in 2003 and had a great meal and not too over priced. I would go again for breakfast because I remember it was fun!

Finally someone in favor of Rainforest Cafe. A good dessert can be a major plus, do you remember what you had?

The Sparkling Volcano..."A huge combination of
strawberry and vanilla ice cream with chocolate brownie, banana,
whipped cream, marshmallow, cherries, caramel and chocolate sauce, with
a sparkler



(a feeding frenzy, enough for two or more!)"

Nothing better than a quiet breakfast in WDW. Thanks for the good idea.

Caitie: that dessert sounds like a mouthful -- literally! Was that shared between a lot of people?

We had the Volcano for dessert to once. They come out chanting "Volcano! Volcano!

Ha! Sometimes I wonder if the servers like stuff like that or not. I think it depends on how much you like your coworkers and how much fun you can have with it.

We split it between four people and it was delicious!

I like to split dessert, just not evenly. If I let other people share, but eat more than my fair share I can say that we all ate it together when really I ate 90% of it!

Hi,

@dsoup: If you and I had to share dessert, I think we'd come to blows.

Jim

We could just get 2 and tell some other people at another table that they're "sharing" with us.

Have been to the Rainforest at AK for both breakfast and dinner and enjoyed both times. We don't have them in the UK for it was something different for us. Food was comparable to other themed chain restaurants we tried and we had no complaints about the service apart from them being a bit quick clearing the plates making the slower eaters in our group feel rushed.

Tried the T-Rex for dinner too. It was very busy and felt like a rainforest cafe with a dinosaur overlay, so that should tell anyone thinking of giving it a go what to expect foodwise. The theming in there was really good.

We tried T-Rex on our last trip an thought it as very well themed. We couldn't choose which room we most wanted to sit in, because they all looked interesting! We ended up in the fireball/asteroid room, though -- pretty cool!