The Garden Grill

One of my absolute favorite restaurants in all of WDW is the Garden Grill at the Land pavillion. I last ate there in October for my son's first birthday and we are already planning on eating there next year. The food is excellent and fresh and the fact that it's an all you can eat family style serving means the friendly cast members keep you filled up. The flank steak is my favorite but I love the catfish too.Oh, we can't forget the fact that Mickey, Pluto, Chip, and Dale all make appearances as you eat. But even with all this my favorite aspects of the restaurant are the fact that it rotates and offers views of the Living with the Land boat ride. I love how the seats face outward and you pass the desert, rain forest, and my personal favorite the farmhouse from the ride. PLEASE make sure to check this restaurant out even if it's something you normally wouldn't do. I think it will become one of your favorites too.

Balloons in The Land

As a follow up to my last post, I thought I would publish a picture I took af the hot air balloons representing the seasons in The Land. I absolutely love the balloons and the open feeling of the pavillion and I hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy the pavillion soon!!

The Land Seating

Prior to being renovated with the addition of Soarin' the Sunshine Seasons food court in The Land used to look like this. One thing that sticks out in my mind is having to manouver amongst the stools and then find enough stools for your party while trying to squeeze all your food onto the smallish tables. I definitely like the seating arrangement how it is now as it is more open and allows for more people to be seated. However, there is something charming about the stools and tables that lent a relaxed informal feel to The Land's large dining area underneath the atrium.

Vintage Land

The Land in Epcot's Future World has always been a pavilion in the true sense of the word ever since the park opened. It doesn't just contain one attraction and maybe a pre-show, but has always had a few attractions, eateries, and merchandise available to buy. Today the pavilion is know and well-liked for the location of Soarin' inside of it. Soarin' is one of my top five attractions in all of WDW. However, after stumbling upon the picture of this tray, I recalled a time when The Land pavilion was less crowded but still an entertaining and informative area. I enjoyed and still do enjoy the Living with the Land boat ride. The Circle of Life film which was preceded by the Symbiosis film is a nice relaxing diversion from the Florida heat. But perhaps the best of these old Land attractions was the singing audio-animatronic food shows, first Kitchen Kabaret, and then Food Rocks. These were always entertaining if not somewhat corny (sorry, had to say it). The audio-animatronics were excellent and the tunes stuck in the head.

I think that The Land is an ideal pavilion to look at as far as how Epcot should be managed. Yes, there were great old attractions that started to show age and these were replaced by new attention grabbing attractions (Soarin') that also helped pump new enthusiasm into old favorites (Living with the Land). The Sunshine Seasons food area has excellent options and The Garden Grill is perhaps my favorite character meal at WDW. Make sure to explore all that The Land has to offer next time you're at WDW.