One of the new additions to Disney Dining is the Family-Style Quick Service Dining at Pizzafari in Animal Kingdom.
Before our latest trip to Animal Kingdom, I had never eaten at Pizzafari before, so I was eager to try it out.
Family Style Dining Review
Reservations
While reservations are recommended, when we showed up, there was definitely an opportunity to show up without one and still get seated.
There was only one other family in the room with us. They left not long after we arrived, leaving us with a full room to ourselves. It wasn’t until we were almost finished eating that another couple showed up.
After days of sometimes frantically searching for a place to sit in other Quick Service Restaurants, especially for 8 people, this was a nice and welcome change.
Checking in
We walked in 10 minutes after our Reservation, but since the Restaurant was virtually empty, the Cast Member was nice about it.
To limit the amount of time I would be opening My Disney Experience, I had addedd all of my Fastpasses and Dining Reservations to my calendar on my phone and Apple Watch.
The problem was that I mistakenly put 6 45pm, when my reservation was really for 6 25pm.
Price
If you are on the Dining Plan, this meal will cost you 1 Quick Service Credit.
We thought this was a great deal. If you pay out of pocket, the experience will cost you $19.99 per Adult Guest and $11.99 per child. The food is unlimited.
After paying at the kiosk, like other Quick Service Restaurants, we were told to show our receipt at the counter to receive our Appetizers and Drinks.
This is the only portion of the meal that you will need to physically pick up and bring to your table.
The rest of the meal is brought out for you.
The Food
While we were picking up our Appetizers, we were told that since we had 8 people on the Reservation, we would be getting DOUBLE the amount of food at one time.
After walking our 8 drinks and 4 appetizers to our table, we knew right away that there was going to be an enormous amount of food.
We were right! We could have been brought a single serving of the 4-person meal for the 8 of us and still wouldn’t have needed to ask for more.
Appetizers
Appetizers consisted of a Caprese Salad and A Caesar Salad.
Both were traditional salads that you can get elsewhere, so they weren’t amazing, but they were tasty.
And knowing that the Entrees that were going to be coming our shortly were mainly meat-based, I didn’t mind filling up on appetizers.
Entrees
The Entrees consisted of Baked Ziti, Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken, and a full Pepperoni Pizza.
I did have some of the Baked Ziti, since this consisted of no meat. Again, nothing spectacular, but there was no complaining from me.
While I didn’t eat the other dishes, the rest of my family seemed to enjoy them.
Dessert
Miniature cannolis were brought out with the 3 entrees (or in our case, 6 entrees!).
Although I was full from the appetizers and the Baked Ziti, I couldn’t resist eating those canolis.
There’s always have room for dessert, right?
Not everyone in my family felt the same way about these, but I liked them.
In fact, I liked them so much that I took some back to the resort with us in a to-go container and stuck them in the mini fridge for later.
Is it worth the price?
Although I didn’t try everything on the menu, I did try most of it. And what I did have, I really liked.
It’s pretty standard food, so nothing is going to knock your socks off. But, unless you don’t eat anything, you’re not going to leave hungry.
And if you’re looking to get your money’s worth, being able to take food home with you was amazing.
But, as much as we ate, there was a lot of food waste.
And personally, I’m also not sure if what I ate was worth $20, especially since I couldn’t eat 2 of the main entrees.
Dining Plan vs Out of Pocket
If I had the chance to go again, I would absolutely spend the 1 Quick Service Credit again.
I thought it was a great value for the amount of food that we received and the ability to bring additional home with you further added to the value of this experience.
The atmosphere, itself, was also worth spending the 1 Credit. You don’t normally have a quiet, relaxed Dining Experience at Disney, especially at a Quick Service Restaurant.
Of course, you can’t count on that happening every single time. But, since the room is reserved for the Family-Style Dining and Disney doesn’t appear to be advertising it very much, there’s a good chance you’ll have a similar experience.
Of course, we could have just gotten lucky.
With that being said, had I needed to pay out of pocket, I would choose another Restaurant. And a main part of that reason is because I basically had to fill up on the salads.
Not to mention, if it was just my family of 4 that had gone, I would have spent close to $90, including tax, for standard Park food.
Had there been specialty desserts you can’t get elsewhere or experiences like 50’s Prime Time Cafe, maybe paying out of pocket could be worth it.
But, as it is, there’s nothing that sets Pizzafari apart from other Quick Service Restaurants. You just get more of it.
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