Watercress Cafe

A short supply of healthy options! Ordered waffles with fruit & whip cream. Waffles were uncooked in the middle, which makes them disgusting to eat, 2 blackberries, 2 halves of a strawberry, no whip cream, ample amount of syrup but this breakfast was pitiful. Complained to the cashier then waited 5 minutes for a manager that didn’t show. This was just my breakfast. My son had the same & my wife asked for toast, butter & bacon. Bacon was ok but bread came just as bread with frozen butter. This cost us $ 40 USD. Rip off? You decide.

As annual passholders we come to WDW on a regular basis and stayed at the Buena Vista Palace so we could walk over the Downtown Disney (a la Disney Springs) and avoid the parking mess.
We bought «breakfast buffet for two» online. As early risers, we found ourselves the first people in the restaurant at 7 pm. We took a waterfront table overlooking the huge lake (North Lake Buena Vista) which is almost undeveloped.
The food selection was huge and everything was fresh. We got first rate service, of course, from everyone from the cooking crew and the waitresses. I guess this is a story that when it comes to buffets — the early bird really gets the best deal.

I was here for a work convention. We had a set dinner menu and it was okay. I wasn’t particularly overwhelmed with the salmon and veggies. The dessert was quite delicious though.

Two words, crispy pancakes! Found this place in Unilocal,decided to try it & wasn’t impressed. They have table service & a breakfast buffet. We had to ask for menus but decided to try the buffet.
The fresh fruit was about the best thing they had & we tried almost everything. The eggs were watery, the bacon was tough, the sausage had little flavor. The pancakes were very sweet and crispy. The grits were plain and the gravy was sans meat. Overall the food was less than ok.
Our server visited a few times but empty plates sat on the table for a while. When we were all done, the bill was $ 42 for a less than mediocre breakfast buffet for two people.

Went here for breakfast and it was good. But not much of a selection. I would of like to see an omelet station. :-/

We ate here for Mother’s Day brunch. It was the perfect location as we were staying at Buena Vista Palace (they get extra points for letting this mommy sleep an additional 15 minutes or so that otherwise would have been spent on commute if we decided to go elsewhere), and we had a $ 50 resort credit to use on food/​beverages (also more points since I find myself unwittingly resentful when I, the mommy, have to pull out the wallet to celebrate Mother’s Day, MY day… please don’t judge me. It just seems very similar to buying yourself flowers on Valentine’s Day!), and then Disney characters cavorted with us while I was eating bacon (which I did not cook!). Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
So why only four stars? If I were to be an unbiased reviewer, I would tell you that the food was less than mediocre, even for hotel breakfast buffet. The pancake was crispy on the sides, the bacon was a little tough, and the service can be improved. However, they had plenty of fresh fruits (which gave me and the daughter at least 3 servings of fruit that day) and they actually give you your own pot of coffee. If I were to make my review with these in mind, Watercress Café is really just a three-​star place. But because of the reasons stated in the opening paragraph, they deserve my fourth star.
Thank you for the great Mothers’ Day brunch, Watercress!

The Watercress Café has a great chef and table service is excellent. They have a buffet spread that you would find in a 4 star hotel — with a wide range of options.
The only reason why it doesn’t get 5 stars is because the hotel gave us a $ 100 credit and then charged our account twice without honoring the credit. On the last day when we confronted them about the mistake — the management of the hotel tried to tell us that the kitchen was closed and that only the buffet was available. Since three of us couldn’t eat from the buffet — we had to fight with them to confess that the kitchen was indeed open.

We had one breakfast at the Watercress Café during our stay at the Buena Vista Palace. We were able to use our kids eat free vacation package for the buffet. The buffet had a decent variety of breakfast staples including, scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, turkey sausage, bacon, pancakes, waffles, fresh fruit, toast, bagels, cinnamon buns, and assorted pastries. The food was all well prepared and the drink service was well executed. It’s not cheap $ 20 per person but it’s one might expect to pay for resort dining. Considering our kids ate free we got a little more value. They offer Disney Character dining on Sunday mornings but we weren’t there on a Sunday. We found that we didn’t have time to dine here for breakfast most mornings as we were pressed to catch the early shuttles to the Disney parks most mornings.

Very impressed with the food, prices, and staff. Comfortable waterfront seating, good portion sizes, nice selection, and friendly staff. We ate here a few times while on vacation and we were pleased!

While staying at the Buena Vista Palace recently we were given $ 100 resort credit to use on food/​beverages. As a result we checked out a couple of the places to eat on site (shocker)
The Watercress Café is the downstairs food store/​breakfast spot.
For quick meals, they have a good selection of bagels, muffins, cereals, and granola bars. Everything is hotel-​expensive but the variety is nice and the bagels were actually pretty good. I’m no bagel snob but I was impressed for a central Florida hotel bagel. For snacks and small toiletries/​medicine they covered you for that as well.
We sat down and used the restaurant one day for breakfast and decided to order a la carte. It was overpriced as expected but generally good. My girlfriend had the croissant breakfast sandwich for $ 12 and I had the eggs/​bacon/​toast for $ 14.
On Sundays they have a Disney character breakfast as well for the kids.
The staff was decent — some seemed to care less but others smiled and seemed happy to help…

This restaurant is located on the first floor of the Buena Vista Palace Resort where we stayed on a recent trip to Orlando. The review is ONLY for the breakfast as we always ate elsewhere for lunch and dinner.
I can actually keep this one short and sweet. This place is ok for breakfast. The cost of the buffet is high, but it is Orlando and they get the Disney crowd. Food was fine, the kids loved it, but it was just fine. Standard breakfast buffet items: eggs, meat, French toast, lots of fruit, oatmeal, grits, pastries, juice, etc. There wasn’t an eggs to order or omelette station. You can save a few bucks by ordering from the menu, but is still isn’t cheap.
Convenient if you’re staying here… Service was a little slow to start, but once they see you’re seated, it’s excellent… food was ‘buffet’ good, but nothing spectacular… Coffee was very good.

This café restaurant is located inside the Buena Vista Palace Resort and Spa. It is on the first floor of the building.
We were not in the mood for boxed lunches, so we came for a lunch during the conference. There was a plenary session starting at 1:10PM and we were seated by 12:30pm. They said they would be able to get us in time for the session.
Here’s the clocker:
12:30PM — seated
12:35PM — Our beverages come out and orders taken
12:45PM — Food comes out
1:00PM — Check paid and off to the races!
They did an excellent job of getting us out before our plenary session. Thank you for accommodating the guest. Good customer service is always appreciated.
I had a salad that had grapefruit, walnuts, gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries, and leafy greens. Tasty and filling.
Both of my friends really enjoyed the catfish sandwich and also the crab soup was excellent.
If you have nowhere else to go for lunch while in the hotel, give this place try.

The Watercress Café offers a Disney themed character breakfast in the lobby of the Buena Vista Palace.
Prices aren’t cheap at $ 22 for adults and $ 10 for kids, but that seems reasonable compared to Disney properties.
the food was average at best. There is an omelet station and breakfast buffet, but the food was just meh.
Service was acceptable, but nothing to brag about.
The Disney characters were similar to the ones at Disney properties, and did circulate amongst the tables for photos, but the food and service left me feeling a little ripped off.
I would skip this character breakfast and head to Disney for the real thing.

This is located on the 1^st floor of the Buena Vista Palace. The parfait is delicious. The tuna wrap ($ 10) is gigantic and packed with quality tuna.
Yes, it’s a bit pricey. But it’s convenient if you’re staying at the hotel and the food quality is very good.

Alright. Let me start out with some full disclosure:
1) I am NOT a fan of Disney by any stretch. I have NO LOVE for the Haus of Maus.
2) My breakfast here was part of a larger «Living Social» deal that included a two day stay at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel, free «welcome» drinks, one ticket to Disney Quest in Downtown Disney, 20% off dinner in their Outback Restaurant and a free buffet for two here, at the Watercress Café.
3) This trip was mainly for a «weekend away» for the hubs and I. We truly didn’t care where we were going. We just both needed a BREAK since we both work from home and we just wanted OUT. Wherever.
Now that THAT unpleasantness is out of the way, let us review the Watercress Café, shall we?
The buffet is $ 20 per person normally. (Again, we did not pay for this. It was included in our package.) For that money, you get all the coffee, tea and/​or juice you can drink. You get a buffet full of scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, home fries, cereals, various breakfast breads and spreads, bacon, ham and «custom made» omelets. While not of it was particularly OMG THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING… it was good breakfast food to fill up your breakfast appetite. I found the waitstaff to be attentive, just not overly enthusiastic to be there. Naturally, this does not fit in with the perky world of Disney… but truthfully, I prefer it that way.
Perky people before 10 am annoy the hell out of me.
The ambiance was very «hotel ballroom» circa 1970. Very bland. No Disney art on the walls. Actually, nothing to even remotely suggest you are IN Disney at all. No vibe, save for the REALLY annoying Disney theme music they pump in through the overhead speakers. Lots of children naturally all waiting on the arrival of the Disney characters who visit the buffet between the hours of 8am and 11am. I was not remotely impressed…
but I’ll be damned if I didn’t pout like a five year old when Pluto did not stop at my table.
There’s something about these characters showing up that all of a sudden reduce you to the mentality of a petulant child wanting them to come to your table now now now!!! When Pluto passed me by, I frowned so hard that my husband felt the need to get up and redirect the misguided dog back to my table and pose with me for pictures.
Yes. I posed for pictures with a big stuffed walking dog. What of it?
Then Goofy came in and he was sort of, well, inappropriately lap dancing on a few of the adult female guests. I did find that incredibly amusing and posed for photos with him as well.
Yes. I posed for MORE pictures with another big stuffed talking/​walking dog.
Stop judging me.
However, when Minnie Mouse came in, damned if I didn’t knock over a few squealing kids to get into a FABULOUS photo shoot with the Grand Dame Diva of Disney herself. I said to her, «Hey Girl… where’s your Man this morning.»
She literally gave me «the hand» like, «Girrrrrrl, please» and then, made a motion that he was still upstairs (she pointed upward) and still sleeping. (Insert universal tilted head, hands in prayer position resting on head position here.)
So basically, Minnie told me that her husband is just as useless as most husbands are on Sunday mornings.
Awesome sauce.
I wouldn’t recommend the Watercress Café for fine dining, but for what it is supposed to be… a joyful morning meal for children (or adults who act like one), then you are getting exactly what you pay for.
Like I said, I’m no fan of Mickey. But Minnie?
She totally rocks.

So after spending almost $ 15 on a sandwich and drink I arrive back to my room to find it soggy and sad. Quite ill after eating it as well. Staff were unfriendly and ill prepared. Would rather have a personal conversation than do their job. Avoid it, brave the traffic or walk across the street to Downtown Disney.

Located inside the Buena Vista Palace hotel, this café offers below average buffet for the morning hunger. The offering are meager, the omelettes have little taste. The setting is bland if not a little old and seem worlds apart to the modern décor in the lobby. Don’t go here,… but don’t order room service either. You’ll pay for it.