Episode 1042 - Counter Service Madness (The Elite Eight)

Authored by: frandog on Sunday, June 03 2012 @ 09:54 PM CDT

Old Port Royale over Everything Pop-Very similar but comparing the menus on allears, I like the sound of the selections at Port Royale better.
Main Street Bakery over Pecos Bills-I eat burgers everywhere-themeparks included- so I have no problem with Pecos, but as Len alluded to the Bakey adds to the ambience of Main Street. This is augmented by the Bakery's delicious sounding baked goods.

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WE'RE TALKING DISNEY, GOING AT IT AS HARD AS WE CAN!

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Authored by: alagille on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 06:24 AM CDT

Pecos bills is the only place to reasonably take a family for a meal. It has seating and something other than sugar for the kids. POP vs. CB- who cares. It'll get slaughtered by sunshine seasons!

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Authored by: Tkobie on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 07:19 AM CDT

I have to go with Pop and Pecos Bills. How can Len say that he wouldn't figure in the wait time at the bakery, when wait times are his life. Pecos Bills is without a doubt the best counter service value in the Magic Kingdom. The fixin' bar and the large number of inside seating puts it over the top.

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Authored by: Brian on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 07:40 AM CDT

Pop vs. CBR--I haven't been to CBR, so I'm going to abstain.

Pecos Bills vs. Main St. Bakery--Pecos Bills all the way. Not only is Pecos Bills the best CS restaurant in MK, but I question whether MSB should've been included at all. It's hard for me to think of a bakery--even one as good as MSB--as a restaurant.

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Authored by: davidwriggs on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 10:30 AM CDT

Pecos Bills by a mile. The best place to turn a kids meal into a feast.

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Authored by: kevdo on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 12:00 PM CDT

CBR over Pop (though I like both very much)
Bakery over Pecos Bills.

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Kevin Crossman
twitter.com/animkingdomfans

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Authored by: tokenfanboy on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 12:10 PM CDT

I would choose the Pop Century food court over Caribbean Beach. I've only stayed at CBR once back within a couple of years of its opening, but I don't remeber the counter-service as being that great. I have stayed at Pop Century three time in recent years and during my last trip I ended up eating there several times for dinner after visiting AK and Universal. I thought the choices at Pop Century were very good for both entrees and desserts.

I would choose Pecos Bill's over the Main Street Bakery. I think the design and ease of use of a restaurant are important factors in the enjoyment of a restaurant. They both have good food, but Pecos Bill's wins for both service and available seating. And for some reason, burgers do taste better in Frontierland. Pecos Bill's is a must do every trip, Main Street is not.

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Authored by: FigmentRules on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 12:22 PM CDT

Tie breaker vote:

Not that it really matters, since Sunshine Seasons will win the next round, hands down, I will vote for Caribbean Beach food court. Since I have never eaten at either food court, I am casting my vote mostly for nostalgia reasons as I believe that was the first actual "food court" at a WDW resort.

Pecos Bill's, over the Bakery, as Pecos Bill's (IMHO) is the baseline against which all other mainstream theme park counter service restaurants should be measured. The theming is excellent, it is fast, and it is a great place to get out of the weather and relax. I love to get the "taco" salad which is really a deep fried corn tortilla "bowl" and some ground beef into which you can pile fixin's bar goodies. How's this for an idea. Next time I will order the "taco" salad sans beef. That will get me just the shell so it will hold even more of the buttery mushroom goodness. ;-)

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Authored by: toasty on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 01:18 PM CDT

It's hard for me to think of MSB as a restaurant to the same extent as other counter service places because the list of things you could actually make a full-blown meal out of are so limited. 3 adult sandwiches does not a restaurant make. Even viewing it as a restaurant, though, it's Pecos Bills, not close. Fixin's bar FTW.

Haven't been to either food court so I'll abstain on that one. Hard to imagine either of them advancing beyond this round, though, against SS.

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Authored by: kajunking on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 01:35 PM CDT

Im gonna go for pop century for selection and because i think it will not matter cause sunshine season will squash either, and the bakery because i like to stop there every trip and share an apple turnover and cinnamon roll with my daughter

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Authored by: Kfischler on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 03:23 PM CDT

I'll vote for Pecos Bill.

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Authored by: patrickandlydia on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 03:52 PM CDT

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Authored by: cgessner on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 05:56 PM CDT

Give me the Main St. Bakery and the CBR! I can't believe I'm not picking Peco's Bill -- but I like the diversity that the Bakery has to offer. As others have stated, you can get burgers anywhere.

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Authored by: Patty on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 07:38 PM CDT

I can't vote on Pop and CBR, because I haven't been to either.
I'll vote for Main St. Bakery because I know my trip wouldn't
be complete without having some of their awesome treats.
I love the fixins' bar at Peco's, but it is not a must do.
Thanks guys-these shows are a lot of fun!

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Authored by: chickfila_chris on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 08:02 PM CDT

POP Century vs. CBR - I'm going POP Century because I love the variety, and have only been to CBR once.

Main Street Bakery vs. Pecos Bill - I love both, but when it comes down to it, I make a trip to the Bakery every time I'm in the Magic Kingdom. I don't always eat at Pecos Bill. Therefore, I'm going with the Bakery.

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Authored by: marymouse on Monday, June 04 2012 @ 09:01 PM CDT

pop century food court and peacous bills errrrr i mean pecos bills ...........

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Authored by: ardrummo on Tuesday, June 05 2012 @ 01:27 PM CDT

I'll take Pop and the Bakery.

But I also wanted to comment on Mike's comments about Flametree vs. Tangerine.

The perspective of what food is "common" is based on where a person comes from. It occurred to me that (as a Canadian) where I live, Mediterranean food is ubiquitous. I can't think of a town or city that doesn't have multiple Shwarma/Mediterranean restaurants. BBQ though is a lot more scarce. There aren't nearly as many places near my home that I can go for some ribe and Cornbread.

But likely Toronto is different from most American cities.

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Authored by: Betsy on Tuesday, June 05 2012 @ 02:58 PM CDT

1. Pop Century food court...for the shrimp lo mein (when it's available), the extensive grab and go section, the made to order salads, and the cheesecake. Also it takes Tables in Wonderland which I don't believe the CB food court does.

2. Pecos Bill - this was harder than I thought but as Len said, "it's my favorite place to relax in the Magic Kingdom." That combined with the world's largest (and very delicious) chilled chicken wrap give it the edge of the bakery.

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Authored by: Mouseinthemiddle on Tuesday, June 05 2012 @ 03:30 PM CDT

I can't really vote on Pop vs. CBR because I've never eaten at CBR. However, I've eaten many times at the MS Bakery and "P"ecos Bills, and I have to say the Bakery is my choice. The reason is simply that when I'm on vacation, I'm much more excited about cinnamon rolls the size of my head than a bunch of veggies (the fixins bar is the only real thing that sets Bills apart, in my opinion). Plus the smell walking by main street in the morning is great.

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Authored by: jed012788 on Tuesday, June 05 2012 @ 10:02 PM CDT

Caribbean Beach vs. Pop Century: I'm going to go with Pop here. The tye-dye cheesecake is a fun, resort-themed, unique item. The place is huge and has plenty of seating. Everything tastes fine.

Main Street Bakery vs. Pecos Bill: Main Street Bakery, definitely. I'm surprised that Scopa (I think) was so sure Pecos Bill would win in a landslide. With or without the fixins' bar, Pecos Bill, to me, is just a standard Disney counter-service joint. It's not all that special. I don't think the bar is any better than the one at Cosmic Ray's, and the menu is more limited.

I could easily imagine the Magic Kingdom without Pecos Bill. The park would never be the same without the Main Street Bakery.

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Authored by: jody125 on Wednesday, June 06 2012 @ 09:12 AM CDT

I vote for the Main Street Bakery. When I come down to the World It's the first stop I make, after a long trip, to get an ice cream cookie sandwich. It's lunch for me. During a week long trip I will stop back at least one more time. I've been getting before the redo of the bakery when you had many kinds of cookies to choose from, but chocolate chip was always my favorite.

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Authored by: scottcpa on Wednesday, June 06 2012 @ 10:48 AM CDT

Pecos Bills (PB) vs. MK Main St. Bakery (MSB) - I vote the Main St. Bakery. I love the smell from the bakery more than the smell from PB. Actually, the smell on the walkway from Adventureland to Frontierland on the side of PB sometimes smells bad. I enjoy the selection at MSB as they have pastries, sandwiches, and the cookie sandwich! Favorite place for breakfast and late night snack in the MK.

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Authored by: psk193 on Wednesday, June 06 2012 @ 10:58 AM CDT

Pop vs. CB - I will go with Pop here. The selections and the fact that my picky father-in-law raved about their salmon dinner they have. Also, almost every review that I have heard about the CB food area has had many "not so good" parts to it. I enjoyed my dining experiences more at Pop than CB.

Pecos Bills vs Bakery - I may be splitting hairs here, but I consider Pecos Bills to be a counter service restaurant whereas I consider the Bakery to be a quick stop grab-n-go. I will give it to Pecos Bills since it is more of a restaurant and a place to sit and eat, plus the food offerings aren't too bad either.

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Authored by: cbsavio on Wednesday, June 06 2012 @ 11:31 AM CDT

My Votes are for:
Caribbean Beach food court
Main Street Bakery

The food at both food courts is ok, CB food court just feels cooler. So it gets the edge.

Main Street Bakery gets the node over Peco's Bills because Peco's is just a fast food spot (with a great fix'n bar, i give you that). Main St. Bakery has away breakfast sandwiches, cino bun, cakes, and the Choc Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich!! The smell is amazing, and food is unique and outstanding. I stop there everytime i'm in MK, even if i don't get anything. Peco's just don't have the appeal and it's really loud.

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Authored by: Vernon1212 on Wednesday, June 06 2012 @ 06:49 PM CDT

Pop Century Food Court... and the Main Street Bakery...

Next time... bring Annette along for the fun... There will be no ties...

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Authored by: Jul on Thursday, June 07 2012 @ 10:42 AM CDT

For me, Pop wins out over CBR because it has "signature dishes", which is odd for a food court. People know that Pop has the tie-dye cheesecake that is unique (and dang tasty). What's the signature dish of CBR? Anyone? Aside from that, you've also got the TV dinner meals at night, which are adorable, and such a fit for the theme of the resort.

To be honest, I've eaten at both the MSB and Pecos Bill's, and neither one is too stand out for me. They're both good, but it really depends on what I'm hungry for. If I want protein, Bill's gets the nod. If I want sugar, it's the Bakery the whole way. But if I want something sugary, I'm going to be sorely disappointed with Pecos Bill's and if I want something protein-laden, the Bakery is a bust. Thus I opt not to put in a vote on either of those in terms of the food. My big issue is wait times and seating issues. For people who complain about waiting 10 minutes for a bus when you're leaving a theme park, I can't understand the attraction of standing in line for 20-30 minutes while in the theme park. My experience with the MSB is that it is great if you want the true Disney experience of standing in line (with some okay sugar at the end). Because I'm not a fan of standing in line, the decision has to come down in favor of Pecos Bill's.

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Authored by: caltex on Thursday, June 07 2012 @ 08:40 PM CDT

Pop Century and Pecos Bill. Consider bringing in AJ to break the tie.

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