Kona vs Grand Floridian Cafe vs The Wave

[HappyGrape]

Trying to decide which one for dinner

Which one is easiest to get to from MK?

if you have been to either - what was your experience?

How do you rate the food, service and overall experience

 

[kmb584]

Which one is easiest to get to from MK?

if you have been to either - what was your experience?

How do you rate the food, service and overall experience

The easiest to get to is The Wave. If taking the monorail, the CR is the first stop. If walking, it's 10 minutes away at best. We regularly eat at and enjoy all 3, but The Wave is my personal favorite. I really like their seasonal menus and service has always been great.

 

[tinkerbella16]

Have only been to Kona and Grand Floridian Café for breakfast. Not sure if you are talking about breakfast, lunch or dinner. When I was there in November, my adrs for both were early - 7am and 7:30am and the monorail was not running that early, it was on a schedule. I took a cab to both from POR, and it was quick and easy. Love the food at both Kona and GFC. The pineapple macadamia nut pancakes at Kona are heavenly!!! it is a good start to the day. They are more quiet and laidback, no characters. I have heard great things about the Wave.

 

[ELSA711]

Have only been to Kona and Grand Floridian Café for breakfast. Not sure if you are talking about breakfast, lunch or dinner. When I was there in November, my adrs for both were early - 7am and 7:30am and the monorail was not running that early, it was on a schedule. I took a cab to both from POR, and it was quick and easy. Love the food at both Kona and GFC. The pineapple macadamia nut pancakes at Kona are heavenly!!! it is a good start to the day. They are more quiet and laidback, no characters. I have heard great things about the Wave.

So we are planning to do the same but cab from CBR to both on our upcoming trip. If you make a 7am breakfast slot:
Hoping for some expertise input.
How early should we leave our resort to make it by 7am and if we take an hour to eat, will the monorail be running to MK around 8sh? On a 9am park open day?
What would be our expected arrival at MK if leaving Poly or GF at 8am?

 

[gdrj]

Which one is easiest to get to from MK?

if you have been to either - what was your experience?

How do you rate the food, service and overall experience

None of them are very difficult all 3 can be reached by monorail. Once off the monorail you, the closet inside a resort is Kona, if anyone in your traveling party has mobility issues this would be easiest IMO.

You can use the boat launch (the smaller boats) where it will stop at GF and then Poly as an alternative as well.

With all that said they are all pretty easy to get to, and would not influence my decision which one to go to.

 

[Lisa F]

I haven't eaten at the wave but stayed at BLT and did room service a few times and the food is off their menu. OMG good. The sweet potato pancakes and apple sausage was my favorite breakfast and their filet was super delicious, might as well have been a signature except it wasn't very creative - just basic veggies, filet, mashed potatoes and mushroom sauce. but SO good.

 

[jimmytammy]

The Wave is easiest to get too. 10 min walk, Kona is a bit farther, maybe 20 mins monorail. GFC is furthest, allow 25-30 mins by monorail. We like all 3, and I would rank them like this...The Wave and Kona equal, GFC, is good, but not as good as other 2. I dont think you can wrong with an of them. The Wave service tends to be a bit better, just because they tend to not be very crowded

 

[tinkerbella16]

So we are planning to do the same but cab from CBR to both on our upcoming trip. If you make a 7am breakfast slot:
Hoping for some expertise input.
How early should we leave our resort to make it by 7am and if we take an hour to eat, will the monorail be running to MK around 8sh? On a 9am park open day?
What would be our expected arrival at MK if leaving Poly or GF at 8am?

Since the cabs are usually out front in the parking area waiting, I left my resort around 6:15am just to be safe. The monorail was on a weird schedule, and of course both days I had adrs for Kona and GFC, I could not use the monorail to get to MK before 8:30am. They did have buses at both, because of the monorail not being open until 8:30am, so I just hopped on a bus and was at the MK not long after. The days of the week that I went were on a Friday and a Tuesday. Not sure if they are still on that same schedule at this point, or if it will be by your trip.

 

[OKW Lover]

Trying to decide which one for dinner

Which one is easiest to get to from MK?

if you have been to either - what was your experience?

How do you rate the food, service and overall experience

We have been for dinner to all three. In terms of food and overall experience we would rank them Wave, Kona, GFC, in descending order. Wave & Kona are very close with Wave getting the edge for a quieter atmosphere and slightly better food. There is a large gap between Kona and GFC.

Easiest to get to? By resort monorail they are equal. If you don't mind a walk, the Wave can be reached by walking from the MK.

 

[OKW Lover]

The Wave is easiest to get too. 10 min walk, Kona is a bit farther, maybe 20 mins monorail. GFC is furthest, allow 25-30 mins by monorail.

But reverse these numbers for the ride back.

 

[HappyGrape]

I am thinking keeping Kona and the Wave and dropping GFC

thanks for your help

 

[SharonLowe]

Just to add a bit to the discussion. The Wave is a hidden gem - good food, good service, quiet and of course easy to get to on the monorail or by walking over from MK. We used to like Kona but we had such a bad experience in April 2015, we will not be back - service was so slow - even people with ADRs were having to wait an hour to get their table; the food was mediocre at best; and it was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. Not been to GFC so can't comment. Hope you have a better experience at Kona than we did.

 

[Davie Business]

Funny. We have had opposite: always had great food/service at Kona and rotten food/service at Wave. Last time at wave took over 2 hours.

 

[OKW Lover]

I'd just encourage those that have written off any restaurant because of a bad experience to at least give it a second try. Any place can have an off day.

 

[VillainFavs]

Have been to Kona and The Wave and much, much, much prefer The Wave. Kona's food was okay, not great. The Wave's was delicious. Service at both was very good, no complaints. But The Wave's atmosphere is so quiet, relaxing, peaceful. Kona's is wide open to the lobby. Feels like you're eating in a food court. And that's not something that's going to be changed by a second chance!

 

[WishesQueen]

We've eaten at all 3....The Wave was very good, but my kids didn't like the menu at all. Their in their teens and just didn't embrace the menu also, the restaurant was very very quiet...too quiet. Kona on the other hand my kids love, they actually have a hard time deciding what to have there is so much they like. I also love getting visit the Poly!! The GFC is our first night dinner since we stay there and its convenient to get back to the hotel unpack and catch Wishes. The menu is limited but delicious...my kids and hubby LOVE the steak and the staff is the sweetest. Good Luck!!

 

[1stTimeDisneyer]

We have been to all three and a few of them multiple times. I would choose GF Cafe, followed by The Wave and then Kona. This is based on food, service and atmosphere.

 

[Mazz519]

Hands down Kona... easy to get to

 

[Eastern]

The Wave is my first choice. Nice atmosphere and very good food.

Kona is ok, but I really dislike the noisy, open dining room. It's like a cafeteria.

GFC food was meh and service was soooo slooooooow....