Sunday Brunch

Sunday Brunch - Liberty Tree Tavern
July 3, 2011

Clang Clang "Here ye, here ye, on this the Lord's Day, we shall be having out meal between breakfast and supper at the Liberty Tree Tavern!"  It's 1776, and the colonies have just gained liberty from the overtaxing and overbearing England, so why not celebrate with a feast to rival the first Thanksgiving!  With a day before the nation's Independence Day, a look at Walt Disney World's most patriotic dining establishment goes without saying.

The entrance to the Liberty Tree Tavern. Image from chipandco.com

Before we tuck in to the unbelievable feast the Tavern has to offer, let's take a quick look at how the restaurant is themed.  It is named for the great Liberty Tree, just outside the restaurant, meaning to be the place where the revolutionaries met to discuss the revolution.  The busy lobby of the tavern resembles the busiest room of any colonial home: the Kitchen.  An enormous fireplace takes up most of the back wall with a great black kettle hanging over an extinguished fire.  The wall is lines with shelves filled with jars of spices and other ingredients, hinting at the great feast you are about to experience.  While you wait in the lobby, there are some benches and a coloring table for kids, featuring character coloring sheets in colonial garb.  Keeping right with the theme, the only crayons provided are red and blue.

Speaking of characters, this table service restaurant used to offer a patriotic character dinner with classic Disney friends dressed in period costumes and even some of the colonial times Disney characters like Meeko from Pocahontas.  As of January 2009, Disney stopped offering this portion with the dinner for unknown reasons. Liberty Tree Tavern is only one of 4 Table Service restaurants at the Magic Kingdom with nearly all needing reservations months in advance, so by stopping the character dining, meal times are shorter and guests are in and out quicker. I am assuming the meet and greets ceased in order to produce a higher table turnover rate and allow more guests to enjoy the feast.  The oddest thing is the price of the meal is the same for other character meals, yet there are no characters.  The move was unfortunate and I hope they bring it back someday.

Colonial Minnie (photo by Samantha Decker at Flikr.com). 

Liberty Tree Tavern with an advertisement for Character Dining. 

With the colonial Disney characters gone, the restaurant's atmosphere still has a lot to keep you in the mindset of America in 1776.  Servers are dressed in colonial garb and cry out "Hear Ye, Hear Ye, the Liberty Tree Tavern would like to welcome the (name) family" when ready to seat you.  The dining rooms are also decorated with colonial paintings and items, with each room representing different historical figures important to the times.

This room features George Washington, with paintings of his home at Mount Vernon and wooden ducks, his favorite animal. (I'm just kidding with the last part, haha)

One of the larger dining rooms behind the fireplace lobby features Tavern style lighting.

The Liberty Tree Tavern is a table service restaurant in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom, providing guests with an A La Carte lunch service (selections from a menu) and "Family Style" all you can eat table service for Dinner.  The lunch menu offers colonial themed selections including, but not limited to the Declaration Salad, New England Clam Chowder, Delmarva Chicken and Dumplings, New England Pot Roast, the Pilgrim's Feast (Roast turkey, herb bread dressing, mashed potatoes and vegetables), and Vegetarian Pot Pie.  

The All You Can Eat Family Style Dinner is very much like the Pilgrim's Feast and offers additional selections to please every member of the family.  Each guest is treated to unlimited refills of their favorite soft drink in a glass Liberty Tree Tavern tankard like mug.  The feast includes 3 courses, starting with bread and Tossed mixed green salad, followed by the main course, and finished with dessert.

A cup of tea comes with a tiny teapot!

Your beverage mug is available for purchase at the conclusion of your meal.

Salad and Bread!

Though the meal itself was incredible, everyone in my party agreed the bread was one of the best parts.  Served warm and fresh, the bread was a milk based bread roll.  I've made similar bread in the past and I could tell they used a substantial amount of milk powder to make it moist, light, and flavorful. 

The main course came with never ending plates of proteins and sides.  Included in this never ending feast came with green beans and carrots, mashed potatoes, herb and cranberry stuffing, macaroni and cheese (a treat for the kids in the family, but may also be a nod to our Founding Father George Washington who called feathers Macaroni), and our party's favorite: the plate of meat.  Each plate of meat came with cuts of carved beef, smoked ham, and roast turkey.  The best part about the meal: when they say never ending, they mean it!  You can get as many refills of everything as you want, as long as you eat it.  I think our party had 3 platefuls of meat before we decided we were ready to explode a la Thanksgiving dinner coma.

The buffet serving for two, when I went later with my friend Brian

Dine at Liberty Tree Tavern and you too can consume this platter!

He stuck a noodle on his fork and called it macaroni!

Celebrating our nation's birthday was not the only celebration that evening.  Our party had 3 birthdays and we were treated to 3 surprise birthday cupcakes as well as the Liberty Tree Tavern birthday song!

(to the tune of Yankee Doodle)

Happy Birthday Patriot

Put aside your labor

We would like to honor you

And treat you like a neighbor

Happy Birthday Patriot

Sing your celebration

Welcome you and all our friends

From Each and Every Nation

DING! DING! DING! DING! (this is a ringing bell)

Birthday cupcakes with dessert, the Apple Crisp and Ice Cream plate.

Our server, Carrie, was quite the good sport, getting all our drink orders right and always being available to clear a plate and bring new platters of meat.  She even sang the birthday song twice in order for me to write it down for this blog!  The Liberty Tree Tavern does not disappoint with the feast they offer, as it is quite filling and cooked to patriotic perfection.  With such a colonial atmosphere and the quintessential American feast, it's hard not to pretend you're a revolutionary during the youth of our nation.