Art Smith’s Homecomin’ offers a challenge for guests wanting to dine here. Since Homecomin’ resides withing Disney Springs, guests do not need a theme park ticket. The parking garages provide free parking. The location of Homecomin’ can be found easily in the all the hustle and bustle of Disney Springs. They serve lunch from 11am to about 4pm. After those lunch hours, they serve dinner until 10pm. This place also offers a weekend brunch starting at 9:30am. So, what is the challenge?

The challenge, should you choose to accept it, involves getting a table. The seating within this place for table service is lower than you would expect. An outdoor seating area also exists though. In my attempts to test the lovely Walt Disney Dining reservation system for an upcoming surprise trip, Homecomin’ has been one of hardest reservations to get even at 6:00 eastern time sixty days in advance. For over a week, I woke up 5:40am Florida time to see how long reservations last for dinner time. I compared Homecomin’ with Space 220, Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre, Cinderella’s Royal Table, and Topolino’s Terrace. According to MouseDining.com data, those places present significant difficulty in getting a reservation. On most days I checked, Homecomin’ reservations lasted about same time as those other places. In that small sample size, reservation acquisition presents problems.

Since Homecomin’ could be difficult to get a table, is it worth part of your Orlando area vacation? I say yes. If you are looking for traditional southern USA comfort food, this place meets that desire. If you want quality table service dining with no entrée over $40, then Homecomin’ deserves a look.

Well, this place offers a menu designed by Chef Art Smith.  Art Smith is known to be at this location often. I proclaim this next assertion about Chef Art Smith with admiration. I desire to show no condemnation. However, Art Smith does not create food for those looking to lose weight. His cuisine style builds on taste not long-term health. If your doctor needs you to lose weight, please do not even walk by this restaurant. My vegan and gluten free dining friends find few options here. Despite that, reservations go quickly. If you simply want a solid table service meal at reasonable “Disney” prices, run to this place. Also, if you believe the myth that vacation calories do not count, plan to enjoy Homecomin’.

As you might expect, chicken perfectly fried stars on this menu. If you want truly wonderful fried chicken, visit this place. A great example of this sits on the appetizer menu here. Guests can order the “Thigh High Chicken Biscuits. This appetizer provides a great introduction to the food at Homecomin’.

These chicken biscuits cost $17. However, this appetizer might be worth that price point. The menu description tells us that three excellent biscuits come filled with Chef Art’s famous fried chicken thigh meat. The biscuits then are drizzled with hot honey.

These USA style biscuits (sorry UK friends for our use of English) are well prepared. Many people rave about the biscuits here. Also, these biscuits present a nice balancing cheddar taste to go with the rest of item. As you can see, the signature bread and butter pickles feature prominently with these biscuits. As Jeremy Stein of Main Street Magic Podcast, friend of MouseDining, would point out, you can get these without pickles. However, if you like bread-and-butter style pickles, you should enjoy these. If you dislike pickles but have someone in your party who likes pickles, get them on the side. They will thank you later.

The well-prepared chicken benefits from the flavorful biscuits and honey mixed with Art Smith’s special hot sauce. The flavor combination earns high praise. If the idea of hot honey alarms you, my experience with hot honey is that it provides flavor. Still, the flavor does not reach an excessive spicy kick to scare your taste buds. The balance of hot sauce and honey fits this appetizer thoroughly.

Though some guests voice concern about the quality of the chicken itself. I feel those complaints function as the exception not the rule. Normally, the chicken thigh meat comes well prepared. Also, it is incredibly tender with good flavor by itself. The most common complaint I hear about this appetizer involves nothing about the taste. Many guests would like to see a larger version of this on the main entree portion of the menu. Some wish for a way to get more biscuits even as an appetizer. Also, three chicken biscuits can be tough to share in a group of four or more.

Sure, some podcasters, already mentioned in this article, will shout to the rooftops that the chicken biscuit sliders at Three Bridges are better. Though those get good reviews, I think most people will prefer the Art Smith version. However, even Jeremy would agree if you got a reservation at Homecomin, then this appetizer is worth your time.

If you need help getting a reservation here or any other Walt Disney World restaurant, MouseDining can help. As always, eat like you mean it!

Only about three years ago, Walt Disney World guests were able to make dining reservations 180 days in advance. Maybe since so many things in our world have changed, many of us forget about the stress of making reservations 180 days in advance. Since guests can only make dining reservations within the official 60-day window now, we forget about the thrill and terror of deciding what we wanted to eat basically six months in advance. When Topolino’s Terrace- Flavors of the Rivera prepared to open, people were frantically trying to get reservations for December 2019 in the middle of summer 2019. As the long restaurant title implies, this restaurant exists within Disney’s Riviera Resort.

This restaurant offers French and Italian style cuisine in a fine dining setting. As Walt Disney World marketing likes to say, the views from this sweeping rooftop area rival many other rooftop restaurants. Currently, Topolino’s offers breakfast from 7:30am-12:15pm each day. Adult breakfast entrees cost $42 with child breakfast entrees costing $27. This breakfast comes with high quality food and drink. However, breakfast also comes with some Walt Disney World style. This breakfast qualifies as a character breakfast. Though character appearances can change, this breakfast offers some great Disney characters. How great? Well, Donald and Daisy Duck appear. If that is not enough, Mickey and Minnie Mouse appear also. Depending on your family’s obsession with these characters, their appearance might be worth the price of breakfast alone. This is one of many reasons that reservations are difficult to acquire for Topolino’s Terrace.

The reasons explaining the hype for Topolino’s Terrace do not end with just character breakfast dining. Topolino’s Terrace offers signature dining in the evening. They serve dinner from 5pm-9:30om each evening. As you might expect, reservations present a challenge to acquire. Currently, this restaurant ranks as very difficult to get a table.  The dinner menu quality explains the reason for the demand and hype.  To start with, the bread service provided for all guests sets a great beginning for your dining experience.

The dinner menu offers several high-quality appetizers for your signature dining such as ricotta and gnocchi. For entrees, guests chose between handmade pasta dishes, seafood dishes, veal options, and a filet mignon.  The desserts offered here earn the hype also. Guests rave about the chocolate cake and the vanilla/citrus crème brulee.

Now, as you are reading this, you might be concerned about the amount of money needed. Yes, this place offers signature dining at signature dining prices. For example, the filet mignon costs $54. Still, that price compares well to Orlando area signature dining for a filet mignon. The filet mignon gets solid reviews here. However, what if you want great dining but do not want to spend over $50 for an entrée?

I have a solution for that mathematical puzzle. I suggest the rigatoni here. Okay, I know that fails to sound exciting. Your interest might lower when told the rigatoni currently costs $32. Please stay with me. The rigatoni features braised chicken sugo, rapini, wild mushrooms, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. That rigatoni sounds way more impressive that something you might make a home.

Let me assure you, this pasta-based dish deserves to be at a signature dining restaurant. Many of my Walt Disney World foodies claim this pasta dish as their favorite on Walt Disney World property. The entrée offers an incredibly creamy texture. If you visualize “rich” type of food, this rigatoni meets that standard. Though initially the portion size looks small, this rigatoni qualifies as a filling entrée. The freshness of this entrée exceeds expectations. Even the rapini (broccoli rabe) tastes incredibly refreshing. The rapini adds texture and flavor to this pasta. The chicken might qualify as melt in your mouth good. Also, the chicken tastes so tender. For a chicken pasta menu item, this one gets near perfection. In addition, the cheese looks and tastes wonderful to cap off this great entrée.

Even if you do not fully agree with my glowing review of the rigatoni, you could order this rigatoni and either an appetizer or dessert staying around $50 for signature dining. Overall, the whole dining experience explains the hype.

So, is Topolino’s Terrace worth the hype? You should decide yourself, but we say yes!  Yet, if you are lucky enough to get a reservation, enjoy your meal. You might want to consider a service that helps with finding dining reservations at Walt Disney World. The MouseDining system and subscription can assist in finding those tough to locate reservations. Whatever you do, enjoy your meals. As always, eat like you mean it!