T-Rex vs. Rainforest Cafe

[Disney4family]

We've done both.

We enjoyed T-Rex when the kids were little. It's great if the kids are into dinos. My son knew them all (still does) and loved every minute of walking around the restaurant, especially during the meteor strike when they "came alive". They also have a build-a-dino section in their store. My daughter even enjoyed making her own dino. My son loved wearing their t-shirts - cute & creative.

We still pop into the RC. It's like they say it is - a fun place to eat and shop. Both kids have tons of shirts and stuff from this store. (They prefer the RC in DAK over DS). Our "adult" souvenirs are nice beer glasses that say Rainforest Cafe for ordering a 20 oz beer. They don't make you pack the ones you use. You show your receipt at the store and they'll give you new ones.

We got the Landry's card, too. It does help you get seated faster. It cost $25. The next time we went (a year later) - we had a $25 gift card attached to it - so the card was free. You also get $25 when you spend a certain amount of money. The next year we had another "free" $25 as well as my b'day gift of $25 on the card. Yes, they took $50 off the bill.

 

[Phonedave]

We got the Landry's card, too. It does help you get seated faster. It cost $25. The next time we went (a year later) - we had a $25 gift card attached to it - so the card was free. You also get $25 when you spend a certain amount of money. The next year we had another "free" $25 as well as my b'day gift of $25 on the card. Yes, they took $50 off the bill.

The Landry's card really is great to have. It's a one time fee. Although mine was actually free, I got it when Landry's bought Morton's Steakhouse. Anybody with a Morton's VIP card got a Landry's Card. Morton's VIP cars were free, but you had to apply for it, and not everybody got one. Even if I did not get one via the free route, I stll would have bought one. They are great about the no-reservation-needed seating, and even if you forget your card, they are happy to look it up for you.

-dave

 

[tonymu]

Interesting. I remember it being big news here when everything came up with them selling it off. I stand corrected. Sorry about that.

They did sell it off in 2006 and then re-acquired it in 2017.

 

[Paper straw fan]

I don’t consider the Landry’s card foolish at all. Sometimes when we are staying on site and there’s likely crowds at every sit down restaurant, it’s nice to have what amounts to a fastpass into either Rainforest, TREX or Yak and Yeti (not to mention Bubba Gump at Universal) now, none of these will be mistaken for Victoria and Alberts, but they are all better than average options with something for all pallets. I’ve said before the “fire and ice”room or whatever it’s called at TREX is a migraine inducer at times, otherwise I wouldn’t consider it any louder than something like Art Smith’s homecoming.

Plus yeah, there’s the initial $25 fee but I believe you get a significant discount that first time (somewhere in the 25% range?) and a $25 gift card/credit every year, and a reward/point system you can get more credits for. The line skipping alone gets us our value every year, as well as knowing the short wait to eat is there if we need it.

But yeah, between the 2 you stated I prefer TREX. There’s nothing to die for but the staples (ribs, steak, chicken) aren’t bad. If they were the exact same price I’d still eat there over say, California Grill.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

They closed the 2 Joe's near us in NJ, ate there once...meh...I do agree that there are RFC's in other parts of the US, but only 1 T-Rex (that I know of). We ate there 3 times...the atmosphere is great, AA's excellent (especially if you're into dinosaurs) WDW, are you listening? If you remodel dinoland at AK, PUT T-REX IN THERE!!! It's a place you should eat at and see ONCE, and decide if the food makes you want to go back.

 

[richg35]

They're basically the same except one has dinosaurs. Some say T-Rex is louder and can be more scary for younger kids.

Also, if you have a Landry's card you don't need to make an ADR, as Landry's Card members get priority seating.