I just listened to the review and I had to agree 100%. My single Le Cellier meal was back in 2010 (before it became two table credits and Disney went to credit card holds for reservations), but I had MANY of the same reactions and even identical experiences. We, too, checked in, and while waiting for our table saw many, many people turned away without even a glance. Yet, when we got in, there were MANY empty tables that never filled during our entire meal. I remember distinctly there being 3-4 people at the check-in desk/table and they did nothing but chat to each other and turn away guests without a glance, until the trivia started after the entryway became so full they could no longer stuff a single person more into it. (There were about 6 seats for maybe 25 people.) Which made it even more weird to walk into a restaurant with so many empty tables.
The table was extremely small, even though we had 4, and we were so close to other diners we couldn't get out of our seats without asking them to stand (and vice versa). The service was lackluster, at best (our waitress disappeared for 45 minutes after giving us our entrees and only game after we flagged someone else down and sent a search party), and the food very much equivalent to an Outback (i.e. extremely boring and very salty) ... For (back then) double or triple the price.
We, too, paid out of pocket, though we were asked roughly 17 times (and this was everywhere we went, not just Le Cellier) if we were on the dining plan. It was like you could tell the same person 10 times and they still didn't believe you.
The best part of the restaurant was the pretty walk back to it, over the little bridge. And, at least on that very cold trip, the fact that it was warm.
As you can imagine, we've never returned. Have been to Bull and Bear though. And, honestly, it shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Le Cellier. Le Cellier is to Bull and Bear what Chili's is to the Frontera Grill. And I don't mean that snobbishly ... Just that I sincerely don't even think they're doing, or trying to do, the same thing.
PS: The dining reviews are my absolute favorite part of the podcast.