Crab legs at Cape May thread-crab legs still going strong! :)

[mickey1968]

My last two trips I ate at Captain's Grille instead and I found it better and cheaper since I don't normally get a dessert anyway. The portion of crab legs at CG was more than enough for me. Now I guess it will become a little harder to get an ADR there once people realize the change at Cape May.

 

[JimmyV]

Cape May is supposed to be a New England style seafood buffet, but without the crab legs, & it seems like they are now dwindling in the New England style seafood selections....

. Whether one is talking about New England seafood or Mid-Atlantic seafood, crab leg clusters are representative of neither. Eliminating Snow Crab Legs would make the menu more northeastern, not less. But I doubt that this has anything to do with the decision.

CMC was at its best when you paid extra for crab legs and they were brought to your table in a pewter bucket by a server. When crab quotas increase, perhaps we will see a return to this approach.

 

[Disney Doc]

CMC was at its best when you paid extra for crab legs and they were brought to your table in a pewter bucket by a server. When crab quotas increase, perhaps we will see a return to this approach.

Agreed. For many years, crab legs were not part of the buffet selection, and those trips are my fondest recollections of Cape May dinners.

 

[hmillerbarilla]

My cousin just had a 5:00 ADR there... She said they had crab legs. Not sure if it's a future change, but they were there as of dinner tonight.

Well that's good news! I hope they're there in 3 weeks!

Now someone go ask a bus driver and let's get to the bottom of this!

 

[sethschroeder]

Wouldn't ever go to a buffet anymore as the food is always second class except Bacchanal in Vegas.

I want the big crab leg eaters to go to the store this weekend find the approximate amount of crab legs they would eat and look at the price. Disney likely would have a slightly lower cost but Crab is not cheap. Food cost for a restaurant should be around 30-35% of total sales for a good restaurant . That means Disney should be paying about $20 on food for a $60 bill.

Also the food at this place and ANY other profits Disney makes are completely separate. They are not using Cape May as a loss leader (purposely losing money to make up profits elsewhere) to bring people into a park....

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Wouldn't ever go to a buffet anymore as the food is always second class except Bacchanal in Vegas . . .

1) Pretty much on-the-button.
2) Bacchanal is more of a massive feast than a mere buffet.
3) But, IMHO there are two exceptions at WDW.
4) Trails End (FW) and The Wave (CR) have excellent breakfast buffets.
5 And, at a VERY reasonable price for a Disney meal.

 

[NewRVLady]

There was no worse experience than Cape May for dinner on Free Dining. The herd of elephants would RUN to the buffet when the fresh pan of crab legs came out and then one or two people take them all!!!! They wouldn't even stand in line, just run in a bunch. It was horrifying. I swear they acted like they had never been to a restaurant before.

Funny when I saw this thread, I thought to myself, okay maybe we'll go back again. Those crab legs and the animals that went there to eat them ruined that buffet.

Good riddance to them!!

I never pictured folks acting like this -thanks for the graphic description!

I really feel SERIOUSLY, that Disney RUINED the WDW experience with FREE DINING.


I still can remember class and elegance at the high end restaurants back in the olden days

 

[Eastern]

I can't remember when CMC didn't have crab legs. I do remember the old days when they put out entire cakes in the dessert section and people would cut their own slices. Can you imagine! And they were really good.

This buffet has been downsized relentlessly for the past few years. This is the first time I will not be booking it for dinner. One of the main reasons we went was for the crab legs, and yes, they weren't the best. You actually have to get a large plate of them to get even a small amount of crab.

It makes our decision not to go easier, anyway. Next trip we are doing mainly signature and counter service, with 1 night at GG. The regular TS restaurants/buffets seem to have devolved into a no man's land of cost cutting and low quality. I'm not sure if they will ever recover.

 

[NewRVLady]

FWIW I don't eat at CMC...I think it smells vile. Don't even like walking by it between the YC and BC. QUOTE]

Funny....last trip DH & I walked the length of both hotels on our way back to the Swan , and I felt the same thing...it smelled like a bad shrimp fishing dock

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

It's the one reason why we loved Cape May! Ever since free dining came around the food quality and quantity has gone down hill at WDW...imo.

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

Oh no My DH is going to be really upset when I tell him. We have a ADR at the end of November. Not going to cancel until I really hear they are gone.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Wouldn't ever go to a buffet anymore as the food is always second class except Bacchanal in Vegas.

I want the big crab leg eaters to go to the store this weekend find the approximate amount of crab legs they would eat and look at the price. Disney likely would have a slightly lower cost but Crab is not cheap. Food cost for a restaurant should be around 30-35% of total sales for a good restaurant . That means Disney should be paying about $20 on food for a $60 bill.

Also the food at this place and ANY other profits Disney makes are completely separate. They are not using Cape May as a loss leader (purposely losing money to make up profits elsewhere) to bring people into a park....

1) Pretty much on-the-button.
2) Bacchanal is more of a massive feast than a mere buffet.
3) But, IMHO there are two exceptions at WDW.
4) Trails End (FW) and The Wave (CR) have excellent breakfast buffets.
5 And, at a VERY reasonable price for a Disney meal.

Have neither of you ever eaten a meal at Boma ? Have ONLY had exceptional food there no matter which meal

 

[disneynutz]

Greed is the new business mantra.

CMC was a regular stop for us. The last few years the cuts and lack of service have become increasingly more noticeable.

The crab became the dirty, no meat crab and the servers would deliver your first drink and maybe not return. It wasn't that they weren't busy, they are running around like ants.

Sad.

Bill

 

[DisUniversal]

Wouldn't ever go to a buffet anymore as the food is always second class except Bacchanal in Vegas.

I want the big crab leg eaters to go to the store this weekend find the approximate amount of crab legs they would eat and look at the price. Disney likely would have a slightly lower cost but Crab is not cheap. Food cost for a restaurant should be around 30-35% of total sales for a good restaurant . That means Disney should be paying about $20 on food for a $60 bill.

Also the food at this place and ANY other profits Disney makes are completely separate. They are not using Cape May as a loss leader (purposely losing money to make up profits elsewhere) to bring people into a park....

About $7 per pound at Sam's Club ($15.98 for 2 pounds or $69.99 for 10lb box). I'm sure Disney doesn't pay retail so we can assume they pay about $5 per pound. How many people are eating more than 4 pounds of crab legs?

 

[momofmaz]

This "crab leg" issue of people running to grab all of the fresh ones as soon as they are put on the buffet is A NORMAL THING! LOL Its disgusting behaviour but I live in a tourist town with a large number of seafood buffets. It happens ALL THE DAMN TIME. I don't get it but apparently snowshoe crab legs are some hot commodity and a lot of people go to seafood buffets just for them. They hoard them at their table not unlike fast pass runners of the past.

I think taking them off of the buffet would eliminate these crazies from trampling others and ruining their meal. Pay a little extra and get them brought to your table. Bring that back!!!!

 

[Rafikifan]

We've walked by CMC tons of times and it wasn't until our trip last June that the smell really bothered me walking by.

FWIW I don't eat at CMC...I think it smells vile. Don't even like walking by it between the YC and BC. QUOTE]

Funny....last trip DH & I walked the length of both hotels on our way back to the Swan , and I felt the same thing...it smelled like a bad shrimp fishing dock

 

[ArwenMarie]

Next trip we are doing mainly signature and counter service, with 1 night at GG. The regular TS restaurants/buffets seem to have devolved into a no man's land of cost cutting and low quality. I'm not sure if they will ever recover.

I agree. This is what we do generally. CS or Signature. The regular TS and CS taste the same, for better or for worse.

 

[ArwenMarie]

FWIW I don't eat at CMC...I think it smells vile. Don't even like walking by it between the YC and BC.

Funny....last trip DH & I walked the length of both hotels on our way back to the Swan , and I felt the same thing...it smelled like a bad shrimp fishing dock

We did the character breakfast at CM last year. It was good food and the characters were cute, but the smell in there...ugh!

 

[Bullseye]

My family ate there last week and there were tons of yummy crab legs They were delicious!!

Same with us. We were there beginning of June and there were plenty of crab legs.

 

[L&Lfan]

We also had the crab legs early last month. But they definitely were not worth the effort in cracking and picking. I won't miss them because they were of such poor quality.