Pure Dissapointment

[wdwpirates]

I'm so very discouraged by this. We are still going to give it a go...but, I will say I don't have high expectations.

 

[catne]

Very disappointing news. I have always love the French bakery. Never made to the bakery on last trip as spent very little time in EPCOT and was looking forward to going on this trip.

Has the quality of bakery in Norway changes as well ?

IMO, Norway's bakery goods went severely downhill a couple of years ago. Used to be over-sized, very fresh items there. A couple of years ago, they down-sized everything, cheapened up the ingredients...for example, we had loved the "school bread" which was a soft bread-like roll, filled with a pudding-type cream and absolutely covered with coconut...about the size of a large bagel. Now, it's about the size of a regular size donut, stale dry bread with about a tablespoon of cream in the center, and maybe a couple of tablespoons of toasted coconut on top. Not good. And they started mass-production of all the pastry items so the only way you got fresh items was if you were lucky enough to be there the day the items were delivered...3 times in a row, our pastry items were so stale you could hardly get a bite off them...even dunking in coffee they were still leathery-stale. YUCK!

Frankly, the freshest bakery items we find in Epcot now are at the bakery counter in Sunshine Seasons...have had items there in the last two weeks and the cakes, cupcakes and tart-like desserts were all very fresh and tasty. Hopefully they won't cheapen up the items there too.

 

[skater]

This is so sad - my son made a list of the Disney foods he wanted for our upcoming trip and almost half the items on it were from the French bakery. It sounds like its not worth the money or trouble.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

IMO, Norway's bakery goods went severely downhill a couple of years ago. Used to be over-sized, very fresh items there. A couple of years ago, they down-sized everything, cheapened up the ingredients...for example, we had loved the "school bread" which was a soft bread-like roll, filled with a pudding-type cream and absolutely covered with coconut...about the size of a large bagel. Now, it's about the size of a regular size donut, stale dry bread with about a tablespoon of cream in the center, and maybe a couple of tablespoons of toasted coconut on top. Not good. . YUCK!

I agree, I could accept the diminutive size if at least it was fresh. There does not appear to be an opportune time to order these, they were stale the last 2 times I've gotten them. I've given up, now I go for rice cream!

The Boulangerie/Patisserie, The Main St. Bakery and the Boardwalk Bakery (I've heard there are changes going on there too) always had good plain croissants and other pastries and they have all been changed or retrofitted to feed the masses at the cost of quality!

I wonder if the new salads are any good? I will still go, just for the cheese platter, even if I have to buy the baguette separately!

 

[Lehuaann]

Just great...and here I thought they were only opening the bakery in a larger location and 'expanding the menu'...not replacing the recipes. I also assumed they would have extra prep space to continue offering 'more' made-to-order items, not mass-produced and pre-packaged. Funny, never once in the old location were we offered an item that tasted stale or days old. The old Napoleon was delicious and visually appealing, every visit. I see the new one got some help with fancy wrapping. To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement...

 

[TDC Nala]

Has the quality of bakery in Norway changes as well ?

They changed the schoolbread awhile back. Otherwise I have no idea if it's different.

 

[michellelovesthemous]

Have they changed too?? I adore the croissants in France and may if they have changed too.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Have they changed too?? I adore the croissants in France and may if they have changed too.

I've read a couple of reviews where some have said the croissants and the croissant breakfast sandwiches were fresh and crisp! Even a positive comment about the new Napoleon, different from the old but tasty, not stale!

So I guess I will wait to try these items for myself at Les Halles before I give my final verdict!

Hope lives eternal!

 

[OchreHand]

I had the old Napoleon last year (for the first time) and tried the new one this past January. At first I was a little disappointed based on appearance. Last year's Napoleon was a large, gooey and delicious chunk. The new one is smaller but still tasty.

A lady next to me commented to the person behind the counter that she was disappointed that they changed the Napoleon. The person responded that it's more authentic now. I guess the large gooey chunk of Napoleon was American-sized

 

[Jubilee]

I'm shocked at this post. IMO, it is highly improved! The croissant (amazingly, still a snack credit on the dining plan -- this won't last) was so tasty!

 

[Julylady]

We too are SO disappointed to hear about the Napoleon. Like some others, we often made a special trip to EPCOT in the afternoons for coffee/pastry. The photos of the new Napoleon look very much like the ones sold at a bakery in my home town. Too sweet and too soggy. The only Napoleons I ever liked were the French bakery ones and I LOVED those. I am so, so sad.

Sigh....does anyone remember the beaver tails in the Canada pavilion? I still miss those too.

 

[JDUCKY]

We love the new, expanded patisserie. So much more room, plenty of seating, another bathroom, too, for France. I tried the chocolate mousse...mmmm!

 

[ilovepete]

We ate there this month, and everything was great! I just reviewed our experience, too. We'll be going back for sure!

 

[wilkeliza]

Just going to point out if you are receiving something that you believe is 2 to 3 days old that is a taste issue not necessarily freshness. If things aren't prepackaged they have to be dated and most things only have a 1 or 2 day shelf life. I know that most nights going home from EPCOT the CMs that worked in the countries always had tons of food (even though they weren't suppose to) because if they didn't eat it it would be thrown away.

If I can believe what the French CM told me the pastries were hardly ever made at the french bakery. There were a few for show but most of them were made at the Boardwalk and brought over. I asked all of them if it was anything like home and most of them agreed the old recipes were not authentic to their area of France. I unfortunately don't know their take on the new stuff since it didn't open before I left.

 

[emmabemmainc]

IMO, Norway's bakery goods went severely downhill a couple of years ago. Used to be over-sized, very fresh items there. A couple of years ago, they down-sized everything, cheapened up the ingredients...for example, we had loved the "school bread" which was a soft bread-like roll, filled with a pudding-type cream and absolutely covered with coconut...about the size of a large bagel. Now, it's about the size of a regular size donut, stale dry bread with about a tablespoon of cream in the center, and maybe a couple of tablespoons of toasted coconut on top. Not good. And they started mass-production of all the pastry items so the only way you got fresh items was if you were lucky enough to be there the day the items were delivered...3 times in a row, our pastry items were so stale you could hardly get a bite off them...even dunking in coffee they were still leathery-stale. YUCK!

Frankly, the freshest bakery items we find in Epcot now are at the bakery counter in Sunshine Seasons...have had items there in the last two weeks and the cakes, cupcakes and tart-like desserts were all very fresh and tasty. Hopefully they won't cheapen up the items there too.

I'm the opposite--I had the old School Bread and the newer one and I thought the newer one was so much better. Different strokes, I guess..

 

[Tigger2252]

My family is a fan of the bakery. We visited the old one every visit and were not disappointed with the new one. In fact, we went three times this trip. We stopped for breakfast one morning and had the ham and cheese croissant and it was delicious. We had lunch (we had quiche and it was delicious), and one evening we stopped for coffee and pastry. The food was fresh and very tasty each time. A must do for our family.

 

[Lesia]

I was there a couple weeks ago. the old Napoleon was my favorite dessert at all of WDW. I ate there for a light supper, had the quiche and the Napoleon. The quiche was wonderful! Absolutely wonderful.

The Napoleon, I got my money back. It was not the old. The CM there said it was more authentic recipe. So, now, I won't get it. I was bummed.

 

[Belle5]

My son and daughter-in-law visited the bakery last month. They have both spent time in Paris and my son has been to the Epcot bakery many, many times. They LOVED the new French bakery and sent of pics of some pastries that they were just raving about. One was some kind of giant domes thing that my son said was 100X better than a zebra dome...

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I had the strawberry tart this past week and it was delicious. Can't comment on the other items. I did miss the cream puffs which were my old favorite.