WORST DISNEY DINING EXPERIENCE

[isaboo]

Our worse meal last year was at Beaches and Cream. My DD ordered a plain hamburger, he ate maybe half of it. I ordered onion rings and my DD ordered fries. They were both so greasy, we couldn't eat them. Nasty. We didn't say anything. But our server (the second one, the first disappeared) asked if something was wrong with them when he saw we hadn't eaten them. I told him what was wrong and he took it off the ticket, so that was nice. We all decided we wouldn't go back there again.

Ha! That's why we make a 3:30 reservation and only go for the ice cream! I totally agree with you on the food....very limited selection and not too good. I'll just take a No Way Jose!

 

[angierae]

Worst service was Coral Reef, and it was my husband's birthday dinner, specially chosen by him. Even my mild-mannered mother in law got really upset that night. The food was wonderful, but I've never been able to bring myself to go back after that. Too many bad memories.

 

[Cee]

I've never enjoyed the food at Bongos, although I love the atmosphere. HDDR has great food IMO and you can't beat Boma for breakfast. We have also been very lucky in that our servers have all been great.

 

[Nermel9]

Well, I hate to say this, because I love the place, but Beaches and Cream was horrendous the last time we tried to eat there. And I say "tried" because after sitting at our table for about 45 minutes and being ignored, except to get the drinks we ordered, we left. It was mortifying and I didn't want to do it, but my DH insisted, and the manager and waiter were super apologetic, I guess the cooking staff forgot about our order. I understand, it was busy and things like this happen, but it really made me sad because every other time I've been there, it's been great. My DH does not want to go back, but I am willing to give them another try, I'm sure it was just a one time thing!

 

[cgattis]

I did not care for Bongo's in DTD. It has been a long long time. But expected Cuban food or food with a Cuban flair and it was just not up to what I was expecting.

I have not had any other experiences that were awful...but I do have places I am not in such a hurry to return to: CRT, Tony's--

What is fascinating is that some folks' never returns end up being others' can't wait to go again.

That's what I always say...if you can count on anything with Disney restaurants, it's inconsistency. (And I always add...the exception for US has been Brown Derby--always been excellent). It's disappointing to know how much you'll spend on a meal and know it's a crapshoot.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

We tried Whispering Canyon twice for dinner and once for breakfast and each time the food was mediocre, gave me horrible reflux, the service was bad and it was the longest meal ever. We wont go back.

Hollywood & Vine has mediocre food and the entire place smells like a dirty mildewed wash cloth.

Coral Reef put a thick black 4" hair on my daughter's pizza and was unapologetic nor did they offer to replace it.

 

[cgattis]

Not defending anything, but actual food poisoning does not occur until around 7 hours after consumption. It is never immediate, as that would be a physical impossibility. (Years in food service management/ health department taught me that).

Anytime someone posts that they got sick after eating somewhere, there are always posters that come along to tell them why it couldn't have been the food. I've had stomach viruses and I've had food poisoning, and even if I'm not a health care worker, I KNOW the difference in how it feels. And I've had it twice where I was throwing up within ONE hour of eating, so it's not physically impossible. Sometimes it may be a virus, but sometimes it IS the food.

 

[mhconley]

We've never had bad service anywhere in any Disney park ever.

Worst meal food-wise - The Wave in CR. Absolutely horrible.

Martin

 

[OneOftheB's]

Anytime someone posts that they got sick after eating somewhere, there are always posters that come along to tell them why it couldn't have been the food. I've had stomach viruses and I've had food poisoning, and even if I'm not a health care worker, I KNOW the difference in how it feels. And I've had it twice where I was throwing up within ONE hour of eating, so it's not physically impossible. Sometimes it may be a virus, but sometimes it IS the food.

If it is a chemical poisoning or a Staph infection, say from an open sore on a f/s worker's hand you can get sick within a 60 minute window. Those are both extremely rare situations.

Most food poisoning comes from something you ate between 8 and 72 hours prior. It takes that long for the bacteria or virus to reach a high enough count to make you sick/or release enough toxin to make you ill.

(Coming from an individual who was a restaurant inspector for just a bit over 14 years and investigated numerous food borne illness complaints and actual outbreaks. In most cases it ended up not being an actual restaurant issue, but from some other source. Think about it-- how many people eat at "X" WDW restaurant each day? If there was a true outbreak that was the fault of a particular food service, you would hear about it. Most cases of food borne illness, even on a local scale, involve 40+ individuals, from different, non related family/ friend groups.)

 

[cgattis]

If it is a chemical poisoning or a Staph infection, say from an open sore on a f/s worker's hand you can get sick within a 60 minute window. Those are both extremely rare situations.

Most food poisoning comes from something you ate between 8 and 72 hours prior. It takes that long for the bacteria or virus to reach a high enough count to make you sick/or release enough toxin to make you ill.

(Coming from an individual who was a restaurant inspector for just a bit over 14 years and investigated numerous food borne illness complaints and actual outbreaks. In most cases it ended up not being an actual restaurant issue, but from some other source. Think about it-- how many people eat at "X" WDW restaurant each day? If there was a true outbreak that was the fault of a particular food service, you would hear about it. Most cases of food borne illness, even on a local scale, involve 40+ individuals, from different, non related family/ friend groups.)

Not sure why you think everyone would hear about it. I tried to let one place know that I thought the pimento cheese might be bad (to prevent others from being sick), and they just looked at me--no offer to check it, report it, tell a manager--nothing. And if twenty people all got sick from one place, how many places actually tell the restaurant? And does the restaurant go tell everybody?? Well no. So no, you won't likely know.

And I can also say that twice I was doubled up on the floor, to dick to even stand up to puke my guys out, within an hour. Went from perfectly ok, to that, within one hour. That may not be typical, but it CAN happen.

Words like "usually" and "typically" are great; it just really irks me when folks come along to say "well it couldn't have been the food." Because it could.

 

[ilovebassets]

Food quality? 50s PrimeTime. It just wasn't good at all. Sad looking, lukewarm, bland food.

Waitstaff service? The Plaza. Waitress was so utterly uninterested in her job and just seemed put out by everything. It was weird.

Podium service? San Angel Inn. We had the second or third lunch reservation of the day, maybe 1140 or something like that. My oldest child was sick and my youngest child was acting out. They were ready to sit down and eat and just get back to the resort. If it weren't for the $10 per person no show fee, I would have just left and gotten something at the CS restaurant and left. But we were there, ready to eat and just get back to the resort. The lady at the check in counter just wouldn't seat us. And it was several minutes past our reservation time. There were maybe two tables seated in the whole restaurant, and she just kept saying she couldn't seat us yet. The kids were breaking down, and it's the only time in all our visits to WDW that I have ever asked for a manager. I was so angry that she couldn't just lead my family to a table...any table!...when it was past our reservation time and the restaurant was empty.

 

[maxiesmom]

Not sure why you think everyone would hear about it. I tried to let one place know that I thought the pimento cheese might be bad (to prevent others from being sick), and they just looked at me--no offer to check it, report it, tell a manager--nothing. And if twenty people all got sick from one place, how many places actually tell the restaurant? And does the restaurant go tell everybody?? Well no. So no, you won't likely know.

And I can also say that twice I was doubled up on the floor, to **** to even stand up to puke my guys out, within an hour. Went from perfectly ok, to that, within one hour. That may not be typical, but it CAN happen.

Words like "usually" and "typically" are great; it just really irks me when folks come along to say "well it couldn't have been the food." Because it could.

It could have been the food. But it could have been other things as well. Which is why it bothers me when posters are so quick to yell food poisoning, because unless you are tested and know for sure, you don't know at all. Guessing does no one any good.

My worst experience was at the ABC Commissary. It was so bad that I refuse to consider eating there again. No way.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

Well, I never had really bad service at WDW. I had some slow service before, but it was because the server was overworked. But the TS food was Hollywood and Vine. I couldn't believe how incredibly bad it was! I mean, I filled up on cranberry juice the last time I was there. (But the waitress was really good and I tipped her better than I would normally. She was so personable and nice.)

Also in a close second, I ate at Tony's Town Square (If that's the name) on our very first TS experience at WDW back in 2006. I was on the DP- you know, back when tips were included. What I was surprised by was the taste of the red sauce. It took the taste out of my mouth! But I didn't trip out because earlier I had some pizza at Pizza Planet and just chalked it up as "Theme Park Food." I never went back to Tony's.

Oh, and as far as bad CS, my all-time worst was ABC Commissary! I went there back in 2007 and was shocked at the terrible food! I could only think back longingly at my Junior High School cafeteria, because THAT was better than the ABC Commissary! We had some Asian stir-fry that was atrocious. I mean, it was worse than that 'burger' I had at Tamu Refreshments in AK... and I couldn't confirm that the burger was beef! To this day, I don't know if they gave me a dish that was for folks with special dietary restrictions by accident.

However, let me say this: We went back to ABC Commissary last year. I was really brave! And the food was good- much, much better than 2007! (Oh, and I don't think Tamu sells burgers anymore, either.)

 

[Amanda999]

Pinocchio Village Haus + rancid carton of kid milk = projectile vomiting (by DS). The milk was long out of date.

But, not really about the food - its ok CS. Just random out of date milk (plus a great gag reflex!) - could happen anywhere.

(Surprised me that when I told the food CMs behind the counter, they didn't seem to care - didn't see the need to check the dates on the other cartons, despite my urging them to do so (and showing them our carton's date). I was so concerned another child would drink one that I told a CM at GS as we were leaving. He radioed someone immediately.)

 

[mylittlebuttercup]

Worst service: San Angel Inn
Worst food: Mama Melrose

 

[1nfrequent]

Re food poisoning, I got salmonella symptoms within 2 hours of eating contaminated mayonnaise - my GP was able to take a sample (poor man) and had it confirmed within a few days. Depending on how bad the contamination is and how your body reacts to it, you can get it very quickly.

1F

 

[Jennasis]

When it comes to food poisoning, unless you have been tested (as the above poster was) you simply can't definitively call it food poisoning. If you test positive, you can't jump to blaming the last thing you ate either, as it could have been something from hours or even a day prior.

Bottom line, if you get sick with food poisoning-like symptoms, get yourself to the doctor stat for testing. At least then they can start tracking where it may have come from and can investigate.

 

[WDWFanForLife]

Chef Mickey's for DINNER. We had been a few times for breakfast, and although we didn't think the food was worth the price, it was OK and we just figured it was worth it for the character experience. However, NOT THE DINNER! We didn't care for the food AT ALL! We actually had to stop somewhere else to grab a bite to eat afterwards. NEVER AGAIN!

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Now that I work where I have to work with people all day, I can understand that servers have a bad day now and then, and that their personality isn't usually like that.

That being said, our waitress at Boatwright's was so off-putting, I'll never go back there again. The food was okay, not great, and we received incredibly slow service despite the restaurant not being busy. The waitress was so curt and unpleasant I just can't see myself going back there.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

I can't even say I've had a bad meal at disney! Nothing really stands out, ohana dinner service was the slowest the first time we went, but can't think of anything else! We are very easy to please none picky eaters and so we go in for the experience and never pay too much mind to the food we do have our favorites though.....I do laugh inside when I see our favorites on someone's "never again" list and for that reason we will try anything twice