A Restaurant Professional Returns to Disney.... The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

[NoScreenJM2]

It has been 13 years since I've been to Disney World. I used to go every year and stay at a different resort on Property. Something had kept me away. Perhaps it's that I don't like to stay at Disney unless I can "Do it right". Of course doing it right (to me) costs a good amount of money. I ended up with a short spurt of vacation time and decided to take a quick trip (3 Nights). I stayed at the Yacht Club. I loved my time in Disney. I've already booked a return 5 night stay at the Polynesian in August. However my dining experiences were a mixed bag. A few disclaimers.... I am a restaurant professional. I'm a sommelier and GM of a fine dining restaurant in South Florida. I spent most of my life working in NYC restaurant and I'm for lack of a better word.... a snob. I was traveling with a friend on a bit more limited of a budget than I, so V&A's, and Cali Grill were out for this trip. Below you'll find my brief reviews of the restaurants I attended as well as a few other food impressions from what I ate around the parks.

Night #1: Attended Very Merry Christmas Party.
Be Our Guest was not an option for me on this trip. And with lack of dining options, and wanting to enjoy the whole party it was all about the counter service options. Grabbed a chicken and waffle sandwich at Sleepy Hollow in the afternoon. Tasty. Great snack. Highly Recommended.
Casey's Corner was dinner. A chili cheese dog. And honestly it was pretty delicious. I had no idea what I was going to eat that night, but for park food, it's a good option..... Don't worry we are getting to actual restaurant reviews shortly.

Day #2: Paris in Epcot for Breakfast, Multiple food stops in Epcot for Lunch. OHANA for dinner.
Grabbing pastries in Epcot for breakfast is a great option. The raspberry Macaron was delicious. Strawberry tart, disappointing with no pastry cream and instead some sort of heavy whipped cream but still pleasant.
School Bread in Norway: Not sure what the big deal is. It was cold, like it had sat in a refrigerator. Tasted like a prepackaged pastry. Half Went in the Garbage.
Nachos at Mexico Quick Service: They were nachos. They were fine.
Fish and Chips in England: I was told I had to grab them. So I went to the counter service and grabbed them. Perfectly fried. Great Fish and Chips. Highly recommend if you're a fan of that sort of a thing.

DINNER AT OHANA
What a disappointment. To be fair family style isn't my favorite type of meal. However, the food just wasn't very good. And the service was pleasant but slow and inefficient. Dumplings were awful. Lettuce wraps unpleasant, Noodles bland. Steak was tasty, but many pieces were full of sinew. Dessert was great. The server who had worked at Disney for over 20 years was really lovely. But super slow. Getting a drink took forever. Water glass was left empty for over 15 minutes. She kept saying she would be right back with a different meat, then 10 minutes later would stop by and ask if we had received it. We hadn't. It just seemed like she was overwhelmed. I watched her struggle to open a bottle of wine for 5 minutes. She just seemed to be lacking the finesse I expect from a server working for a company like Disney for so long. I don't complain in restaurants unless I find someone to be rude. She was not. I always tip generously and am kind to servers. So I did. I left not wanting to ever return.

Day #3:
Breakfast at Kona Cafe
Best meal of the trip. Awesome service. Tonga toast was ridiculously good. Just do it!
Dinner Boma:
Service was awesome. It's hard to impress me while at a Buffet. But the server was on top of beverage service. Replaced all silver ware everytime we went to get up. Totally efficient. Food was fine. I'm not a big buffet fan. And I feel like the presentation of the dishes could be made to be more appealing. Highlights for me were the avocado, grapefruit, and guava salad. The lentil soup, lamb stew, and strawberry panna cotta. Over all it was fun. It's not my type of meal per se, but I don't think it was bad by any means. Should have gone back to Jika and will on my next trip.

Day #4
Breakfast: Captains Grille
Well Breakfast was the most consistent meal of the trip. Dark Chocolate Waffles were delicious. I actually can't believe how reasonably priced breakfast has remained at Disney when so many other things are way over priced;

Lunch: Flametree BBQ
Good ribs. Good park option. Some major confusion over how to process a TIW discount, but it's a solid park option.

In conclusion.... I made the wrong choices of restaurants based on my preference. And next trip will be different. Line up as planned is Cali Grill, V&A, Jika, and 2 more TBA. However, the big disappointment was OHANA. Across the board however it was a great trip and rekindled my obsession. Hopefully my wallet can keep up.

 

[tsme]

Aww, sorry about the misses. We usually have hits, but have had a few meh meals too. Your next line up looks good.

 

[DaisyNY]

Though not the food pro that you are...we enjoy a good meal and don't mind paying for it...That said, our March 14 Ohana visit was also a big disappointment with the exception of dessert. Thanks for sharing!

 

[hockeygirl14]

Ohana seems to be getting mixed reviews lately...kind of makes me question all the hype!

 

[pumba]

we were there in May and really enjoyed O'hana...we were four adults and two kiddos..
My granddaughter (8 years old) and I enjoyed the potstickers and the wings..the noodles were not bad...mixed veggies were good though...I chose the beef and the shrimp as my favorites..and my granddaughter and I decided to ask for more potstickers and wings...

our grandson loved it all..but he is easy to please..
The adults were all different likes and dislikes...I didnt care for the chicken and sort of glad that it is not on the menu again..

We will try the lettuce wraps this time...hopefully we can try it out and see what it is like

Thanks for your reviews

 

[NoScreenJM2]

I think part of the decline in quality may be due to an increase in volume. I know that since Le Cellier moved to 2 credits on the Dining Plan Ohana has become a harder reservation. I wonder if they have opened up more dining slots as well. It is extremely difficult to keep service up, and also execute food on that level of volume while still maintaining quality. I encountered sloppy service a few times at Disney. At Ohana when I was sat the server hadn't even had time to pick up the signed bill from the table before. I had to hand it to her after we were sat. On another occasion while dining on this trip I was handed a check presenter that had all the servers signed receipts in it as well as cash from previous tables instead of my bill. They are just amateur mistakes. And while on that note, not once did I encounter a manager on a floor looking at tables or even checking in with guests. Some of the restaurants have become factories of high volume, and that certainly can be achieved without sacrificing quality but it takes an incredible amount of effort. I have no doubt there are amazing dining experiences at Disney, but it just seems they are currently experiencing a lot of growing pains. I'm always pulling for them. And I'll be back soon and report back.