Anyone else really dislike the counter service foods?

[aubriee]

I'venever had a problem with the lack of variety in CS choices because I think of CS as a "utilitarian" meal. I eat it because my body requires fuel, not because its pretty or fancy.

After giving it a little thought though, Disney should be able to replicate any menu seen in a fast food chain. Burgers, hot dogs, foot long sandwhiches, fried chicken, tacos, pizza by the slice, etc... are all viable possibilities. It seems like all you see (with some exceptions) is burgers though.

Huh? I'm not a fan of CS, simply because I want to take a good break from the parks and enjoy being waited on. However, I could easily eat CS for a week at WDW though and never eat a burger. How about:

DTD: Wolfgang Puck Express, Earl of Sandwich, or Cookes of Dublin

AK: Flame Tree BBQ, Yak & Yeti CS

MGM: tough here (Starring Rolls, maybe)

Epcot: Sunshine Seasons, Cantina de San Angel, Kringla Bakery, Sommerfest, Lotus Blossom Cafe, Tangierine Cafe, or Boulangerie Patisserie

MK: Columbia Harbour House, Main Street Bakery, Cosmic Ray's (chicken and ribs)

Resorts: Mara (shrimp or soup), Pepper Market (steak, Chinese or Mexican food), PORS CS (Muffaletta or pasta), or Cap'n Cooks (love their adult grilled cheese)

 

[Luv2Roam]

Definitely more selective at which CS to eat from.
WDW needs to make a MUCH better burger choice. They are horrible and always a last resort. We would have to be pretty hungry and desperate to order a burger from a WDW CS.
Last weekend we were at the ABC Commissary, knowing their choice is rather .
However I did end up ordering a kid's meal that was not bad at all, and I wish they had it as an adult choice. It was a ham and cheese wrap. (Very ironic when I read so many posts about kid's CS meal choices being so poor. And here I thought it the best choice and fairly decent for CS.)
However the strawberry parfait was not something I would ever buy again. That was right up (or should I say down) there with the usual food quality.

 

[SGMCO]

We have been on the DP for the last 2 trips and don't mind
eating CS for one meal a day but I don't thnk I could take
the CS Meal Plan--that would get old real fast.
Love to be able to go to a nice TS restaurant and
eat good food.

 

[KimmyDisneyNerd]

I am not a fan of CS meals. I really like to TS so I can take a break from all the hoopla. I was in the parks a month ago and was forced (due to poor planning) to do mostly CS it certainly reaffirmed this for me.

 

[PattnFmly]

Now, see, I'm glad they have both. Because we don't like to do table service. Takes too much time out of our day. We do our special character meals, sure, but those are different. We actually like the burgers, fries, wraps, chicken, hot dogs etc. Fits our eating habits as well as our lifestyle. The year that we did the dining plan and had to do a table service every day almost killed us. Too much time wasted to order and eat. But then, we rarely go out to eat at home. Just not our style. And for the record, we love love love Cosmic Rays!

 

[BeckieSue]

The Flame Tree BBQ at AK is one of our favorites!

 

[k&a&c'smom]

For years, we didn't eat much counter service, since on our first trip we didn't feel the quality of the food came anywhere near the prices, and we aren't that picky. I mean, we eat fast food and find it generally decent.

A couple years ago, we had a friend with us who likes to eat a small amount all day - so we tried a few items at several counter service restaurants. We really liked the Figaro Fries and turkey panini at Pinocchio Village Haus; enjoyed our Casey's hot dogs with chili and cheese; liked the chicken wrap at Pecos Bill's ; the Cali Roll at Yakitori House was pretty good.

This trip, we decided to save some money and eat a few counter service meals. We didn't like any of them, the food was just not good. I had the African Stew at the Mara - ick, like a canned soup, IMO. Hot dogs and fries at Cosmic Ray's - the hot dog was OK, but the bun was kinda weird, and it took forever to get through the condiments line, even though we were there at 11:30 a.m. and it wasn't that busy. (The set up there is very awkward, you have to get past the people waiting for ketchup and cheese sauce to find a straw, napkin or fork.) I had the shrimp at the Mara, less than average, I've had better at Sonic or Dairy Queen! The salad at Pecos Bill was very wet, but had no taste.

Overall, the counter service food was bad this trip. I'm not counting Wolfgang Puck Express or Earl of Sandwich - those are both very good, but you have to travel to DTD, rather than stopping while in a park, so I don't feel those count. I've never tried the hummus or tuna sandwiches at Columbia Harbor House that everyone raves about, if we are near there and it's lunch time, we might give those a shot. But we won't be going back to most counter service locations, I'd rather get a pretzel or a Dole Whip and call it good.

 

[idatwilight]

I find all the food at Disney (CS, TS, buffet, whatever) to be hit or miss. I like Columbia Harbour House at MK and think the burgers at Pecos Bill are tasty, especially with the fixins' bar. On the other hand, I thought Pinocchio's Village Haus was very lacking (mostly just chicken nuggets and pizza--I had a salad that wasn't terrible). And I've had many food court kids' breakfasts that were fine as well.

 

[Tiger926]

Just something my hubby and I discussed as we were reading this thread as we used to be anti-CS people all of the way. As I mentioned, we always have eaten 2-3 TS meals/day at WDW, but not anymore. We are more selective in our CS choices now and are grateful that WDW has improved them somewhat.

The bottom line though is that it's much easier to swallow (pun intended!) a subpar $8.00 hamburger/chicken wrap meal, then a subpar or even horrible $28.00 buffet or $40.00 steak. The food at WDW has been going downhill a lot lately, so for us, we are going to do a combination of TS and CS this next trip, and we are looking forward to saving money and time.

Tiger

 

[koolaidmoms]

Huh? I'm not a fan of CS, simply because I want to take a good break from the parks and enjoy being waited on. However, I could easily eat CS for a week at WDW though and never eat a burger. How about:

DTD: Wolfgang Puck Express, Earl of Sandwich, or Cookes of Dublin

AK: Flame Tree BBQ, Yak & Yeti CS

MGM: tough here (Starring Rolls, maybe)

Epcot: Sunshine Seasons, Cantina de San Angel, Kringla Bakery, Sommerfest, Lotus Blossom Cafe, Tangierine Cafe, or Boulangerie Patisserie

MK: Columbia Harbour House, Main Street Bakery, Cosmic Ray's (chicken and ribs)

Resorts: Mara (shrimp or soup), Pepper Market (steak, Chinese or Mexican food), PORS CS (Muffaletta or pasta), or Cap'n Cooks (love their adult grilled cheese)

I like many of the places you have pointed out but the problem for us is lack of a really great kids menu.

I would love the restuarants to make their kids menus similar items to what they serve on the adult menu. In China CS is a barb-q chicken leg no stir fry nothing. Moroco choices for kids are chicken tenders or hamburger! Every place seems to be the same - Chicken fingers, mac and cheese, hot dog or hamburer.

Even the TS are the same. In Morocco kids choices are spaghetti and meatballs (they call it something else but it is spaghetti and meatballs), chicken fingers, hamburger or vegetable couscous. Why are they dumbing down food for kids? We need to teach our kids to be adventurous eaters.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I just want to say thank you for this thread. We usually do a LOT of TS meals in the past but for our upcoming trip we decided to do one TS meal a Day (usually Dinner) and do CS for breakfast and Lunch. Since we are staying at WL we are going to go to Roaring Forks Cafe for a quick breakfast before heading to whatever park we are going to, then we will just look around at the different menus at lunch and decide what would be good.

Also thank you to those posters that offered good ideas for different CS meals. What would sound good on a menu sometimes does not taste as good in person. However, I was wondering has anyone tried Pecos Bills in MK? I have been over at the Food Porn board and they have quite a few pictures of things off the menu that look very tantilizing, therefore we plan on stopping there one day. TIA

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

We are consistently pleased with the variety of what is offered in CS. In the theme park world there are no others that offer what WDW does.

We love to eat around world showcase. The veggie platter at Tangierine Cafe in Morocco is a staple for us. Sunshine Seasons in The Land is great, you can find something for everyone. I like Columbia Harbor House's hummus and broccoli slaw sandwich and Pinocchio's salad.

As another poster said I would rather eat at some of the CS places than be disappointed with a $200+ TS meal. We also like to go to some places offsite. This is why any meal plan is not for us. We come out much better without them.

If your kid's don't like the kid's meal, don't get it! Let them eat an adult meal or get them something from one of the other spots before you get to your restaurant.

 

[tam626]

I just want to say thank you for this thread. We usually do a LOT of TS meals in the past but for our upcoming trip we decided to do one TS meal a Day (usually Dinner) and do CS for breakfast and Lunch. Since we are staying at WL we are going to go to Roaring Forks Cafe for a quick breakfast before heading to whatever park we are going to, then we will just look around at the different menus at lunch and decide what would be good.

Also thank you to those posters that offered good ideas for different CS meals. What would sound good on a menu sometimes does not taste as good in person. However, I was wondering has anyone tried Pecos Bills in MK? I have been over at the Food Porn board and they have quite a few pictures of things off the menu that look very tantilizing, therefore we plan on stopping there one day. TIA

We had lunch at Peco's Bills & it was ok. We will rpobably eat there again for a quick lunch.

 

[PattnFmly]

We always hit Pecos Bills each and every trip. My best friend just loved the mushrooms on the topping bar! My family and I do, actually, enjoy the burgers there! We've had many bacon double cheeseburgers and enjoy the taco salad too. Pecos Bills and Cosmic Ray's are must do's for our family - good thing we go to the MK more than once per trip!

 

[koolaidmoms]

If your kid's don't like the kid's meal, don't get it! Let them eat an adult meal or get them something from one of the other spots before you get to your restaurant.

Unfortunately on the DDP you can only order kids meals for anyone under 9. So we get 10 TS and 10 CS meals to use during our vacation for the kids. We do a great deal of buffets and family style meals as I do have very adventurous eaters who want more than the mac and cheese, pizza, spaghetti and meatballs,hot dogs and hamburgers served at every CS and TS. My point is more that at the table service and counter service restaurants in general these are the only choices for children. I wish that the countries offered food representative of their countries for children too.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

This is a perfect example of why DDP doesn't work for everyone.

 

[Shell54]

Cap't Cook at the Poly was good! Pulled pork sandwich was yum-o.

 

[MickeyNicki]

DH and I just came back today and ate at Flame Tree BBQ, Capt Cooks breakfast and lunch, CHH, Tangierine Cafe and it was all fantastic!

 

[Tiger926]

This is a perfect example of why DDP doesn't work for everyone.

Yup, and this is why no more DP for us. My kids do not eat that stuff, and much prefer adult food, so several times we didn't even order kids' meals, as we shared ours with them. They are both good and healthy eaters, so next trip, we are back to doing TIW card and they can get adult meals to share. Much better food for them to be eating! Although I must say, Mara at AKL has an awesome roasted chicken kids' meal for like $4.00 that is fantastic!

Tiger

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Some of my families favorite counter service locations are as followed.

Earl of Sandwich
Contempo Cafe
Gasparilla's Grill & Games
Cosmic Ray's Star Light Cafe
Electric Umbrella

We have never had bad meals there and will continue to visit these locations.