bad dinning experiences

[Tigger031266]

I was at SSR and went to artist pallet for breakfast on Sunday Morning. The line had at least 25 people in it. The line went through the store and down the hallway and was not moving. I am trying to pay $8 for a waffle (x4=$35) that cost Disney 25 cents and they won't even take my money. We left and drove to McDonalds. McDonalds had double the staff, half the customers and half the prices. Went there the next two days as well. My kids hate Disney food because it takes forever....

We also ate at Cape Mays last night. They got rid of Brocholini (permanently). I will miss that stuff. We get asparagus instead...... No DVC discount, no AP discount...

Ate at Sci Fi yesterday. Small portions and food was just ok.

Not sure if it is the recession or the Disney Dinning (they know they have you) but just seems like Disney is cutting back too much. We are going outside of Disney more and more to get service and better food.

 

[Alexander]

AP definately needs to expand or find a different way for people to order and get their food. The current system which has been in place since only the Springs was open needs to expand as the rest of the resort has. The resort is far too large for one tiny, inefficient food area.

There are times when there is no-one there, but that is only at the non-peak eating times. Don't get me wrong, we have been very happy with food there, it is just the process of getting your food that needs revamping.

 

[tomandrobin]

Dinning is seriously declining throughout all of WDW.

For example, last week went to Pinocchio's Haus for lunch and ordered Figoro Fries. Well, the name is the same but the fries only come with cheese and bacon bits. They removed all of the other ingredients to save costs.

 

[tomandrobin]

AP definately needs to expand or find a different way for people to order and get their food. The current system which has been in place since only the Springs was open needs to expand as the rest of the resort has. The resort is far too large for one tiny, inefficient food area.

There are times when there is no-one there, but that is only at the non-peak eating times. Don't get me wrong, we have been very happy with food there, it is just the process of getting your food that needs revamping.

Aviod the 8:30-9:30am breakfast crowds!

The AP has always been awkward for serving everyone. There is not any space for them to expand into with major reconstruction. There is a small, unused space off the back of the store, if you follow the hallway in the rear of the store. But that is all.

 

[Chellymouse]

We didn't have any problems at AP but we were eating breakfast at 7:30am-8am so it wasn't bad. My BFF slept in one morning and went around 10am and said it took nearly an hour to get food. We haven't done anything other than breakfast, but it certainly is a small area for such a large resort. Perhaps they were thinking more people would be utilizing their villa kitchens?

 

[permavac]

You want bad service? Go to San Angel Inn. Our waiter told me I couldn't get the sauce to my fish not spicy (which was a lie). He told me to put ketchup on a $22 piece of Mahi Mahi instead and was pretty rude and uninterested in us overall. Never spending money there again... Hope my two cents wasn't too off topic.

 

[hakepb]

Expecting to pay Disney a reasonable amount for food, especially in comparison to McDonalds, is laughable!
Expecting Disney to provide reasonable food waits and friendly service is not.

AP has serious capacity / design issues. SSR resort TV mentions avoiding AP in the peak AM hours. Knowing the limitations, I'd only ever plan on using AP 1x per trip max.
The only real solution would be building more restaurant capacity. I've read a rumor that the sales center was once planned to be a much needed food court.
AP's problem is really amplified by no TS breakfast at the Turf Club. SSR really, really needs a breakfast buffet (A character buffet would really enhance the amount of Disney Magic IMHO)

 

[TDC Nala]

Oh please no more characters - but TS breakfast would work there.

 

[Nanax3]

It seems to me that the quality of the food and the service has declined at a lot of the restaurants since the dining plan started.

Also, at SSR if they had room service it would be nice it would at least allow some other option other than those horrible lines. Then after you finally get your food there isn't anywhere to sit.

 

[CraftyMouse]

You want bad service? Go to San Angel Inn. Our waiter told me I couldn't get the sauce to my fish not spicy (which was a lie). He told me to put ketchup on a $22 piece of Mahi Mahi instead and was pretty rude and uninterested in us overall. Never spending money there again... Hope my two cents wasn't too off topic.

That's interesting. San Angel is one of our favorites in all of WDW and we've always had stellar service there. It sounds like you got a bad waiter, but I wouldn't write the whole place off because of it.

 

[CraftyMouse]

Oh please no more characters - but TS breakfast would work there.

And while we're at it, let's get the Princesses out of Norway! Bring back Akershus as it used to be. I loved that place!

 

[ADP]

Aviod the 8:30-9:30am breakfast crowds!

Not only do we have to tour parks at certain times, fight for ADRs...now we need to dine at CS locations at certain times? I'm sure Disney knows the crowd situation is bad, but more is needed. I don't think adding a second counter service option at SSR is out of the question considering the number of units the resort houses. Adding the Treehouse Villas certainly will not help the crowd situation at AP. OKW certainly could use something as well. Having a walk-up, counter service, poolside snack place doesn't cut it at such a huge resort in my opinion.

Wait until Kidani Village is open. The Mara will have lines out the door at breakfast.

 

[justjudy]

And while we're at it, let's get the Princesses out of Norway! Bring back Akershus as it used to be. I loved that place!

Yes! Thank you! I thought DH and I were the only ones to feel that way!

 

[Tigger031266]

I thought I was the only one that noticed the decline in meal service and quality. Just ordered some Chicken fingers and they have no bbq sauce anywhere.

I really think it is the dinning plan. They know they have you once you sign up for it. As DVCers we have the ability to go food shoping and eat in our rooms. Something I will do next time. I can buy my own box of waffles for $3 and it will be ready in 3 min.

Overall though except food the cast members have been wonderful. A plumming guy spent 15 min yacking with us, a lifeguard spent 20 min.... They must be taught to make connections with people. Disney knows how to do this, I just hope it does not spread from the restaurants to the hotels and parks.

 

[granmanh603]

I thought I was the only one that noticed the decline in meal service and quality. Just ordered some Chicken fingers and they have no bbq sauce anywhere.

I really think it is the dinning plan. They know they have you once you sign up for it. As DVCers we have the ability to go food shoping and eat in our rooms. Something I will do next time. I can buy my own box of waffles for $3 and it will be ready in 3 min.

Overall though except food the cast members have been wonderful. A plumming guy spent 15 min yacking with us, a lifeguard spent 20 min.... They must be taught to make connections with people. Disney knows how to do this, I just hope it does not spread from the restaurants to the hotels and parks.

I thought it was just us too. We were just there and the food was dissapointing. At Caseys I swear the hot dogs and rolls(lets not even go to those tasteless crumbly rolls they have now everywhere) were smaller...you know they come in a foil pouch and my husband had to ask him if there was a hot dog in there it was so small.....yet the prices increase. We went to Columbia House and they used to have soup and 1/2 sandwich....no more and the sandwich selection was awful a Hummus sandwich?????? Just seemed less choices in each CS and higher prices....and the food quality seems to be going down hill, taste less.
Another thing allittle off topic...but we spent alot of time at Mexico CS area ( drinking Margarita/beer and it was never clean. Oh and Margaritas went up from 8.50 to 8.99 during our trip.

 

[hakepb]

Not only do we have to tour parks at certain times, fight for ADRs...now we need to dine at CS locations at certain times? I'm sure Disney knows the crowd situation is bad, but more is needed. I don't think adding a second counter service option at SSR is out of the question considering the number of units the resort houses. Adding the Treehouse Villas certainly will not help the crowd situation at AP. OKW certainly could use something as well. Having a walk-up, counter service, poolside snack place doesn't cut it at such a huge resort in my opinion.

Wait until Kidani Village is open. The Mara will have lines out the door at breakfast.

Speaking of Mara. During one lunch a month ago, they had a pager ordering system. You gave your order to a CM who wrote out a slip. Paid at the cash register and were given a restaurant pager. (and left the food ordering area for your table) When your pager went off, your food was ready, so you went back into the counter area to pickup your food. Because of this ingenious system, there were very few people in the actual food area!

AP really, really, really needs that system!!!!!

 

[toocherie]

Speaking of Mara. During one lunch a month ago, they had a pager ordering system. You gave your order to a CM who wrote out a slip. Paid at the cash register and were given a restaurant pager. (and left the food ordering area for your table) When your pager went off, your food was ready, so you went back into the counter area to pickup your food. Because of this ingenious system, there were very few people in the actual food area!

AP really, really, really needs that system!!!!!

Ummm. AP DOES have that system (I was just there last week). We ate there a couple of times--one time it was too busy and I just decided rather than wait in line I would wait and eat at the park. Even with this system it seemed really chaotic. They should have the cash register at the end of the food ordering line. Having to go get drinks and desserts separately then go to another line is just ridiculous. Too many people crossing back and forth in a small area.

On another topic--I don't see why they don't utilize the existing facility of Turf Club to do breakfast--either a buffet--which should be fairly easy--or a limited menu would help so much. (And personally, I would prefer the menu.) It could be character or non-character--but would go far to enhance the offerings at the resort. It's already a fixed cost for them. They might as well use it and it would limit the burden on AP. Or open the pool bars and have limited offerings--maybe coffee and pastries. Having the entire resort converge at similar times is just too much on this small facility.

 

[toocherie]

I thought it was just us too. We were just there and the food was dissapointing. At Caseys I swear the hot dogs and rolls(lets not even go to those tasteless crumbly rolls they have now everywhere) were smaller...you know they come in a foil pouch and my husband had to ask him if there was a hot dog in there it was so small.....yet the prices increase. We went to Columbia House and they used to have soup and 1/2 sandwich....no more and the sandwich selection was awful a Hummus sandwich?????? Just seemed less choices in each CS and higher prices....and the food quality seems to be going down hill, taste less.
Another thing allittle off topic...but we spent alot of time at Mexico CS area ( drinking Margarita/beer and it was never clean. Oh and Margaritas went up from 8.50 to 8.99 during our trip.

The Margaritas in the Mexico area at Epcot were absolutely tasteless. Will go for the slushies in France from now on only . . . .

 

[np4gp]

Ok, so not a terrible dining experience - but thought it was worth mentioning. DH and I were pretty surprised actually. We were at MK the other day and I was DYING for some corn dog nuggets and fries from Casey's. Since I have no restraint, I have to have mayo on my fries...our mayo packets - VERY VERY SOUR!! We grabbed our food and walked down Main Street with it, towards the exit. Once I realized they were both sour, I stopped in Guest Services and notified someone. The gentleman was very nice and said he would call someone immediately and notify them. I guess I thought Disney was beyond something so silly as putting out sour mayo...at least I didn't eat it. YUCK

 

[granmanh603]

The Margaritas in the Mexico area at Epcot were absolutely tasteless. Will go for the slushies in France from now on only . . . .

Ok you've sold me, where at France do you get slushie....and what kind. I saw some at China too (5.99)and kinda was leary anydody have them....also I noticed that Mororoco had Daquris inside for like 5.99???