Bloody Chicken: Or Food Problems at Disneyland

[Darian]

DW and I went to Disneyland today. We had dinner at the Plaza Inn. She had the Cobb Salad and I had the Fried Chicken. Cost cutting continues at the Park and food service is no exception. The salad was missing the "sprinkles" around the plate and the avocado. I took a bite into my chicken and got a mouth full of blood. I gagged and spit it out. (Into a napkin silly... not across the room.)

While I do enjoy a rare steak now and again, chicken blood isn't my thing. The CM's at the restaurant were wonderful and offered to change out the whole plate, but we only asked for a replacement chicken thigh. They gave us two thighs anyway. The quality of the side dishes were no better. The sad thing is that many of the green beans and "yellow" green beans were brown... signs the beans were spoiling but got cooked anyway. The taste removed all doubt. At least the ones I saw on my plate were like that, and they looked just like the rest of them back on the food line. Mashed potatos and gravy were very tastey.

We went over to City Hall and talked with Brian, a food service supervisor. He was very nice and understanding and appreciated that we had brought this to his attention. We wanted him to clearly understand that we were not there to criticize but to inform and offer positive suggestions. This may attract some flames but we told him that the prices of Disney food were just fine and that we supported the move to reduce portion sizes. But that the big problem was with value.

I told him that I'm willing to pay a premium for quality food, but that is not what we have been seeing at the Park. In fact, the last two times we have been to Disneyland, either DW or I have gotten sick from the food. This is not good.

Our final point was that this was Disney and that was supposed to mean the very best. You come to D-land and expect to pay a premium for the food, because the food you eat here is supposed to be the very best there is. And that is simply not the case today. (the quality of ingredients seems to have declined.)

We were given two certificates for food for our next d-land visit. Which we appreciated. The manager was very kind and polite. I think he's very sincere in his desire to do a good job with the resources he has, under the budgetary pressure he has. With people like him and Mr. Rasulo, maybe there is hope. If you see Brian (Food Services Mgr.) please tell him "Darian says you're the MAN!!!" There are a lot of good people working there.

That was our big day out at the park. I confess to being a bit nervous about eating there again. My stomach is still upset. I didn't puke but I should have. The act is just so gross.

Darian

 

[roymccoy]

How ironic...we ate at the Plaza Inn last night and had a similar problem. I ordered the pot roast ($12.99) and what I got was two grisley, fatty chunks of grade b meat. My wife's dad was a butcher and she knows her cuts of meat and she said that Disney has dropped it's grade of beef down one, maybe two notches. The main grades are:

U.S. Prime
U.S. Choice
U.S. Select
U.S. Standard
U.S. Commercial
U.S. Utility
U.S. Cutter
U.S. Canner

She estimates that the meat that Disney is using is somewhere between commercial and standard. She said that they used to use between select and choice. Also, they are not trimming away very much of the fat at all and they are using pieces that they should be trimming off and throwing away.

I appreciated the fact that they replaced the pot roast when I complained, but they basically gave me the same thing with a little less fat. Obviously, they aren't being given too much to work with.

The pot roast had been $10.99 the last time I ate there, about 1 year ago. Now it's $12.99 and the cut of meat has went down. If I wanted to eat dog food, I'd go to my kids school cafeteria. They need to "kick it up a notch" or they'll just keep losing customers over at the Plaza Inn.


Roy

 

[Morticia]

Remember when they had that wonderful roast chicken w/the vegies & rosemary potaotes?
I've noticed a few small changes that wouldn't be noticed by anyone other than AP. Less decoration of food, cutting out one or two items from a dish (usually vegies) that used to be part of the dish, smaller portions, but same price (which is ok if the food was still the same).
I ate @ RRPP & the pizza crust is different. It tastes like pizza from a box, not fresh. I got sick from that.

 

[jilljill]

You are all making me nervous about eating at the parks when we go in July, we haven't been there in 10 years. Do you think the quality is less in the parks than at the hotels or overall? Also, if you have any suggestions for a good place to eat I would love to hear them. We are doing a quick stopover back to the eastcoast from Australia, so we won't have too much energy but we gotta eat and eat good food.

 

[Darian]

We ate at the Napa Rose (its in the Grand Californian Hotel) last month. The service was excellent as was the food. Just superb! Try the Vintiners' meal (excuse my spelling) paired with wines selected by the chef. It is a multi course meal trip to heaven.

Also I'd recommend Hook's Pointe over in the Neverland pool area at the Disneyland hotel. Yamabuki's at Paradise pier is wonderful too... obviously serves Japanese food & sushi. Don't eat the fermented soy beans. They work as a super laxative.

Inside DCA, I'd eat at Taste Pilot's Grill... the burgers are fabulous! In Disneyland, I'd avoid Plaza Inn and Red Rockets. The burgers and sandwiches at Tomorrowland Terrace.. the buzz lightyear thingy are still tastey. And there is that "new" restaurant the Rancho del Zocallo or something similar.. the exact name excapes me... they have some decent (I'd say pretty good) mexican food and bbq ribs and chicken which are still delicious.

Darian

 

[dcfromva]

Darian,
I'm sad to hear this.
We visited 11-18 April
We mostly ate at Story Tellers at Grand CA (food was really pretty good overall!)
We also ate at Blue Bayou (I had some kind of roast beef dish--it was good)
Pacific Wharf Cafe (Bread bowls with soup in them-- and loaves of sour dough bread)
Naples Restuarant
Breakfast at the Breakfast place over in Tommorrow land--
Is it Redd Rocket or Buzzes joint? (I don't remember)

Overall, no complaints, though DH did request that we don't eat at that breakfast place over in Tom. Land again (he wasn't specific as to why).

DS-14 did get awfully sick one night during the visit, but I don't think it was food poisoning because we all ate the same things pretty much (including sharing a plate) and he was the only one bothered.

My sister and her hubbie got sick during one stay 7 years ago. They were so awfully sick, they had to go to the emergency room. Since we had all been staying at the DL hotel for several days and only ate foods prepared by Disney--it was pretty clear it was one of the restaurants where something was not prepared or held properly. They had eaten breakfast at a character breakfast at the hotel (which we thankfully skipped)--Their best guess (and the emergency room Doctor's guess) was it was from the eggs. They were so sick (we were in the adjoining room), I don't like to eat at buffets and I can't eat eggs from a buffet as result.

I am afraid I would really freak out if I bit into chicken that was not cooked! Kudos to you for keeping your composure. Whatever they are going to serve, it should be properly cooked and properly held as a minimum, for heavens sake! Thanks for calling it to the attention to management.
-DC

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Yuck!

The bloody chicken would have disgusted me, too! I think its kind of ironic that they give you a replacement piece of chicken when this happens- I think that the last thing I'd want to see is more chicken

Hopefully if everyone keeps reporting the issues with the food, Disney will fix things quickly!

 

[jilljill]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
My friend ate at Yamabucki's a couple of weeks ago and said the sushi was the best he's ever tasted. In fact, he wants me to try and bring him some home in July - do they do long distance take out?!? We are not into sushi at all.

 

[ilovemky]

we have NEVER gotten a bad meal and we have been eating there regularly at least 3 times a week for the last 11 years.

i am sorry to hear of such bad experiences as I have not encountered any of them and I am a very picky eater and consumer--i will never hesitate to complain or compliment when needed.

our favorite for breakfast is Carnation Cafe on Main Street--be sure to ask for Bob for your server

The corn dog cart at the end of Main Street will wow you! Huge and fresh!

Ranco Del Zocalla has mexican and BBQ food--very good--if you like asparagus, they will grill it for you fresh--yummy!

Taste Pilots Grill is always a good bet and we enjoyed Aeriel's grotto in DCA also.

I love the pizza at Redd Rockets--I even drove 65 miles one nite to get it--I have never had a bad one and I am VERY PICKY about pizza

I will say yesterday, Sunday May 4th was THE BUSIEST DAY I have seen at D-L and DCA ever (except for holiday times) and it is possible they were just overwhelmed with the crowds--Sundays are normally the LEAST crowded days to go.

I am not making excuses or doubting any of your food troubles, but luckily hubby and I have always enjoyed quality food

 

[year2late]

I also go to DLR frequently and never have had such a problem. I have noticed a little less ornementation of the food, but I do not miss it.(I prefer the real frou frou ornematation of Napa Rose)

I am curious. On the rare occasion that I undercook chicken at home, I have never had a mouthful of blood.....is DL slughtering their poultry on site now?

 

[mlshields]

I am sorry you had a bad experience. My family and I just returned from Dl & DCA and had some wonderful food experiences. Storyteller was great and the kids absolutely loved Blue Bayou (thanks to all you Dis'ers who told me about this!!) and we also enjoyed the salads/pasta at Buzz's. Hopefully Disney just had a bad day. Even the happiest place on earth can have a bad day!!

 

[Darian]

ilovemky - Great Post! Another Disney Vetern!!!

The first time I went to Disneyland was in 1958. Since then I've been to the park more times than I can count, and have been an annual passholder for pretty much the last decade. I agree with you completely about the past quality of food at Disneyland... which is why DW and I were so utterly shocked at the precipitious decline in quality we have personally experienced the past month. We'd seen a few things over the past year or so - (misc. declines in food quality or offerings) that didn't bode well for the future of Disney dining.

The food at DCA is hit and miss... from very tastey to terrible. The corn dogs at that Castle hot dog stand over by the sunglasses hut were burned, of very low quality and cooked in rancid grease.

I had a lobster salad at Areil's Grotto, which was aweful... the lobster tasted like neoprene rubber and the lettuce was wilted. It was unedible.

Over at what used to be the Mondavi restaurant, their italian food has descended to chef bourardee quality. The terrace there is supposed to still have decent food. But the service there is just plain lousy... because the tips are mandatory and are given automatically no matter how abysmal the service is.

The Taste Pilot's Grill has fabulous burgers and wonderful fries and onion rings. The best in the park. Just delicious! They are a good value too.

On the Warf area the restaurts there have good mexican food and clam chowder in sour dough bowls. The breakfast offerings are equally delicious.

The frustrating thing is, we all know Disney can do a wonderful job and have experienced quality in the past. ilovemky, I'm glad you have yet to experience the disapointing side of Disney Dining and I hope you never have to.

 

[Darian]

Originally posted by year2late
I also go to DLR frequently and never have had such a problem. I have noticed a little less ornementation of the food, but I do not miss it.(I prefer the real frou frou ornematation of Napa Rose)

I am curious. On the rare occasion that I undercook chicken at home, I have never had a mouthful of blood.....is DL slughtering their poultry on site now?

I used to raise chickens so I'm pretty familiar with the slaughtering process. When you cut the chicken's head off, it is imperative that you hang it by it's feet for a long enough time to let the blood drain out of the carcass. If you don't hang it up soon enough after being killed, blood will pool in the meat.

This tells me that Disney is buying it's meat and poultry from lower cost processors who are rushing the cleaning and cutting corners (no pun intended) on cleaning their chickens.

Darian

 

[princessKT]

The last time my parents went to Disneyland, and ate at Goofy's Kitchen, my Dad got severe food poisoning. They ate there right before they drove home, and as they were doing so, he got really sick. My Mom, who is a nurse, questioned taking him to the Barstow Hospital. Luckily my Dad was fine. I'm wondering if they called to complain when they got home or not, hopefully no one else got sick from what my Dad had eaten.

The last time I ate at the Blue Bayou, I didn't feel too good, so I'm kind of staying away from it. Normally I would feel that way if I ate too much, (which would be easy to do at a place like that) but I always make sure I don't overeat at Disneyland because of riding the rides and so forth.

In all the times I've been to Disneyland, I've never eaten at the Plaza Inn, but something tells me I won't be now.

 

[dan-tot]

Thats why I eat at McDonalds outside the gate. I also get a pizza or sub from the little shops on the same street

Dan-tot

 

[ilovemky]

DH and I eat at disneyland at LEAST 2-3 times a week for the last 11 years and have NEVER had bad, disgusting, undercooked, poisonous food, EVER! I would assume the posts above are isolated instances...certainly not the norm!

 

[dcfromva]

Originally posted by ilovemky
DH and I eat at disneyland at LEAST 2-3 times a week for the last 11 years and have NEVER had bad, disgusting, undercooked, poisonous food, EVER! I would assume the posts above are isolated instances...certainly not the norm!

Let's hope so! Still, you have to agree that it is good for folks to speak up when something does go wrong. We all benefit from someone taking the time to bring this to the attention of management--so hopefully, the quality doesn't slip.


-DC (I'm a big fan of Storytellers!)

 

[ilovemky]

be sure to tell the manager at the restaurant or at city hall--i always believe in complaining and praising as needed--just did not want first timers to stay away from eating at the park!