Can I vent a little?

[GailT]

well usually park food is just that park food but Disney isn't bad, sure I have had a few that I didn't care for and I will not go back but have any of you gone to regular park, like six flaggs as an example, now that is park foodI am not critical of the wait staff or the meals, I am just usually so excited being in DW what I dont like you might like and vise versa I am so easy to please especially when I am not home to cook my own dinners, I just go with the flow

 

[cabanafrau]

I think some of what you might be seeing is people who remember WDW dining of the early 90's, which is completely different of what you're seeing now -- not to mention the changes that have taken place as a result of the dining plan, which IMO is good in theory, bad for actual practice in some instances.

 

[CharacterFan]

Bad nights happen, and not everything at Disney is perfect. I've eaten at a lot of Disney restuarants in my trips, and I have places that I will never return to (CRT and 50s Prime), but there are places I go every trip (The Plaza and Teppan Edo) also people have different tastes. Even if I give a bad review to something, I know if might have been an off night, but my experance wasn't good. Also, I revisit my never visit list ever 2.5-3 years to give it a 2nd or 3rd shot (after 3 times, I won't go back). I had a bad experance at Le Cellier just over 2 years ago, I went back in September, and decided then that I needed to come back in December. It's now on my visit list.
I have judged some places on reviews and have not visited there (San Angel Inn), but it's still on my short list of new places I'd like to try.

 

[photobob]

-Some people are easier to please than others.
-Some people are just honestly reporting a bad experience.
-Some people look for negatives in everything they do.
-Some little problem to one person is a very big problem to some else.
-Negatives are more reported than positives and reported more
LOUDLY!

Look for a consensus about a restaurant. I wouldn't rely on one persons opinion, good or bad. I read a trip report where a person pretty much had negative things to say about everywhere they ate. I know every place couldn't have been bad, that was just a very negative person.

 

[Golden Rose]

I'm actually the daughter of a food critic, so I've grown up with detailed analysis of dining experiences. I am perfectly happy to post my opinions of restaurants when people request information about a particular venue. I don't expect any more of WDW restaurants than I do of comparably priced places around here... but I don't expect any less, either. Several of them make up on atmosphere what they may lack in originality, and I'm happy to include that as part of my experience.

We mostly stick to signature dining restaurants for dinner, and, yes, at those prices, I do expect a certain level of food and service. I realize that any restaurant can have an off night; however, I can only judge by how I have been treated and what I have been served. There are very few places in WDW that I would never go back to, but there are places where I had such bad experiences (the two that come to mind are a hair in my noodle and a waiter who vanished for 35 minutes) that I simply wouldn't want anyone else to have such a miserable time.

That said, on the whole, I generally like the food at WDW. We're careful about where we go, and we're rarely disappointed. I have a great time planning our meals for our vacations, and I have often asked for suggestions here and gotten good ones. (For example, good reviews of Jiko led us to try it the first time, and it is now one of our favorite restaurants.)

I would much rather write and read honest reviews that include both the positive and the negatives about a place than sugar-coated reviews about how much someone loved a restaurant because they were having such a wonderful time in the most magical place on earth.

 

[emmabemmainc]

I love reading the good and the bad when it comes to reviews, but I will admit that there have been 1 or 2 reviewers who found something negative in almost every meal they ate. I remember thinking to myself, "thank goodness I never have to eat with you!". Just really over the top negative.

Also, I have never based not eating somewhere on someone's review. I have definitely booked a place based on a positive review though.

To each their own.