Can you share a place you couldnt wait to eat but was a huge letdown

[sullyfam]

CRT dinner. Finally got in there after years of trying. Was so excited about it and expecting it to be over the top. Very underwhelming experience overall. Didn't feel any more special than other character dining experiences, they herd you in there like cattle, the bathroom was a swamp and the food portions and taste were just blah. One and done for us for sure especially given the price.

 

[disneyseniors]

I think my DH and I are the only ones who had a subpar meal at Art Smith's Homecomin.
It was our 50th anniversary meal this past March, and we were very excited to eat there. All the reviews were fantastic, no complaints. We love southern food and have lived in the south for many years, so we decided to give it a try..
We ordered the chicken dinner plate with hush puppies (one of my favorites). The waitress was great and suggested we order one meal, as they are huge. She was right!
The chicken was okay, but like you get anywhere else, so it did not stand out. The mashed potatoes were gross! That's the only word for it. They were so watery that we had to eat them with a spoon!!! They also had a weird taste to them. Can't identify what the spice was, but we like pretty basic southern cooking with no strange tasting ingredients. Couldn't eat it. The biscuits were good, but DH hates cheese and they had a lot of cheese in them (but that is just his own preferences). I thought they were good. The hush puppies also tasted funny with another spice we didn't like. They have dipping sauces which we did not care for. Others may like them, but again we were expecting great southern recipes and cooking.
So, for us, it's one and done. A lot of it is because we like plain southern cooking, without exotic spices (or any spices except the regularbasic ones). That's not their fault. But the potatoes were their fault. I have never seen anything like them before.
I did not check our bill closely, and found out later that we were charged for 2 full meals, instead of one. Lesson learned! Check the bill thoroughly before leaving.
Again, other people seem to like the added spices, etc, so if you really want to try it, I would. Just our experience!

 

[Texans_loyal]

Bog dinner...mediocre at best. steak tasted like I deserved a refund.
Columbia Harbour house was disgusting, cheap plastic tasting seafood.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Le Cellier - there was so much hype and we love steak but nope...my steak was cooked to the wrong temperature and the waiter had a terrible attitude.

Captain's Grille - it was considered a hidden gem on the Dis. We went for dinner once it was probably the worst tasting food I was ever served in a restaurant. We tried again for breakfast and it was unimpressive, which combined with a 30-40 minute wait, unacceptable.

 

[rg35]

'Ohana. Total garbage. Possibly the worst AYCTE dinner on property.

Tough, overcooked steak, gloppy noodles, and generic frozen appetizers that you can buy from a box at Costco.

I have no idea how this is on people's must do list.

 

[Lilsia]

'Ohana. Total garbage. Possibly the worst AYCTE dinner on property.

Tough, overcooked steak, gloppy noodles, and generic frozen appetizers that you can buy from a box at Costco.

I have no idea how this is on people's must do list.

It is really sad because it USED to be one of the best meals there. They actually cooked the meat right and the sides where great. Now it is over packed, the servers run their behinds off, and the meats are crap. The last time we were there they had put this nasty sweet sauce all over all of the meats.

 

[ttintagel]

Everyone online raved about the Pop Century food court, but the dinner I had there was on the dry and stale side. Even the famous tie-dye cheesecake.

(Breakfasts were good; you can't do much to hurt a waffle smothered with strawberries!)

 

[ttintagel]

Kona Cafe breakfast. There was so much hype over the breakfast and the Tonga Toast. We felt so incredibly rushed, the service was abysmal, and my Tonga toast was way too sweet. I ended up getting a coffee at a coffee bar in the hotel to savor on our way back to the GF because I needed to take the edge off the experience.

Our server at Kona was a bit overstretched, but made up for it when he was able to get to us
I could tell the Tonga Toast was going to be too sweet for me, so I had them make it without the sugar on the outside. The press pot coffee covered a multitude of sins!

 

[lovin'fl]

My second time at Raglan Road. My first visit with my mom and DDs was sooooo very good that I talked, a hesitant, SIL into trying it with us. And it was terrible. We were seated way in back near bar and crowds of folks were standing around us, crowding us. Service was slow and bad. No drink refills. Cold food served. In laws hated it.

 

[olwyngdh]

Everyone online raved about the Pop Century food court, but the dinner I had there was on the dry and stale side. Even the famous tie-dye cheesecake.

(Breakfasts were good; you can't do much to hurt a waffle smothered with strawberries!)

The tie dies cheesecake was better back when it was a slice of cheesecake. When the went to putting it in the cups it became a lot dryer and not as good. I haven't eaten it is ages because of that and I used to love it.

 

[southerngirl528]

Be Our Guest Lunch! The entire experience was frustrating and the food was pitiful.

Wanted to take my little princesses, so I was able to get a rez. Who knew we would have to stand in the sun in Line #1 FIRST, before we could queue up for a SUPER crowded line just to (yes, wait for it....."wait" being the operative word here!), WAIT to input your own order!!! We literally waited in line for at least 30-35 minutes WITH a rez! And that was just to get to a machine to place our own order! Then heaven help you if you have little ones by yourself as you have to get safely through the crowds, going from cavernous room to room desperately trying to find an open table to even SIT at! Finally found a dirty table and grabbed it, telling kids not to touch the table until it was cleaned. Guess what? THEN I had to leave the kids and our long awaited (dirty) table to even fetch our own drinks! Oh, and the silverware and condiments were on the OTHER side of the giant room. If the service and food was good, I could have overlooked some of this, but the food was awful and service was NO where to be found! I finally get across the room, trying to keep an eye on my young ones, to get their drinks, only to find the drink dispenser was OUT. And no CM in sight. Went to the other end and found the drink, but not the right cups!! UNBELIEVABLE. Truly the worst service I have EVER, EVER had at a Disney restaurant in any price range. And I've been a DVC Member for over 25 years, so it wasn't my first rodeo.

 

[southerngirl528]

What I'm curious about is that for everyone on this thread that had really bad food: tough steak, overcooked chicken, etc. or obvious service issues, Did you send it back the food or ask for a manager? If not why not?

I've been wondering the same thing. When I am paying a good amount of money for a meal, I expect it to be at minimum decent. And if it is NOT, I will very politely ask that whatever the problem is be remedied. I have never had a Disney restaurant not apologize and whisk my food away to get a replacement.

 

[southerngirl528]

California Grill for dinner. I was really excited to try it and watch the fireworks. The food was good, but the service was beyond terrible. We tried going a second time a few months later, it was worse than the first time and we will never go back. Brunch was great though.

California Grill has been a very, very longtime favorite of ours, and living so close, we often go there for special occasions. We have seen a serious slip in service there since the reopening a few years ago after they had been close for months for the refurbishment. The big change that happened with that was that the general manager we loved so much, "Gary" (can't think of his last name, but I know he went from Ca Grill to Artist Point) was reassigned. His absence, in our opinion, has cause a vast loss of service. We have had good service a time or 2 since, but not like it was before.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

BOG Dinner. I haven't been back since they went Prix Fixe but don't want to chance it again. Not one thing about the dinner impressed me and Im not hard to please.

 

[Mrs Geek]

Akershus.

Everyone says it's a better alternative to CRT- that the food is more worth the price and it's still a princess meal- but it... was not good. Honestly I think it just means I don't like Scandinavian food, but I was just unimpressed. And the wait staff just seemed like they wanted to go home, like they were no happier than we were. I do think the princess interactions were better than at CRT, but I actually prefer the food in the castle.

 

[MKTokyo]

Be Our Guest Lunch! The entire experience was frustrating and the food was pitiful.

Wanted to take my little princesses, so I was able to get a rez. Who knew we would have to stand in the sun in Line #1 FIRST, before we could queue up for a SUPER crowded line just to (yes, wait for it....."wait" being the operative word here!), WAIT to input your own order!!! We literally waited in line for at least 30-35 minutes WITH a rez! And that was just to get to a machine to place our own order! Then heaven help you if you have little ones by yourself as you have to get safely through the crowds, going from cavernous room to room desperately trying to find an open table to even SIT at! Finally found a dirty table and grabbed it, telling kids not to touch the table until it was cleaned. Guess what? THEN I had to leave the kids and our long awaited (dirty) table to even fetch our own drinks! Oh, and the silverware and condiments were on the OTHER side of the giant room. If the service and food was good, I could have overlooked some of this, but the food was awful and service was NO where to be found! I finally get across the room, trying to keep an eye on my young ones, to get their drinks, only to find the drink dispenser was OUT. And no CM in sight. Went to the other end and found the drink, but not the right cups!! UNBELIEVABLE. Truly the worst service I have EVER, EVER had at a Disney restaurant in any price range. And I've been a DVC Member for over 25 years, so it wasn't my first rodeo.

Lunch is QS so there isn’t really any expectation of service, other than food delivery. They have brought cups to the table for us every time we have ordered a fountain beverage, so I’m not sure what happened there.

I think people who order in advance & therefore skip the outside line have a much better experience. We usually decide what we want on the way to the restaurant & then walk right in. The food quality does seem to have deteriorated, though. Really disappointing.

 

[DISNEYSQUIRRELS]

BoG

 

[southerngirl528]

Lunch is QS so there isn’t really any expectation of service, other than food delivery. They have brought cups to the table for us every time we have ordered a fountain beverage, so I’m not sure what happened there.

I think people who order in advance & therefore skip the outside line have a much better experience. We usually decide what we want on the way to the restaurant & then walk right in. The food quality does seem to have deteriorated, though. Really disappointing.

Yes. It was a MESS. I was instructed we would have to go get our own beverages, utensils, etc., which as said were at opposite ends of the huge room. This was at least a year and a half ago so perhaps the (better) changes have happened since then. Same thing for the pre-order. It had apparently JUST started for BOG and for whatever reason I was unaware they had begun the pre-order at that location.

It was totally chaotic from start to finish....no tables available after a lot of looking, only to finally find a dirty one. Had to flag down a CM and ask them to please clean our table. And we were right on the "interstate" main aisle with people, CM's and food carts flying right by us nonstop. The coup de grace was trying to take the girls to the ladies' restroom in the restaurant. I could not believe the Disney planners had created such a massive restaurant, seating SO many people at any given time only to have (6 as I recall, including the HA stall) such a small number of stalls. I don't plan on ever going back. There was nothing positive in our experience for which to return.

 

[ttintagel]

The tie dies cheesecake was better back when it was a slice of cheesecake. When the went to putting it in the cups it became a lot dryer and not as good. I haven't eaten it is ages because of that and I used to love it.

This was back when it was slices; I haven't had it since they switched to the cups.

 

[nascargirl]

I would have to say Raglan Road. The first time we went we had fantastic service and food. We were seated in a prime location for the entertainment. We had an Irish pub back home that had closed and felt Raglan Road would be a place to eat each time we came to Disney. On our 2nd trip we were placed far back in the corner away from it all. The service was slow and the server had the attitude of just going thru the motion. My husband's dish came out burned. He is not one to complain and hates to send things back. But in this case he had to. The server seemed annoyed. When the 2nd dish came back it was just as bad as the first. By this time my husband's appetite was gone and so were we. The Manager came over and tried to make amends but it was too late. We have not been back since.