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

[DisArmyWife215]

3. Coral reef, food isn't great, view isn't good unless you are against the tank, kind of underwhelming overall.

In general it seems like a lot of the fun things are gone. No coconut races or maraca parades at Ohana, not pony races at Whispering Canyon. It's sad because kids really get a kick out of it and it's not like those things cost Disney money to do.

Good to know about Coral Reef I thought the view might make up for meh food.

When we went to Ohana in May they did coconut races. My daughter got a kick out of it. I wonder if it depends on the staff and some cast just don’t want to mess with things like that?

 

[Lilsia]

Tusker House used to be my favorite restaurant on property, partly because they had a variety of excellent specialty salads. But the last two times I went, the specialty salads and specialty dressings were gone, and they just had generic green salad with standard dressings you could find anywhere. For a while they had high quality beef at dinner, but that's also gone, and the remaining meats are pork, fish, or roasted chicken. Due to these changes and a loss of the specialty items that once made this restaurant unique, for me it's gone from a must-do to an I-can-take-it-or-leave-it. Sad.

I am more annoyed with the guests then with Disney on this. People see something different and act as if Disney is trying to poison them or something. I have heard countless times people commenting on how "disgusting" and "weird" some things look. They won't even try it. I think Disney wants to give the variety but it does not sell enough. So people like you and me who like to try new things are finding it hard to. I wish that they would ban all the standard American food for a year. No burgers, hot dogs, chicken strips, mac and cheese, etc. Have the people eat some rotisserie chicken instead of chicken strips. Oh the horror!

 

[fla4fun]

I think the big problem is the inconsistency of food and service at WDW table service restaurants. I went to the same restaurant twice during one trip and ordered the same food prepared the same way. The first meal was one of the best I have had at Disney and the second is easily the worst. The difference between an attentive server and one I didn’t see after he took my order until he brought my check a half hour after I finished eating (someone else delivered the food, and no one bothered to see if it was ok). The difference between food cooked correctly and served at the proper temperature and food that was both overdone and underdone on the same plate and dry from sitting under a heat lamp. If I had only eaten one meal or the other that trip, I could have easily posted to either a great meal or horrible meal thread. But my experience just highlights how difficult it can be to plan ahead for a good meal at Disney. If you hit a restaurant on a bad day, it may be really, really bad.

 

[KellyHonos]

100% Cinderellas Royal Table.

 

[KellyHonos]

Every piece of sushi I've had at WDW: Kona, Tokyo Dining and California Grill. It's like they don't even bother seasoning the rice. I was so disappointed!

The Cali roll at Moriomoto was the best my sister and I have ever had. Like seriously, we inhaled that thing in under a minute LOL.

 

[ThistleMae]

Oh Good. Another reason to say..."Coral Reef". Hands down awful wait time, slow service and meh food. Nice Aquarium.
BOG Dinner. What were they thinking...besides $$$.

I agree the food is just meh, but I think it's the only quiet restaurant in DW. The only reason we eat there is for a quieter place for dinner.

 

[ThistleMae]

After years of trying almost everything, we have eliminated most restaurants from our "must have" dinners. We enjoy many of the lunches in Epcot and have decided to just try some different quick service instead of the pricey table service picks. We will still do O'hana, as we do really love the bread pudding, and I love Boma, it's my all time favorite, I love the variety and the fact that the food is different from everywhere else. Our biggest disappointment was Liberty Tree Tavern for Thanksgiving. The food was more like the stuff you eat in TV dinners, nothing special whatsoever.

 

[disneysteve]

I think the big problem is the inconsistency of food and service at WDW table service restaurants.

I would add CS restaurants to this. Inconsistency is the norm, it seems. This really is a big problem and I think the reason that the same places show up on both the Best lists and the Worst lists. What your experience will be totally depends on the day you happen to be there.

 

[pezaddict231]

Good to know about Coral Reef I thought the view might make up for meh food.

When we went to Ohana in May they did coconut races. My daughter got a kick out of it. I wonder if it depends on the staff and some cast just don’t want to mess with things like that?

If you can sit right against the tank I’m sure it’s awesome. We’ve gone twice and been seated on the 2nd and 3rd level so it’s just not as cool. There are better choices in Epcot.

It’s so fun! We did dinner and breakfast and nothing at either meal. And there wasn’t the singing at dinner like usual or if there was it wasn’t noticeable. Hopefully it was just an off night.

 

[jenjersnap]

Le Cellier, Morimoto and Cape May (both breakfast and dinner) are three I was hoping for great things from but disappointed mightily. The quality of food isn’t great at any of them (also, I hate the Cape May buffet set up). We will give Morimoto another try though. We had terrible issues at Narcoossee’s, a former favorite, on the first night of our vacation in 2017, our first Disney trip that all five members of my family were present in 4 years...to say I was excited is an understatement, but it was absolutely horrible in both food and service. It will be awhile before we try it again.

Homecomin’ is our new must do. Nothing has tasted like swamp water to us, lol. We do stick with mostly appetizers. Service there hasn’t been great though.

 

[Soarin_04]

Bongo’s. Dry, over cooked and either bland or over salted. We all raced for bathrooms afterwards.

 

[captaindavidhook]

Bongo’s. Dry, over cooked and either bland or over salted. We all raced for bathrooms afterwards.

Rofl , I had the Bongos express service and I thought their sandwiches were very good. It was a lot of food. I would definitely go back to do kind of service but I'm guessing you're talking about the table service 1 what you get so many bad reviews.

 

[djs7685]

After hearing so many good reviews and comments about being "underrated" I tried Ale & Compass on my last trip and I was very unimpressed.

An evening storm changed our plans and also led to a lot of indoor places being packed with people so that's no fault of WDW. We finally arrived to a late dinner at Ale & Compass and were told they were running behind (we were also about 20 minutes early for our reservation) so that it could be a little bit of a wait. We figured the weather may have led to some YC guests changing plans to eat on site so we were very understanding of the extra wait time. After close to an hour of sitting in the lobby we were taken to our table, but the odd thing was that we walked past what had to have been 15+ empty tables as we were taken through the restaurant! Maybe all of those tables left at the same time through another exit so we didn't see them or maybe they were understaffed so they couldn't fill all the tables, but again I didn't fully blame them even though we were getting tired and frustrated at this point.

Our hopes of Ale & Compass being a great hidden gem to make up for our lousy evening quickly diminished as our 2-top was basically squeezed between 2 large families as close as you could imagine at a restaurant, the service was maybe average, and the food was just OK.

This is definitely not a restaurant I'd go out of my way to try again, but maybe if I'm staying at BC/YC in the future I'd give it another shot. We were at the Poly so it was sort of a pain to get to/from compared to so many other great restaurants, luckily it was just the 2 of us this time so Uber was a quick, cheap option for us to save some time on our way "home" after dinner.

 

[Captain Kittens]

Cant say I've really had a "horrible" time anywhere yet but if I had to say I was let-down by anything it would have to be:

Cali Grill - order was put in late so food came out late, pizza was under-cooked and doughy in the center and the peppermint creme brulee was extremely overwhelming with the mint. Could not eat it. The atmosphere of the place is really nice so they do get points for that. I will go back.

The Edison - Mixed drinks are really neat and tasty but EXPENSIVE (take them down from $14 to $12 and it'll be less of a shock). I felt a little skimpy on the alcohol which is I why I was a little disappointed. Food, however, was good but the portion sizes are HUGEEE. Buyer beware. My wife got the grilled cheese and its about the size of a 32 oz porterhouse lol. Undecided on if I will go back.

 

[Mousemom234]

Most recently, I'd have to say Tiffin's. We went, expecting to have an 'interesting', quiet lunch, and try some new things.

Quiet - yes. We were nearly the only people in the place, but the only waitress we saw was FAR more interested in the party of 4 across the room. She dm near moved in with them after bringing our menus, and didn't return until she brought our check. Different somebodies pretty much showed up with stuff and dropped it. We swapped the plates so we had the right meals

I ordered the iced tea, which was this rather strange flowery stuff with no actual 'tea' in it. Not dreadful, but certainly not what my tastebuds wanted. No worries, it never got refilled. No refill offered on DH's beer, either
And I'll most certainly agree with others - the portion sizes were miniscule, for what I personally considered a 'horrid' price I guess anything over 4 bites is considered an entree.
It tasted pretty good, but for the price/size, and really poor service I'm not considering going back anytime soon.
The place is worth looking at though - lovely.

~~
Again, agreed on Le Cellier - it's not what it used to be. It's always been close seating, but it used to be worth it. The last time we went, it was the last time. Not worth the hassle or the money. Sad, because I always liked it.
Such seems to be the way of Disney Dining - don't fall in love with anything - it grows up, moves out and becomes somebody you never knew.

 

[Solfe]

Be Our Guest was a huge let down. I'd tell you about the food, but I am 99.9% sure the "ambiance" was the thing that got me. The food might have been just ok, but I was seriously put off by the room.

We were in the room with the rose (west wing?) on a hot December day. 85+ outside and something in the 60's inside the restaurant. I was freezing. It was so dark I couldn't read the menu. Instead of resorting to my phone's flashlight, I read the menu by the "lightning" flashes in the room. After I ordered, I realized that the flashes weren't coming from some special effect, it was other diners using their flashlights to read the menu. The topper was the thunder effect. Too intense, like having a dozen wolves and toddlers fight over a kettle drum.

It was rough. It was less like Beast's Castle and more like Buffalo Bill's basement well. All they needed was a hose and a basket of lotion.

Cosmic Rays was a pleasure by way of comparison.

 

[Summer2018]

Be Our Guest DINNER. Wayyyy over rated. The food was sub par, but prices are so high. I would rater do the lunch!

The lunch was bizarre...a cafeteria set up in a castle, and the food was disappointing.

 

[Solfe]

I hated Be Our Guest, but I do have to say I enjoyed virtually every other restaurant I visited and now I have list of others I would like to try. I know the thread is "letdown" themed but still, I had one bad meal and 20 good to great meals on just one trip. I feel bad panning something without saying more.

 

[just stella]

Definitely the Trails End for us. We'd heard so much hype about it but it was like being back home eating at Shoneys. Service was very slow as well. Just a very low quality meal.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Most recently, it was the Plaza. However, it may have been an unusual experience. I have dietary restrictions, so I asked to speak to the Chef. Unfortunately, the Chef spoke with a very thick accent-I don't think he spoke English well, and I didn't speak whatever language they speak in Morocco (his badge said that's where he was from). For all we know, I may have gotten just what he thought I wanted-plain, dry salad.