Dear Disney....A new years wish!

[eliza61]

Dear Disney,
Just got back from a 3 night 4 day stay over the New Year holiday in Las Vegas.

Gotta tell you disney, you've got to do some thing about the quality of your restaurants. Now I try not to compare vacation destinations but seriously, Las Vegas gets 40 million visitors a year (right up there with disney) according to their tourist department and the food there is divine.

I'm not talking celebrity spots, we couldn't even get into many of those. I'm not talking about high end avant garde cuisine. I mean your standard in house, hotel restaurants. We stayed at the Monte Carlo resort and casino on the strip. They have a sports bar called the "Pub" that literally served a hamburger that made my husband seriously think about trading me in for the recipe.

Right next to Ceasars Palace is a mall called "The Forum", inside there was a restaurant called "Trevria" an italian joint similar to Tony's except it makes Tonys food taste like bilge pump water.

What gives? Every hotel has a steak house, that actually has great steaks so when you leave you don't say stuff like "The cheddar soup was the best thing". (sorry le Cellier but if you're a steak house, your guest should be raving about the steaks not the soup or the bread sticks).
I love the mouseworld. one of my favorite places to vacation, I just can't understand why another "prime" vacation place that caters to just about the same number of people can manage to serve food that might make you consider selling a kid and the other cannot.

here's wishing that things will improve.

These are just my opinions.

P.S. Las Vegas was similarily priced to what we would spend at the world.

 

[bicker]

We had our chance. The WDW restaurants were great in the 1990s, but we guests didn't keep 'em any more packed than they are now, and back then Disney was putting a lot more investment into them, for what? It clearly didn't provide them any benefit to do so.

Welcome to what a captive market of Wal-Mart/Target shoppers motivate a resort to do with regard to dining options.

 

[RC Fan]

I must say the food was disappointing this past August in WDW. As Vegas is my other favorite vacation destination, I guess Vegas will now have the edge.

How did you like the resort? Would you stay at Monte Carlo again?

 

[Dax]

I cannot wait to go back out to Vegas just to eat...there are really some nice places...and some buffets to DIE FOR!!!

 

[FergieTCat]

Until my vacation came to an abrupt end (stomach virus or something equally as icky), I noticed the same thing.

I thought it was because of "Free Dining." They provide more food, so they lower the quality.

As for Las Vegas, nothing beats the food at the Paris!

 

[sorcerormickey]

Ever since they started doing the whole Free Dining thing a few years back, the quality of the food has plummeted and the prices have skyrocketed. We rarely eat on WDW property anymore, even with the CM discount. My favorite sandwich at Beaches and Cream has DOUBLED in price in the past few years. Ridiculous.

 

[eliza61]

I must say the food was disappointing this past August in WDW. As Vegas is my other favorite vacation destination, I guess Vegas will now have the edge.

How did you like the resort? Would you stay at Monte Carlo again?

Love it! Yes, would definitely stay there again.

Pros:
Room size. We had a standard room with a king bed. room was huge. lots of space on both sizes of the bed. 3, luggage racks. nice size bathroom.

Smaller casino: Bellagio, Venetian, Cesears have HUGE casinos. some times they can be crazy noisy. Monte Carlo's Casino is a bit smaller.

Location: right in the middle of the strip. right next to NY,NY walked to the Paris, bellagio, Ceasars, MGM grand. 8.00 cab ride to Wynn (go see the wynn)

Bed was very comfortable.
heater/ac was whisper quiet. that's my pet peeve, some times when you have the air or heat on in a hotel it's so loud.
Food:
A sports bar called the "Pub" serves the best hamburgers known to man.
The cafe serves delicious tasty comfort food. We had breakfast there for about 12 bucks a piece. That was french toast, breakfast meat (each), tea and orange juice. these are very mid price restaurants. Didn't do the buffet. They also had a steakhouse that we had cocktails in but didn't eat at.
Food court in the hotel (mcdonalds, starbucks, etc)

Cons:
Towels were hard and scratchy.
TV. while I don't watch a lot of TV, the tv was ancient.

 

[Jennasis]

I am always the (lone) voice of dissent on this subject. On my last trip to WDW this past October, we ate like KING'S. In all of my stays at the world, I can only recall one bad meal (Sci-fi...dinner...the butcher steak). I am sure there may be places where the food has suffered, but luckily I haven't found it...yet.

However, I would absolutely be okay with WDW making improvements in their restaurants and menus.

As for the cheddar cheese soup. I actually don't care for it. The mushroom stuffed filet over risotto? HEAVEN!

 

[eliza61]

Ever since they started doing the whole Free Dining thing a few years back, the quality of the food has plummeted and the prices have skyrocketed. We rarely eat on WDW property anymore, even with the CM discount. My favorite sandwich at Beaches and Cream has DOUBLED in price in the past few years. Ridiculous.

I found the places we ate at, moderate to slightly high in price. We had dinner at the MGM grand. I think it ran us $92 bucks for 2 including tip. My dh had 2 beers, I had one cocktail then switched to a pepsi, and we each had an appertizer and an entree. We thought that wasn't bad especially since we had drinks.

 

[eliza61]

I am always the (lone) voice of dissent on this subject. On my last trip to WDW this past October, we ate like KING'S. In all of my stays at the world, I can only recall one bad meal (Sci-fi...dinner...the butcher steak). I am sure there may be places where the food has suffered, but luckily I haven't found it...yet.

However, I would absolutely be okay with WDW making improvements in their restaurants and menus.

As for the cheddar cheese soup. I actually don't care for it. The mushroom stuffed filet over risotto? HEAVEN!

I'm hoping to get that "heaven' feeling back. So, I'm always glad when I do hear positive reviews. my concern is that you shouldn't be the lone dissenter.

 

[snowywhite89]

If I want to vacation in a place with great food WDW and LV are not on my list. I got to WDW for the parks and atmosphere and LV for the gambling and atmosphere. I have been to both and I would pick WDW over LV anytime.

 

[ChristmasElf]

WDW gets most of their food from SYSCO. The croissants, dinner rolls, and the tart shells are all sub contracted. They arrive frozen and get baked when needed. That's just 1 example.
Need a cake at the GF on the 15th? Dollars to donuts that cake was made at least a week earlier. It gets doused with simple syrup (sugar water) to make it seem moist.
Disney is an entertainment company. They figure that people that have walked around a sweltering theme park all day won't really mind how good the food tastes, nor costs, the guest is just happy to be there spending that $9 on a sandwich.

 

[Owlpost23]

Las Vegas is stuffed to the gills with wonderful restaurants.Even the coffee shops do well.

 

[katesorad]

We were at WDW over Thanksgiving and didn't have a single meal that we didn't enjoy. We were on the Deluxe Dining Plan and took advantage of all the great restaurants. DH and I have also been to Vegas recently, and enjoyed the food there as well. I have zero complaints about the food at WDW. Disneyland, on the other hand.. eh. Not so great. Other than the candy, desserts, and gumbo, I've never had anything there that is that memorable to me.

Coming from San Diego (NOT known for the food, that's for sure), I think we appreciate ANYTHING that isn't sushi or bean burritos, since apparently those are the only things that San Diego can do correctly

 

[DisneyScraps]

I think it is a matter of perspective. If you are a regular chain restaurant person then WDW restaurants are going to be great. They go a little farther than a chain in their theming and it makes for a great dining experience.

If you require a little more. My family would rather eat at home than eat at a chain like Ruby Tuesdays or Applebys, Fridays or any of the other horrors out there. For us most of the WDW restaurants are so so. We try to stay with signature restaurants. They are safe but most menus are unsurprising.

It's not what is used to be that is for sure.

Lisa

 

[Liberty Belle]

I am always the (lone) voice of dissent on this subject. On my last trip to WDW this past October, we ate like KING'S. In all of my stays at the world, I can only recall one bad meal (Sci-fi...dinner...the butcher steak). I am sure there may be places where the food has suffered, but luckily I haven't found it...yet.

However, I would absolutely be okay with WDW making improvements in their restaurants and menus.

As for the cheddar cheese soup. I actually don't care for it. The mushroom stuffed filet over risotto? HEAVEN!

I'm always happy, too. I do think San Angel could do a bit better, but I still enjoy the food. I don't think I've ever eaten anything at WDW that I didn't enjoy.

Then again, I've never been to Vegas, and we very, very rarely eat out.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I think it is a matter of perspective. If you are a regular chain restaurant person then WDW restaurants are going to be great. They go a little farther than a chain in their theming and it makes for a great dining experience.

If you require a little more. My family would rather eat at home than eat at a chain like Ruby Tuesdays or Applebys, Fridays or any of the other horrors out there. For us most of the WDW restaurants are so so. We try to stay with signature restaurants. They are safe but most menus are unsurprising.

It's not what is used to be that is for sure.

Lisa

Horrors? Really? It's been about ten years since I've eaten at Applebees, about five years since Fridays and a couple of years since Ruby Tuesday, but have had decent meals at those places. In fact, I loved RT's chicken stir fry. They may not be gourmet restaurants, but I can't see calling them horrors.

 

[Planogirl]

Some people think all chain restaurants are bad. I find them adequate for the crowds they draw and for the prices they charge. WDW has similar food but the cost is way out there and that's what bothers me.

However we go to WDW for the parks and personally, I'd go to New Orleans for food. I LOVE the food in NOLA!

 

[monkeybug]

Coming from San Diego (NOT known for the food, that's for sure), I think we appreciate ANYTHING that isn't sushi or bean burritos, since apparently those are the only things that San Diego can do correctly

Ummm....fish tacos??? San Diego does those VERY well!!!

 

[Avalon_toon]

December was our first time on the dining plan, we normally go off world or eat at quick service places in the parks. This time we ate at Le Cellier, Teppan Edo, Ohana's, Sanaa, the Brown Derby, etc. - every single meal was great (but the Brown Derby wasn't quite as good as the 2 credit cost lead us to believe it would be.) I don't doubt that the restaurants may have been even better 15 years ago, but the meals we ate in 2010 were still wonderful. No complaints here!