Dining--It isn't what it used to be!

[matt&jakesmom]

We were at the world from 8/31 to 9/7. We always go at the end of August for the past 5 years and use the "free" dining. This time we finally saw all the changes that other diser's have been seeing and writing about.

Our worse disappointment was at Chef Mickey's. My DS's and DH always looked forward to the chicken strips. GONE and replaced with processed chicken nugget that my DH thought was something else until DS told him it was chicken.

We at WCC and were put in the far back corner of the restuarant, basically we were in the lobby. We didn't see or get to participate in any of the fun stuff. I had the steak, DS had ribs. Both were good. DH had meatloaf and wasn't any good. Dry. DS had a hamburger. He was bummed because last time we were there he could get a hotdog. Which brings me to the question why is a hamburger or even a pizza more healthier than a hotdog?

Tony's Town Square was good and a thumbs up from my family to eat there again. I had chicken parmesean, DS had the steak and DH and DS had pizza.

Crystal Palace was good. DH was happy because chicken strips were there. Thank goodness. I really didn't want to hear him complain again.

O'hana's and Tusker house for breakfast were great. Again how can you screw up on eggs, bacon and waffles, etc.

No more ice cream for CS dessert at the waterparks. I was so looking forward to my mickey bar.

Pizzafari in AK not good. Didn't care for the pizza.

By the end of the trip, I was sick of chocolate cake and cheesecake from the CS.

My DH is not a dessert eater. At some CS he was able to substitute a dessert for a pop. DS's are not dessert eaters either. So I either ate some of them (couldn't let food go to waste) or we brought them home.

My DH also didn't like that they changed from regular white buns for burgers to wheat. I tried to warn him on that one ahead of time.

 

[RFrank9504]

I wont even bother to write my review for chef mickeys-everyone here LOVES it-it was such a crappy dinner, with almost no character interaction-1 or 2 pics each, no photopass help so we dont have our full family in a photo-we left our waitress $5.00-she was awful!!!! Forgot drinks, left plates on the table, 3 visits of anything else, just the bill...and then she'd forget it and ask if we'd like something else...
I think the dining program at disney is alot of bull-and if it wasnt "free" we would have skipped it, like we generally do. I'm glad someone else has that opinion. Its rushed, its dirty. I was really unimpressed with that place. We'll skip it

 

[Condorman]

We were at the world from 8/31 to 9/7. We always go at the end of August for the past 5 years and use the "free" dining. This time we finally saw all the changes that other diser's have been seeing and writing about.

Our worse disappointment was at Chef Mickey's. My DS's and DH always looked forward to the chicken strips. GONE and replaced with processed chicken nugget that my DH thought was something else until DS told him it was chicken.

We at WCC and were put in the far back corner of the restuarant, basically we were in the lobby. We didn't see or get to participate in any of the fun stuff. I had the steak, DS had ribs. Both were good. DH had meatloaf and wasn't any good. Dry. DS had a hamburger. He was bummed because last time we were there he could get a hotdog. Which brings me to the question why is a hamburger or even a pizza more healthier than a hotdog?

Tony's Town Square was good and a thumbs up from my family to eat there again. I had chicken parmesean, DS had the steak and DH and DS had pizza.

Crystal Palace was good. DH was happy because chicken strips were there. Thank goodness. I really didn't want to hear him complain again.

O'hana's and Tusker house for breakfast were great. Again how can you screw up on eggs, bacon and waffles, etc.

No more ice cream for CS dessert at the waterparks. I was so looking forward to my mickey bar.

Pizzafari in AK not good. Didn't care for the pizza.

By the end of the trip, I was sick of chocolate cake and cheesecake from the CS.

My DH is not a dessert eater. At some CS he was able to substitute a dessert for a pop. DS's are not dessert eaters either. So I either ate some of them (couldn't let food go to waste) or we brought them home.

My DH also didn't like that they changed from regular white buns for burgers to wheat. I tried to warn him on that one ahead of time.

So all in all you had a good trip! You thought the table service restaurants were great and the only things you didn't like at the CS were a matter of personal preference. Wheat bread is healthier for you than white bread, and since neither your DH nor DS's are dessert eaters it wasn't much of an issue.

I also thought it was funny how your family didn't like the processed chicken nuggets, but they wanted a hot dog. Hot dogs are made of all the parts of a pig that aren't considered good enough to be toppings on a hamburger or a pizza, so yes, hamburgers and pizza are infinitely healthier than hot dogs. Unless, of course, it's a kosher hot dog, but I don't think Disney has or will ever serve those.

 

[Jerry@dvcstore]

CS is not always good. It can be hit or miss.

 

[catyanna]

Sorry to hear that you werem't pleased with your dining. I just used the free dining in October and thought it a great. All of our sit down meals were fabulous. Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, lunch at Crystal Palace, & dinner at Garden Grill. The food as tasty at all three and with the exception of a problem with our ADR at CP all the service a great.

 

[tony67]

I wont even bother to write my review for chef mickeys-everyone here LOVES it-it was such a crappy dinner, with almost no character interaction-1 or 2 pics each, no photopass help so we dont have our full family in a photo-we left our waitress $5.00-she was awful!!!! Forgot drinks, left plates on the table, 3 visits of anything else, just the bill...and then she'd forget it and ask if we'd like something else...
I think the dining program at disney is alot of bull-and if it wasnt "free" we would have skipped it, like we generally do. I'm glad someone else has that opinion. Its rushed, its dirty. I was really unimpressed with that place. We'll skip it

I agree 100%. No point in telling people, they do not want to hear it.
I have been told once too often, “I don't care as long as I am in Disney” or “What do you expect, it’s a theme park.” or my personal favorite, “I don’t care if they only server burgers as long as I can enjoy the atmosphere." (about Coral Reef - a FISH restaurant).

They could serve a "big trough of baked beans and garnish it with a couple of dead dogs" and people would say it was great just because it is Disney.

 

[jenrose66]

I agree that dining seems to have gone downhill. I was going to book the dining plan for my upcoming trip, but now that the apps are gone and the menu's are so standardized I didn't really see the point? I guess if you're trying signature restaurants or resort dining that probably has more variety than the theme parks.

 

[natalielongstaff]

I agree that dining seems to have gone downhill. I was going to book the dining plan for my upcoming trip, but now that the apps are gone and the menu's are so standardized I didn't really see the point? I guess if you're trying signature restaurants or resort dining that probably has more variety than the theme parks.

Sadly from some of the recent reports even the signature dining experience has been " standardized "

 

[princessmom29]

So all in all you had a good trip! You thought the table service restaurants were great and the only things you didn't like at the CS were a matter of personal preference. Wheat bread is healthier for you than white bread, and since neither your DH nor DS's are dessert eaters it wasn't much of an issue.

I also thought it was funny how your family didn't like the processed chicken nuggets, but they wanted a hot dog. Hot dogs are made of all the parts of a pig that aren't considered good enough to be toppings on a hamburger or a pizza, so yes, hamburgers and pizza are infinitely healthier than hot dogs. Unless, of course, it's a kosher hot dog, but I don't think Disney has or will ever serve those.

Disney did in fact serve Kosher dogs at Caseys until very recently. Not all hot dogs are trash. You just have to be picky about what you buy. We eat all chicken hot dogs and they are very tasty, and while high in sodium, the fat and calories are half of a pork or beef dog. I also buy turkey pepperoni for our pizza, though. The buns disney serves are actually not wheat but a so called "multigran" that has little to no whole grain and is really no better for you than white bread, but is cheaper and looks better on disney's "healthier choices" resume.

 

[princessmom29]

I agree that dining seems to have gone downhill. I was going to book the dining plan for my upcoming trip, but now that the apps are gone and the menu's are so standardized I didn't really see the point? I guess if you're trying signature restaurants or resort dining that probably has more variety than the theme parks.

We really enjoyed our meals while in the world and didn't fell that it has gone downhill at all, with a very few exceptions. We didn't care for Crystal palace, and the CS hamburgers are not great. I had 2 excellent fillets at Brown Dreny and Le Cellier, and while it is altered a bit to suit American taste, we enjoyed Les Chefs as well. Mama Melrose was really good by our standards for Italian. I really enjoyed the Salmon with tomato rissoto. We alos thought Ohana was good. I guess it is all in your personal taste and where you choose to eat, but for us the DP is a win hands down!

 

[LegoMom3]

....I also thought it was funny how your family didn't like the processed chicken nuggets, but they wanted a hot dog. Hot dogs are made of all the parts of a pig that aren't considered good enough to be toppings on a hamburger or a pizza, so yes, hamburgers and pizza are infinitely healthier than hot dogs. Unless, of course, it's a kosher hot dog, but I don't think Disney has or will ever serve those.

This could totally be a matter of taste and have nothing to do with "healthy." My family loves hot dogs. However, 4 out of 5 of us prefer chicken strips to nuggets because of the taste & consistency. It has nothing to do with a strip supposedly being more healthy (they're still fried!). They just taste better to us, is all.

I do agree overall that dining at Disney is not what it used to be. We will continue to use the DDP ourselves, simply because I don't want to prepare food while on vacation and we don't ever go off-property while there. But there have been many changes and most not for the better.

.

 

[CR88]

We just returned from a 10 day stay at BWV and thought that the food was, at the every least very good, some were excellent. We had a party of 5 people and they all agreed. Our TS choices were California Grill, LeCellier, Cape May Cafe, Ohanas, Mama Melrose, Narcossee's and Teppanedo. We were pleasantly surprised with the level of service as well, probably the best since we began visiting regularly back in 2005. I keep preparing everyone for a less than stellar experience as many of my family members are restaurant owners and can be very picky so I don't want them to have their hopes too high. But they were all happy with our dining experiences and thought the dining plan was a great value. While the steak houses may not be on par with the Morton's or Gibson's in Chicago or St. Elmo's out of Indy, our steaks were all cooked perfectly and were very tasty, especially California Grill and LeCellier. The steak at Narcoossee's was slightly overcooked, but nothing that would cause me to send it back. It's amazing to read the drastically different reviews, and I have to say that we feel lucky to never have experienced anything remotely close to the horror stories I have read. Every time we go I expect something bad, or at least just OK but always return very happy with our choices. In 2010 we have a party of 8 going, so we'll see what happens. With the number of negative reviews and posts I am sure that there is validity to the claims. Again, maybe we have just been lucky.

 

[jog58]

I wont even bother to write my review for chef mickeys-everyone here LOVES it-it was such a crappy dinner, with almost no character interaction-1 or 2 pics each, no photopass help so we dont have our full family in a photo-we left our waitress $5.00-she was awful!!!! Forgot drinks, left plates on the table, 3 visits of anything else, just the bill...and then she'd forget it and ask if we'd like something else...
I think the dining program at disney is alot of bull-and if it wasnt "free" we would have skipped it, like we generally do. I'm glad someone else has that opinion. Its rushed, its dirty. I was really unimpressed with that place. We'll skip it

I agree 100%. No point in telling people, they do not want to hear it.
I have been told once too often, “I don't care as long as I am in Disney” or “What do you expect, it’s a theme park.” or my personal favorite, “I don’t care if they only server burgers as long as I can enjoy the atmosphere." (about Coral Reef - a FISH restaurant).

They could serve a "big trough of baked beans and garnish it with a couple of dead dogs" and people would say it was great just because it is Disney.

I want to echo the same as above. Chef Mickey's was DISGUSTING. We went for dinner, the place was trashed, the food was terrible and the characters were moving at a glacial pace. We enjoyed almost every other meal we had at WDW that trip but we will not be returning to Chef Mickey's.

 

[LindaBabe]

Disney did in fact serve Kosher dogs at Caseys until very recently. Not all hot dogs are trash. You just have to be picky about what you buy. We eat all chicken hot dogs and they are very tasty, and while high in sodium, the fat and calories are half of a pork or beef dog. I also buy turkey pepperoni for our pizza, though. The buns disney serves are actually not wheat but a so called "multigran" that has little to no whole grain and is really no better for you than white bread, but is cheaper and looks better on disney's "healthier choices" resume.

BINGO! Check the labels in your grocery store on similar items - you'll see princessmom is right.

 

[MsDisney23]

I hate the fact that they replaced their all beef hot dogs, with the meat filler ones! Shame on Disney, Casey Corner is just not the same!

 

[msce2]

Here's my opinion for what it's worth.

You can have a poor dining experience anywhere. This is not limited to WDW. Whether it be a waiter/waitress, food quality, restaurant appearance. And those were probably meals paid for. This was free dining, which clearly was a huge savings to your family. Basically only having to pay tips during an entire week stay.

When we went in May we paid for our dining plan in full. We had some great (Teppan Edo, Mama Melrose), some good (1900PF, Flame Tree), and some not so good (Ohana's). But I guess the thing is that we had a great time. I would never let my opinion of WDW be based on whether they still served chicken strips or nuggets or multi grain or white buns. Although it will certainly be awhile before I'm willing to give Ohana's another try.

At the same time, can you fault disney for wanting to make a profit? Times are tough and they are handing out discounts, free dining, and other perks to try to get people to travel when most cannot afford to. If the choices were to raise admission prices or buy cheaper buns well I vote for the cheaper buns.