Done with Disney dining

[ArwenMarie]

I agree. We have gotten to the point with Disney dining that we only eat QS or Signature and we are even selective there. I'm sure that the chefs are talented, but there is something wrong with the meats. They seem to all be similar...either oversalted, tough, stringy, processed, defrosted, you name it. I'm not sure how much leeway the chefs have on purchases. For example, at one Signature recently, everything was good, the seasonings were amazing, but the chicken was as I described above. I think it is a high-level purchasing problem, probably due to "value engineering."

 

[ScarletFire]

I do not care for chatty servers! I'm a nice customer; tip well.

 

[aubriee]

I have to say I agree with you. Ate at Flying Fish in August and while the food was excellent our server would NOT leave us alone. I was dining alone with DS5 and maybe he thought I needed an adult to talk to? No clue. I wanted to enjoy my dinner with my son and he would come to our table every 5 minutes or less and talk incessantly. It was incredibly annoying.

I do not care for chatty servers! I'm a nice customer; tip well.

I agree with both these posts! I go with my family to WDW several times a year, but also try to get in 1-2 solo trips each year, where I can just relax and do my own thing. I do fine socializing with a crowd, but am just as happy on my own. I don't know why waiters can't understand that. If I'm dining alone I always bring my camera to go through and delete pictures, as well as my Kindle. I hate it when a waiter assumes I want company and won't leave me alone, no matter how many times I tell them I'm fine. I usually tell them at the beginning of the meal that if they keep my water glass full, they can just ignore me and I'll be perfectly fine. Nope, for some reason they always assume a solo diner wants company. What really irritates me though are the ones that sit down with you or worse the ones that go down on one knee beside you. I was once eating a nice quiet lunch at House of Blues, when my waitress decided to sit down and chat. I felt like just saying 'go away, I don't want to entertain you'. California Grill used to have a waiter that I swear I got every time. He always went down on one knee to talk to me about the menu. I'd draw back and frown at him, but he never seemed to take the hint to back off. This happened there three times in a row. On the fourth trip, before I was escorted to my table, I specifically told the waitress I did not want that waiter. She asked me why and said he was one of their best waiters. I told her I didn't want to be rude, but they needed to tell him that not everyone appreciated his bending on one knee right next to them and not all solo diners needed to be entertained with all of his stories. Some of us just wanted to be left alone to enjoy our meal. Keep my water glass full and bring out the courses in a timely manner and I'll be friendly and tip well, but don't expect me to entertain you, don't crowd me, and I don't want to be entertained.

WDW restaurants have nose-dived.
I will say.....Universal's onsite eateries, by and large....flat out hammered WDW's last trip. No comparison.

I agree! Mythos over at IoA in Universal has been voted the top theme park restaurant on Orlando for how many years in a row now? I could eat there every day and their prices are so much better than Disney's. The blueberry crusted pork chop they used to have on the menu was devine, along with their banana molten chocolate cake. The chef's pasta of the day is always good too. We also love Finegan's over Universal Studios. Irish food! Yum!!! Even their counter services are good. We love the platter at Three Broomsticks with a glass of frozen butterbeer. I forgot where I was exactly, but I got some very good Korean BBQ tacos when I was over there this past Sept too. I also got a good paella over at one of their City Walk restaurants one night. We always have to eat at Bubba Gumps and even Margaritaville has some of the best nachos, fried pickles, and shrimp/crab dip around. When I was there in Sept I had a steak at Jakes over at Royal Pacific Resort that would knock any steak I've ever had at WDW out of the water. It had some grilled asparagus and sweet potato hash with it that was soooo good too. Oooh, I drooled as I savoured every delicious bite. The waiter came by and even made a comment that it looked like I was really enjoying that steak. I told him I was from Texas, so knew good steaks and that was definitely one of the best I've ever had. I also had a wonderful meal at Emeril's Chop Chop at Royal Pacific that trip. It was another meal that I really took my time and savored every single bite. I haven't had any meals like that at WDW in several years now. Yeah, over all we much prefer the restaurants over at Universal/City Walk.

 

[aubriee]

deleted

 

[Sparkly]

I will say.....Universal's onsite eateries, by and large....flat out hammered WDW's last trip. No comparison.

Not really. I haven't eaten in a TS place there, but CS at Universal is worse then Disney- only seemed to be chicken fingers,hamburgers,pizza. I got a chicken burger from one place in IOA and it was lukewarm because they put it under a heatlamp. And it tasted of oil, not very nice at all.

 

[mhnewcomb]

We were there in October, and we highly recommend the Wolfgang Puck Dining Room (DTD Westside) for signature dining. It was FABULOUS, from the food to the atmosphere to the service. That place doesn't get much attention on these boards--hard to find a review of any kind, really--but we just can't wait to go back and try other things from the menu.

You all have me wanting to go to Paul's next time...sounds really great!

 

[metzgardesign]

Not really. I haven't eaten in a TS place there, but CS at Universal is worse then Disney- only seemed to be chicken fingers,hamburgers,pizza. I got a chicken burger from one place in IOA and it was lukewarm because they put it under a heatlamp. And it tasted of oil, not very nice at all.

I wasn't really referring to the CS joints (as we really don't do those often....except for breakfast sometimes), but rather TS. But Three Broomsticks breakfast stomped any food court breakfast at WDW we had (and do remember, this is based on our experiences....your food court/CS mileage may vary).

WDW has it's fair share of crappy burgers and nuggets as well, for sure. But if you prefer those, absolutely nothing wrong with that. World Showcase in EPCoT does have some good walk-ups. And it did have some good options at the F&W fest last year.

 

[Imhere]

As with everything at Disney it's all about expectations.

If you stay at a Disney Deluxe you are better off not expecting an experience like you would get at a $600/night room anywhere else, because you will probably be disappointed.

Dining at Disney restaurants is the same, don't expect that $300 dinner to be the quality of a $300 dinner you would get anywhere else in the world.

I will say that Narcoossee's is one of my favorite Disney restaurants. Notice the qualifier that it is one of my favorite "DISNEY RESTAURANTS." I eat there on every trip and I wouldn't miss it.

If, however, Narcoossee's were in my hometown it would likely be a 'once and done' type place. I can experience far better dining for a fraction of the cost when off Disney property.

When in Rome.........

 

[metzgardesign]

As with everything at Disney it's all about expectations.

If you stay at a Disney Deluxe you are better off not expecting an experience like you would get at a $600/night room anywhere else, because you will probably be disappointed.

Dining at Disney restaurants is the same, don't expect that $300 dinner to be the quality of a $300 dinner you would get anywhere else in the world.

I will say that Narcoossee's is one of my favorite Disney restaurants. Notice the qualifier that it is one of my favorite "DISNEY RESTAURANTS." I eat there on every trip and I wouldn't miss it.

If, however, Narcoossee's were in my hometown it would likely be a 'once and done' type place. I can experience far better dining for a fraction of the cost when off Disney property.

When in Rome.........

See.....that's what I see as the problem. It used to be (for us, anyhow) that WDW restaurants were better in quality and actually something to look forward to on our trips.

It's sad when when one qualifies lower expectations based on it being at WDW. When, in reality, it could be the opposite.....one could have higher expectation based on it being WDW.

 

[ArwenMarie]

As with everything at Disney it's all about expectations.

If you stay at a Disney Deluxe you are better off not expecting an experience like you would get at a $600/night room anywhere else, because you will probably be disappointed.

Dining at Disney restaurants is the same, don't expect that $300 dinner to be the quality of a $300 dinner you would get anywhere else in the world.

I will say that Narcoossee's is one of my favorite Disney restaurants. Notice the qualifier that it is one of my favorite "DISNEY RESTAURANTS." I eat there on every trip and I wouldn't miss it.

If, however, Narcoossee's were in my hometown it would likely be a 'once and done' type place. I can experience far better dining for a fraction of the cost when off Disney property.

When in Rome.........

I agree with this. Which is why we have switched to QS or Signature. No more regular table service. The regular table service, on the whole, tastes pretty much the same as the QS. So why pay so for much more for it. Regular TS is the worst value IMO.

We've found that the Signatures offer food similar to what we would consider a good restaurant around here, but at twice or three times the price. But we will eat there to break up the QS meals while we are there.

(all just my two cents of course )

 

[Chuck S]

The Empress Room on the Empress Lily was good, fine dining. But EXTREMELY expensive for its day. Well over $100 per person back in the 1990s. I was never particularly impressed with California Grill, but I really enjoyed Top of the World.

That said, I do still enjoy several restaurants at WDW, but my dining preference has changed to a more casual experience. I do like Les Chefs De France, Olivia's at OKW and I tried the restaurant at Splitsville this last trip, and thought it was good. Hollywood Brown Derby is good, and a nice upscale experience, but still what I would call more like casual dining. I always enjoy my meals there.

I will agree that overall the quality of Disney table service has gone down...but I think of lot of that has to do with society as a whole. People on vacation no longer seem to want to take the time to enjoy a fancy meal...get in, eat, get back out to the park. And the all-inclusive pre-paid way of vacationing has gained in popularity, even though most all-inclusive locations wind up costing more than it would to simply pay out-of-pocket. That all-inclusive mindset, for some reason, seems to carry an expectation of quantity of food vs. quality of food.

 

[TDC Nala]

I had a rotten experience at Mythos awhile back, so they are not immune. It was rotten enough that I haven't been back.

I go to the resorts at Universal if I want to eat there.

 

[Minniesgal]

I think the problem with Disney dining is they cater to more and more people every year and now with the dining plan they are working on fixed budgets as well. The quality has definitely suffered. We also tend to do mostly Signatures now then eat offsite for the rest

 

[Jenny Sanders]

I have had nothing but excellent service at Narcoossees, dining there again in March.