Drops in quality have changed our Dining Plans

[dani0622]

I also think that Disney is at risk of becoming irrelevant. Disney ceded the younger market to Nickelodeon and has let its parks rot.

Off-topic but had to address...
Disney has let it's parks rot??? How so?

WDW is no way at risk for becoming irrelevant. It consistently tops the list at being the most visited amusement park in the world. According to Frommer's travel guides, over 44 MILLION people visit yearly.

 

[sportears]

have for the most part maintained their quality.

 

[DisOrBust]

I also also 100%. Our trips in 99 and 2000 we had great quality and VALUE in every aspect of our vacation. Since 2001 its been downhill. The everyday coffee is an example. It really was decent in the past. Tasted as good as McDonalds premium now being served but then for cost containment they went to the liquid brown crayon.

At the character meals kids got a decent cup you could take home as a sovineer(sp). Which eased the pain of paying 9.99 for 2 bites of Mac and cheese. At the Sig res. you actually got a veggie included not necesarily and add on.....and don't even get me started on the Chiken fingers at the American pavillion,lol! CRT is another example, I really would love to know how many complaints they get a day on that price.

However we still go but not as often.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Yeah. I can definitley see that the #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 theme parks in the United States in attendance last year that showed increases while their closest competition was either flat or declined are becoming irrelevant.


Anyone ever eat food in Disney in the 70s, 80s and even early 90s?
I'll take today's offerings in a heartbeat without a second thought.

 

[lillygator]

I also think that Disney is at risk of becoming irrelevant. Disney ceded the younger market to Nickelodeon and has let its parks rot. I have had more problems with rude cast members this year than all other previous years combined.
/carmi

and that may also help your attitude towards Disney as well. I don't think they are anywhere near risking irrelevance. Certainly not when there are plenty of lifelong loyal patrons who pass on.....

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Yeah. I can definitley see that the #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 theme parks in the United States in attendance last year that showed increases while their closest competition was either flat or declined are becoming irrelevant.


Anyone ever eat food in Disney in the 70s, 80s and even early 90s?
I'll take today's offerings in a heartbeat without a second thought.

Over the years, I've seen plenty of peaks and valleys in WDW food quality. But in the last few months, I *think* I've seen a welcome uptick (and this is a hugely subjective observation.) But I can remember in the not-so-distant past when CS meals were acceptable and little else (but still better than average theme park fare). Now, things seem fresher and the variety is better, and places like Tusker House are just fine.

The WDW parks are not the place to have your palate challenged, fer sure. In the resorts, though, you can get a memorable meal - we were tickled to death with Artist Point a few months ago, and felt it had improved since our first visit. Back when Citrocos was Flagler's, we had a ho-hum meal, but I'm ready to give it another shot now.

But there are some departed restaurants that were really good in their day ... the old Gulf Coast Room in the Contemporary (our first meal as husband and wife); the Papeete Bay Veranda; the Pueblo Room; the Top of the World; Ariel's; the Lake Buena Vista Club; and the trifecta on board the Empress Lilly - Steerman's Quarters, Fisherman's Deck, and the Empress Room (one of the first really fine dining experiences of my life.)

Sorry, this was all over the map, and departed WDW restaurants deserve a thread of their own.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I agree,
Some of our favorite WDW restaurants are now off our list or down to their last chance because of decreases in quality over the last 4 years that we have been going regularly.

I do agree with the mass quantity quality of a cruise ship. Dh is to the point, that he doesnt want to eat at restaurants anymore because he will be disappointed and mourn the money spent.

I like dining out so I am frantically trying to find places that Dh will really like.

 

[bicker]

Over the more-than-twenty years I've been particpating in online forums, the basic trend for just about everything has been ever-improving, yet the patter online is consistently about things ever-declining. It's a phenomenon: People love to complain, and in the absence of real decline, people fall back on complaining about their own fabricated declines.

 

[ElizabethB]

In my experience, the decline has been real, not fabricated. I will agree that food at WDW is definitely much better than in the '80s, when WDW was truly a culinary wasteland.

Then, there was a period in the late '90s, when it was really good. There seemed to be a real effort to offer unique and interesting menus and choices that might not be found elsewhere (and we live in NYC, so that impressed us!). For example, Maya Grill, when it opened, featured a truly unique and exciting Nuevo Latino cuisine. We eagerly looked forward to our meals there, which featured foods we had previously only tasted in our travels in Latin America. A couple of years later, however, the menu had been "dumbed down" so it's now just another steak and chop house. We quickly lost interest.

Spoodles is another example. They used to have lots of fun and different items on their menu. The diversity is now gone and it's much more like a typical chain restaurant. We'll eat there, but the excitement of something unique is gone.

Perhaps the most ridiculous decline was at the Boardwalk Bakery. For years, we've picked up their breakfast burritos for a quick breakfast. They always came with a small side of salsa. When we were there last November, the change from salsa to small packages of ketchup happened while we were there! At the start of our vacation, one got salsa with one's burrito. A stop there later in the week and, lo and behold, no more salsa -- just packaged ketchup! We've noticed other changes at the bakery as well -- they used to have a different flavor of crumb cake every day. Then it went to just plain crumb cake. Then it went to something that resembled a big muffin.

While we still enjoy the table service restaurants immensely, the rest have had noticeable (and not fabricated) changes, that have not been for the better.

Folks may say, well WDW is just giving the people what they want -- they want lots of food and don't really care about the quality, they want chops and not Nuevo Latino cuisine, they don't mind ketchup packets, etc.

Okay, that's fine. But, there's definitely been something lost in the race to mediocrity, IMO. Again, mass market cruise lines seem to be the model -- not much variety, nothing real tasty, but lots and lots of food included in the vacation package.

 

[bicker]

Quality is a matter of perception. Satisfying people who love "Neuvo Latino cuisine" and such is one thing, but there is only so much of that that Americans are willing to take. And satisfying the customer means providing what most customers want, and there is no question that Disney is doing a better job of that this year than they did when Maya Grill and Akershus were more authentic.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I still find the food at Disney to be excellent (definitely better than a $20 meal at Busch Gardens). I love almost every place we go, the only thing that irritates me is not being able to be spontaneous even during the "value" season because so many people are going to the restaurants now. Of course I would take a chain food restaurant over fine dining any day, so maybe that says something of my tastes.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Over the more-than-twenty years I've been particpating in online forums, the basic trend for just about everything has been ever-improving, yet the patter online is consistently about things ever-declining. It's a phenomenon: People love to complain, and in the absence of real decline, people fall back on complaining about their own fabricated declines.

I agree.

 

[boBQuincy]

We dine at Flying Fish every trip, three or four times a year. Only once in 7 years has the experience been less than great and that was more due to an indifferent server than the food not being very good.

Artist Point was also just great until one trip last year when the food was only average and the service not even that good. On the same trip we had so-so service at Coral Reef and good (but not great) food at Le Cellier, which used to be excellent.

We wrote to WDW about what we saw as a decline in food and service quality at these signature restaurants, and received a reply that they would look into it.

We dine out often and at restaurants that are equivalent to WDW in price and quality. We are happy to pay for good food and service and tip well for it. After our last trip (December 2005) we are backing off on most WDW upscale restaurants except Flying Fish, the others do not seem worth what they are charging.
We will probably try California Grille in a couple weeks, hope it is still good.


boB

 

[jarrdisney]

Quality is a matter of perception. Satisfying people who love "Neuvo Latino cuisine" and such is one thing, but there is only so much of that that Americans are willing to take. And satisfying the customer means providing what most customers want, and there is no question that Disney is doing a better job of that this year than they did when Maya Grill and Akershus were more authentic.

If everyone shared your attitude, disney would only have steakhouses. There are plenty of people that appreciate something other than what you feel the typical disney guest wants.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

It may be hard to make an apple to apples comparison here, but if you compare the food in the four theme parks to other "upscale" theme park food (thinking here of the Universal parks, the Sea Worlds, Busch Gardens ... not the scores of Six Flag parks), then Disney seems to still be the clear winner. (Altho I thought Mythos at IOA was pretty cool.) I DO hold Disney to a higher standard, tho.

Still, that doesn't answer the sticky question - which might all come down to a matter of personal perception/taste - as to if food quality has declined overall. It's still possible, and even easy, to find a good, albeit expensive meal at WDW, and V&A is still considered one of the finest meals in central Florida. When they're hitting on all eight cylinders, AP, Jiko, and FF are better than good.

 

[majortom]

Anyone ever eat food in Disney in the 70s, 80s and even early 90s?
I'll take today's offerings in a heartbeat without a second thought.

I have been visiting since 1975. Many restaurants were much better in 1988 then they are today (Brown Derby, Liberty Tree Tavern, Akershus, Garden Grill, and Nine Dragons among others). Some restaurants have just declined over the last few years.

/carmi

 

[bicker]

Quality is a matter of perception. Satisfying people who love "Neuvo Latino cuisine" and such is one thing, but there is only so much of that that Americans are willing to take. And satisfying the customer means providing what most customers want, and there is no question that Disney is doing a better job of that this year than they did when Maya Grill and Akershus were more authentic.

If everyone shared your attitude,

That wasn't my "attitude." It was a statement about reality. My personal preferences would be for authentic Indian like I had while visiting Mumbai, or the fine French food I've enjoyed while visiting Paris, for example. However, our personal preferences don't dictate reality. There was a message posted last night in another thread where a member was complaining, specifically, that, "All of the stuff at Epcot has all of this weird junk on it," referring to all the fine sauces and high-culinary preparations that are found at these wonderful restaurants. While you and I might appreciate those aspects of those restaurants, many guests don't, and just prefer things to be plain.

... disney would only have steakhouses. There are plenty of people that appreciate something other than what you feel the typical disney guest wants.

You're mistaken. There are a smaller number of such people than you seem to be implying there are. Disney's job is to find the right balance. Previously, they had far more finer and more "exotic" offerings than was appropriate given the general public's preferences. Now they have fewer such offerings, and so the general public is being more directly satisfied. For those of us who like those types of offerings, it's unfortunate, but we'll have to make-do with the smaller number of such offerings because we're a minority.

 

[simpilotswife]

I think that some of the perceived decline in quality has more to do with the maturation of our tastes than anything.

I know for myself, food and restaurants that I would have found acceptable and even enjoyable in my 20s or 30s are no longer an option for me. My tastes have changed. I find that I have become more discerning about where and what I eat in terms of quality.

I would venture to guess that it is that way for many of the people who feel as though the quality as gone downhill.

 

[bicker]

That's often the source of "Good ol' days" syndrome -- people remember their youth fondly because they had fewer and lower expectations then.

 

[MartDM]

If everyone shared your attitude, disney would only have steakhouses. There are plenty of people that appreciate something other than what you feel the typical disney guest wants.

I think that is exactly bicker's point. There are plenty of people who appreciate something other than chain restaurant quality food or dumbed down ethnic food BUT, alas, the vast majority of park goers do not so WDW caters to the lowest common denominator in order to provide widespread appeal.

Those of us in who appreciate the upgraded culinary options simply have to pony up to go to the specialty restaurants to get something of interest to us (although I'm wholeheartedly with those bemoaning the decline of menu choices at places like Spoodles).