Easy to Please Thread?

[Withacy]

After you first started this thread yesterday I did the same thing, going through the menus of all the restaurants we'll be trying next month.

At least you're going next month! I have to wait until December!!!



But - at least I get to go!

 

[DisGirl23]

I read a post last night where someone pretty much tore into a restaurant (that we had an absolutely amazing meal) from start to finish... service, food, everything. I had to read it a couple times. All I kept thinking was "are we thinking about the same restaurant?!"

 

[Melodious]

Add me to the list (but not my family ). I like food in general, too. I have eaten at a four star Michelin rated restaurant in Ireland and I have closed my eyes and eaten what I was given in Beaplay, Liberia When I go to the World I want to get dressed up and have a nice dinner at California Grill and scarf down a cheeseburger at Cosmic Rays (It's been generally decided by my family that I like QS cheeseburgers more than the average bear though... ). I haven't loved every dining experience I've had in the World (I should have just gotten a burger at Sci-Fi and just didn't care for the way Tutto Italia makes fettuccine alfredo), but I'm certainly not going to warn off every single DIS'er I'm not going to get upset when my waiter at Le Chefs de France is aloof (isn't that part of the experience ), I'm not going to be upset that Crystal Palace as a buffet doesn't have the best food I've ever eaten. And most importantly, in the World, dining is about way more than just food

But I'll warn you now, if you see a small redheaded girl enter a buffet restaurant (we'll be going to Crystal Palace, Biergarten, Akershus), get your food quick! After I get home from Liberia, I'll probably eat the whole buffet

 

[Kit'smommy]

I am a bit of a foodie, but I do keep in mind that when I am at a theme park I need to adjust my expectations accordingly. We usually go in with reasonable expectations for the food and service and are usually very happy.

DH and I have had good experiences repeatedly at restaurants at Disney with the exception of Coral Reef and Tonys. These are the only place we aren't willing to give another chance at this point after multiple bad meals. CRT has been hit or miss, but we have had enough hits to give it another chance after a barely ok experience last fall. Every other place has been good to excellent. We even enjoy dinner at LTT as it is a nice change of pace from the other restaurants.

One thing to keep in mind though is that some of the restaurants are horribly inconsistent and they may sometimes be deserving of bad review. DH and I laugh about the fact that our best meal at Disney ever was at the Brown Derby and the worst meal at Disney ever was at the Brown Derby. The first experience was perfect, another experience a couple of years later was terrible from getting seated 1.5 hours after our ressie at a table with a sopping wet table cloth to completely missing Fantasmic as it took us another 1.5 hours to eat due to terrible service. The food was awful that night too and certainly not worth the wait. After we missed the show (absolutely no seating left after we purchased the package) I did complain to Disney about the whole experience and we were comped for the package and even offered a do over for the next day (we weren't able to accept though). We were nice about it, but they definely made good on the whole situation. We have been back since and have been pleased, but if that had been my first experience, it would have been my last trip there.

Saturday, we had a nice experience at Portobello. We hadn't been in years, and even though it gets a ton of negative reviews, we enjoyed the food and our server was great.

 

[bangzoom6877]

My entire family, and especially including me, is comprised of food snobs, but we are also extremely reasonable and understand where we are, what we are ordering and what we are getting, and can therefore adjust our expectations accordingly when at WDW. Therefore, I'd put us in the easy to please category.

I've eaten at the vast majority of TS restaurants at WDW and the only place that genuinely turned me off was WCC. It was just so disappointingly bad, with such odd service (not the schtick, which we did find tired but can understand the appeal, but we just had a very odd server) and such poor food quality that I just don't see why I'd return, given that every other place at WDW has pleased us, or at least not disappointed us.

If I want a Michelin star experience, and don't want to dine at V&A's every night, then I know better than to vacation at WDW. We eat extremely well, but it's the full experience that we are there for, and they almost never fail us (or, have only failed us once; see WCC comments above).

I couldn't agree more! When it comes to certain items, I can definitely be placed in the "food snobs" category! Those items are mainly pizza, Italian food, bagels and chinese food. What can I say? I'm a New Yorker!! But, those are not the items I seek when on vacation. I can get those at home anytime. I like to go for the more unique items I can't get at home, and at WDW that includes Dole Whips, Mickey ice cream bars, certain baked goods (school bread comes to mind), etc. I also like familiar things like cheeseburgers.

I felt the same way you did about WCC. The service was good for us, and I can see the appeal of the antics, but our meal took about an hour and the antics got pretty old for us really fast. That's just because they kept repeating the same things. When we first sat down, it was funny but then it was like, come on, don't you have anything funnier to do or say? The food was good, but we don't feel it is necessary to go back any time soon. We will try a different place next time instead. We also felt that while the Captain's Grille was good and we would certainly not tear it apart, it just didn't really stand out for us, so we won't return on the next trip, at least not for dinner. But the food and service are just fine, and I would never tell someone to absolutely not go there! Same with WCC...I would never recommend anyone NOT go there at all, they may love it!

I am easy to please, but I just can't do that turkey leg. I know it's from the smoking, but I can't get over the fact that it's all red/pink inside (even though I like my steak pretty rare - it just bugs me)!

I have always wanted to try the turkey leg, it was recommended to me by a friend not too long ago. It's just that we go to WDW in the summer, and I feel this is too heavy a food to eat in that summer heat. Smoked turkey is delicious though!!!

EastonCat, I have to say that I agree with everything you've posted in this thread!

I am a "foodie", I guess. I am one of those people who loves to learn about food, loves to peruse a menu for a good long time before deciding what I want, I love to try new recipes and explore new food trends, and I'm also a chef "wannabe". That being said... I have never had a bad experience at Disney!

I think it all comes down to expectations. If I go to a 5 star restaurant in my community (we have ONE!) I expect 5 star food... and they never fail to impress. If I go to Cracker Barrel, I expect to get yummy breakfast food or really good mashed potatoes (my choice at CB). If I get bad food, yes, I will send it back. I don't EVER mistreat a server (I, myself, worked as a server when I was young and it is a very tough job!). I tip well and I give lavish praise when deserved. I never leave without tipping, even if the food was not good (it's not the servers fault in almost all cases).

HOWEVER... when I visit Disney, I am there for lots of other reasons. It's a vacation that is so eagerly anticipated and planned to the nth degree! I don't expect to have gourmet food, but I do expect to have the food that is represented in the menu. I have never been seriously disappointed. And as other posters have noted, if I have been disappointed, it's usually because I veered off of what I know I like, and have tried something new, not something to blame the restaurant about.

It does bother me that so many people are so critical, but I do think that it's a mindset that these same people probably carry over to every part of their lives. And I feel bad for them... attitude is such a huge part of happiness and I can't imagine going through life disappointed all of the time. And ESPECIALLY at Disney!!!

I'm trying some of the places that have gotten bad reviews, on our next trip in Feb. We will go to WCC, Chef Mickey's, CRT, etc... And I'll bet that we'll have a FANTASTIC time!!

I'm the same way! DH and I love fine dining when we can afford it (and we have plenty here in NYC!), but we also enjoy breakfast items at Cracker Barrel (hello...their pancakes are to die for!!), and I love their mashed potatoes too because they are REAL!! We love our local diner for burgers and fries, we love our local pizza joint! But when I go to our local diner, I don't order a lobster! I try and order what the restaurant is known for.

By the way, we LOVED Chef Mickey's dinner and CRT dinner! We thought all the food was awesome! The mashed potatoes at Chef Mickey's are delicious, the prime rib at CRT is wonderful! A guy was in line behind me at the Chef Mickey's buffet, complaining that he didn't see french fries on the buffet and "this place is terrible." See what I mean? Something so simple as no french fries on the buffet can make someone hate the place? Does that REALLY have anything to do whatsoever with the QUALITY of the food on their buffet?

We are a family of Easy to Please as far as eating is concerned. We've eaten in places that others have found to be awful and we liked it. We don't usually choose on reviews, but rather the type of food we like to eat.

But I have to say, I will complain about poor service. If you are employed in a service oriented field, I feel as though you need to treat all your customers politely, the new table you are serving is not responsible for the jerk at the last table you served, and they need to be treated properly. We've experienced poor service at home as well as at Disney. I waited tables in HS and in college, and yes I've had horrible customers, but I encountered each table as a new experience (or at least I hope I did, so if I mistreated anyone in my service, I'm sorry....), so I guess I kind of expect to be treated well as a customer. I come to a table as a customer happy and ready to enjoy my meal and the service can certainly set the tone.

I completely agree! I worked as a server also, and I never let a mean customer get in the way of how I treated another customer. It just wouldn't be fair, I felt. Poor service doesn't sit well with me either.

At least you're going next month! I have to wait until December!!!



But - at least I get to go!

Hey, you're lucky!! I have to wait until July 2012 to go back...we just went last month!

 

[LilyWDW]

I couldn't agree more! When it comes to certain items, I can definitely be placed in the "food snobs" category! Those items are mainly pizza, Italian food, bagels and chinese food. What can I say? I'm a New Yorker!! But, those are not the items I seek when on vacation. I can get those at home anytime.

I can't eat Disney pizza. I admit it, I am a snob about it. I have had pizza in New York, Chicago, and Rome... I just can't stomach what they serve at most places in Disney. I am really hoping the new place in Italy is good. It looks a ton like what I got in Rome and I LOVED that stuff.

Wish I could get a good New York bagel... memories...

Anywho, now I have to go look at the menus of all the places we are going on our next trip. Heck, mom even offered to take me to V&A's if I graduate with honors (I may be 28, but I love traveling with my mom as we are so alike and enjoy the same things). THAT would be an experience, but I might try to talk her into Party of the Senses instead LOL.

 

[Moms]

I am definitely easy to please ... if someone else does the cooking and the clean-up I am a happy camper! the same goes for the resorts... if someone comes in and makes my bed and cleans my bathroom I am good to go!

 

[Withacy]

Wow, some of those other threads are SO depressing. Not to mention occassionally mean and small-minded.

And a slap in the face to everyone who works hard to make and serve food at WDW restaurants. I'll just stay here with people who are at least willing to consider the possibility that someday, somewhere, somehow, something might make them happy.

 

[bangzoom6877]

I am definitely easy to please ... if someone else does the cooking and the clean-up I am a happy camper! the same goes for the resorts... if someone comes in and makes my bed and cleans my bathroom I am good to go!

I'm with you! So many of my friends tell us that we're crazy for always taking the boys with us on vacation...they tell me that it's not really a vacation. So my response to them is always, "I don't have to go to work, cook or clean...sure sounds like a vacation to me!" Of course, those are the same people who have a cleaning lady and don't cook, they make their husbands do it or order take-out every single night. (No offense to anyone who has a cleaning lady or orders take-out!)

 

[mistysue]

We always seem to have good experiences everywhere we eat. It's not unusual for us to eat out 3-4 times in a week around town, and we did DxDDP last year and loved everything. We are those wierdo's at the other table raving about the cheap counter service pizzas and burgers we were getting, while half the place is wondering what sort of cheese substitute that is.

I can be picky about mashed potatoes though. It takes effort to really mess up mashed potatoes, so I get pretty annoyed when they are so bad that they are not repairable with butter, salt and pepper. Rare as it is, it happens and is an accomplishment in itself.

We have actually gone out to eat, not liked our food and then gone home and added ingredients to fix it. We have a local diner that makes a horrible "pasta special" that is AMAZING in a pan with fresh garlic, coconut oil and spinach.

 

[tinkrebell]

This may sound snotty to some. . .

I have worked as a pastry cook and pastry chef in various establishments across the East Coast. AND I AM AN EASY TO PLEASE DINER. I don't earn much, but what I do I have tended to spend at anything and everything between Michelin Guide book restaurants (turned DH into a foodie with DC's Citronelle two years ago, and my mother into a foodie with L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon: London three years ago) and Kraft macaroni and cheese spirals, my favorite meal.

Why am I so easy to please? You'd think a culinary education would put me up to more exacting standards. . . BUT: I do not go into Sci-Fi Drive In Theatre with an expectation for the fabulous.. . . I go in because the atmosphere rocks and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I go expecting something akin to eating at Chili's, which I happily avoid at home because I'm saving up for the foodie restaurant experiences, which really goes to say that I'm expecting something that will please the tastebuds of the average American. Lots of fat, salt, sugar usually pleases everyone. And while I'm there? I don't mean to be rude, but most of the people that leave a restaurant unhappy were either the problem, or too polite to speak up about the real problem (cold food, no refill, etc). Don't judge a waiter on forgetting one thing - point it out, smile, say you UNDERSTAND THEY ARE BUSY, and they'll usually become your best friend.

I am almost always the person taht gets a free dessert and leaves happy - why? Because I spoke up when a manager came to my table if anything went wrong. And things often do. But I speak up nicely, say it wasn't anyone's fault that the kitchen made it a couple of minutes too early for hte server to be able to go and pick it up, because most likely, they were busy refilling my or someone at a nearby table's drink. How can I begrudge them that? If they're nice enough to ask how my dinner is, I'll be nice enough to understand. And only if they aren't happy to find some way to fix it, then I'd say you have a right to be annoyed. . . and beyond this thread, it seems like so many people get annoyed VERY easily!

I'm happy to find such a happy group of people so we can all be happy together =D

 

[Withacy]

I don't mean to be rude, but most of the people that leave a restaurant unhappy were either the problem, or too polite to speak up about the real problem (cold food, no refill, etc). Don't judge a waiter on forgetting one thing - point it out, smile, say you UNDERSTAND THEY ARE BUSY, and they'll usually become your best friend.

I totally agree!

I rarely complain - but I don't walk away resentful either. I understand that things aren't the waiter's fault, and TRYING means so much to me. And truthfully, my experience at Disney has always been that they will go out of their way to make things better.

The first time I went to WCC - I was on the DxDDP. I put the tip amount to be rung up on the Disney card/roomkey/everything card, but the waitress forgot to ring it up. She said it was her fault, and not worry about it (she was quite insistant), but I left her a cash tip anyway - you would've thought I did something unusually kind (which makes me wonder about other guests). But she gave great service (and was very nice to my goddaughter) - she deserved a tip, for Heaven's sake!

The other thing that sticks out from my last trip - we were at Epcot. My godson and I were sharing a pretzel. We were about half-way through it when somehow we managed to drop it on the ground. We weren't too broken up about it, since we'd already eaten half of it - but a CM was walking by and saw this. He went over and got us another pretzel! Heck, we dropped the thing out of our own clumseyness - it certainly wasn't anyone's fault but our own - but they got us another one!

OK, it's a little thing, but - when people talk about Disney going down hill, I just roll my eyes. I guess people see what they want to see. And I feel kind of bad for them.

 

[Robin K]

The way I look at it: if they are complaining about a place I like then I know I will get the ADR there...
We are not picky eaters either. We just don't want our food to have bugs or body parts in them.
We love eating at WDW. We don't have to cook it, clean it up and we go during free dining so we aren't paying for it either. I know there are people on here that like to complain about this and that. We just aren't those people. If someone asks me: "what did you like/not like about resturant XXX?" Then I would tell them. We went to one of the "best" places last year and were disappointed! IF that tells you anything......
We will be eating our way through our trip in 23 days!!!!!
Have wonderful vacation!!!!

 

[tink0283]

i totally agree...i am also easy to please when it comes to disney food. i am NOT a picky eater by any means, but i feel that even if i was, i would still enjoy the food in WDW.
my DH IS VERY PICKY and he enjoyed every place we ate at on our last trip...we even ate at WCC which everyone seems to cut down and he loved it!
being in disney makes me feel happy and relaxed and i try to make each trip a positive one...complaing about the little stuff takes away from the vacation. i have never been disappointed with any food in WDW but i feel that even if a meal didn't quite go my way, i would try and get over it and remember that i am in DISNEY!!!!

 

[pauly's girl]

I have not had a bad meal in Disney! Sure there are some resturants that I prefer to others but too many people set too high a standard. Disney is a theme Park that feeds millions. I also am the type who is just happy to be in the world. I enjoy the atmosphere as much as the food! I am a picky eater that finds something to eat everywhere we go in Disney! Joining the easy to pleasers!!

 

[Keke]

Count me in! Some of the posts on here make me shake my head. I get the feeling they were too busy looking for things that were wrong to even try to enjoy their meal. It makes me wonder if they go through life being disappointed with everything. Kind of sad.

And while we are at it, in addition to being easy to please I am also one of those people that believes FREE dining is actually FREE. (gasp!) Yes, I realize you have to look at the discounts and pick the best one. But when I stay at Pop, a whopping $20 per night discount is not enough to sway me away from free food. And when I walk away from the table without paying anything but tip, then YES, my food was indeed FREE. In addition, I get to eat a snack every single day (something I'd never pay to do). And eat dessert at every single meal (something I'd never pay to do) And why? Cause it's FREE!

 

[catne]

to please, that is

We're working our way through the Disney restaurants and have been to about 35 table service meals so far. Of all of them, there's only one I really didn't like the food (even that, though, I didn't like dinner but loved breakfast.) And there's only one I absolutely will not return to (mediocre food & terrible service)

That's pretty easy to please, liking 34 out of 35. Yum.

And free dining is free...but it is also just one version of discount on your vacation. Course the new dates in 2011 won't work for us We're going on a black-out weekend plus 2 week days. Will cost us about $200 more to do that...could have saved that much more if we could have booked during the week that's not black-out. But oh, well. We're going to Disney, and we're going Deluxe. Four more restaurants new-to-us to add to our list to try out in January.

 

[Granfan]

We have had free dining and value season room rates for two years and paid half of what we use to pay when we just left it to the travel agents or called Disney. They never even told us we could save so much by going during value season with free dining. One trip we paid twice as much and only got to eat one table service and one counter service the whole trip. It was so nice to have every meal available though you do have plan ahead for the tips.

 

[willowsnn3]

OK, it's a little thing, but - when people talk about Disney going down hill, I just roll my eyes. I guess people see what they want to see. And I feel kind of bad for them.

Absolutely agree with you on this. Got to where I just skip over those threads about Disney going downhill, How would you improve Disney, Was it a mistake for Disney to........geez, if I don't like something or someplace I just won't go back not try to analyze it. That said I'm an easy to please person who loves free dining whether its "free" or not, I'm one of the masses of cattle being herded to 1 TS places.....NOT...we have "wasted" (as read on another thread) 2 credits at a 2TS meal. Next month we are "wasting" 2 credits on 3 meals...MBYBBQ, HDDT, & CRT. Yep we're using 2 credits for all the hot dogs, burgers, ribs & fried chicken you can eat. Sci Fi is a must each trip, we love WCC & I think my 40yr old dd's favorite Disney dessert is the chocolate mickey head cookie thingy from Chef Mickey, lol.

 

[Granfan]

(Last post continued.) From over 2,000 to 1200 and all meals. What could be better? So I am An Easy To
Pleaser from here on out! And thanks a million to OP. I was getting depressed from all the negativity!