Food quality in DL and CA. WTH??

[NorCalFanatic]

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[Angel Ariel]

Wow, interesting opinion. And here I thought DL had some issues. I realize yours is just one opinion but I will need to spend some time lurking on the WDW boards

I will second the opinion. Disneyland quick service, esp - much more variety and overall better than WDW imo.

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

Wow, interesting opinion. And here I thought DL had some issues. I realize yours is just one opinion but I will need to spend some time lurking on the WDW boards

It’s a pretty common opinion with many of the Disney vloggers/bloggers as well. Haven’t been to WDW in quite a few years, so I don’t have any opinion, but been hearing that comment often in my “warm up” videos for our trip next month.

 

[DontSpamMe]

This is an interesting topic because the last survey I got from Disney was about the food options in the parks. So they must be looking into it.

Overall, DL and DCA have a consistency problem when it comes to food. I have eaten at all sit down/reservation restaurants at both parks multiple times with mixed results.

The quick serve stuff seems to be much more consistent. Things like the lobster roll at Harbor Galley. The samosas at Troubadour Tavern. All turkey legs. The fried chicken at Plaza. This is where/how I would advise people to eat at Disney (quick service and avoid the sit downs).

Here is my list for sit downs.

The bad and have never been good:
Cafe Orleans (refillable mint juleps is the only good thing here)
River Belle (just gross every time)
Carnation (Walt's chili is the only thing I have enjoyed)

Bad more than half the time:
Wine Country
MK Terrace

Good more than half the time:
Carthay (2nd best steak to Napa)
Blue Bayou (the range here is so odd. I've had incredible and I've had inedible)
Lamplight (I stick to the burger and pork chop. The potato skins are not good people)

The most consistent but not technically in the parks:
Napa Rose (best steak and the only chance at a fine dining opportunity)

Wish it was still around because I never had a bad meal:
Steakhouse 55

The lack of consistency at the sit down restaurants has lead us to eating our sit down meals offsite.

 

[Aladora]

I will second the opinion. Disneyland quick service, esp - much more variety and overall better than WDW imo.

We have always felt that DLR had much better quick and counter service options and WDW had better table service ones. However, on our last WDW trip Nov 2022, none of the table service meals we had were all that great and I felt as though the quality had definitely gone down. I will say that WDW has a much better selection of sit down restaurants, there really is something for everyone!

 

[SpaceMan5]

I have really enjoyed reading the different viewpoints on the quick service / sit down dining at both DL and WDW.
I never would have guessed there would be such a variance and lack of consistency. For me personally, I like the idea knowing that if I dine at a particular chain restaurant here in WA that it will be pretty much that same if I visited that same place in say TX or NY. Especially if you are dropping some coin or Benjamin's in this day and age.

Hopefully my Old Fashioned will be the same no matter where my travels take me. cheers!

 

[deejdigsdis]

For some reason I don't remember it as an ice cream parlor! I thought Carnation was over where the Princess Fantasy Faire area is now, to the left of the castle. But that would have been a LONG time ago (1960s).

I remember when there was a Carnation place over in that area as well. I saw it on our old vacation movies recently. It would have been late 80s. I also remember my family using a pay phone back in that area to call my older sister and her husband to wish them a happy 1st wedding anniversary while we were at DL. That would have been 1985.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

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[deejdigsdis]

I think that was Carnation Gardens or something like that. The Parlor and Restaurant was always on that spot on Main Street. They used to have an old carnation truck make deliveries there. When I was a kid the parlor was out last stop on the way out of the park. Stop and get ice cream and eat it outside people watching to end the day.

We used to get ice cream at the Carnation place I am referring to. I guess there was more than one Carnation place?

 

[NorCalFanatic]

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[irlandaise]

There were two Carnation places. The restaurant and ice cream parlor was on main street and is currently the carnation cafe but they no longer serve ice cream. There was carnation gardens which was over by the castle, they also sold ice cream. Both were sponsored by Carnation. The Carnation Plaza by the castle was closed and renovated into the meet the princess and the small theatre where they do tangled and beauty and the beast sometime in the early 2000s if I remember correctly.

I found a website that has pages about both of the Carnation locations: Carnation Ice Cream Parlor and Carnation Plaza Gardens.

https://www.yesterland.com/carnation.html

https://www.yesterland.com/carnationplaza.html

 

[greg9x]

Only one eatery stands out to me in DL as being absolutely delectable, and that's Bengal Barbecue. Those Banyan and Safari Skewers are 100% chefs kiss.

We were so disappointed with Bengal BBQ. Portions were so small for the price $20 for a 2 skewer/rice 'platter', each skewer had 4 one inch cubes of meat (got chicken and beef),a small scoop of rice, and an even smaller portion of slaw.

The taste wasn't horrible, but basically steamed meat with sauce on it. I was still hungry after eating, more of a snack than a meal. $50 for 2 people would expect to at least be full.

After that experience we ended up eating outside the parks.... Anytime Hawaiian was on way back to our hotel... 3 times as much food and better tasting for less money.

 

[Dudekiwi]

We were so disappointed with Bengal BBQ. Portions were so small for the price $20 for a 2 skewer/rice 'platter', each skewer had 4 one inch cubes of meat (got chicken and beef),a small scoop of rice, and an even smaller portion of slaw.

The taste wasn't horrible, but basically steamed meat with sauce on it. I was still hungry after eating, more of a snack than a meal. $50 for 2 people would expect to at least be full.

After that experience we ended up eating outside the parks.... Anytime Hawaiian was on way back to our hotel... 3 times as much food and better tasting for less money.

Anytime Hawaiian is good? I live a few miles from the parks and have thought about going there for lunch or dinner but have not. We always end up a Ono Hawaiin which is about 1 mile south down Katella.

 

[gardenrooms]

When we eat at DL or at WDW, we are more focused on the overall experience, not the food. If I am looking for really good food, I don't go to a theme park. That being said, you can't beat Blue Bayou for a unique experience. I'm sad to see LL get a bad rap because we have enjoyed all our meals (breakfast or lunch) there. The ambiance both inside and outside (where you experience the excitement from the pier) has always been very pleasant. And I love character meals. Where else can you get those? The breakfast (and character variety) used to be better at Plaza Inn, but I will still go late morning just to see the characters. The last time we went, the food was pretty meh. Goofy's Kitchen and the Cape May Cafe I feel are pretty comparable - good food, nice variety and characters. It seems like every time I like something, though, it disappears so obviously my food tastes are not typical. I would NEVER eat a turkey leg. They look so unappealing, and I don't need to walk around eating something messy like that. I'd rather sit down (the Cozy Cones have fun on the go food - though - I love the chili cone queso and I know, the combination could be easily duplicated at home, but the cone is so much fun! ). Paradise Gardens used to have good food but now all it offers is a nice quiet place to eat, so I go there just to get away from the madness (though hopefully the Mariachi Divas are still around - they can break my quiet any time!). I was excited when Village Haus became Red Rose Tavern and offered poutine, which I really liked. Gone. I love clam chowder in a bread bowl - but now I can get that at Boudin's just a few miles from my house. We enjoyed our food at WDW but, again, mostly for the experience. And those experiences were a lot pricier in general. Space 220 - fun but one and done. Woody's BBQ - food less than stellar, but the experience was fun. I'm sure the grandkids will want to go again. We like Garden Grill but again, mostly for the experience (though the food was definitely better than Woody's) and as an adult I love Skipper's Canteen, but it's really not for the kids so we didn't get to go there this trip, and we like San Angel for the ambiance, the place most like the Blue Bayou at WDW. We did really enjoy Spice Road Table for something different, and I will say I absolutely LOVE Boma, there is nothing to compare at DLR. But then, there wouldn't be - it doesn't fit in anywhere! (And it's not actually at a theme park.) And I have to say, EVERYTHING at DLR is better than just about ANYTHING at Universal Florida lol. So there's that.

 

[SpaceMan5]

When we eat at DL or at WDW, we are more focused on the overall experience, not the food. If I am looking for really good food, I don't go to a theme park. That being said, you can't beat Blue Bayou for a unique experience. I'm sad to see LL get a bad rap because we have enjoyed all our meals (breakfast or lunch) there. The ambiance both inside and outside (where you experience the excitement from the pier) has always been very pleasant.

I can agree with you on focusing on the overall experience with the food being secondary. We usually go to the parks for 5 days and enjoy the food at the start since we are all caught up in the excitement of being at DL. But around the 3rd day or so we start to get the meh feeling about the food.
We have always wanted to try BB but the reviews were not real hot in the past. But now it seems to be on the upswing from what I have been reading. LL is the opposite now. Last year it was a must do but not so much now. We also had a great meal there and will still make a reserv. I would like to have the consistency of knowing that I can book a meal and not have to worry about it each time we go.
However, in this day and age I think it can be tough to maintain the consistency due to personnel, managers, using different vendors, ingredients (probably done so to cut costs). I also think our expectation levels are higher now because of the higher food prices.
But is there really any other place that crosses generations where the young and old can go and have such a great time together.

 

[gardenrooms]

lol I have to admit, my most memorable meal at Disneyland was 66 years ago on my first visit. It was a hamburger, fries and lemonade. It was so good. There I was with my whole family - mom, dad, who really didn't spend that much time with us usually, and sister, having the the of my life - I couldn't believe I was actually in Disneyland, we didn't have a lot of money - I never got to eat fast food, so this was a real treat, and I was so hungry from all the activity.

 

[GoofyGoofyGoofy]

I used to love it. I don't ever go now. Most of the things I loved are no longer on the menu and the breakfast is a shadow of its former self. It's still a cool place and I'm hoping that one of these days the food will improve. I miss Chef Oscar!

Yes, Chef Oscar was such a treat first thing in the morning for early entry, waving at the front of Carnation Cafe for a bit.
We went to Disneyland this past April, and we did not eat at Carnation Cafe because of all the menu changes. Very sad Disneyland is taking off all the great choices and replacing them with subpar stuff at higher prices.

 

[pks_domer]

We just got back yesterday from our first DL trip with the kids. We thought the food was pretty decent overall, though we didn't really do any table service places.

One thing I found odd though-- whenever we ordered a Kids power pack, they only came with carrots about half the time. Sometimes they substituted a second Cutie mandarin, sometimes it was just an item short. Didn't seem to be any rhyme/reason... I finally asked at Craftsman at GCH, and they said (for that site, at least) people weren't ordering the power pack often enough so they were throwing away more carrots than they were serving, so they just stopped getting them. Not the end of the world but a bit of a bummer, as our kids are a little picky and carrots are a go-to veggie for them.

 

[3monkeys4me]

We just got back yesterday from our first DL trip with the kids. We thought the food was pretty decent overall, though we didn't really do any table service places.

One thing I found odd though-- whenever we ordered a Kids power pack, they only came with carrots about half the time. Sometimes they substituted a second Cutie mandarin, sometimes it was just an item short. Didn't seem to be any rhyme/reason... I finally asked at Craftsman at GCH, and they said (for that site, at least) people weren't ordering the power pack often enough so they were throwing away more carrots than they were serving, so they just stopped getting them. Not the end of the world but a bit of a bummer, as our kids are a little picky and carrots are a go-to veggie for them.

Interesting to know! The power packs were our go-to when my kids were young. Quite honestly I even ordered them for my very picky 13-year-old on our trip last summer. When my now adult kids were young, they weren't especially picky, but when we were in Disneyland, they were always too excited to eat a meal. The power packs were nice because they would eat the cheese while we ate a quick lunch and we could easily take the rest with us for them to snack on later. We packed our own snacks too, but since we flew in they were limited so having additional snacks was nice. My youngest is still just very picky and doesn't always like to eat restaurant and theme park food, but she will eat everything in the power pack.

 

[pks_domer]

Interesting to know! The power packs were our go-to when my kids were young. Quite honestly I even ordered them for my very picky 13-year-old on our trip last summer. When my now adult kids were young, they weren't especially picky, but when we were in Disneyland, they were always too excited to eat a meal. The power packs were nice because they would eat the cheese while we ate a quick lunch and we could easily take the rest with us for them to snack on later. We packed our own snacks too, but since we flew in they were limited so having additional snacks was nice. My youngest is still just very picky and doesn't always like to eat restaurant and theme park food, but she will eat everything in the power pack.

Yep-- sounds a lot like us. We're used to driving to WDW and go with plenty of snacks, so flying to DL and using car service we didn't have our usual arsenal (though, I guess that's why they have instacart!)