Food! Terrible Food!

[gibbersome]

The food at Disney World is very good, but you pay a premium for it. The menus can seem a little limited, but what is there is usually very good. There is a temptation to order the most expensive items especially if you're on the dining plan to get your money worth, but I would suggest ordering what you know. If you don't like beef, don't order steaks at every dinner; if raw fish makes you queasy, don't order sushi, etc.

For us, free dining makes eating at Disney both enjoyable and affordable. We went on the Deluxe plan last time and are going again this Winter. Eating at 2 TS restaurants is part of the adventure for us, we even dress up a little when we go! However, I don't know if we'd pay full price for either the meals or the dining plan.

 

[koolaidmoms]

We are on our 15th trip to WDW and have always eaten every meal on site. I have had occasions to send meals back - cold food (EU and LTT) or overcooked (GG and '50s PT) but I chalk that up to human error. People do make mistakes especially when serving thousands of meals a day.

I am in agreement that when people eat a $35.00 steak at Le Cellier or $35.00 Lamb Chop at Brown Derby they have certain set of expectations due to the price and that it is WDW. In our small city a $35.00 steak would be a decent cut of meat perfectly cooked in some larger cities it may be a lesser cut. It all just depends on your experiences you bring from outside of WDW too.

Yes, as long as people continue to purchase the food in droves prices and quality will not change - meal plans or no meal plans. WDW will eventually hit the wall with what people will take as far as price, quality and menu choices.

But, for now the food is still okay for us - even H&V which was an okay meal (nothing spectacular but nothing awful).

 

[*Meagan*]

We have tried almost all the Disney restaurants and there are not that many that we classify as nasty and we will never eat there again...such as

1900 PF dinner
Nine Dragons
Raglan Road
Chef Mickeys dinner

This is the first time I have seen a bad review of Raglan Road.. interesting.

We love love love nine dragons! sooo yummyy!!

chef mickeys is at the bottom of my list.

Havent been to 1900PF

 

[quirty30]

We've generally been very pleased with the food at WDW but we had 3 pretty dismal meals last month:

1) Le Cellier - DD & I ordered the strip steak rather than the filets we've had numerous times and loved. Big mistake - I swear they had a salt crust on them. I really like salt but they were inedible. Had to send them back - by the time we got new ones, the place was empty. We felt rushed and got our desserts to go. DD was so upset her chocolate moose had melted by the time we got back to SSR. On the other hand, I thought the chocolate whiskey cake was to die for!

2) Coral Reef - First time here - booth all the way in back and I think it's time to replace the cushions when there are such deep indentations. Really uncomfortable. DS ordered the strip steak - most of it couldn't be chewed. DD's mahi-mahi must have been about a 2 oz portion, if that (it was a kids meal but still - it was about 2 bites of fish.) My mahi-mahi looked good but I failed to realize there were onions in the sauce - I can't stand them. It was supposed to be a lime-coconut sauce, so I sure wasn't expecting onions. Sent it back and got plain fish, some shrimp, and white rice (most of which was on the crunchy side.) I slathered all the lemon I could on it, but it was just tasteless. On the other hand, we loved the desserts here - I had no idea liquor in desserts could taste so good (Jack Daniels & Bailey's Mousse - OMG - just heavenly.)

3) Ohana - another first time for us and hands down, our worst meal EVER at WDW. We had bread, salad, wings, pot stickers, noodles and veggies before we even got drinks. Had barely made a dent before they came around with meats. It was all charred and dry and just horrible. I've never felt so rushed. In hindsight, I actually enjoyed all the dishes leading up to the meat, but I'd have liked some time to eat it progressively. Again, dessert was fabulous - awesome bread pudding. I suspect this could be a great dining experience on the right night, but I'm doubtful we'd ever give it another try. LOVE Kona and we will definitely go there over Ohana.

All that being said, we've been to WDW 7 times in the last 2 years, and these were our first truly BAD dining experiences. We have some tried and true favorites (Les Chefs, Yachtsman, Le Cellier, Cali Grill & Kona) and will continue to patronize them. It just so happens that I just bought my TIW card this last trip, so I will not let these bad meals sway me. But I will stick with what I know and like.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I have never found any food at WDW to be terrible. There is good to great food avaible. I think it depends on what you are looking for and what you enjoy. For us we always eat at the better restaurants that WDW offers California Grill etc...

 

[TDC Nala]

The only places I have had actually terrible food are Tony's, 1900 Park Fare, Chef Mickey's and Concourse Steakhouse (now closed). And ABC Commissary if we are counting the counter services.

The places where I have had food that was not worth the price are innumerable. (No, I don't do the dining plan. One of the problems I have with Disney is that they push the dining plan and to many of those on the dining plan the price doesn't matter - even if they paid for the dining plan. And Disney knows it.)

 

[GovieMom]

And ABC Commissary if we are counting the counter services.

Well I'm counting it, because the food we received there tasted so bad that everyone in my family commented on it. Blech!

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

We did the DxDDP last January and loved it. We didn't have any truely terrible food. Chef Mickey's Dinner was the worst mostly due to the small selection but we booked breakfast there again this trip. We won't be back to Tony's but really it's because we don't like their sauce. The service was great and the food would have been good if you liked the sauce they use. There were plenty of place we probably won't return to. This trip we are trying some new choices but also returning to our favourites

 

[canadianmommyof2]

Everyone has different tastes, we very rarely make reservations based on reviews unless someone mentions something about the cleanliness of the restaurant. For us, we found most of the food at WDW to be too salty but that is because we don't use salt. We eat fairly healthy so when it comes to the food at Disney we prefer to go to restaurants that have made to order foods than the buffet styled restaurants...this past trip we booked mostly character meals but we did that because of the kids and we know that they are not going to be young forever so it was not that big of deal for us to go to Chef Mickeys, etc. We never had a problem with cold food, or food that had been sitting under a heat lamp for too long...it always seemed fresh.

 

[emmabemmainc]

I've also never had a truly horrible meal at WDW. There were definitely some that were lacking in some way, but none that I would never go and eat again.

You have to put some things in perspective--when you are reading a dining review and the OP has something negative to say about every single meal, well--they obviously can't be pleased. I, personally, can't stand reviews like that--they depress me!

Even look at this thread--one person doesn't like a restaurant and 2 people respond and say they loved it. You just never know!

 

[Ro Z]

Most places are good. We have had 2 meals I would call terrible. Tamu Tamu in AK 2yrs ago. The burgers were gray with black specks all 3 of us agreed, TERRIBLE. Hollywood and Vine tried twice with the same result, TERRIBLE.
Food was cold. The pork dish was so dry we could hardly swallow it. Very little variety. Dirty dishes sat on tables.

 

[AirGoofy]

My two cents. I think the terrible comes from the difference in between meals at WDW. There are some places that cost more than others, however, you can take two closely priced buffets or other restaurants, have a terrific experience at one and a "terrible" experience at another. Normally, we would not eat at the many restaurants during a week at home.

 

[sunshineNJ]

While some of WDW restaurants are better then others when we went in 2008 and in 2010 they were all very good. We ate at Crystal Palace twice for dinner, Narcooses, Lecellier, Tusker House lunch, Hollywood & Vine dinner and Cape May Cafe. All were very good except Hollywood and Vine and it wasn't horrible, just not as good as the others. I think WDW restaurants are very good in general.

 

[goofy4prez]

The only place at WDW I have found terrible where I had to put a napkin to my mouth and remove what I took a bite out of was ABC Commisary. I know it was a few years ago, and the cuban sandwich is no longer on the menu, but it was enough to keep me from ever stepping foot in that place again to eat.

 

[mskayjay]

It would take an awful lot to get me to eat at H&V again. That place and food were truly what I would call bad and not because of price or smashed expectations. It was simply *bad*.

There are others I would not recommend whole heartedly and for good reasons but those would fall in to the "not living up to the expectation" part. If I am paying $200 for the two of us to have dinner, it better be good and there are too many that charge that and are not even close to worth it.

 

[Mamu]

Have I had terrible food at Disney, yes. Are there meals that I've not liked, yes quite a few. Are the meals that I don't think I've gotten my money's worth, yes qiute a few.

I feel ripped off when I paying top dollar for a meal thats sub-par. Whether it a caracter meal, a signature meal, a counter serve meal, or just a plain old sit down meal.

I think the problem here is after trying a restaurant twice and both times you walk out the door dissatisfied and you cross it off your list of "never to return to" to you the food is terrible, someone else might enjoy it. Everyone has a different palate.

 

[Beckypooh1972]

For me the selection of food choices has really become limited. The choices may be healthier but not necessarily tasty. For example, whole wheat buns, take 'em or leave 'em - no choice. While Disney can be applauded in the realm of public opinion for offering healthier food choices I have to say I miss fattening theme park food sometimes. While we eat healthy, we enjoy a little splurge while we are on vacation.

We aren't really gourmets so we are usually disappointed in the selection at many of the restaurants. I wish Disney would offer more selections that appeal to families. When I look at the menus for restaurants like the new Via Napoli sometimes I just shake my head. Who out there is saying, "wow, I could really go for a pizza with melon on it right about now?" In defense of Disney, I really don't get the comments about "dumbed down menus" - melon on pizza, to me, is about as exotic as it gets. I think the problem is - if you are going to offer gourmet - the food must be of the highest quality or people will notice.

 

[2girls4me]

We've never had terrible food at Disney.

I'm easy to please, give me a cheeseburger and some fries and I'm good to go. My DH is a bit tougher to please, but he is still a meat and potatoes guy so he'll always find something he wants to eat on a menu.

I believe it's all relative, some people are not happy no matter what. We;ve had good food everywhere we've been in Disney.

 

[imLissy]

Just got back from our trip today. Had some meals that I was a bit disappointed with on this trip, most notably Coral Reef, but none of them were terrible.

Took my husband to flame tree on our honeymoon in January. I don't know if they were just having a bad day or the food quality there has dropped dramatically, but I'm still apologizing for that meal.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

for me the selection of food choices has really become limited. The choices may be healthier but not necessarily tasty. For example, whole wheat buns, take 'em or leave 'em - no choice. While disney can be applauded in the realm of public opinion for offering healthier food choices i have to say i miss fattening theme park food sometimes. While we eat healthy, we enjoy a little splurge while we are on vacation.

We aren't really gourmets so we are usually disappointed in the selection at many of the restaurants. I wish disney would offer more selections that appeal to families. When i look at the menus for restaurants like the new via napoli sometimes i just shake my head. Who out there is saying, "wow, i could really go for a pizza with melon on it right about now?" in defense of disney, i really don't get the comments about "dumbed down menus" - melon on pizza, to me, is about as exotic as it gets. i think the problem is - if you are going to offer gourmet - the food must be of the highest quality or people will notice.

this!!