*** happened to the Onion rings at 50's?

[GADzilla]

Hey guys,

I don't post here often....usually just a lurker, but I felt I had to come talk about this so that others won't be as disappointed as I was last week.

I'm from New Orleans, and haven't been able to get to WDW since Hurricane Katrina ate my house. So I've been so excited to go with my new girlfriend, and have been bragging about how awesome the onion rings at 50's Prime Time Cafe are. When we went last week (3/12/08) I order the onion rings without even looking at the menu, then proceed to look for my entree (the meatloaf was great, as usual).

A few minutes later, my "cousin" brings out these big fat thick beer battered onion rings. Not at all the mountain of incredible shoe strings of years past. I asked my "cousin" why mom changed her recipe, and he looked like he had no clue what I was talking about (pretty much acknowledging that he hasn't worked there very long).

These new o-rings were okay, but I'll NEVER order them again. In fact, the o-rings were the only reason I go to that place. I'll never visit there again if this is going to be the standard.

To add insult to injury, the next day we decide to grab a quick lunch in AK. We go to the Flametree BBQ joint, and I decide to get some o-rings with my pulled pork sandwich. Here's the kicker... I get similar, if not the EXACT same o-rings I had gotten at a sit down restaurant the day before!

What's the piont of making ADR's if I can get the same cruddy food at a fast service joint in the parks??????

This trip I noticed MANY instances of Disney cutting corners for the first time, particularly in the dining department. It was pretty disappointing.

Bright side... Dinner at the California Grill during Wishes was amazing as usual. It seemed like they did, however, let a lot of people up there who weren't in there for dinner though. What's the point of reservations and checking in at the 2nd floor if they're doing to let in all the t-shirt and shorts riffraff? Overall, it wasn't too much of a distraction, though and the dinner and fireworks were amazing.

 

[wdw4us2]

We feel your pain.

We also used to love the onion strings at 50's Prime Time. When WDW restaurants went to centralized menus/bulk food ordering and the Disney Dining Plan, the quality went down and diversified menus became a thing of the past, unfortunately.

Many signature dishes and unusual offerrings disappeared from menus to be replaced by the same items you can find at virtually every other food location on the Disney property. Because of these changes, we now find ourselves dining off property more often than we did in the past.

There have been many threads regarding this change on The DIS and many other Disney discussion boards. Unfortunately, I think the changes are here to stay.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Standardization of recipes.

Instead of paying someone to stand in the kitchen and make the old fashioned home made onion rings of the past, it's cheaper to get one kind into the warehouse and use them all across property.

I feel your pain!

Same goes with the burger and dog buns, they are now standard "whole wheat" across the board.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I like the onion rings at both Prime Time and Flame Tree.

 

[OrlandoMike]

I like the onion rings at both Prime Time and Flame Tree.

Then you will like the Onion Rings all over Disney, cuz they are all the same.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Bright side... Dinner at the California Grill during Wishes was amazing as usual. It seemed like they did, however, let a lot of people up there who weren't in there for dinner though. What's the point of reservations and checking in at the 2nd floor if they're doing to let in all the t-shirt and shorts riffraff?

Since nobody else addressed this yet... "all the t-shirt and shorts riffraff" likely dined at California Grill earlier in the evening.

To cut back on the number of diners who held onto tables for several hours, preventing others from eating there (and reducing sales), California Grill allows diners to return with their receipt from that evening, in time to watch Wishes.

 

[GADzilla]

Since nobody else addressed this yet... "all the t-shirt and shorts riffraff" likely dined at California Grill earlier in the evening.

To cut back on the number of diners who held onto tables for several hours, preventing others from eating there (and reducing sales), California Grill allows diners to return with their receipt from that evening, in time to watch Wishes.

And that's all fine and good, but the place does have a dress code (albeit a very lax one). The returning folks should at least be held to those simple standards.

And back to the original topic, yea it was quite obvious that the same things were being served all over the property. I expect that from the "fast food" joints, but when I have to make reservations weeks and months in advance, I expect more than fast food O-rings! Anyone know a productive phone number or email address to voice a complaint where it won't just get ignored?

(thanks for the quick replies, by the way....glad I wasn't the only one. We did, in fact, end up eating off the property a few times. Some very nice offerings over at Universal.... watch it, Mickey, you're about to lose what made WDW special)