Having a hard time getting excited about my ADRs

[thaggie1]

We head to Disney for 8 days at the Grand RPC at the end of June. I can’t tell you how hard it was to make the ADRs for this trip! Besides Disney Springs nothing is completely exciting me.

We don’t do counter service. It’s a personal preference. I like to sit down and be waited on, don’t like standing in line and carrying a tray around looking for a table. We eat breakfast in the lounge so we don’t go out for breakfast and we do go back to the GF and often order lunch at the pool. It’s the dinners I’m having issue with.

We don’t care for O’hanas and the food at Kona wasn’t that great last time.
California Grill...my kids requested not to ever go back (rubbery scallops and less than average sushi).

I used to love planning my ADRs...but besides Brown Derby, narcoossees and a a couple at Epcot and my Disney springs picks it’s less exciting...more like Applebee’s with a Disney theme and a huge check. Am I being too critical or has Disney’s dining been going downhill? I must admit I like high end dining. I just feel they are trying to pass off high end dining (obviously not all locations) and can’t handle it for the masses and it’s subpar with a high end price.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I agree that, for the most part, WDW food is mediocre. Particularly the 1 TS restaurants and a few of the signatures ( I agree Cali Grill isn't great, but I love the view!)

Have you tried Artist Point? That has been consistently good for us. It was the best meal of our trip in December. If you aren't on the dining plan, I would also highly suggest eating at any of the Swan/Dolphin higher-end restaurants - bluezoo, Il Mulino, Kimono's and Shula's. I find the food quality there to be much higher than most WDW restaurants. You may also want to check out the restaurants at the Four Seasons (you can uber/lyft/cab there).

 

[NeedMoreMickey]

I understand how you feel. The last two trips we only made one reservation for each trip before we left. Make a list of the restaurants you have never been to including resorts and maybe something will look good

 

[Tonberry]

I 100% agree with DisneyWishes about Shula's and il Mulino. We tried these two places on our last trip and couldn't believe how great they were. They aren't cheap, but they're worth the money, especially compared to just about every other Disney steakhouse and Italian restaurant.
The other restaurant that we always look forward to is Sanaa at Animal Kingdom.

 

[thaggie1]

We do go to the Swan/Dolphin and I don’t mind the prices for a great meal!! Just disappointed in Disney. I tried to get my kids to stay at The Four Seasons or the Ritz and Uber/life but they like being at the Grand to get back to the pool to beat the heat. They will be 17 this summer so our Disney trips are numbered so we are onsite.

 

[brertoad]

We don’t care for O’hanas and the food at Kona wasn’t that great last time.
California Grill...my kids requested not to ever go back (rubbery scallops and less than average sushi).

I used to love planning my ADRs...but besides Brown Derby, narcoossees and a a couple at Epcot and my Disney springs picks it’s less exciting...more like Applebee’s with a Disney theme and a huge check. Am I being too critical or has Disney’s dining been going downhill? I must admit I like high end dining. I just feel they are trying to pass off high end dining (obviously not all locations) and can’t handle it for the masses and it’s subpar with a high end price.

Yeah, 'Ohana isn't always that great. It has been hit or miss for us in the last couple years, we don't go anymore.
California Grill, I agree, the sushi was meh, we eat sushi on a regular basis so it wasn't anything special to me, definitely overpriced.

There are some places at Disney that generally get a pass or unjustified rave reviews - like 'Ohana for example, I think the dining plan (and free dining) really contributes to this hype, it is a 1 credit TS buffet, you have many people who LOVE this place. I'd say it is one of the places that have a cult following. I do love their bread pudding, that is truly the star of the 'Ohana dinner to me.

You have to take everything with a grain of salt. Basically, try a place for yourself and see if you like it enough to go back. Read reviews, TripAdvisor is great for reviews and photos.
A lot of times I find my dining experience comes down to what I ordered, if I ordered the "wrong" thing or if they improperly cooked something, that as well can ruin it (like undercooked chicken, etc.)

I think Jiko and Sanaa are pretty nice restaurants, the food is consistently good.

Maybe try some of the Swan and Dolphin restaurants that are not on the dining plan, they also get good reviews although you do not hear about them as much (...most likely because they aren't on the dining plan).

 

[NYCgrrl]

I live in an area with a wide variety of cuisines and on my 1st trip thought I'd be bored stiff w/ the food at WDW, wind up eating a lot of stuff that was filled with unpronounceable ingredients and already made food stuff from the back of tractor trailers.
Was happily surprised to find that I didn't have to eat that way.

Read menus, think outside of the box, and you might be happy.

 

[randumb0]

Animal Kingdom Lodge has 2 excellent restaurants that you can try. If not, there are some great restaurants on Sand Lake Road's Restaurant Row that you might enjoy

 

[gharter]

i still get excited about our ADRs. We eat at mainly TS, always at night, generally Signature restaurants. Noon is a mix of TS and QS. We are foodies and pick our choices accordingly. Rarely have we been disappointed. We enjoy having a leisurely 2 hour evening meal.

 

[disneyvoice]

We also like very nice restaurants (when we choose to eat out, I actually love to cook) and you couldn't pay me to eat at Applebee's. I think the key when you like really nice restaurants is to remind yourself that you will be eating at a theme park or at theme park resort restaurants. I don't go in to the experience expecting to be amazed by any of the food. That way we are pleased if we do end up having a really great meal and are satisfied as long as we get decent food. I will say that over the last year or so my DH and I have become much more relaxed about meals at WDW and have started to eat at more QS places. We have actually been pleasantly surprised by some places. In particular we love Satu'li Canteen and have chosen it over all of the TS places at AK (we still like to have some drinks and an appetizer at Nomad Lounge). We have also decided some places just do not live up to the hype for us - Le Cellier is an example. We have been 3 times over the years and every single time at least one of us has received a steak that was almost pure gristle (including at the F&W booth in Canada last fall). We have been much happier since we have relaxed about food at WDW and have had some really excellent meals.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We do go to the Swan/Dolphin and I don’t mind the prices for a great meal!! Just disappointed in Disney. I tried to get my kids to stay at The Four Seasons or the Ritz and Uber/life but they like being at the Grand to get back to the pool to beat the heat. They will be 17 this summer so our Disney trips are numbered so we are onsite.

I hear you. Anywhere else in the world, we would stay at the Four Seasons, but priority in WDW is close proximity to parks, so the one in Orlando isn't even on my radar. We tried the Ritz (way too far) and the Waldorf (felt like a convention resort), so WDW resorts it is!

 

[GillianP1301]

OP, I can't tell from your post if you have tried all the other signature dining options and just weren't impressed or if looking at menus and reviews has left you underwhelmed? If it's the later, I would really advise ignoring that for the most part and try a few new signatures. Other than Le Cellier, I've been pretty happy with the others. Generally the resort signatures are of better quality than the parks, although Tiffins was quite good when we went and I think definitely worth trying.

 

[thaggie1]

We've eaten at all the signatures in the parks and most of them in the resorts. I guess it's more of a been there done that and its not so great to be excited to go back.

 

[Huff]

I have never found the food at any Disney 1TS to be all that great. It's good, but not great. We go for the unique experiences only found at a Disney restaurant.

If you like high end then go to Victoria and Alberts Chef's table or Victoria Queen Room. VERY VERY expensive but an incredible experience.

 

[agavegirl1]

Since we have had to postpone my trip for one year due to surgery, I am now considering V&A as my reward for going through my long recovery. I have wanted to do this forever. One extra year to save

 

[Tall Todd]

One more recommendation for both Jiko and Tiffins. While you've said you don't care for California Grill, we did it for their Sunday Brunch and thought it was wonderful.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Unfortunately, I agree with everything you said, OP.

The food has been going downhill in the last few years. There is not one single restaurant on property that we simply *have* to go to when we visit, and we've eaten at most of them.

The "awesome themed" restaurants are mostly one and dones for us. Even things like fireworks from Californial Grill, we're mostly like "Oh look, fireworks at a bad angle from a half mile away...meh".

Everyone is different, though. To each their own.

Universal is doing a much better job with their restaurants than Disney is currently.