Horror Stories Wanted

[Steph9072]

Share your worst dining experience @ WDW.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I'll get started! long story short, my uncle had raved and raved about H&V (the buffet at MGM) that it had characters and the food was awesome so we made an ADR for 9 of us (uncles family included) for an off dinner time so we wouldnt have to wait for a table but when we got there we waited over an hr for our table so at that point my father was already fired up and as we got seated we quickly found out there were no characters and the food well was as good as a buffet we could expect to find at a "dive" at home and my uncle and aunt appologized so many times b/c they too were upset with the changes..needless to say we wont return there

for my parents, they ate at the Poly luau for their disneymoon in 1981 on their 2nd day of the week and got food poisoning for most of their trip and said they were lucky they stayed at CR and had a big room lol. needless to say they have not been back and will never go back lol

i'm sure others have had awesome experiences at those 2 places and have had horrible experiences at others that we have enjoyed, I'm sure this thread will turn into a debate at some point but its interesting to hear horror stories!!

 

[TinkerbellTris]

The worst dining experience we have ever had was at POFQ we ordered a Pizza to be delivered to our room. And it was the nastiest pizza we have ever had EVER! Oh my God it was just foul. And it cost $26.00. We each had a piece, none of us ever finished it and that was that. We chose to go hungry. I actually have found it is hard to find a bad place to eat there. But I know the secret to bad food in WDW is the room service Pizza.

 

[Lisa F]

One time I woke up in my room and decided to just grab a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast. Then I realized, I wasn't in WDW, I was home! It was HORRIBLE. You can imagine the trauma, I'm sure.

 

[Booknut]

One time I woke up in my room and decided to just grab a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast. Then I realized, I wasn't in WDW, I was home! It was HORRIBLE. You can imagine the trauma, I'm sure.

LOL! I too have experienced that horror...

Worst meal would have to be the POFQ/Sassagoula Floatworks hot dog DH had last trip, it was just foul, the bread was horrible. Not very nice. I'm sure they were having an off day though because it seems almost impossible to mess up a hot dog!

 

[lookingforward]

Kona Cafe at the Poly. Waitress did not know the menu, what sodas were offered, how things were prepared. Was rude and then brought out the appetizers with the entrees. Not so bad so far. Put the entrees under the heat lamp while we ate our appetizers. Only problem was that our entrees had cold salads on them. Got my meal, took a nice big bite of the macoroni salad and immediately knew it was bad. She gave us attitude that we were sending it back (it was spoiled). Asked for the manager, she said she was kind of sorry but the kitchen was closed so we were stuck. She did offer to get us something from the snack bar (we were using dining credits from our paid meal plan). We had transportation to catch going home so we could not wait until dinner so we declined her offer. Paid with the dining credits as it was our last day and to add insult to injury the waitress got her hefty tip automatically.

Long story short, I got sick from the spoiled salad. BUT, in decades of visiting disney I figure it was the perfect storm of horrible circumstances that is unlikely to occur again.

 

[2mickeys1minnie]

Our last trip we were excited to try the Sci-Fi. The problems started when we were seated. We were about 15 minutes early for our ADR. However, we waited over an hour to be seated. Once we were in the waitress walked us over to a car with two people already sitting in the front (we are a family of 5). She said our only option was to be separated so I sat with two of our kids and DH was put on the other side of the theatre with our other DS. I could barely see them I was so disappointed! I ordered the shrimp dish and it tasted ok BUT just as we were finishing dessert I started to feel sick...yup..you guessed it. Good thing we were close to the rest room I told DH we needed to leave immediately - as we were running to go catch the bus back to our resort DH said...uh oh I dont' feel good either (he also had the shrimp dish). Ofcourse that was the only day we had to wait for a bus (about 20 minutes) to come. Ugh. Worst day of our trip. On a side note the kids highlight of the trip was when mommy and daddy were "racing" each other to get back to the buses LOL.

 

[doconeill]

I've had a variety of dining horror stories, only one of which involved WDW

That would be Toy Story Pizza Planet on our 2003 trip. The order taker could NOT get the order right. I ordered two of their small pizzas and two cokes. While I wait, they load up a tray with SEVEN COKES and bring it over. I look at my receipt, and sure enough, they charged me for seven Cokes! I didn't notice the price they charged (and I signed for) - this is Disney after all and I try to avoid looking at the $$$$.

So I have to push my way BACK to the cashier to get it straightened out, and of course it was all MY fault for not paying attention and signing for it. Of course I'm like "There are three of us, and one is 3 years old - WHY would I order seven Cokes!" So she grumpily deducted the amount from the bill, and I go back to get the food, which they had taken back so they had to "rebuild" my order - without Cokes. She took ALL SEVEN Cokes off the order, leaving me with none! as I was about to push my way back AGAIN (and further aggravating the people waiting in line to place their orders), a manager type noticed and brought two Cokes over and said it was all set...

Not WDW, but when DW (Dfi at the time) and I went to SeaWorld as a side trip on our first trip, before they really built it all up, there was only one place open to get food, and the lines were long. I forget exactly what we were getting (it involved a fairly meaty rib, some other stuff, and a really large Sprite - that comes up later), and I end up in the line with several teens in front of me that take something like 15 minutes to get their order straight, so I was "next in line" for quite a while, while everyone ELSE got their food. I am very impatient when it comes to things that really shouldn't take that long. In fact, on my last trip we were at Cosmic Rays and I actually helped when there was an obvious communications issue between the order taker (Russian) and the guest (Asian), just so I can eventually place my order...

I finally get up there and place my order, and the put it on the tray, and I walk away and there are no tables or chairs available (there were very few to begin with). So I slowly take this very top-heavy tray (giant vat-o-Sprite) and go over to DFi where we will sit one one of the tree-planter ledges. I slowly go to put down the tray, but the sweating of the giant cup makes things a little slick, the cup slides...and leans...and falls over...and bursts out all over the food, most of which was ruined.

I was starved though, did try the Sprite-glazed rib. I refused to get back in line. I think we just went mostly hungry until we left and ate at someplace like Bennigan's off I-Drive.

 

[bicker]

I have had a lot of bad experiences, most involving self-absorbed guests ruining the dining experience for everyone else. Bad parenting really burns me up, and I've had a great deal of bad experiences at CS eateries, especially. The instances included some horrible instances of excessive corporal punishment or verbal abuse, and some dizzying instances of neglect. I think those have got to have been the worst dining experiences we've had at WDW.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We ate at the Rose & Crown on our honeymoon and did not enjoy it. First of all, we had to wait a long time for our table even though we'd made an early ADR and the dining room was empty. I had the fish and chips and it was barely edible. My husband had some meat dish that made him feel ill and we had to cut our evening short to head back to our villa for the rest of the evening, missing Illuminations.

When I asked my husband if he had any particular places he'd like to try on this upcoming trip, his only comment was "Anywhere but Rose & Crown."

 

[HdnMickeyGrl]

Our worst dining experience was at Hollywood and Vine two years ago We had the Fantasmic dining package. And if you are familiar with this package you know that you have to pay in advance so the meal and Fantasmic seating was already paid for while the whole experience was occuring. We had set the time later (can't remember exactly when but it was late enough to catch one more thing before we'd have to go to Fantasmic)

My mother, my husband and I walk up about 10 minutes prior to our ADR. There is a huge crowd waiting outside. They check off our name and we wait, and we wait, and we wait. People are being seated. People are walking up and being seated but we are waiting and waiting. We are informed that people are seated in the order of their ADR so if they had an ADR for an hour before our ADR and walked up 20 minutes after us they were seated first.

We are hungry, we are wating and we are getting more than a little annoyed. We can't walk away because we've already paid for the meal. We notice another family (mom, dad and two little kids) they are waiting and waiting and getting just as annoyed as us.

Finally after about an hour they call both of us up. We walk in and are squeezed into the only two available tables in the restauarant. No wait, we walk into a completely empty dining room and are seated in the corner next to the other family. Yep that's right, while we were waiting and wating outside there were about 40 open tables for Lord knows how long just sitting empty inside the restaurant.

I don't really remember the food. I remember there being peel and eat shrimp and that's about it. It turns out that other family had the Fantasmic package too. Both mine and the other family ate quickly and then booked it over to the meeting area for the Fantasmic package. We have never and will never go back.

 

[bekkiz]

We've been super lucky and had really great meals everytime we've been to Disney. One or two cases of absent servers, but nothing that would stop me from going to those restaurants.

However, once at 50's Prime Time, there was a familiy with a baby...maybe 8-10 months old. And the child had the most ear piercing scream I have ever heard. And it lasted for 30 minutes before Mom finally took the child outside. That sucked.

Luckily, because it was 50's prime time, the servers made fun of the situation. Made it a little easier to bear

 

[mmcguire]

Our worst meal was the second time we ate at 'Ohana. We LOVED it the first time; couldn't believe how much it changed in two years.

Right off the bat, we waited over an hour for our ADR. Shrimp was still served on skewers at the time, and were so charred they were inedible. In fact, all the meat from the skewers was overcooked and scorched. We had to flag the waitress down for refills, and we are not the sort to gulp down drink after drink. We were fortunate to get a table near a window, but when the fireworks started, a horde of unsupervised children squeezed between our table and the window, blocking our own childrens' view. It was also my birthday, and DH had left the table to tell the waitress so it would be a surprise. Well, she completely forgot and brought the regular pineapple dessert, and left. DH thought she'd gone to get my cake, but instead returned with our check, so DH had to ruin the surprise by telling her again in front of me. She did bring out the cake then, but it took forever to pay. Never again!

We eat at a local Brazilian steakhouse occassionaly where the meat is prepared over an open fire. The meat there has NEVER been dry or scorched. With 'Ohana, either employees haven't been trained how to cook meat properly over a fire, or they keep it in the fire long after it's done rather than waste it.

 

[MomofKatie]

Once, we ate at this place called O'Hana's- first of all, it wasn't Irish food. There were all these Hawaiin things all over the place- who decorates an Irish pub with Tiki gods??!!

Then, when we sat down, the table was near the window- we had to look out at the water, and these firecrackers kept going off- very hard to eat with all that going on outside. They must have had some sort of brownout- the lights were very dim when the commotion was going on out there. How tacky!!

My DD had to help clean up the restaurant- they kept dropping coconuts, and the kids were given brooms and told to round them up. So shocking!! They even made those poor kids perform for everyone, too- with Hula Hoops!! Did they think we were going to skip out on the check or something? Couldn't they hire some performers??

The food- don't even get me started. They brought out these big hunks of meat, then wouldn't let us keep them- they'd just saw some off and leave with the rest. I was just distressed by this- how awful, we couldn't even keep our food!!

We will never go back- until our next trip. We'll have to see if they have improved this sad little Irish pub.

 

[Jrabbit910]

so sad to hear all the horrible stories... I hope all of you get better food and service next time... I think the only bad experience we had was at Planet Hollywood... it just seemed very dirty to us and the food wasnt good at all... wont try it again... and my husband didnt like casey's... but i think its cause he tried to win the contest for most hot dogs eaten in one sitting....

 

[Robert P]

Share your worst dining experience @ WDW.

Section from my B & C review late 2006 (with server name XXXX'd out):

We arrived at B&C about 6:00 p.m. It was full inside, but nobody was waiting outside. The podium host was very friendly, and gave us a pager. We had sat down maybe 30 seconds, and he called our name. He made the pager light up as well. They had a table available for our party of 5 (3 adults, 2 children), and he asked if that would be okay. Seeing the booths all full, and this the only table free, we took it.
(Now, let me say that not frequenting B&C, we had no idea that the meals came on platters, and we had no way of knowing how much space we needed. We relied on the host to put us at an appropriate sized spot. So, we assumed a table would work fine.)
Our server, XXXX, came around after we had sat there for several minutes. She explained the kid’s meal for the girls, and took our drink order. So far, so good. She came back many minutes later and the drink order was incorrect. It was 5 beverages, nothing special, and it was wrong. Okay, this should have been a warning, but hey, mistakes happen. The girls ordered the kid’s menu cheeseburger and hot dog, both with fruit. The kid’s meals were fine, as kids meals go. Nothing special, or terrible, except for a few mushy grapes in the fruit bowl. My wife ordered the roast beef sandwich, and my MIL ordered a burger, with chips. I waited, and by then had decided to skip an entrée, and order the Kitchen Sink. It wasn’t just for me, it was for all of us, so I wanted it served after everyone else had gotten their food. No problem XXXX says, and off she goes. Fifteen minutes later, our food starts coming out.
Note: Seating is me at 6 o’clock position, both daughters (4 and 5) on each side, then my wife and MIL at the 10 and 2 positions. So, I have both girls beside me, one on each side.
Every meal is on platters, including the kids meals. These take up a great deal of space, especially at a small table that was better suited for 2 or 3 than for 4 or 5. As XXXX serves us, the au jou (sp) for the roast beef sandwich is in a small bowl not on that platter. Instead of placing or scooting my daughter’s platter closer to me (the only space without a platter), she puts the bowl down in front of me, and says that Mommy will have to reach over when she dips. Almost logistically impossible to do, reaching over a 4 year old every time you want to dip your sandwich.
Okay. Weird, but whatever. Then she leaves. Five minutes into eating, my MIL notices that her chips have a funky and stale taste to them. Upon further inspection, we find the sell by date is Oct 10th, and today is the 25th. Okay, no biggie, we’ll just get a replacement bag from XXXX, when she comes back. Problem was, she didn’t come back, not for at least 30 minutes. By the time she came back to see how our meals were, they were done. Now, I counted the tables (remember: I was bored and not eating yet), and XXXX had no more than 1 booth and 2 tables (that’s including us) at this time, and she was nowhere to be found, even to be flagged down, for a solid 25 of those 30 minutes. No checking on how the meals were, can I get you anything, refills of drinks, NOTHING.
In the time that our table was eating the sandwiches, two other Kitchen Sinks have been ordered and delivered in the restaurant. One by XXXX immediately after we got our food (before disappearing), and another by the other server waiting tables.
There is usually a big announcement, with the lights flashing, when they deliver the Kitchen Sinks, so the servers are well aware that the presentation means a lot. My youngest daughter and my wife went to the restroom. While they were gone, XXXX decides to finally bring out the Sink, with the obligatory announcement and absolutely zero enthusiasm. We had waited this long, could she not have waited til the entire table was there for the presentation. Next problem was, there was no place to put it! She had never cleared the empty platters, and there was scarcely enough room on the table before that, and remember, that was only with 4 entrees and 5 drinks, for 5 people.
So, she pushes the platters together, stacking 1 for room, and leaves us the Sink, on a large cafeteria tray, with bowls and spoons of course, and goes off with maybe the 2 stacked platters. Doesn’t clear the rest of the table, even though we have a giant size dessert to serve up and share. And, left it in front of the seat for our 4 year old, who couldn’t see over it. In other words, she dumped it and left.
As there was no room for even the small serving bowls at the table, we improvised. After moving our platters ourselves to an empty counter spot, we dove in, and surrendered to the mighty Kitchen Sink about 20 minutes later. We waited another 15 minutes for XXXX to notice that we were done, and since that wasn’t happening, I sent the others out to take pictures at the resort, while I waited for the check. After 5 minutes of just me and this huge stainless steel container sitting there by ourselves, XXXX comes over and takes it away. The check then actually came quickly, but XXXX was nowhere to be found (again) to take the payment away. Another server saw that the bill folder was ready, and took it to the register, where she gave it to XXXX, who had rematerialized.
Summary: All sandwiches and meals were passably okay. The burgers were fair, about like those you cook when you grill out. The stale bag of chips wasn’t a show-stopper, but should have been product rotated back to the distributor, if anyone was paying attention. But the impossibly cramped seating assignment (host), and the horrible service (XXXX), turned what should have been a fairly quick counter service type of meal with dessert, into an @ 90 minute trip into the bad meal experience Twilight Zone. Having now done the Kitchen Sink, we may stop by the To Go side for regular ice cream in the future, but this was probably our last time dealing with the service at B&C.

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Once, we ate at this place called O'Hana's- first of all, it wasn't Irish food. There were all these Hawaiin things all over the place- who decorates an Irish pub with Tiki gods??!!

Then, when we sat down, the table was near the window- we had to look out at the water, and these firecrackers kept going off- very hard to eat with all that going on outside. They must have had some sort of brownout- the lights were very dim when the commotion was going on out there. How tacky!!

My DD had to help clean up the restaurant- they kept dropping coconuts, and the kids were given brooms and told to round them up. So shocking!! They even made those poor kids perform for everyone, too- with Hula Hoops!! Did they think we were going to skip out on the check or something? Couldn't they hire some performers??

The food- don't even get me started. They brought out these big hunks of meat, then wouldn't let us keep them- they'd just saw some off and leave with the rest. I was just distressed by this- how awful, we couldn't even keep our food!!

We will never go back- until our next trip. We'll have to see if they have improved this sad little Irish pub.

Now, THAT'S funny.

Honesty, we've never had a horror story at any WDW eating joint. There have been some meals that were better than others, and about the worst I can say is that we've had a couple of mediocre experiences, but none at a table service restaurant. None. Nada. Zilch.

Having said that, it's not going to break my heart to skip ABC Commissary and Pepper Market. ABCC's food was just sort of unpleasant, and the Pepper Market experience was one of absolutely no service at all. When I gently mentioned that a 10% automatic gratuity was approprate if we'd been served, a manager made it right. Boy, did he ever!

It would have to be something pretty doggone wretched for me to complain about much of anything at Disney. Heck, I'm so glad to be there, a CM would have to set me on fire before I'd gripe.

 

[mirthmaiden]

Our last trip we were excited to try the Sci-Fi. The problems started when we were seated. We were about 15 minutes early for our ADR. However, we waited over an hour to be seated. Once we were in the waitress walked us over to a car with two people already sitting in the front (we are a family of 5). She said our only option was to be separated so I sat with two of our kids and DH was put on the other side of the theatre with our other DS. I could barely see them I was so disappointed! I ordered the shrimp dish and it tasted ok BUT just as we were finishing dessert I started to feel sick...yup..you guessed it. Good thing we were close to the rest room I told DH we needed to leave immediately - as we were running to go catch the bus back to our resort DH said...uh oh I dont' feel good either (he also had the shrimp dish). Ofcourse that was the only day we had to wait for a bus (about 20 minutes) to come. Ugh. Worst day of our trip. On a side note the kids highlight of the trip was when mommy and daddy were "racing" each other to get back to the buses LOL.

Wow... how terribble! I'm certainly no expert on food poisoning, but I've had it twice. Both times it was 8 - 12 hours later (like I had something for dinner and the next morning woke up sick). Are you certain it was the shrimp or could it have been your breakfast? Just seems very quick for it to be the shrimp you just ate, but I suppose it's possible. I'm having lunch at the Sci-Fi in August so I'll try to stay away from the shrimp!

 

[mama_scraps]

Once, we ate at this place called O'Hana's- first of all, it wasn't Irish food. There were all these Hawaiin things all over the place- who decorates an Irish pub with Tiki gods??!!

Then, when we sat down, the table was near the window- we had to look out at the water, and these firecrackers kept going off- very hard to eat with all that going on outside. They must have had some sort of brownout- the lights were very dim when the commotion was going on out there. How tacky!!

My DD had to help clean up the restaurant- they kept dropping coconuts, and the kids were given brooms and told to round them up. So shocking!! They even made those poor kids perform for everyone, too- with Hula Hoops!! Did they think we were going to skip out on the check or something? Couldn't they hire some performers??

The food- don't even get me started. They brought out these big hunks of meat, then wouldn't let us keep them- they'd just saw some off and leave with the rest. I was just distressed by this- how awful, we couldn't even keep our food!!

We will never go back- until our next trip. We'll have to see if they have improved this sad little Irish pub.

Thanks for the laugh! Too funny!

 

[hygienejean]

Gotta love that sad Irish pub!

Once, we ate at this place called O'Hana's- first of all, it wasn't Irish food. There were all these Hawaiin things all over the place- who decorates an Irish pub with Tiki gods??!!

Then, when we sat down, the table was near the window- we had to look out at the water, and these firecrackers kept going off- very hard to eat with all that going on outside. They must have had some sort of brownout- the lights were very dim when the commotion was going on out there. How tacky!!

My DD had to help clean up the restaurant- they kept dropping coconuts, and the kids were given brooms and told to round them up. So shocking!! They even made those poor kids perform for everyone, too- with Hula Hoops!! Did they think we were going to skip out on the check or something? Couldn't they hire some performers??

The food- don't even get me started. They brought out these big hunks of meat, then wouldn't let us keep them- they'd just saw some off and leave with the rest. I was just distressed by this- how awful, we couldn't even keep our food!!

We will never go back- until our next trip. We'll have to see if they have improved this sad little Irish pub.