I Will NEVER Eat At _______ In WDW Again!!

[cmh314]

We've really enjoyed most of our meals at DW and I would return to most of them. But, I was so dissapointed by Crystal Palace. We ate lunch there an I would not go back. Everything I tasted on the buffet was terrible, I couldn't eat it. I was still hungry when we left. And the characters barely slowed down for a picture on their way past our table. Chef Mickey's breakfast is another "been there, done that, never again" for me. The food wasn't good. Not terrible, but not good either. We've been to other character meals that are much better, so we'll stick to those.

As for CS, I will never go back to Toy Story Planet Pizza. Just terrible. Even the kids didn't want to eat their pizza there, and they don't have very high standards. I feel like we just threw our money into the garbage along with those uneaten meals.

 

[OklahomaTourist]

Well, for us, it would have to be the Garden Grille in Epcot.

We had ADR's for this place - think it was 2008 - and were looking forward to it very much...

...until we started eating...

Greasy, cold chicken, cold potatoes, blah desserts, just generally unappealing everything, on top of the fact that the rotating system was broken and we were stuck watching people walking in front of the restaurant and staring at people eating.

While we were eating, a kid who ate too much lost it about three booths down from us. When they bring our food, we notice it isn't exactly hot, and looks warmed over, which makes no sense given the volume of customers they're handling. My mom, on her first WDW trip ever, even notes the food tastes reheated or stale. But we dive in anyway....to greasy, lukewarm chicken, sticky mashed potatoes...in general, yuck. And it just went downhill from there. None of us was impressed, but we figure "oh, well, can't win 'em all."....and then it got worse...

Just to top it all off, literally as we were leaving, stepping OVER the, ahem, debris from the kiddo who lost it earlier (no, it had not yet been cleaned up), my mom (on her very first WDW trip ever) tells me she doesn't feel good, and that she can "taste" the chicken "coming back" on her. She was right; she can't handle the greasy chicken and literally runs to the bathroom to...well, you fill in the blanks.

It was a disastrous end to an otherwise nice day.

And we permanently crossed Garden Grill of our list. But with Seasons just across the way, we're not feeling too bad about it

 

[OklahomaTourist]

Now I just posted about our bad experience at Garden Grille, but let me offer my evolving negative experience with Chef Mickeys.

Our first trip to WDW was when the kids were little, back in 2001, we arrived late on a Sunday afternoon and - get this - called in a last-minute reservation to Chef Mickey's, and we got there from the SWAN as fast as my little Buick could get us there. We were all hungry. And the meal we had was very good. We had a little sticker shock, as it was our first WDW meal, but adding up the characters and the smiles, we thought it was a good time and justified the expense.

So we went back again on our second trip, which was years later, in 2008. We assumed things would be just as good this time as last, but opted for breakfast instead. Kids were older now, but not teenagers, so they'd still enjoy the characters, so we dove in. And after we ate, I looked at my wife, she looked at me, and we both noted "Was your stuff just not that good?" And I agreed. My mom agreed. The scrambled eggs were runny and undercooked. The food on the buffet lines was thin, and the only thing in great supply was cold fruit and cold cereal. And that wasn't what I'd paid the premium for.

We had the fortunate opportunity to go back the very next year, but my wife and I had opted *not* to do Chef Mickey's. Too expensive. Not very good food. But when I mentioned this casually to the kids, they clamored "No Chef Mickeys's??" So I felt like a heel, booked it, and we went.

And that year was the worst of the three visits we made. It had become a trend. The only thing good was the fresh fruit. Most of the meats were cold, and the pancakes/waffles were hard and stale. There was just nothing appealing. And it wasn't just me - after we ate, my son said, "Dad, I'm sorry, you were right. That breakfast wasn't very good."

And that closed the book on us and Chef Mickey's. Its just gotten too darned expensive for food that just isn't very good. WDW is expensive enough as it is without spending it just for the sake of spending it, and CM's seems to be in a downward spiral...we've opted out.

 

[Okh]

Chef Mickey's - I viewed it as a must-do, like not doing it would be like going to the Vatican without kissing the Pope's ring. I'm sooooo over that now.

 

[Tony NY]

Tony's Town squre in the Mgic Kingdom the worst italian food on property my dad eat and got sick right after eating lunch...

 

[VACamm]

Marrakesh in Morroco... just weird food.... we obviously ordered the wrong things but scared us enough to never try it again.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

Tutto Italia in Epcot was a horror for sure.

My DH and I went for a late lunch not on DP....at 3pm with another couple...you could have bounced the meatballs off the wall and dry pasta...
I am the type to nicely complain, but since it was there treat and they said nothing i didnt either....grrrr...

Then my D- Gr. son and his girlfriend ( new engaged at Disney )went there a few days ago for a late dinner...he said they brought the food out in 5 minutes....more dried up pasta,since he was starving he ate it...

I am spreading the word..I had told him not to eat there but he said he didnt remember getting that memo...

 

[jennylyn_b]

Tutto Italia in Epcot was a horror for sure.

My DH and I went for a late lunch not on DP....at 3pm with another couple...you could have bounced the meatballs off the wall and dry pasta...
I am the type to nicely complain, but since it was there treat and they said nothing i didnt either....grrrr...

Then my D- Gr. son and his girlfriend ( new engaged at Disney )went there a few days ago for a late dinner...he said they brought the food out in 5 minutes....more dried up pasta,since he was starving he ate it...

I am spreading the word..I had told him not to eat there but he said he didnt remember getting that memo...

Wow sorry this happened to your family. We have always had nothing but fresh delicious meals here. That is weird though and unfortunate.

 

[MVC1225]

Biergarten (lunch) - we just didn't like the food quality or variety.

Grand Floridian Cafe (dinner) - food wasn't great and service was AWFUL. We did like breakfast though.

1900 and Chef Mickey (dinner) - characters were good (actually great at 1900) but food was not. I would maybe repeat Chef Mickey for breakfast because of characters but not dinner.

There are a few more that we didn't think were worth the price but the food was good so don't really belong on this list.

 

[cdispoto]

I wish everyone's opinions came with details about where they are from and what time of year they went to DW.

My wife and I live in the NYC area and have been to Peter Lugers, Del Posto, Le Bernardin, Mesa Grill... some pretty highly regarded places. With that said, we loved Le Celliar and the TS at Mexico as well as the Kona Cafe lunch, and Be Our Guest lunch. We liked Coral Reef and can't really say any place we went has "never again" status (except Captain Cooks).

Then again, we don't have kids and always going during slow times of the year, which may have something to do with our experiences.

 

[OklahomaTourist]

You know, in perusing the last several pages of this thread, one name I've heard repeatedly (and I contributed my own story myself) is Chef Mickey's.

Any one or two data points can represent an outlier due to a bad day, unusual circumstances, what have you, but as often as CM's shows up in this thread, I have to think maybe this place needs some attention. Has anyone heard of any possible changes to this place? It used to be one of the "name" places to go at WDW, but now I realize I'm not the only one who finds it to be expensive and decidedly less than stellar. I'd think TPTB might be concerned/take notice, because, eventually, people will choose other options....I know we have.

 

[Sunnyday3]

The Coral Reef in Epcot. HORRIBLE! The food was awful, and the service was worse. The waiter would go away for long stretches of time, the food was cold, we needed refills, we had two hungry children, and the food was not arriving... We were stuffed in a corner about two feet away from another table...it was just not enjoyable.


Tony's Town Square in MK was not that good, either. Bland food, horrible service...

 

[SteveandAli511]

You know, in perusing the last several pages of this thread, one name I've heard repeatedly (and I contributed my own story myself) is Chef Mickey's.

Any one or two data points can represent an outlier due to a bad day, unusual circumstances, what have you, but as often as CM's shows up in this thread, I have to think maybe this place needs some attention. Has anyone heard of any possible changes to this place? It used to be one of the "name" places to go at WDW, but now I realize I'm not the only one who finds it to be expensive and decidedly less than stellar. I'd think TPTB might be concerned/take notice, because, eventually, people will choose other options....I know we have.

The problem is it's still one of the most popular restaurant's on property with reservations still hard to get. There are still families that go for their children/nostalgia's sake and many more who are going for the 1st time. As sad as it is to say, if you're Disney why bother fixing something if the masses keep coming?

 

[jojomoore]

dinner at 1900 park fare-yuck. It was a greasy spoon.

agreed!!!

 

[my2lovedisney]

Never again, will we ever eat at Liberty Tree Tavern or Tony's Town Square. We ate at Tony's in 2011. It was the night of the Halloween party. Our reservation was for 6:00 pm. Wouldn't you know there was another family with the same first and last name and same amount of people who had a reservation at the same time. Imagine that...needless to say we weren't seated until this situation was resolved, which occurred about 45 minutes later. Once we were seated we were rushed. As soon as our dinner order was taken, before our dinner was brought out the waiter was back to take our dessert order. The food was awful, warm, not fresh and service was terrible. Never again.

In 2012 we had lunch at Liberty Tree. Food was mediocre at best, I will compliment the Ooey Gooey toffee cake which was the BEST dessert I've had in Disney. My husband had the split pea soup for his appetizer. We both had the same entree and dessert. 4 hours later my husband came down with food poisoning. Never again.

50's prime is average. Nothing to rave about there, not impressed. Chef Mickeys is ok, I've only been for breakfast. Do not like Cinderellas royal table, we went in 2011 for dinner..way overpriced and food was not good. Had bfast there in 2012 and was less than impressed. Service and princesses are great, food sucks. Not a fan of WCC. Breakfast is good, dinner not so much.

My faves: Crystal Palace (bfast) , O'Hana for bfast, 1900 park fare for bfast (strawberry soup is awesome), Via Napoli (excellent pizza), Hollywood brown derby (Cobb salad is yummy), Yak and Yeti.

I forgot Cosmic Rays and Pizza Planet--they're both awful.

 

[princess aleya]

Trails end, Boma

 

[Mary7116]

Hollywood & Vine without a doubt. Dinner was awful buffet food and breakfast was cold and not good. What a disappointment. How a restaurant can make a bad breakfast buffet is puzzling.

 

[happy2012]

Sry to say The garden Grill. The food was cold & didn't have much flavor. The main thing was MM did not spend anytime w/ our DS, the reason we even ate there. I was sad. But CnD were awesome & so was our service!!!!! Top notch service!!!!!!

 

[Compassplant]

Most restaurants at WDW were disappointing on our Feb 2013 visit. My belief now is that dining is NOT Disney's strength.

We ate at Coral Reef, Tusker House, 1900 Park Faire, Liberty Tree, Sci-Fi Diner, Chef Mickeys, BierGarden, Cinderella's RT, Ohana's. SciFi Diner, Cinderella's RT, and 1900 were decent. The rest were ho hum.

The bottom line with Disney restaurants is that if you are used to eating at decent restaurants back home, then most Disney restaurants are nothing to write home about.

 

[edk35]

Sadly there are soooo many now. I think the quality has gone way down...in the past 5 or so years. It is hard to find places that when I leave I say I have thoroughly enjoyed. I dont' like Crystal Palace anymore....for breakfast or dinner. I think it is over priced and just not worth it anymore.

The jury is still out on Chef Mickeys....had Thanksgiving dinner there in 2009 and it was just OKAY. Not worth the money. Have eaten the breakfast buffet a few times and it was good but really not worth the cost...still very over priced and LOTS OF CRAZINESS. Tried Garden Grill AGAIN ...this past summer....BLECH!! Didn't enjoy that one either. Tried Tony's again in MK..had been a good 15 years since eating there...it was JUST OKAY. Probably could go another 15 years without trying it again.

Have not eaten at Pinocchio's in ages. Checked that off our list years ago. Unfortunately MK LACKS FOR GOOD TS and CS anymore. We usually like Liberty Tree for lunch but that is hit and miss anymore too but that is where we usually end up eating on a MK day. We end up at Pecos at least one...again.....just okay.

HS has the worst offerings for TS and CS. I mean the CS is really really bad in my opinion. We have tried Mama Melrose about three times and it was pretty good. Prime Time...hit and miss but the last time..we ate there for lunch this past summer and it was fine.