Is anyone getting as turned off as I am?

[SydneyFalco]

Sorry, I didn't express my feelings well enough. A circus to me, at WDW, CHEAPENS the MK, imo. There are plenty of other rides there could be. One Dumbo was great, this new theme they have, I could do without. Haven't seen it in person yet, but in photos, to me, it is out of place. I might be wrong.

Didn't the original Disneyland include an actual circus for a time? It was phased out because nobody wanted to spend their whole day watching clowns when there were rides elsewhere in the park, but still...

 

[LBIJim]

My question then is: is it possible to walk up to ANY restaurant in Epcot, say, 11:30 am for lunch or 4:30 or 5 pm for dinner, and get seated??? In reading the boards, it seems that UNLESS you have a reservation at a Disney or Epcot sit-down restaurant NO ONE will be able to be seated. Maybe I am misunderstanding. Thank you.

Sure, it's possible, but by no means a sure thing. The less popular places often have space available. We've been seated as walk-ups before. Sometimes almost immediately, other times after a 15-20 minute wait. Sometims even during normal meal hours. And we've been turned away as walk-ups also. Depends on the season, the time of day, how well-staffed the restaurant is, etc.

But if you have your heart set on eating at a certain place, it's best to make an ADR. Sometimes you can get ADRs with only a few hours advance notice.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Regarding the comments that America is boring @ Epcot, that should be the ONE country with the most red, white, blue, horns, whistles, movies, rides, etc; Patriotism, salutes, etc; I guess my question is why is it not? This is the country that hosts Epcot. Why not?

I'm confused as to why I'm quoted? I.never said america was boring. I.loved the fife and drum corps and am very upset they are removing their act. I agree that they are integral to the american pavilion experience.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

When I go to WDW I stay for 7-10 days onsite. I expect CS to not be the greatest but some of these TS places are not good at all for the price. I understand it's Disney and we will pay a markup to eat their but it's getting out of control now. .

I agree with almost everything you said (except we're willing to rent a car). Mostly though, if we're at WDW, eating offsite takes too much time. I've done it. By the time we got back to WDW, it was basically too late to go to a park.
Going to WDW, or any vacation- we're paying a premium just to be there. Air, hotel, park tickets...If we're paying the entrance fee, then we need to maximize park time, within reason.

It's hard to put my finger on all the things that are wrong with WDW food. On several recent trips, WDW food makes us feel slightly ill. The food at US, and the airport didn't bother us. As soon as we ate some place other than WDW, we felt much improved.

A few specific things we noticed is that WDW food tends to be heavily salted. It's hard to get fresh fruit and vegetables. Everything is smothered with sugar, starch and fat. Not just any fat, saturated fats: bacon, butter, and cheese!

Or the menu at the Wave, which was supposed to be healthy. Nearly all the entrees come with cheese, bacon, white flour, potato, and sugar...or a heavy combination of all of the above. Let's see: scallops with bacon/cheese risotto, peach salad with praline (sugar), AND bacon vinaigrette. Lamb with Macaroni and cheese, au-jus. Chicken covered in BBQ (sugar) sauce with fried potato hash, Ravioli covered w/cream sauce.

Another place we walked around in circles was Pepper Market. We could pick pizza (white flour covered in fat ), Roasted pork that was sitting a pool of grease, orange cheese nachos, alfredo sauce pasta, cheese steak, BBQ (sugar)bacon cheeseburger, fries covered in cheese (regular fries aren't bad enough!). This place USED to have a fresh fruit bar! This USED to be one of the very few QS on property that ACTUALLY sold plain, fresh berries!

I mean every place on property, if they serve hamburgers even - they are covered with cheese and bacon. The chicken sandwich isn't just plain with veggies it's covered with "salsa ranch dressing and pepper jack cheese".

Yuck! Do Americans REALLY eat this way ALL the time?!?!?

 

[Cira]

How sad. This is what I thought, over the years when I have been in the area, it just seems like the parks are so "un-holiday-ish". Or less than they USED to be anyway. Will look around for some photos just for the heck of it.

I am talking about Christmas decorations you see walking around, not special events.

Yes, DHS has the Osborn lights and the xmas tree out front, but not much else.

Epcot is just sad and other than the one big tree in front of AK, I don't think they have much anymore, either.

 

[Cira]

I don't believe we will have any kind of account. We are just purchasing, probably a one-day ticket, possibly one park or hopping over to Epcot if we are at MK. I just thought I could walk up , without a reservation, to any restaurant in MK OR Epcot and get a table, even if there is waiting involved. Anyone know if that is possible. I am a bit confused, going by what many are saying on the boards, unless I have a reservation, dining at either park is impossible, without an rsvp.

I don't know about walking up.

What we did was look at all the openings on my MDE account for that night around when we thought we'd be wanting to eat and then chose one and made an ADR for it that day. There were a lot of openings the night we did that. This was around Dec 18.

 

[Cira]

You can walk into Restaurant Marrakesh in the Morocco pavilion any time, any day. The majority of Disney guests are not adventurous diners.

 

[Cira]

Thank you MakiraMarlena!

Anything is possible. Is it likely, depends on the restaurant, the time of year and whether you've selected peak mealtimes.

I've gotten walkups before at several Epcot restaurants: Via Napoli, Teppan Edo, Tutto Italia, San Angel, I haven't tried it but you can usually get in at Nine Dragons or Marrakesh when everything else is full. Maybe Biergarten (it's a huge place when it's fully staffed) or Tokyo Dining also. It probably won't work at very popular places (I think Le Cellier may be a bit easier for lunch now as there's no great demand to pay those prices for lunch) or peak mealtimes. Like, you are probably not going to be able to just walk up to Rose and Crown and get a seat with an Illuminations view.

Of course you could end up waiting...so a previous night reservation is probably better than taking the chance on having to wait, if you aren't determined to make the selection completely on the fly.

 

[Cira]

I am surprised, with as much talk there is about feeding kids healthy meals that Disneyworld, by now, doesn't have healthy salads and veggies and fruits counters where people can choose to eat. How odd. Bottom line here has to be money because the foods and ingredients below, if true, could KILL people, based on what health experts say.

I agree with almost everything you said (except we're willing to rent a car). Mostly though, if we're at WDW, eating offsite takes too much time. I've done it. By the time we got back to WDW, it was basically too late to go to a park.
Going to WDW, or any vacation- we're paying a premium just to be there. Air, hotel, park tickets...If we're paying the entrance fee, then we need to maximize park time, within reason.

It's hard to put my finger on all the things that are wrong with WDW food. On several recent trips, WDW food makes us feel slightly ill. The food at US, and the airport didn't bother us. As soon as we ate some place other than WDW, we felt much improved.

A few specific things we noticed is that WDW food tends to be heavily salted. It's hard to get fresh fruit and vegetables. Everything is smothered with sugar, starch and fat. Not just any fat, saturated fats: bacon, butter, and cheese!

Or the menu at the Wave, which was supposed to be healthy. Nearly all the entrees come with cheese, bacon, white flour, potato, and sugar...or a heavy combination of all of the above. Let's see: scallops with bacon/cheese risotto, peach salad with praline (sugar), AND bacon vinaigrette. Lamb with Macaroni and cheese, au-jus. Chicken covered in BBQ (sugar) sauce with fried potato hash, Ravioli covered w/cream sauce.

Another place we walked around in circles was Pepper Market. We could pick pizza (white flour covered in fat ), Roasted pork that was sitting a pool of grease, orange cheese nachos, alfredo sauce pasta, cheese steak, BBQ (sugar)bacon cheeseburger, fries covered in cheese (regular fries aren't bad enough!). This place USED to have a fresh fruit bar! This USED to be one of the very few QS on property that ACTUALLY sold plain, fresh berries!

I mean every place on property, if they serve hamburgers even - they are covered with cheese and bacon. The chicken sandwich isn't just plain with veggies it's covered with "salsa ranch dressing and pepper jack cheese".

Yuck! Do Americans REALLY eat this way ALL the time?!?!?

 

[msb578]

I don't believe we will have any kind of account. We are just purchasing, probably a one-day ticket, possibly one park or hopping over to Epcot if we are at MK. I just thought I could walk up , without a reservation, to any restaurant in MK OR Epcot and get a table, even if there is waiting involved. Anyone know if that is possible. I am a bit confused, going by what many are saying on the boards, unless I have a reservation, dining at either park is impossible, without an rsvp.

If I recall, the only thing you need to make an ADR is an email address, and a credit card number to guarantee it.

 

[Angel Ariel]

If I recall, the only thing you need to make an ADR is an email address, and a credit card number to guarantee it.

If you call to make the ADR, that may be the case. If you want to make it online, you need to have a MyDisneyExperience account.

 

[Cira]

Was that me? If so, my mistake Angel Ariel. Your quote had nothing to do with America not being very patriotic over at Epcot.

I'm confused as to why I'm quoted? I.never said america was boring. I.loved the fife and drum corps and am very upset they are removing their act. I agree that they are integral to the american pavilion experience.

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

Nope. We've been going to Disney World more because of the changes. We love FP+, love the convenience of the Magic Bands, VERY happy Starbucks is in the parks now, love some of the new updates, couldn't care less about the performers at Epcot. Overall, we're very happy and leaving to go back for our 6th time in just over a year in two days!

A man after my own heart ! Love all the changes. Change needs to happen and I always trust in their judgment. They are not #1 theme park company in the world for nothing . Frankly there is NO ONE even close !

 

[DanInMN]

Sorry, I didn't express my feelings well enough. A circus to me, at WDW, CHEAPENS the MK, imo. There are plenty of other rides there could be. One Dumbo was great, this new theme they have, I could do without. Haven't seen it in person yet, but in photos, to me, it is out of place. I might be wrong.

We visited MK yesterday. I think the circus section looks like a cheap carnival at a State Fair. I feel the same way about the dinosaur area of AK.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Was that me? If so, my mistake Angel Ariel. Your quote had nothing to do with America not being very patriotic over at Epcot.

lol, ok I was very confused for a moment! It's all good

 

[Redcon1]

In my almost 50 years of visiting Disney theme parks, I've never felt more like a $ to them as I do now, as opposed to feeling like a welcomed guest.

 

[maxiesmom]

Magic Kingdom has more Christmas decorations than the other 3 parks combined. The other parks look pretty darn sad at Christmas time.

I don't think so! DS has the big garland stars they hang on their street lights, plus window displays. Epcot has topiaries all over the place, and each country has their own santa, or a play of some sort. I think the only one that lacks massive decorations is the Animal Kingdom, and that is probably for the safety of the animals. If they can't allow plastic straws I can't see them hanging garland and stuff all over. And each park has at least one tree.

Oh, and I was at WDW last December.

 

[Mkrop]

I don't think so! DS has the big garland stars they hang on their street lights, plus window displays. Epcot has topiaries all over the place, and each country has their own santa, or a play of some sort. I think the only one that lacks massive decorations is the Animal Kingdom, and that is probably for the safety of the animals. If they can't allow plastic straws I can't see them hanging garland and stuff all over. And each park has at least one tree.

Oh, and I was at WDW last December.

I have to agree with this but I think AK is very well decorated. They have decorations on all the ride entrances and they have those adorable trees over near Camp Minnie/Mickey, or they did. I think Epcot is the least decorated in my opinion but I still think it looks great. And the resorts are stunning!!!

 

[cakebaker]

.... smothered with sugar, starch and fat. Not just any fat, saturated fats: bacon, butter, and cheese!.....

.....cheese, bacon, white flour, potato, and sugar...
..... scallops with bacon/cheese risotto, peach salad with praline (sugar), AND bacon vinaigrette. Lamb with Macaroni and cheese, au-jus. Chicken covered in BBQ (sugar) sauce with fried potato hash, Ravioli covered w/cream sauce.....

.... pizza.. Roasted pork ... orange cheese nachos, alfredo sauce pasta, cheese steak, BBQ (sugar)bacon cheeseburger, fries covered in cheese... (regular fries aren't bad enough!).

.... hamburgers.... covered with cheese and bacon...
... chicken sandwich isn't just plain with veggies it's covered with "salsa ranch dressing and pepper jack cheese"......

Yum! Now I'm hungry.

I look at food other countries eat and I think some of it's pretty disgusting too.
We're on vacation. I don't think "Americans" eat anything as a whole, but no we don't eat like this at home...but on vacation, we enjoy ourselves. A few days eating bacon and beef isn't going to kill anyone.

 

[NancyIL]

A man after my own heart ! Love all the changes. Change needs to happen and I always trust in their judgment. They are not #1 theme park company in the world for nothing . Frankly there is NO ONE even close !

I'm sure Disney hopes most of its guests think as you do. Fortunately, many of us do NOT think change for the sake of change is good, and we do NOT always trust their judgement.