Let's have a fun thread....what Disney restaurants surprised you....good or bad

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Overwhelmed: Tiffans. Best meal I have ever had at Disney and top 5 of my life lol. Amazing service.
Underwhelmed: Skipper. Food was just not good.

 

[Leight19]

Pleasantly surprised: Sebastians bistros: in 2017 we went here without knowing anything about it just something we were able to get. The meal ended up one of my favorite of that trip and can’t wait to go back to try the new menu.

Bad surprise: Be our guest dinner: ive posted this several times before because how bad I felt it was. We went in jan 2021 and was one of worst meals I’ve had on property at one of highest prices. Service was mistimed which normally doesn’t bother me but bringing entrees minutes after apps left our large party with lots of plates with little to no room to navigate meal (kids at age to grab everything isn’t good).

This is forgivable to me but the deal breaker really was 3 kids ordered mac and cheese kids entree and all were accidentally served without any cheese added to it. What made this even worse was the kids aren’t always flexible (1,3, and 5) and refused to try it again when came out properly so none ate any of their entree to kitchen error and we still were charged full price for prix fixed. The adults had mainly positive feedback for rest of meal but didn’t outweigh the negatives so despite our food being good the experience left bad taste in our mouths.

 

[twincruisers]

Good surprise: Skippers with the short rib and fried chicken came out with good flavors with layers you can taste. Didn’t expect that out of a theme park restaurant.

french pavilion: puff pastry was still crispy and good balanced flavors of the escargot.

underwhelmed: funnel cake at Epcot. Soggy mess in 3 minutes with ice cream

 

[HMcH]

Surprised: Mama Melrose. I didn't have alot of expectations for Mama Melrose, and we loved it. We've now eaten there our last couple trips. I highly recommend the steak.

Surprised (Wife): Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno. Great interactions and attention from characters and the food was better than most character breakfasts.

Overrated: La Cellier. This is my wife's answer as well. She says it was overcrowded and loud. The atmosphere killed this restaurant more than the food. The food was good but not great.

 

[matt and beth]

Epcot:
Bad: Le Celliar steak was super salty
Good: Teppan Edo entertaining and really good
Animal Kingdom:
Bad: Pizzafari
Good: Tusker House Breakfast was really good
Magic Kingdom:
Bad: Crystal Palace (ugh too ugly to post)
Good: Be our guest dinner in the rose room (heavenly at the time)
Studios:
Bad: Mama Melrose (bad Olive Garden)
Good: Sci-fi low expectations but was really good

 

[gharter]

Jaleo. First time dining there and it was amazing. Planning to return next trip.

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

Cape May dinner was so underwhelming . Cold food , small portions , slow refills.
Sunshine seasons was a pleasant surprise ! My daughter loves the salmon ! Everything so fresh !

 

[LottiesMommy]

Best Surprise: Oga's. Our family is not huge Star Wars fans, so I had not planned to go. The night before our day at Hollywood Studios my husband mentioned that it sounded fun and asked if we had a reservation. I immediately signed up for alerts for open reservations and happened to snag a last minute reservation. My daughter and husband loved it! It was the highlight of our time in Hollywood Studios. They had so much fun ordering non alcoholic drinks. Not sure it would be quite as much fun on a subsequent visit, but I sure was surprised the drinks and atmosphere lived up to the hype.

Underwhelmed: Topolino's Terrace for dinner. Our food was not great - not terrible, but certainly not worth the price. I felt the view was equally underwhelming. We had a marvelous dinner at California Grill the night before, so maybe it was a hard act to follow, but our entire family said it was not worth returning to Topolino's again.

 

[JFox]

Surprise - Yak and Yeti. First time late lunch and we loved it. Tried several different dishes and left full.

Disappointment, it's a tie - O'hana. To loud and rushed every time we go.

California Grill - seated at the smallest table ever and had our plates in our laps. Food was ok.

 

[acarsme123]

This thread is going great! I love it! I see some consistent mentions. Ohana. I can’t believe I stressed so much about trying to get that ADR. Never again.

Glad to see Yak and Yeti mentioned as a surprise like. We very much enjoyed our meal there too! Will probably be on my ADR list for this next trip.

kind of surprised to see the disappointment in Skipper’s. I was considering this as a possibility for one of our MK days if we can’t get Steakhouse 71.

 

[acarsme123]

I feel this deserves to be mentioned every time a thread like this comes up, Rainforest Cafe, any location anywhere, but we had an especially bad experience at the DAK location. ATTROCIOUS service, slow, food was just OK, they refused to refill drinks, and gave us "to go" pudding desert in Styrofoam containers. Let's just say, that went poorly and caused us untold issues for HOURS after. What's worse is there was a mandatory 15% tip because we were a party of 8. NEVER, EVER AGAIN!!

We are at Rainforest at Disney Springs on our first trip to Disney. It was atrocious. But at the end of our trip we ate at T-rex and it was actually decent. Weird how two restaurants owned by the same company can be opposite of each other in food quality.

 

[TreAntDeu]

This thread is going great! I love it! I see some consistent mentions. Ohana. I can’t believe I stressed so much about trying to get that ADR. Never again.

Glad to see Yak and Yeti mentioned as a surprise like. We very much enjoyed our meal there too! Will probably be on my ADR list for this next trip.

kind of surprised to see the disappointment in Skipper’s. I was considering this as a possibility for one of our MK days if we can’t get Steakhouse 71.

At this point I have become exasperated with Ohana still getting pushed by certain crowds(some podcasts or vloggers) as a must do place to this day. That restaurant seems almost immune to failure with certain crowds. I kinda tired of hearing about it

If it was still ohana from many years ago, I'd understand. But there are just so many better places on property. I started talking ppl out of it abd pointing them elsewhere.

I'm glad this thread shows me I'm not alone

 

[SkyGuy]

Cape May dinner was so underwhelming . Cold food , small portions , slow refills.
Sunshine seasons was a pleasant surprise ! My daughter loves the salmon ! Everything so fresh !

I forgot Cape May. As a buffet, we loved it. As a family style restaurant, I don’t have words for how seafood should not be served this way - or at least why Disney should not be doing it this way. It was, bar none, the worst meal we have ever had on property.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

We are at Rainforest at Disney Springs on our first trip to Disney. It was atrocious. But at the end of our trip we ate at T-rex and it was actually decent. Weird how two restaurants owned by the same company can be opposite of each other in food quality.

Totally agree about TRex! It was surprisingly decent.

 

[kwdw]

Underwhelming: Homecoming, Le Cellier, Yak and Yeti TS, California Grill

Surprisingly Better than Expected: Sci Fy, Nine Dragons QS. And well, The Wave had made this list multiple times until Disney closed it.

 

[serenitygr]

Just left after three weeks: absolutely best meal was at T-Rex. Ordered New York strip and it was the best steak I’ve ever had, plus their mashed potatoes are to die for! Other meals in our group were also good, and of course the atmosphere is either you love it or hate it( we love it)!
Another excellent meal was the pizza at via Napoli in Epcot- so absolutely amazing and such a fun place!
I should mention that both restaurants put us at a table where we felt was a nice distance from others- I had previously canceled several indoor dining reservations because I’d read reports of tables being crowded together and was uncomfortable with that. We weren’t super distanced but definitely had some breathing room which was nice!
Biggest disappointment was the new s’mores cupcake available at fort wilderness- absolutely no taste and ended up throwing it away
And I can’t go without mentioning the absolute glorious deliciousness that was Gideon’s cookies/ omg I think we now have about $100 dollars worth of cookies in our camper freezer heading home to Minnesota

 

[Pens Fan]

Surprisingly good: Ragland Road - I know it gets good reviews so I shouldn't have been so surprised. But I guess my expectation was colored by my experience with other Disney meals that offer a show. I expected them to be coasting on the good will of music, dancing and atmosphere. Nope! Every time we eat there we all rave about how good the food is.

Surprisingly bad: Oga's Cantina - we had a horrible experience there at the DL one. This was pre-Covid when they were packing them in, and after waiting a long time in the sun - well past our ADR slot - we finally got in only to be told that our spot was standing in the second row behind the people standing at the bar (no table - just standing in the middle of the floor). We were told not to move because if we did they would give our spot away. We had to wave and holler at the bartenders to take our orders and just stand there in the middle of the floor drinking. Once the people at the bar left, we were "allowed" to step forward and lean against the bar. But then were told by one of the bartenders we had to leave as they mistook us for the people there before us. We stood our ground and got our second overpriced drink before leaving. Never again!

Bad-Jungle Skipper Cruise. Had the Brazilian cheese bread and fruit, but didn't like it at all. The bread was totally bland. Then the most disappointing part was I thought the servers were supposed to act a little like Skippers. Not mine-she just acted like a server.

We love Skipper Canteen, but when we ate there a couple of days ago it was definitely a different experience. There were no jokes, just regular service. We actually felt really bad for our server. She was very sweet and was absolutely hustling, but had waaaaay too many tables. They are obviously understaffed, and the guest experience is suffering because of it.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Surprisingly good: Ragland Road - I know it gets good reviews so I shouldn't have been so surprised. But I guess my expectation was colored by my experience with other Disney meals that offer a show. I expected them to be coasting on the good will of music, dancing and atmosphere. Nope! Every time we eat there we all rave about how good the food is.

Surprisingly bad: Oga's Cantina - we had a horrible experience there at the DL one. This was pre-Covid when they were packing them in, and after waiting a long time in the sun - well past our ADR slot - we finally got in only to be told that our spot was standing in the second row behind the people standing at the bar (no table - just standing in the middle of the floor). We were told not to move because if we did they would give our spot away. We had to wave and holler at the bartenders to take our orders and just stand there in the middle of the floor drinking. Once the people at the bar left, we were "allowed" to step forward and lean against the bar. But then were told by one of the bartenders we had to leave as they mistook us for the people there before us. We stood our ground and got our second overpriced drink before leaving. Never again!



We love Skipper Canteen, but when we ate there a couple of days ago it was definitely a different experience. There were no jokes, just regular service. We actually felt really bad for our server. She was very sweet and was absolutely hustling, but had waaaaay too many tables. They are obviously understaffed, and the guest experience is suffering because of it.

+1 for Raglan Road. We went in Aug '20 right when the parks first re-opened. The show was a shell of what it usually is and we still had a great time and LOVED the food!

 

[bnf0522]

Polite Pig in Disney Springs was a very pleasant surprise! We ate there with our QS Dining Plan back in 2019 and the food was some of the best QS we'd ever had at Disney!

 

[lelew]

After hearing bad reviews about 1900 parkfare character meal I was shocked of how nice it was and food was good my kids had a blast there.

I was underwhelmed with Ohana after so much hype.