Marathon Weekend 2023

[WillRunForPizza]

Magic Kingdom is filled with fast food style and it's hard to find a place on the healthy side during race weekends.

This is so true. My family went to MK for the 50th anniversary and food was just awful. First, as you say, it was all fast food-type options, which, fine, whatever. But even though we ordered well ahead of time, we had to wait at least an hour from when we had scheduled to get our food before it was actually ready. And even when we finally got it, the food itself was dry, cold, or both. I don't remember where we ordered from, but it sounded like they were having issues with mobile ordering across the board. Ugh.

 

[Dopey 2020]

Good Morning runDIsney All-Stars! It is time for Sundays are for Disney. Today’s question: Is there a Disney restaurant experience you have had that you would classify as a disappointment? Why? Would you give it another chance?

My answer: Sadly it is Ohana. This used to be a family favorite and a pick for every trip. But the last few times we went the food has been disappointing. We were there in April during Spring Surprise and got served under cooked chicken (gross) and over cooked steak (should be outlawed). But the tipping point was the service - we waited long past our reservation, then sat at the table for a long time, drinks took a long time and food even longer. When I mentioned our concern about the chicken (which I hate to do) I literally saw the server sigh, like we were just an annoyance.

On a trip in January we had similar food issues plus attitude when we were asking questions about gluten (both my daughters have Celiac Disease). So, at basically 60$ a person this is too much. This used to be a must get reservation for my family, we are taking a break from it now though.

Happy Fourth of July all!

Tusker House dinner as family style instead of bringing back the buffet. The characters were great but the service was some of the worst we’ve ever had and the limited menu was a huge disappointment compared to what was available pre pandemic. Even the manager could tell it was bad, they offered us a 10% discount but when we said we have an AP discount, they said “oh, ok, sorry” and that was that.
I get why they stopped buffets when things were in question but now I’m sure they’ve figured out people still fill the seats but family style means less cost for Disney. I won’t be going back unless they change it, too bad, it was a good one.

 

[Naomeri]

SAFD: I don’t generally have disappointing experiences in restaurants at Disney, because I stick to really basic places that are hard to screw up.

But last December, I did have an extremely disappointing experience at the Treats & Seats fireworks dessert party. I got a glass of wine (thankfully not red) and it tipped right into my lap because the table was unstable. The manager offered me free clothes for the Emporium, but I’m fairly sure the Emporium doesn’t sell all the clothes I was going to need for wine spilled in my lap, so I asked for a refund and she refused until I pointed out that it was their bad table that caused the problem. She left to go do the refund, and just left me standing there. I was apparently free to go, but she didn’t tell me that, so I left standing there extremely embarrassed until someone got her back and she told me I was free to go. Then I had to get down Main Street through all the people sitting and waiting for fireworks. And I was starving the whole time, since I never got to eat anything!!

 

[azrivest]

SAFD: Space 220. The food was just okay. It was not worth the price and the hype. We won't be going again.

 

[camaker]

Good Morning runDIsney All-Stars! It is time for Sundays are for Disney. Today’s question: Is there a Disney restaurant experience you have had that you would classify as a disappointment? Why? Would you give it another chance?

My answer: Sadly it is Ohana. This used to be a family favorite and a pick for every trip. But the last few times we went the food has been disappointing. We were there in April during Spring Surprise and got served under cooked chicken (gross) and over cooked steak (should be outlawed). But the tipping point was the service - we waited long past our reservation, then sat at the table for a long time, drinks took a long time and food even longer. When I mentioned our concern about the chicken (which I hate to do) I literally saw the server sigh, like we were just an annoyance.

On a trip in January we had similar food issues plus attitude when we were asking questions about gluten (both my daughters have Celiac Disease). So, at basically 60$ a person this is too much. This used to be a must get reservation for my family, we are taking a break from it now though.

Happy Fourth of July all!

Our biggest disappointment has been Tiffins in the Animal Kingdom. It got absolutely rave reviews as one of the best on property restaurants from folks on here so we decided to give it a try. It wasn't bed. It just wasn't special, and for the price and reputation we were expecting something beyond the ordinary. We won't be going back.

 

[lookingforsunshine]

SAFD: I haven’t ever had a truly negative experience but I suppose my answer would be House of Blues in Disney Springs. Not a lot of plant-based options and just wasn’t great. But it wasn’t terrible.

I also was a little disappointed with Rose & Crown— the food was good, but the vegan shepard’s pie relied too heavily on fake meat and not enough on vegetables. I love how easily accessible plant-based options are at Disney, but I wish they relied less heavily on fake meat. The vegan shepard’s pie at Raglan Road is wayyy better.

 

[The Expert]

Our biggest disappointment has been Tiffins in the Animal Kingdom. It got absolutely rave reviews as one of the best on property restaurants from folks on here so we decided to give it a try. It wasn't bed. It just wasn't special, and for the price and reputation we were expecting something beyond the ordinary. We won't be going back.

When Tiffin's first opened it was truly unique and really good, but sadly they've "dumbed down" (aka Americanized) the menu since then and it's nothing special. But for the first six months or so, it was fabulous!

 

[The Expert]

SAFD: I have to throw Cali Grill under the bus. We've had great meals there, but it's very inconsistent. We try again every few years, thinking maybe we'll get lucky, but we walk away disappointed more often than not.

 

[RuntheMouse]

SAFD: Coral Reef in EPCOT. I was so excited to eat here, chose it for my birthday dinner years ago. The service was awful and the food was mediocre. The only saving grace was that we had a table by the aquarium glass. We haven’t been back in 8 years.

Honorable mention to Homecomin’. We went when they first opened and had an amazing meal. Went back the following trip and it was so busy we could only sit at the bar but we took it and it was good again! We met friends there about a year after they opened and it was kinda meh. Food wasn’t as fresh and service wasn’t as good. We tried again a few months later thinking it was a one off, same experience. BUT I will probably try again sometime because it was that good the first time we went.

 

[matt and beth]

SAFD: Space 220. The food was just okay. It was not worth the price and the hype. We won't be going again.

Disappointed? I would agree Space 220. Has the price of a fine dining experience and the taste of an Applebees. Management tries hard but it’s setup for disappointment with the price tag.

 

[DisneyParrothead]

Disappointed? I would agree Space 220. Has the price of a fine dining experience and the taste of an Applebees. Management tries hard but it’s setup for disappointment with the price tag.

I think that’s a big issue with Disney restaurants. They’re pricy and the experience doesn’t justify the price.

 

[nekonekoneko]

SAFD: If I have to call a restaurant a disappointment, it would have to be Be Our Guest. When we first went in 2014, everything was great! We went to the QS lunch and TS dinner, and all the food was fantastic.

Then we went in January 2018, and things changed, and not for the better. It was the only meal that entire Disney trip that I sent back. The roast beef in their French Dip was really chewy and gristly. The manager let me change it up. I got the pork coq au vin, and it was really flavorless.

Then they changed it to the prix fixe menu that we have now. I gave it one more shot. It was fine. And that's the problem: for the price of that meal, it should be more than just fine. It should be a good meal, and it's not.

At this point, the decor inside is beautiful, but the food just doesn't keep up.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I've honestly never had a bad meal anywhere at WDW, any park. Everything I've had (pretty much all QS and probably about half of the TS), has been good to great. But ultimately, it's a theme park, I'm not expecting world class dining.

 

[MissLiss279]

SAFD:
I hate ‘throwing restaurants under the bus’, but I will probably try this one again.

50’s Prime Time
A year or two ago (maybe ‘MW 2021, when I went and ran my races virtually - so pandemic era), I had a reservation near the end of the night. I really like meatloaf and I think I’ve had it there before, but it was not good and I didn’t end up eating very much of it. Now I’m a little worried to try meatloaf anywhere on property because I think they could use the same recipe!

 

[Herding_Cats]

SAFD: Terralina at Disney Springs. We were surprised at how empty it was and how easy reservations were to get, until we got our food. Once again the whole food/flavor-to-price issue rears its head. Not sure it was even up to par with like…Olive Garden quite frankly.

Honorable mention: Polite Pig. Idk if I was just expecting too much but it was nowhere near where I thought it would be.

Tangential: how limited the menus (still!!) are during/post covid. Sanaa had like 5 choices on the menu for sooooo long. I understand that during/after the shutdown it made for significantly less waste and for things to be more doable for a smaller staff, but it’s time for more thing to come back.

 

[GuinnessRunner]

SAFD: I'm guessing I will be in the minority here, but Storybook DIning was a disappointment for me when we went Marathon Weekend 2019. While the food was generally ok, I didn't think the appetizers or desserts were very good and for the price paid I was underwhelmed to say the least. Essentially it was an expensive meal for an opportunity to take a picture with Dopey and even when I did Dopey the next year, I had zero desire to go back.

 

[jmasgat]

SAFD: Last time at Jiko, several years ago (so no Covid slack to be cut). Absent/incompetent service coupled with overly salted food (like, inedible) At those prices--no excuse. Will never go back.

 

[striker1064]

SAFD: I've been disappointed with a lot of the dining many other people like, so that'll probably earn me some consternation. Be Our Guest, Chef Mickey's, Ohana, Cinderella's Royal Table - all really bad. And not in the "this is expensive and the food is only good and should be great" kinda way, but genuinely bad food. Ohana and Chef Mickey's were greasy, dry, and flavorless. BOG and CRT were also quite bland, but disguised as smaller portions to seem fancier. I know it's a theme park, but I hate the way the food is all homogenized. If you're eating at a QS counter in a hotel, with few exceptions, it's the same powdered eggs and Mickey waffles. Same for all the buffets - except for Tusker House and Boma, it's all the same bad food. It'll fill you up and that's about it. And I always feel like the weirdo when I go to these places and everyone else is raving about how good it is. I don't even mind paying a lot for food, but I want it to actually taste good.

More runners-up are Sanaa and Whispering Canyon Cafe. We went to Sanaa after an insane amount of hype both from IRL friends and online and it's just fine. Yes, the bread service is pretty good, but it's all very similar to most any other Indian restaurant and not particularly standout. But one positive is it's actually different from WDW's food offerings. WCC I guess gets people riled up because of the hijinks, which are fun, but you're getting another plate of the same bland breakfast you can get anywhere - this time with a $20 upcharge.

When Tiffin's first opened it was truly unique and really good, but sadly they've "dumbed down" (aka Americanized) the menu since then and it's nothing special. But for the first six months or so, it was fabulous!

Yes, definitely. Tiffin's was quite good at the beginning, but we haven't been back since we heard it's changed. It's not hard to see why this happens. Go to any of the actually unique restaurants at WDW and you'll hear more people complaining about how different the food is than praising and enjoying something different. People never seem to want to try things. If it's not what they always have, they're not interested. So of course, WDW just makes everything the same, and I'm sure that's cheaper and easier for them as well.

This turned more rant-y than I expected! I get passionate about bad food.

 

[azrivest]

We went to Sanaa after an insane amount of hype both from IRL friends and online and it's just fine. Yes, the bread service is pretty good, but it's all very similar to most any other Indian restaurant and not particularly standout.

Yes!

 

[The Expert]

SAFD: Last time at Jiko, several years ago (so no Covid slack to be cut). Absent/incompetent service coupled with overly salted food (like, inedible) At those prices--no excuse. Will never go back.

Jiko has definitely had its ups and downs, mostly due to chef changes. Someone gets a reputation there for being good and they tend to move them somewhere else on property. But we just went back on our trip in March (yes, new chef) and it was great! As good as I remember it being at the beginning. The service was also excellent. Might be time to give it another try (assuming this chef sticks around for a bit).