Most overrated food items and restaurants in WDW?

[mousegear]

Surprised to see that people actually like the orange dole whip. The original citrus swirl (which used real frozen orange juice) was delicious, but the current one (aka orange dole whip or orange-vanilla swirl) makes me gag.

Orange dole whip also reminds me of cough syrup. Yuck!
When I'm in craving for the sweet and cold, dole whip serves purpose but it's way too sweet for me. I could never finish one by myself.

Dole whip - it's good but nothing to rave about
Ohana dinner - salad was ok and rest of meal horrible. dumplings, i make better ones at home, meats were too dry and coveted bread pudding was way too sweet.
cupcakes- they don't taste good as they appear

Despite let downs on food department, we still love to go WDW and eat!

 

[Tropical Wilds]

Chef Mickey. I think it's very... Just blah. Our Denny's has a better menu with better tasting food. It's a really, really expensive Comfort Inn courtesy breakfast. And I didn't get the character hype either. It's not like it's hard to find any of them in the parks.

Chef Mickey is just one of those things I don't get.

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

Way back 10 years ago when DD was 2 chef mickeys was different. There were so many more characters. I think 7 total. It was worth the money. The ice cream bar had candy toppings. The topping bar is now filled with balls. Just boring ice cream. Also, the buffet used to have more stuff. Last trip I commented how the items are placed farther apart and less choice. Now that the price changes by the day of the week and season my daughter who used to love it and ask to go 2 or 3 times a trip says it is a waste of money or table credits.

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

Le Cellier gave me food poisoning one trip. I was laying outside the bathroom sick as a dog. Thought I might give it another try as it has been a few years but looking at reviews I think not. Besides just walking in might remind me how sick I was and make me not want to eat there

Have you ever thought food taste different when we are tired, hungry or stressed? Sometimes I wonder if that influences our opinions.

 

[rentayenta]

For restaurant CRT. The food was disgusting.

The Lapu Lapu at 'Ohana. While delicious, it's a joke what they charge for it considering it's 95% pineapple.

 

[Ohiodisneyguy]

We like most Disney food, but, tonga toast and school bread are nasty. I've seen rave reviews for Kona Cafe, didn't care for it.

 

[MolonLabe]

Ugh. Do we really need these negative threads? Can't we just let people like what they like?

I appreciate them. It helps me to make an informed decision in some cases.

Lots of people not like Le Cellier. I wsa in a toss up between that and something else... guess what? Le Cellier loses.

It does help for the negative threads if people are more specific about what they didn't like. It also helps if they include a few things they did like so you can get an idea if they have similar tastes to you.

For me the juice at Tusker House was WAY over rated. In contrast I thought the juice at 1900 park fare was outstanding. I also think the entire breakfast buffet at tusker is over rated, while the character experience was very good. Conversely 1900 park fare was the best breakfast food we've had at WDW.

Something I really miss are the old school Mickey ice cream bars on a stick. You know, the one with chocolate ice cream ears and eyes and mouth.... It's been 15-20 years since I had one probably.

The new ice cream bars are O.K. I liked the Itsakadoodle, of course it was 97 degrees when we had them, so I can't be sure

 

[canoe86]

I actually had the same thought. Glad I wasn't the only one.

I like threads like this. BOTH types are informative, the why and why not of everything. When deciding where to eat, I want to know BOTH opinions.

Great thing about having a title to every thread is, you are not required to open the thread and can just pass it by.

 

[pigletto]

Confession time. Not one of us enjoyed the Poly Luau. The food was all pretty gross but dessert was revolting. And the show itself was extremely cheesy.

However.. there's a ton of things listed in this thread that I would say we really enjoy. That is the beauty of Disney World.. something for everyone

 

[Shoopdeedoo]

People talk about the Main Street Cinnamon rolls like they will change your life. They are large and served nice and warm, but not that special IMO. Good but not "have to have" for me.

YES! That is a great way to put it!

 

[canoe86]

Okay, our dislikes, which to be honest, are more like disappointments. I think Disney creates a bit of a problem for itself in that it charges top dollar for almost everything, and people expect the best. That said.....

1. Poly luau show. Went the first time on our first trip as a family. Food was sub par, show the same. Talking about giving it another try this year.....trip 6.

2. Cupcakes. The look incredible. Reality, not that great. Threw out 3 of the 4 we bought.

3. Marrakesh in Morocco with conditions. Ate once, had the "special" they offered. Not so good, BUT, we loved one course and have discussed going again and ordering something unique........aka, not a bunch of plates waiting in the kitchen.

4. Hamburger buns. Well documented on these boards.



I guess those are the ones that jump to mind. There have been other.......'normal'....experiences that I have felt did not meet MY expectations. Expectations for the cost, the reviews, Disey etc etc etc. But as my wife just said, we have had a number of very good meals at Disney.

 

[CrabbyPatty]

Good thread. I'd have to say school bread (c'mon, isn't it basically a pastry with some goopy stuff inside?), zebra domes (don't get that one AT ALL), Boma in general (I mean, it was okay, but nothing special stands out in my memory) and Tonga toast (just thinking of it makes me slightly sick).

BUT I do love Dole Whip floats. I think it has something to do with it being 95 degrees in the shade, then the cool frosty non-dairy taste is very refreshing, IMHO.

 

[crazycatlady]

My biggest problem with the new gormet cupcake fad overall, everywhere, is that the frosting usually needs to be refrigerated, so the whole cupcake is refrigerated, and that dries out the cake part.

I totally agree. The cupcakes are served so cold that instead of the cake being nice and moist, it is somewhat hard and dried out. I thought the red velvet cupcake was much better because it was not quite so sweet.

I think the chicken at Prime Time is just meh. Certainly nowhere near any of the really good fried chicken that I have had. My family was disappointed in Prime Time as a whole.

Also, the food at 'Ohana was just ok. We aren't going back this year.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

#1- Le Cellier filet...it's not bad by any means, but with all of the rave reviews I expected it to be spectacular. It was just very average. It's going to sound awful, but as I was eating it- I started to feel bad for all of the people who say it's the best steak they've ever eaten. It's like I wanted to get them on a plane, fly them to TX, and feed them the filet at my fave local steakhouse. Of course this is also a subjective matter, so it may just be a matter of personal preferences.

#2- Dole Whip...ok, I liked it and would definitely order one again in the future as I love pineapple ; however, I guess I just expected it to be knock your socks off good like the pineapple sherbet I buy locally.

#3- Zebra Domes...this was the top reason I tried Boma. I had to have the famed dessert and I think it being below average is the main reason I felt a huge letdown from my meal at Boma.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

Disney cupcakes overall look much better than they taste, IMO. Way too sweet, the cake itself is generic and not too light, and the frosting is sometimes lardy IMO. I'm actually looking forward to trying babycakes just because Disney cupcakes aren't that appealing overall.

I completely agree. I actually feel this way about most Disney sweets. They're cloying and bland. The only sweet Disney staples I actually like are the Dole Whip (but not the float) and the Main Street Bakery cinnamon roll. Other than those, I prefer to take my sugar in alcoholic beverages.

Really, I don't like any of the savory snacks either. When people ask, "What is your 'must do' Disney snack?", I never have an answer. There are a couple things I like, but nothing I must do. I don't know if that's a result of personal oversaturation — I'm visiting the parks so much that I have no sense of urgency — or if I'm just less impressed with the food because of declining quality at Disney or more refined personal tastes (or a combination therein).

 

[Fantasmiss]

Good thread. I'd have to say school bread (c'mon, isn't it basically a pastry with some goopy stuff inside?)

Well, as school bread is getting such bad press in this thread, I feel I need to "defend" it a bit

The "school bread" they sell in Norway, EPCOT is NOT good, that's because it's not actually school bread.

Actual Norwegian school bread (skolebrød or skolebolle) is one of the best cake related things that ever existed!!

Here's a picture of what it's supposed to look like:
http://www.matoppskrift.no/oppskrift/Skoleboller

The dough is not pastry dough, not even in the Epcot "school bread", it's a sweet bread like dough with cardamon. The "goopy stuff" is custard.

In REAL school bread, the coconut is NOT supposed to be toasted, the school bread is supposed to be a lot flatter, the custard is supposed to be in a little "valley" on top and not inside, it's also not supposed to be runny. The school bread is not supposed to be dry at all, but very soft and fresh and almost a tad doughy just under the custard. I've had the Epcot one twice, first time it had WAY too much cardamon, it's not supposed to be spicy! Second time it had hardly any cardamon and tasted like a dry bread roll. The cardamon balance needs to be right and so does the sugar balance.

I love Epcot Norway, but wish they would stop besmirching the good name of school bread by selling some kind of evil cake wolf in cake sheep's clothing!

 

[mommy2twinprincesses]

We were disappointed in Mama Melrose and the Fantasmic dining package in general. The service was awful at an off peak time (2:40) and we waiting for 40 or so minutes. There was nowhere for us to sit and wait since it was so packed so we had to stand holding our exhausted 4 year olds to boot. They were so tired that day they fell asleep standing next to our legs! I realize part of the reason why we weren't thrilled is because our kids were so tired, but I would've been much more understanding if we had a place to sit while we waited.
The food was okay, our least favorite of the trip, and we were not impressed by Fantasmic which gets rave reviews all the time. We think Wishes and Illuminations are MUCH better.

DH and I also really liked LeCellier. We both loved the pretzel bread and cheese soup. We were there just over a year ago and they had Salt Crusted Prime Rib which was to die for. The mashed potatoes were excellent too. DH had a steak and my meal was far superior to his. I recently looked at the Le Cellier menu and couldn't find the Prime Rib listed. If they got rid of that, I would be really, really disappointed. We are debating on a return visit next month.

I was so disappointed that I was unable to get a reservation for 'Ohana for this upcoming trip and this thread made me feel a lot better.

 

[mommycrawford]

Dole Whips and Zebra Domes.

Although Le Cellier is overhyped I actually like it, not enough to fight for a reservation, but I like it. Maybe it's because I've never ordered steak there. I don't like Dole Whips or Zebra Domes.

AGREED!

 

[mickeyfanfl]

how about every food item that you read about on the dis? one that stands out is via napoli - it is pizza that can be had at any coal oven pizza restaurant. no special sauce or ingredients

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Zebra Domes - I just don't get it.

Cinnamon Roll at Main Street Bakery - It's ok but not great.

All the gourmet cupcakes (I've tried 7 so far) - they have all been dry and far too sweet.

Chefs de France - a ho hum meal. Best thing our party had was the kids cheese pastry.

Kona Island Cafe Coffee Bar - I'm talking the espresso drinks - totally horrible.

And here's a twist - these are items that get a bad rap but I like!

Toy Story Pizza Planet pizza - I like the veggie pizza on that soft whole wheat berry crust. Pizza is my favorite food and I like all types of different kinds of pizza. This isn't the authentic wood-fired pizza nor is it your pizza delivery kind, but it is still good.

Wheat burger buns - If it's white, I will ditch it anyway. I'd rather have a crumblier bun than something I wouldn't eat in the first place.

Resort coffee - Nescafe reminds me of the time I backpacked through Greece. They serve it everywhere! And since I take my coffee with milk or cream, it really mellows out the taste. In fact, the Nescafe is better than the Keurig crap I'm drinking right now (now THERE is something that was over-hyped!)