Nasty & Disgusting???

[The Sweetness]

After reading threads complaining about WDW CS food, I wonder if things havent changed A LOT in the last 5 yrs. IMO, in general, CS at WDW was pricey, but better quality than McDonalds etc... And if you look for it, you can get more options than McD's. I realize that *better than McDonalds* is not a rave review, but we ARE talking about fast food here. If I want to have a fine dining exp, I wont be ordering my food at a counter and taking it to my table on a plastic tray.

Personally, Ive always been content with the Cosmic Rays, Pizza Planets, and Epcot's FW food court offerings. (these types of places are abundant in WDW). When I am tired of these offerings (after a couple of days I crave something else, at least for dinner) Ive never been disapointed with the buffet meals (H&V, Crystal Palace etc). I dont think anyone who doesnt have incredibly high expectations is going to go hungry at WDW. Even someone needing to do low carb can eat a burger w/out a bun (or half the bread) or a salad with some chicken on top.

There will always be isolated incidents where you get a cold burger, or a turkey leg thats impossibly tough and cant be eaten (happened to me). But this is the exception, not the rule.

Maybe I am the one who is wrong here, but thats just my 2 cents on the subject

 

[LiteBrite]

I agree with you (although I have been one of the ones complaining about CS at MGM, with the exception of the new Studio Catering Co.). I have never felt like I couldn't find something to eat at WDW, and I actually really like and look forward to at least one or two CS places in each of the Disney parks. On our last trip (this October), I found myself enjoying the CS offerings more than ever. I really appreciated some of the newer options (like the Studio Catering Co., Seasons, and the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station), as well as old favorites like Columbia Harbor House and Tusker House.

 

[bicker]

To a great extent, there has been a change in what folks have come to expect from CS -- a change that is reflected in offerings like Tusker House, Studio Catering Co., Seasons, etc. I've been generally impressed with these new offerings, while remaining consistently unimpressed with the burger stands, feeling that they've neither improved nor degraded, based on my casual observation of them as I've passed them by.

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

Nope, I agree with you, too.

In four trips to Disney, so far, I don't think we've ever had a bad meal either; CS or TS!

Some were, of course, better than others, but I never felt ripped-off.

We had the Dining Plan this last trip and often had to share CS meals to prevent us being too full to fully enjoy the buffets we had ADR's for!

BTW, the buffet at Boma was wonderful ... the best Disney dining experience I've ever had!! Delicious soups, fabulous meat dishes, and a desert selection that can't be beat!

 

[heatherfeather24]

I also agree with you. I've always been able to find food that I enjoy and that I think is well prepared. I've also been impressed with the recent increase in healthier options -- I love that I can get a nice salad or a sandwich other than burgers and hot dogs.

I definitely find the CS offerings to be more on par with Chipotle, Panera Bread, Corner Bakery, Cosi, Portillo's etc. -- all of which I consider to be a step up from McDonalds (and, yes, I realize that some of these are Chicago-based chains that mean nothing to 99% of the disers out there).

The only counter service meals that I have not enjoyed have been a matter of personal taste, not a matter of improper preparation.

 

[oogieboogie]

I've always been impressed with Disney's CS food. Places like Tusker House, Flame Tree, Tomorrowland Noodle Station, heck even Casey's is a far cry from McDonald's.

DH and I actually like eating WDW's counter service - I really like the chicken strips. Sunshine Seasons at the Land has pretty good food too. They may be more expensive than outside WDW, but you still get more and the food is good, it's hot, it's fast. I've had worse meals at a TS restaurant.

There's always bound to be some bad food/bad service everywhere, not just CS restaurants but also TSs - which is why I don't put too much stock in reviews. Reviews are good, but it's also subjective.

 

[GoofyDad869]

We've had very good experiences with all of our counter service meals. Like others have said, some are better, some are worse - but we've never had a crappy CS meal.

I can't compare the quality long-term (pre-2001) as I don't really remember what the food was really like waaaay back in my '87 visit. I was in high school and am a not-very-picky male (and went with my parents so they paid for meals...), so as long as there weren't visible maggots I probably wouldn't have had any problem eating it. I do remember getting a burrito or taco from the CS Mexican restaurant in Epcot, which was quite good to me at the time (meaning: better than Taco Bell). My tastes are more discerning now (I hope).

Tusker House is wonderful & Pinocchio Village Haus is one of our must-dos (for the Figaro Fries).

 

[pedro2112]

I've read just about every thread in the dining section on these boards over the last few months, and it's clear there is no general upswing in complaints about CS meals at Disney. Quite the opposite, most posters are very complimentary about counter service dining at Disney. I'm not sure where one would get the impression that things have changed (for the worse) over time.

 

[philaround]

The worst food I have ever had at WDW is a mile above food I have eaten at other amusemant parks, and actually a little cheaper. For the sheer numbers of meals, both CS and TS, that Disney serves every day the quality never ceases to amaze me. Have I ever had a meal at DW that I was not satified with? Yes I have, but I can say the same about any restaurant I go to often enough.

 

[married@wdw]

I can't remember ever having a meal at WDW that was SO horrible. The food is rarely an issue -- sometimes bad service, long waits even with ADRs, etc. But rarely food. When we do CS, we've usually scoped out the places in a park that will suit us -- occassionally a burger or chicken fingers will sustain us (DH will eat anything), but as a "healthful eater" (even on vacation -- I exercise every morning on vacation too!), who's a little fussy, I rarely eat those kinds of foods. But it's farely easy to find good alternatives. Most places have a salad now and you can usually find other selections that are tasty.

I don't general like buffets, but that too is not an issue with the food, but with how many people are handling the serving untensils, etc. I'm creeped out by the thought of all those germs! But we do buffets sometimes and family-style quite frequently (can't wait for O'hana breakfast!!!) and I always seem to find plenty that I like.

The exception is Chef Mickey's -- the food always tastes OK, but I don't think I've ever had a HOT meal there, so we've given up on the place. It's not that great a loss though, with so many other fantastic options!

 

[The Sweetness]

I've read just about every thread in the dining section on these boards over the last few months, and it's clear there is no general upswing in complaints about CS meals at Disney. Quite the opposite, most posters are very complimentary about counter service dining at Disney. I'm not sure where one would get the impression that things have changed (for the worse) over time.

There was a thread that I saw this morning, where even the title of it was NEGATIVE (to me. This could be just b/c I was in a mood to begin with.) Im glad to see though, others having good things to say

 

[eclectics]

I found the CS restaurants to be quite adequate and sometimes surprisingly tasty. We had the free dining in September for 10 days and we ate like pigs. I'm not exactly a picky eater but I do have standards and will not eat something just because it's there. Truthfully, the only CS meal I couldn't eat came from Captain Cook's at the Poly. I could have used my grilled chicken sandwich to resole my sneaker. Other than that I was very pleased with the quality of WDW food.

 

[LauraAnn630]

I agree. All of the meals we have had at Disney have been just fine or better.

My complaint would be...

MGM - not enough counter service restaurants.

 

[jewellmmc]

Only the expensive food is good at Diz!

 

[ellyn2000]

I'm also a fan of CS and like that vegetarian DD can find something other than fries at most CS in WDW. We eat more CS than table dining usually but will have even more options with dining plan on next trip.

 

[pedro2112]

There was a thread that I saw this morning, where even the title of it was NEGATIVE (to me. This could be just b/c I was in a mood to begin with.) Im glad to see though, others having good things to say

No place is perfect, and there are bound to be some bad experiences, wherever one goes. How many times have we seen the old "I had a bad experience with mousekeeping at "X" resort, therefore I would never go back" threads? When the vast majority of responses to such a thread are "we stayed there just recently and had wonderful mousekeeping." What I'm trying to say, Sweetness, is that just because one or two people have a bad experience and post about it, it doesn't necessarily correlate to things changing a lot in the last five years.

It never occured to me how wonderful Disney's CS restaurants are (for the most part) until we went to a six flags theme park this summer. I haven't been to an amusement park (other than disney) in almost 20 years. The food offerings there were truly "nasty and disgusting." My wife and I kept saying to each other, "this sure ain't Disney!"