No variety in menu choices...

[mytwinklestar]

I know that I cannot be the only one who has been disgusted by the recent changes to almost every restaurant menu on Disney property. I don't care if I EVER see a version of potatoes au grautin - no matter the name that they choose. YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every single table services restaurant that we visited had the SAME SIDE of potatoes au grautin with a different title but the SAME pre packaged, heat-and-serve nasty cheesy potatoes. The first meal, the potatoes were not a problem but over a ten day stay, it got to be disgusting to even look at any longer.

The dessert choices are horrible, too. Same thing with desserts holds true. Almost every restaurant has the same exact offerings. Cheap desserts. Period.

Disney once held a much higher standard in every regard. I don't appreciate paying - or I should correct that - OVERPAYING for meals in Disney and getting prepackaged CHEAP offerings. Come on Disney... a 50 cent yogurt for a dessert? A 30 cent cookie? At the prices you charge? Are you kidding???

Tsk Tsk Tsk... such a shame.

 

[TammyC]

Just out of curiousity.. which restaurants had the Au Gratin potatoes? In my last 5 trips, I have only had something like that at Ohana - and I thought they were quite good.

 

[LindyN]

If you're bored with menus its time to go ala carte and pay out of pocket. I too am tired of the same chicken, fish, and beef dishes at Disney and am broadening where we eat our sit-down meals. We eat a lot of CS in Epcot (for variety) and Signature dining. This past week I hauled my kids to Jiko, Brown Derby and Spoodles--which is interesting food not found anywhere else. For CS we grazed around Epcot, went to the Pepper Market where DD had a huge Calzone and DS had Bourbon Chicken.

There is menu variety--you just have to seek it and plan on paying more, or using up more credits. We never saw one potato dish either.

 

[mytwinklestar]

We were offered the same au grautin potatoes at Tony's, Coral Reef, Narcossee, O Hana, AND Cinderella's Royal Table. It became the running joke between my DH and I. What new name would the next restaurant come up with to disguise the cheese potatoes? As I said, the first meal with them was okay ... but to have them served everywhere? We tried to eat at the more kid friendly restaurants because of our 10 and 5 year olds.

 

[TDC Nala]

Maybe it's because I haven't eaten at any of those places recently (except 'Ohana) but did they not have menu options other than potatoes?

(Edited to add: Looking at the menus...I see that pretty much anytime you order a steak at the named restaurants it comes with a potato side...and yes, they do seem to be au gratin potatoes. To get the other menu options one would apparently have to order something other than steak, or ask if a different side dish is available.)

 

[familyS]

I think most TS let you substitute sides. I remember getting rice or a veggie as a substitute for potatoes.

As long as CS have a dessert choice that is not chocolate, I am happy

 

[marivaid]

I can't remember eating potatoe au gratin anywhere but 'Ohana. Where did you dine at WDW?

There's not a single potato to be found at Spoodles. Plenty of other options at Boma, Kona, WCC, any Epcot WS restaurant... My mom hates mashed potatoes, which are served rather often in WDW, so she asks for an alternate side.

Also, what TS restaurant serves yogurt or cookies for desserts???? I've never seen any of those offered except in the CS kids' meals.

 

[just another guy]

I know that I cannot be the only one who has been disgusted by the recent changes to almost every restaurant menu on Disney property. I don't care if I EVER see a version of potatoes au grautin - no matter the name that they choose. YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every single table services restaurant that we visited had the SAME SIDE of potatoes au grautin with a different title but the SAME pre packaged, heat-and-serve nasty cheesy potatoes. The first meal, the potatoes were not a problem but over a ten day stay, it got to be disgusting to even look at any longer.

The dessert choices are horrible, too. Same thing with desserts holds true. Almost every restaurant has the same exact offerings. Cheap desserts. Period.

Disney once held a much higher standard in every regard. I don't appreciate paying - or I should correct that - OVERPAYING for meals in Disney and getting prepackaged CHEAP offerings. Come on Disney... a 50 cent yogurt for a dessert? A 30 cent cookie? At the prices you charge? Are you kidding???

Tsk Tsk Tsk... such a shame.

In my opinion, its all sad but true. Write it off as corporate greed. The stock holder technically own the company. All they want is to see a profit. That is done by cutting costs. The more uniform items get all over property(be it a side dish, alcohol drinks, desert, etc) the cheaper is gets for disney to produce them. None of that saving is passed onto the guests, only the share holders.

..THEN, top if off with the saying of "location, location, location!" You are there, rather be it your resort, a park, etc and you are hungry. Sure you could leave disney, travel unknown roads, and attempt to find your own restaurant, but 99.9% of people won't. Therefore they have you yet again, and are free to set the prices as they see fit. They jack the price up another dollar, Maybe a couple complaints, but its still selling, and overall, as an entire resort, number are up in sales, so all is well.

 

[EnnEss]

We were offered the same au grautin potatoes at Tony's, Coral Reef, Narcossee, O Hana, AND Cinderella's Royal Table. It became the running joke between my DH and I. What new name would the next restaurant come up with to disguise the cheese potatoes? As I said, the first meal with them was okay ... but to have them served everywhere? We tried to eat at the more kid friendly restaurants because of our 10 and 5 year olds.

Coral Reef has some really good wassabi mashed potatoes. This may be available at some other places but they are different from the Royal Table and Ohana, I've eaten at all 3. The wassabi potatoes have no cheese in them.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Looking over the menus with DH he said something along the lines of, they are all the same, even the desserts and appies. So he is asking me to limit the TS dinners we have and add more CS places. I am ok with that for Epcot and DTD...

 

[SauceBoss]

Ok, here's my two cents. And this has nothing to do with DDP (the almighty blame-all scapegoat) or Disney being cheap. Think of your target audience and think of the more popular restaurants. Also think of current industry trends if you happen to eat out a lot.

Let's begin by looking at a typical Steakhouse. What do 90% of steakhouse patrons go there to eat? Yes, Meat & Potatoes. In the 90's everyone had mashed potatoes - I mean EVERYONE! Going back, in the 80's it was how much crap you could put on a baked potato, but I'll spare everyone the history lesson. So, no matter what you entice a menu with, the "bread and butter" so to speak will always be what the majority of the crowd goes for. In reality, it's just smart business.

Buffets - it's all about taking pictures with characters than eating and everyone knows that.

Lunch - again, no matter what you do, the big 3 will always be the Burger, Chicken Caesar Salad and some sort of Turkey Sandwich. Anything else, is just whatever will appeal to the rest of the crowd.

and finally Breakfast - the majority of what your vacation crowd will want is going to be Bacon & Eggs, Omelets, Pancakes and French Toast. So it leaves little to the imagination if no one will buy the other items on the menu.

My suggestion - take LindaN's advice and ry the restaurants that have a different flare to them. Jiko and Spoodles, Artist Point and Citrico's would probably be the best examples because they are a different type of cuisine. They are not "meat & potatoes" restaurants. And usually the ones that the "meat & potatoes" crowd talk down about.

Just my two cents... and this is not only true of Disney eateries, but just about everywhere. Look at the hotel "coffee shop" in any Marriott, Hyatt or Hilton - all the same stuff. Look at the breakfast restaurant commercials - IHOP trying to re-invent the French Toast every month.

Happy Eating!

 

[SqueakyMouse]

During our Christmas visit to WDW, dh and I both noted a disappointing change in the offerings at the TS restaurant. We visit WDW several times a year and have eaten at pretty much all of the restuarants over the past 2 years. There seem to be fewer options; and, while the offerings may look interesting in the menu descriptions, they end up being quite bland. The biggest changes seemed to be on the buffets (especially at 1900 and Crystal Palace breafast). It didn't help that we had to pay the extra holiday surchage for these meals over Christmas!

 

[disnut8]

You can substitute any side at any Disney table service restaurant. If there is a rice side on a chicken dish but you want it with a steak dish, you can switch the side. Almost all the table service places with kids menus will have fries available. My husband does the substitute of the sides quite often (like 99% of the time). All you have to do is ask.

Disney makes great attempts to make you happy when you are dining. I go back to a great story of dining with a vegetarian friend. The veggy option on the menu didn't appeal to her so she asked for a turkey sandwich without the turkey. Once the server realized our friend wanted more vegetarian options, she quickly named off three or four other options. Just ask.

The last time I looked, there's not a Disney law that says you have to have the exact meal as it's printed on the menu.

 

[tink22]

I think people are not so adventurous either so Disney changes their menu to accommodate them. I know a lot of the servers at Akershus in Norway at Epcot laugh or just roll their eyes (out of their sight of course) at nearly every adult who orders off the kid's menu or simply gets the chicken with pasta or pasta with meat sauce. Here is the chance for Guests to try some authentic Norwegian food and they are too picky or just not interested in trying it, calling it 'weird'. Same with Boma.
So I think that the tastes of the American public have a lot of influence on the menu options at Disney now. It's sad, but true. We are lucky that some of the more unique restaurants are even still running instead of being turned into another burger and fries or chicken finger place. Just my opinion...

 

[java]

Coral reef?
I had basmati rice when I was there and dh had the wasabi mashed.

Did you order the same entree at these places - like say a steak, and that is how you ended up with the cheesy potatoes. (by the way I liked them at O'hana) But we will be on the lookout for the cheesy potato when we go!

 

[SnowWhite607]

You could also try Yak and Yeti or the Chinese/Japanese place in Epcot. I bet they dont have cheesy potatoes!

 

[LarryJ]

You could also try Yak and Yeti or the Chinese/Japanese place in Epcot. I bet they dont have cheesy potatoes!

We're at WDW now and in the last three weeks have eaten at TE, Sci-Fi, Fulton's, Askerhaus, Teppan Edo, Spirit of Aloha, and Yak and Yeti and have yet to spot these all encompassing "cheesy potatoes" However, we tend to stay away from the chicken/steak meals since we want the more unusual when paying such high prices.

Larry

 

[ajleone]

We were offered the same au grautin potatoes at Tony's

Tonys doesn't have an au gratin dish on their menu- although they may have been out of something and offered this as an alternative.

Coral Reef

Has au gratin with their steak dish only

Narcossee

Has au gratin with their steak or seafood dishes

O Hana

Has au gratin as part of the beginning course and has for a few years now.

AND Cinderella's Royal Table

Only offers it with their beef dish.
Looking at all the menus there are alot of options that do not include au gratin . I've got to wonder that since you were there in Dec. is it possible that they had run out of a different side dish and were just using the au gratin as a fill in?

 

[Holly81]

I was on my honeymoon in WDW from Dec. 13 - Dec. 22 and I have to agree with the OP -- several restaurants were serving some form of cheesy au gratin potatoes. I did think it was a little odd, since that's something I just about never see on a restaurant menu here at home. I had them at Ohana (they were really good here), Narcoosees (just OK here) and Coral Reef (pretty much awful). At Narcoosees and Coral Reef they were served alongside of the steak dishes. It's not something I would normally want served with my steak, but it was OK. I would have minded less if the quality had been a bit better.

It is too bad if the restaurants are serving the same dishes just to increase profits. I'm sure that has a lot to do with it and that's unfortunate. Then again, as others have suggested, it may have a lot to do with the fact that your average Disney dining guest balks at the idea of trying something new or unusual. Why have a unique side dish on your menu if half the guests will wind up asking for substitute anyway? I know I was guilty of that on my trip. At lunchtime, Le Cellier serves a sweet potato side dish with their fillet, and I quickly asked for something different ...