Not what it used to be, but still good????

[dreambound]

I'm reading so many horrible Disney dining reviews that I want to cry!!!!! It seems that everywhere I look I read really bad reviews with stories of poor service, bad food, dirty restaurants. Please tell me that WDW is still a wonderful place to eat and have a good time!

 

[amery]

There are those places in and out of the world where you would expect darn near close to 5-star dining.

The reality everywhere else however is that when you are charged with the daunting task of serving the masses all dya long, you have to expect a little bit of drop off with quality and service; sad but true.

With the exception of only one place (Fulton's Crab House), my DW & I have been fortunate enough to have very good experiences from kiosks to CS to TS and most notably, every character meal that we have been to (CM and CP in particular).

This December, we will be dining at CRT, Tony's Town Square, Nine Dragon's Wolfgang Pucks Cafe and Coral Reef so it will hopefully be bullseyes accross the board AND THE PALETTE!!!

 

[Camster0307]

Funny - the last post proves my point. We LOVE Fulton's and eat there every trip!

I go in with the attitude that: I'm at Disney and I'm not expecting 4-star quality food like I would in a major city.(although, I know, I may be paying like I was)! I'm just looking for a decent meal and a fun experience. We have our favorite restaurants and, yes, sometimes there may be an off night, but I still must admit that I have never been compeletely disgusted with any meal I've ever had. Besides - doesn't EVERYTHING taste better in Disney?

 

[StrollPatrolMom]

We had a blast! Most of the food that we ate was good. The prices at Disney are high...I think especially if you don't do the DDP and pay OOP it would be very easy to be critical of the quality of the food versus the cost...but all in all (we did pay OOP for several meals the only one being CRT breakfast that I didn't think was worth it) We had a great experience....we had read horrible reviews of San Angel Inn before we ate there, and I thought it was pretty good...same went for dinner at Akershus...we had a good experience there as well....

I wouldn't put too much stock in reviews, go over the menus, pick the places that interest you, and try them out!

 

[Aimeedyan]

On the internet, people usually take the time to post negative things more than positive. Just the way it is. And since we all have diff expectations and like diff things, none of the reviews are going to be consistent across the board.

We've only had 1 horrible dining exp at Disney and it was at *gasp!* LeCellier. Obviously we hit it at a bad time since many others are happy there.

Go expecting a great time, enjoy the quality time with your family, have a good attitude, and 9 times out of 10 you'll have a decent meal.

 

[roxannex]

In all honesty, I do think the quality has gone down. Although sometimes my husband and I joke that maybe our palates have just become more sophisticated as we get older (or we are pickier!!!!!).

But I have had some good dining experiences at Disney. We ate at Victoria and Alberts last year, and it really was one of the best meals we've ever had.

We are renting a car for our next trip because we don't want to be limited by Disney dining options. It makes me mad when I pay too much money for food that just isn't very good. I wish Disney would improve in this area. I remember really loving the food in Epcot about 5 years ago.

 

[KatMark]

I would say go where ever you have an itching to go and try. No one is ever going to agree on what is good or what is bad with the food, just as not every one is going to agree on trhe resorts they like or dislike. We have enjoyed Mama Melrose on double trips and others have hated it. Others praise Brown Derby and Boatwright's...we had our worse meals there. It all comes down to a matter of personal opinion. I think for the number of people Disney serves that they do a pretty good job at most of their establishments.

 

[averill94]

Relasx- in our opinion things are just great still. We had a TS each day of our most recent trip all of them were lovely, yummy and clean.
Especially fond of Wolfgangs Cafe (if you are on the plan value is great)
We also did 3 charachter meals.
We also enjoyed Chefs de France, 50's prime TIme and Kona.

The only bomb of the trip were the burgers at AMC Commissary!

 

[SnowWtch]

WDW is still a great place to eat and have fun. I had second thoughts about my O'Hana ADR back in August. It was so much fun and the food was so good we're doing it again in Dec. I heard some things about the food not being great at CP. We ate there last weekend and the food was outstanding. So, everyone's opinion is just that. One person may hate it and another love it. Now I don't judge based on people's opinions. I just form my own. As matter of fact, I've heard bad things about WCC and that it's going down in food and service. We're going to test that in Dec. We'll probably have a blast as usual. We've never eaten any bad tasting food at Disney or really had bad service at a TS restaurant. Some CS places leave things to be desired such as a 10 minute wait to get an extra hamburger bun we ordered from Pecos Bill's. But that's another story.

 

[Hopefully]

I too feel very stongly that the food has gone downhill over the past 5 years. Menus have been standardized and lots of the chefs creativity has been stifled. We eat a TS meal each evening and no, we don't starve. But the food is mediocre at best, and expensive. We have done this pre dining plan paying OOP, as well on on the DDP. This will probably be the last trip that we will do the DDP, since I do not like the changes in 2008.
We will now begin to eat off property, something we have not done in the past.

 

[burberryplaid]

You have to try it for yourself. My first trip was this past September, and I can honestly say we didn't have a bad meal all trip! We always had nice, courteous, attentive servers and found every place we ate to be clean. I was nervous about on place in particular (Whispering Canyon) but we loved it! I'm so glad I didn't let other people's opinions, rule our choices.

 

[hoosll]

I too feel very stongly that the food has gone downhill over the past 5 years. Menus have been standardized and lots of the chefs creativity has been stifled. We eat a TS meal each evening and no, we don't starve. But the food is mediocre at best, and expensive. We have done this pre dining plan paying OOP, as well on on the DDP. This will probably be the last trip that we will do the DDP, since I do not like the changes in 2008.
We will now begin to eat off property, something we have not done in the past.

I couldn't have said it better myself, but it is a vacation, I don't have to cook or clean up after meals.

 

[melomouse]

How about the food has gone down and it's not worth it anymore???

Seriously, I am aware mostly of Chef Mickey's deterioration over the past five years, since for the characters and DD we go every year.

Mostly, I do agree that menus have been "dumbed down" in some of the better restaurants to suit the masses, and I am very very disappointed in the addition of more and more buffets, which saves Disney a bundle and decreases quality. As long as people keep attending these character or show buffets in droves, tho, the proliferation will continue.

I have no idea what Kona's was like before, but we found it to be extraordinary this past trip. Le Cellier is good, but not worth the raves it gets here.

PTC has definitely decreased in quality since we started going to WDW 6 years ago. DD had greasy, stringy pot roast. When you miss on a "signature" dish, something's wrong. Ditto Yachtsman Steak House. IMHO, if you call yourself a steakhouse, then the steak had better be as ordered.

In January, we'll return to Brown Derby and Hollywood & Vine after skipping it a couple of trips. We'll just have to see...

 

[jess20k]

Our continued favorites are: Narcoossee's, Chefs de France and San Angel Inn. We always return to these places,and each time we had a fantastic meal and a great time.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

My opinion is a lot of the food and service has gone downhill due to the Disney Dining Plan. It has made the restaurants more crowded and there is more of a push to get you out (except Bistro and V&A which don't accept DDP).

Also, since the restaurants get credit for a fixed amount of money per meal on the DDP, no matter what is ordered, the restaurants tend to not use such high quailty ingredients as before, the selections are much more varied.

For example, until the DDP you could get a child's meal which included a 4oz filet mignon at the Concourse Steak House. It obviously was not cheap, but they could not afford to serve it with DDP in effect.

 

[mjf2wdw]

I have been to Disney over 35 times on an average of 10-12 days per trip. I have dined in most of the restaurants more than once and have been mostly satisfied with every experience. Occasionally, the waiter/waitress may have had a tough day and is not as pleasant as Disney standards would like, but I try to grin and bear it. Most of the food is very good to excellent, some is more pricey that I would like but after all perfection is very difficult to achieve. For the amount of restaurants that Disney has to offer, I think they do a good job of making me happy so I will continue to go there and enjoy myself. Hope you all can do the same

 

[mickeymousemom]

Dh and I were sort of just talking about this. We have an ADR at Chef Mickey's for dinner for the first time. We've been there plenty of times for breakfast(and loved it) but never for dinner. I remember reading such great reviews in the past for dinner there, but now that Ive made an ADR, most reviews aren't so great. We eat at Ohana(dinner) every year, but I'm reading almost ALL negative reviews for it now. We're trying Le Chefs this year for the first time also, and, once again, I'm reading tons of negative reviews.
All I can say is this: we just have to take our chances and go. We've never really eaten anywhere at WDW that was horrible, and we go 1-3 times a year. Dh and I aren't picky, and if we eat something that is only average, we don't really complain. Also, some people just have different tastes or expectations. Doesn't make anyone wrong, just different.
All in all, I would conclude that the quality at WDW has possibly lost something in the last few years. Whether it's due to the current DP, the free DP, the economy, or a combination, I don't know. I would have to go with the title of your thread and say that it's not what it used to be, but it's still good.

 

[minie_meese]

You can find negative reviews for any restaurant inside or outside of Disney. A lot of times negative reviews have a lot to do with personal taste so you need to take reviews with a grain of salt. I personally don't think most Disney restaurants are the best I've been to, but that is me. I really love Jiko and am not crazy about the German restaurant in EPCOT. I am sure there are people who would look at it totally reversed.

Don't stress over it, look at the menus and pick what seems more to your liking then go and have a good time. Have a great vacation. If you go to a restaurant you don't like, don't go back.

 

[SnwflkCts]

If you are the type of person that is very critical, NOTHING is ever going to meet the high standards. If you are basically a person who enjoys life, likes eating and knows that there is little perfection in the REAL world, you will enjoy all your adventures whether at WDW or the local McDonalds (or maybe Arby's -- I don't really eat at McDonalds anymore!).

Anyway ... DH and I LOVED every meal we ate. There isn't one that I wouldn't eat at again and I came back with the 5 pounds to prove I liked the food!!!

Was every meal and server perfect ... no, but we are generally happy people and go with the flow. We liked places others don't (CRT - new menu - YES!!!, Tony's Town Square - wonderful anniversary lunch ... etc... ) but we don't WHINE about things. You're at WDW for God's sake ... don't worry ... be happy ... just eat!

You will have a great time!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JenSop]

Honestly, each experience is really unique. On our trip last year (first time using DDP) we used 6 TS ADR's and were very happy overall. I'd say our least favorite was Wolfgang Puck Cafe. (Although others love it!) But even then, it wasn't like it was terrible - it just wasn't great.

Our absolute faves are Le Cellier, Boma, and Ohana. These meals were just wonderful.

And at no time did we see a dirty restaurant or receive bad food. We're not thrilled about the changes to the DDP next year, but will use it anyway, because we want to walk into our TS restaurants and not look at the prices on the menu. (We will tip according to service.) I have never had a horrible meal at WDW, and would never even think of eating offsite (although, we don't get a rental car, so offsite isn't an option.)