MsChristy12
Into the onion
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2023
Hello everyone!
I wanted to share our overall dining experience from our trip last month. Long post and thanks in advance for reading!
First, let me say that by putting our experience here, I am by no means saying don't go eat at certain restaurants or bashing the servers who provided service to us. Absolutely not insinuating Disney is no longer magical or not worth it. This is simply our side of the story, and we understand everyone's expectations and standards are different in so many ways that will result in varied experiences. But I actually want to see if anyone else out there are feeling the same way? Or are we too sensitive and had set our expectations too high?
Although we aren't frequent Disney goers (not even close) and we haven't eaten at every Disney restaurant. However, my husband and I were both CMs X years ago (let's not talk about how old we are...lol!
) so we have quite a bit of history eating our way at WDW.
I don't know about everyone else, but we had never felt this way about WDW dining until this trip:
1. Most meals felt rushed.
2. Many CMs no longer do small talks or try to make connection with their guests (with a couple of exception).
These are the restaurants we dined at - Garden Grill, Tusker House, Via Napoli, Sanaa, Nomad Lounge, Ohana, Steakhouse 71, Story Book Dining @ Artist Point. (I didn't include the ones from Disney Springs). Ohana and Artist Point by far were the two most disappointing meals, and it is both their food and service that we didn't find appealing. Here are the reasons why.
Ohana - We have been going to Ohana since we were CMs, and it was once our absolutely favorite. Things have changed and we are okay with changes but unfortunately it wasn't for the better. Food quality (dinner) is nowhere near what it used to be, and the service is rushed. There's one thing we noticed not just at Ohana, but also at other restaurants. During the server's "down time" (not very long just a few mins, no more than 5), instead of mingling with the guests and do small talks with them, they just stand in the corner or near the wall, no smiles and wait for the next task or someone flag them down. We had never seen that before. We aren't sure if this is a "new" thing that's in their training? Or they just aren't very enthusiastic because of what they were going through with Disney and they are emotionally drained? Or is it the volume of guests and the amount of work they do make them feel exhausted? Don't get me wrong, they still provided good service but it wasn't the Disney service, if you know what I'm talking about (if you don't, I'll try to explain it better). It was very standard like anywhere we go. Our server pretty much only interacted with us when they dropped off food or asked if we needed anything. Ohana's food....I know lots of people are obsessed with their noodles but they aren't that good anymore! The ones we had were drenched in sauce, too sweet and noodles were kinda soggy. Steak were a bit tough and some were medium-rare, some were well done. Chicken was dry. Overall, the food quality is the main reason why we won't be going back to Ohana anytime soon.
Story Book Dining @ Artist Point - It was our first time trying this character dining. We saw/read many great reviews about it so we were kinda excited to try it. The food was okay, we had the Pork Shank and Beef Stroganoff, nothing spectacular or even great in our opinion. They try to do nicer presentation with the food, but looks only goes so far. The service was super rushed! It's literally badabing badaboom and you're done! They are a very busy restaurant, servers and runners never have even 1 min to slow down. Again, our server did the standard asking "How's the food?"," Do you need another drink?" but outside of that she never interacted with us, didn't even ask if this was our first time dining there, nothing. I observed the tables around us with their servers, same thing. Again, I'm not saying this is horrible service but it's not Disney service. We felt like they try to get everyone outta the door ASAP once we were seated. We have dined at many, many extremely busy restaurants, and there's a difference between they are slammed running around vs. they rush your meal. At Artist Point, we have never felt so unwelcomed and rushed through sit-down meal. This is definitely one and done for us.
Now to the good! Steakhouse 71 - We were a little skeptical about it because many have been saying they are starting to be inconsistent, but what the heck we wanted to see for ourselves and I'm glad we did! This is now on top of our list and one of our must for our future trips. Food and service were both superb! Presentation, taste and value all combined are better than some of the signature dining. We had the Onion Soup (it is a must try!), Crab Cakes and their signature Burger. Not one bad thing to say about their food. Then our server is by far one of the bests. This restaurant is also busy, not as crazy as Artist Point but it's full during prime meal times. However, as busy as they are our server still provided the Disney service to his guests. Not just our table, I observed him with other tables, he is consistent with welcoming them. Our server is the reason that I went, "Ah here's the magic! It's still here!" Even though it's just a lunch, but I will remember this lunch for many years to come. He truly reminded us why we love Disney so much, and why we keep going back even when it bleeds our bank accounts!!
With other restaurants, their service also felt more rushed than all our previous experiences. Of all the dining, we only had two servers who did small talks with us and made us feel like we were at Disney. Now, our guess is that they are also short staff but the amount of guests they need to served are more than ever. I have a lot of experience in the industry myself and so I have a lot of empathy for them, because I can see how hard they are working. At the end of the day, it's not their fault that they are short staff and resulting in overworked CMs. I know CMs overworked isn't news but we could see it on them more than ever this trip. We know there's not much we can do, except to be kind to them as much as possible and make their jobs a little easier. If we come across a CMs that are above and beyond or give us some pixie dust, we make sure to give them some kudos at Guest Services. Just be kind to others, especially at Disney, right?
Even with some of the so-so experience, we are still excited to go back and try more restaurants that we haven't before, also re-visit the ones we absolutely love!
So what's your dining experience been like recently? Similar? Or 180 opposite? Good or bad I would love to hear them all!
I wanted to share our overall dining experience from our trip last month. Long post and thanks in advance for reading!
First, let me say that by putting our experience here, I am by no means saying don't go eat at certain restaurants or bashing the servers who provided service to us. Absolutely not insinuating Disney is no longer magical or not worth it. This is simply our side of the story, and we understand everyone's expectations and standards are different in so many ways that will result in varied experiences. But I actually want to see if anyone else out there are feeling the same way? Or are we too sensitive and had set our expectations too high?
Although we aren't frequent Disney goers (not even close) and we haven't eaten at every Disney restaurant. However, my husband and I were both CMs X years ago (let's not talk about how old we are...lol!
) so we have quite a bit of history eating our way at WDW.I don't know about everyone else, but we had never felt this way about WDW dining until this trip:
1. Most meals felt rushed.
2. Many CMs no longer do small talks or try to make connection with their guests (with a couple of exception).
These are the restaurants we dined at - Garden Grill, Tusker House, Via Napoli, Sanaa, Nomad Lounge, Ohana, Steakhouse 71, Story Book Dining @ Artist Point. (I didn't include the ones from Disney Springs). Ohana and Artist Point by far were the two most disappointing meals, and it is both their food and service that we didn't find appealing. Here are the reasons why.
Ohana - We have been going to Ohana since we were CMs, and it was once our absolutely favorite. Things have changed and we are okay with changes but unfortunately it wasn't for the better. Food quality (dinner) is nowhere near what it used to be, and the service is rushed. There's one thing we noticed not just at Ohana, but also at other restaurants. During the server's "down time" (not very long just a few mins, no more than 5), instead of mingling with the guests and do small talks with them, they just stand in the corner or near the wall, no smiles and wait for the next task or someone flag them down. We had never seen that before. We aren't sure if this is a "new" thing that's in their training? Or they just aren't very enthusiastic because of what they were going through with Disney and they are emotionally drained? Or is it the volume of guests and the amount of work they do make them feel exhausted? Don't get me wrong, they still provided good service but it wasn't the Disney service, if you know what I'm talking about (if you don't, I'll try to explain it better). It was very standard like anywhere we go. Our server pretty much only interacted with us when they dropped off food or asked if we needed anything. Ohana's food....I know lots of people are obsessed with their noodles but they aren't that good anymore! The ones we had were drenched in sauce, too sweet and noodles were kinda soggy. Steak were a bit tough and some were medium-rare, some were well done. Chicken was dry. Overall, the food quality is the main reason why we won't be going back to Ohana anytime soon.
Story Book Dining @ Artist Point - It was our first time trying this character dining. We saw/read many great reviews about it so we were kinda excited to try it. The food was okay, we had the Pork Shank and Beef Stroganoff, nothing spectacular or even great in our opinion. They try to do nicer presentation with the food, but looks only goes so far. The service was super rushed! It's literally badabing badaboom and you're done! They are a very busy restaurant, servers and runners never have even 1 min to slow down. Again, our server did the standard asking "How's the food?"," Do you need another drink?" but outside of that she never interacted with us, didn't even ask if this was our first time dining there, nothing. I observed the tables around us with their servers, same thing. Again, I'm not saying this is horrible service but it's not Disney service. We felt like they try to get everyone outta the door ASAP once we were seated. We have dined at many, many extremely busy restaurants, and there's a difference between they are slammed running around vs. they rush your meal. At Artist Point, we have never felt so unwelcomed and rushed through sit-down meal. This is definitely one and done for us.
Now to the good! Steakhouse 71 - We were a little skeptical about it because many have been saying they are starting to be inconsistent, but what the heck we wanted to see for ourselves and I'm glad we did! This is now on top of our list and one of our must for our future trips. Food and service were both superb! Presentation, taste and value all combined are better than some of the signature dining. We had the Onion Soup (it is a must try!), Crab Cakes and their signature Burger. Not one bad thing to say about their food. Then our server is by far one of the bests. This restaurant is also busy, not as crazy as Artist Point but it's full during prime meal times. However, as busy as they are our server still provided the Disney service to his guests. Not just our table, I observed him with other tables, he is consistent with welcoming them. Our server is the reason that I went, "Ah here's the magic! It's still here!" Even though it's just a lunch, but I will remember this lunch for many years to come. He truly reminded us why we love Disney so much, and why we keep going back even when it bleeds our bank accounts!!
With other restaurants, their service also felt more rushed than all our previous experiences. Of all the dining, we only had two servers who did small talks with us and made us feel like we were at Disney. Now, our guess is that they are also short staff but the amount of guests they need to served are more than ever. I have a lot of experience in the industry myself and so I have a lot of empathy for them, because I can see how hard they are working. At the end of the day, it's not their fault that they are short staff and resulting in overworked CMs. I know CMs overworked isn't news but we could see it on them more than ever this trip. We know there's not much we can do, except to be kind to them as much as possible and make their jobs a little easier. If we come across a CMs that are above and beyond or give us some pixie dust, we make sure to give them some kudos at Guest Services. Just be kind to others, especially at Disney, right?
Even with some of the so-so experience, we are still excited to go back and try more restaurants that we haven't before, also re-visit the ones we absolutely love!
So what's your dining experience been like recently? Similar? Or 180 opposite? Good or bad I would love to hear them all!
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