Rain Forest Cafe @ DTD 7/20/06

[PureTcrazy]

Participants: Me (44), DH, Best Friend and her foster Daughter (13)

We were in a DTD area hotel for a conference and wanted to take my BF and her DFD out for an evening. We had never done RFC, so we decided what the heck, we'll give it a try. Not a good choice, we would find out.

We walked in about 4:50 and were led into the gorilla room. The decor is kinda cool. Our server, Heather(remember that name), came and got our drink order. She then returned during the storm to take our orders, we weren't really ready, but she was.

DH - Seafood Paella
me - HB
DGF - Pot Roast
her DFD - BBQ wrap

We also ordered the crab dip appetizer, which was ok. 40 minutes later the food arrives. My DH is brought a Hamburger, not the paella which he ordered. We spend 5 minutes trying to get someone's attention. Heather finally returns and does not offer to get his paella. Her remark was, "that's bizarre, were you looking at the picture of the hamburger when you ordered?" We proceed to eat the driest hamburgers I have ever eaten in my life. DGF and her DFD say their food is fine, not great, but ok.

We do not see our server, Heather, again until she plops the check on the table without a word. My DGF had wanted to order dessert, but at this point we were all so irritated that we weren't willing to try to beg someone to stop and take our dessert order. We noticed other servers taking the kids lightning glasses and emptying them and bagging them, not ours....we had to pour what was left of her drink into the other glasses to empty it. We also saw someone spill a drink, and at least 5 different employees looked at the spill and quickly walk away.

There was not adjustment to the bill, not even an "I'm sorry". I always leave at least a 20% tip, but not this time. I left 5%, enough for her to know that I did not forget to tip. Needless to say, this restaurant is definitely not on our try again list.

 

[fizz13]

Oh wow, now that was bad service I too was very dissapointed by DTD RFC but am assured that the AK one is a lot better. So sorry this happened,

 

[deany]

Wow. That is awful and what a disappointment for you. We have an ADR in Oct. at AK but we are rethinking it. Since it is not on the DDP, we are reconsidering it. I have only booked it because my DD18 requested it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

My DH is brought a Hamburger, not the paella which he ordered. We spend 5 minutes trying to get someone's attention. Heather finally returns and does not offer to get his paella. Her remark was, "that's bizarre, were you looking at the picture of the hamburger when you ordered?"

Because...? Why? Heather 'sees' her customer's orders through special eyes? She's telepathic? At any rate, please don't let this experience turn you off all RFCs forever. Give it one more try. And if your experience is disappointing, let a manager know! They can't fix a problem they don't know exists.

 

[maggs]

We have given RFC 4 tries and on this viist we will not be going back. The prices are high, the food mediocre and the service seems to be getting worse. Your experience sounds awful.

Maggs

 

[tmt martins]

We had the same type of problems in June . Not to metion they sat us in a high walking area (GR right at the water statue) and DM was getting hit in the back by staff no less.It was our first day and they just wanted to eat before we went back to SSR after getting our PAP's.

There's just to many other choices to have to deal with that.

 

[Minniespal]

That is terrible ~ Such bad service can ruin even the finest of meals.

 

[LBelle]

I was on the fence about having a meal here in Sept. Now I think we'll skip it for somewhere else in DTD!

Thanks for the review

 

[tink55]

We have been to the RFC at Animal Kingdom. The front podium truly was a zoo!! I thought the service was mediocre, the food just passable, the bill exorbitant - but you know what? The kids (16, 14, 9) loved it. So for us, it was worth trying out, for the novelty of it.

 

[DisneyFreq]

I too have passed on RFC. We've given it three tries (2 @ DTD and 1 @ AK) and each time the food poorer quality at higher prices and the service increasingly spotty. We kept going back b/c the kids loved it so much but we finally put our foot down and decided DURING the thrid trip that we would not be coming back so enjoy it while we're here. The food was absolutley disgusting. Whenever I see my kids looking at RFC longingly, I remind them of how bad our last trip was and of all the places we'll be eating at on this trip instead.

 

[FOTM_Ring_Bearer]

We weren't impressed with our meals the last time we ate there either. We won't be going back unless the food improves.

 

[misshilda1]

Wow! I'm surprised to hear about all the bad service and food comments. My family and I ate at the Rainforest cafe in Downtown Disney last on Oct 2005. We
had a wonderful experience with the service and we had some awesome ribs and steaks.We really enjoyed everything including the atmosphere. We are usually the ones to get a bad experience. I hope they haven't changed because we had planned to go back this Oct. has anyone else had these experiences this year???
Does anyone have any posotive feedback PLEASE!!!!!

Last Visit Oct 2-6 2005
Next Visit Oct 1-7 2006

 

[wendy46001]

I believe the rainforest is now in the hit or miss department...food is just Ok, one week the ribs are great…the next fatty and undercooked...servers are very overworked...and deal with so much turn over they don’t really care if you tip well (quantity not quality)...lately we’ve decided to only sit at the bar and order appetizers ....the Drinks are great...but the prices are high...go for the novelty of it...not the food

 

[disneyfanUSA]

Wow sry u guys had sucha bad experinces!! ive been there 7 times and it was always good! and so was the service!

 

[ChristusG]

I have to agree....the food at this place is awful. We have been there 3 or 4 different times on different vacations. We are always disappointed in the food and the high prices. The atmosphere is great though.

 

[ead79]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience! That service was inexcusable. I have eaten at RFC several times (both the DTD and AK locations), and service is sometimes a bit slow, but nothing like what you endured. Our food has always been good though, so I'm sorry to hear yours wasn't. You could consider contacting management to let them know what happened.

 

[suzimar57]

sorry you had such lousy service at RFC - we've eaten there before and it was ok (having the safari club card gets us in a bit sooner) and service was alright, nothing great - but never that long of a wait! my DH has the pot roast and crab cakes every time (that's why we go) - we're planning to go again in october - sure hope it's not that bad for us!

 

[GreatLakes5]

This seems to reflect the chain - not Disney. Our last visit was in Boston, actually, and while the interior is fun for the kids and such I agree with most here that the food is mediocre for the price. I hear a new restaurant is moving into DTD by next year with a dinosaur theme - we're going to try that if it's open when we visit next....