sci-fi...is it really that bad?

[smylie1]

When people say the food ad Sci-Fi Drive In is bad, are they talking compared to fine dining, or your neighborhood Chili's or Applebee's? We are not expecting delicate palet food, just hoping for atomsphere and maybe some decent ribs or burger.

 

[carmiedog]

Not sure, but we think the food is just fine. I would think Applebee's would be a good comparison.

 

[skywaywaver]

I would definitely say a little bit above Applebee's probably on level with Chili's. No, it's not fine dining, but it wasn't terrible either. I think it was hard for me to find something I wanted as the menu was a bit limited for my pickiness, but I managed.
I think if you go in with the right expectations it's a decent experience. It's definitely Disney.

 

[dreamsensei]

Everything is opinion. This is something I'd really wish people would keep in mind here. My review is as follows :

My wife and I went to Sci-Fi on my Birthday in 2007. We were right on time for our reservation, but ended up waiting a good 30 minutes to be seated. This would normally have not been an issue, except for the fact that there really isn't much of a waiting area there. We ended up wandering in the tiny gift shop next door until we were called to our car. We were sat in the back seat, with two people together ahead of us.

Normally I'm not a big stick in the mud, but I'm fairly private when it comes to my seating arrangements for dining. If this is your type of thing, sitting in the back of a car may bother you.

The waitress was condescending and rushed. She didn't seem to care that we were there for a special occasion. Honestly, she was more concerned in what she could provide us to fluff her tip (at least that was my view on the situation). We were forced to order our meal all at once. I was assured we'd be given ample time to eat our appetizers before the meal arrived.

Of course, this wasn't the case. It all arrived in one big crash on our table. Now, please be aware that the room on the table in the cars is pretty tiny. This made things exceedingly difficult because we were unable to even navigate the food piled in front of us.

The food itself was fairly good. I would rank it around Applebee's or Chili's. Nothing special, but edible.

The ambience was interesting until you realized they looped the "movie" every 30 minutes. Would it have killed them to make a 90 minute reel, thus avoiding a loop for pretty much everyone?

All in all, we hated Sci-Fi for a multitude of reasons. The service was rushed, the seating was pretty tiny, and the ambience failed to ultimately deliver. The food was ok, but...come on...you can get that kind of food anywhere else in the park.

 

[LarryBoy]

The food is not bad it's just average. Like was said it could be compared to chain restaurant food. I remeber the pasta being pretty good. It's just that it's not on the level of so many of the restaurants at WDW. The atmosphere though definately makes up for that, and the desserts are pretty good. My son loves this place.

 

[Melknor]

We went in April and I thought our food was good. However the best part was being in the dark with the air-condioning. It was a really good break for our family and were were able to make it the rest of the day at DHS. We would go back again!

 

[ROEDISNEY]

Si-Fi use to be our all time Fav next to Chef Mickey's. But a few years ago they have changed there dinner menu and we don't like it anymore. And we r not pickey eaters either.

 

[kaybird]

We love Sci-Fi. Don't know for sure what people expect out of it. We get a kick out of the funny sci-fi clips, it is dark and cool, a real plus during a hot day in the parks. My sons love the ribs, and the rueben sandwich, and the shrimp pasta has been great everytime I've had it. We the the "car" tables are fun, and love the atmosphere. Is it Narcoosee's? No. But a great fun restaurant that the kids loved growing up, and still want to go back to as adults!

 

[RadioFanatic]

I'm a fan of Sci Fi - it's our preferred place at DHS is we don't want to spend two credits at the Brown derby. I actually hate the diner, myself which seems to be a fave on the DISboards so it's all a matter of opinion.

 

[ms.ojo]

Guess we're in the minority, but this is one of our few must do's EVERY trip. For starters, how wonderful is it to come out of the hot sun and into a cool evening drive-in. The movies are old, hokey, sci-fi and yes, our family gets a kick out of them.

The kids LOVE they can have mac*cheese and a burger or hot dog. We usually split an appet. of the spinach dip and then stick w/ plain fare: burgers or the reuben. The onion rings are very good.

What's outstanding are the milkshakes or the desserts.

I think the other thing that's nice is how you sit in the car 2x2. no, this isn't a restaurant for talking as a family...it's for decompressing. LOL The kids sit in front and love the films, we sit in the back and get to talk quietly to ourselves. A real pleasure all around.

Our children are 9 and 6.

It's a drive in...don't order the chicken alfredo, you'll be disappointed. Order drive-in food and you'll be very happy.

 

[MarkinNM]

Guess we're in the minority, but this is one of our few must do's EVERY trip. For starters, how wonderful is it to come out of the hot sun and into a cool evening drive-in. The movies are old, hokey, sci-fi and yes, our family gets a kick out of them.

The kids LOVE they can have mac*cheese and a burger or hot dog. We usually split an appet. of the spinach dip and then stick w/ plain fare: burgers or the reuben. The onion rings are very good.

What's outstanding are the milkshakes or the desserts.

I think the other thing that's nice is how you sit in the car 2x2. no, this isn't a restaurant for talking as a family...it's for decompressing. LOL The kids sit in front and kive the films, we sit in the back and get to talk quietly to ourselves. A real pleasure all around.

Our children are 9 and 6.

It's a drive in...don't order the chicken alfredo, you'll be disappointed. Order drive-in food and you'll be very happy.

THANKS for that and this is why my family choose Sci-Fi for our meal, it looked like a FUN place, have any pics??

 

[kevgraub]

The Sci-Fi is horrible. Horrible, horrible, horrible. You are going to hate every aspect of the place from the service to the food to the atmosphere.

So if you happen to have an ADR for the Sci-Fi on 9/25 anytime between, say, 1:30 and 5:00, I would cancel it immediately. (and if its not too much trouble, can you post on here a little before you do cancel it?)

 

[bburgs]

A little tip...we had reservations for 9:00 pm, they were running an hour behind. The hostess asked the wife what type of table we wanted or "first available." Being so late and with a 6 and 9 year old, my wife chose first available.

We get inside and all of the tables except 6 are the car tables...the other 6 are round picnic tables with umbrellas in the very back. You guessed it...we got a picnic table.

6 year old was crushed. We asked to be moved (there were several open car tables) but to no avail. We understood but that didn't help with the 6-year old's disappointment.

So if you want the car table don't take "first available."

 

[momofrrr]

The thing that turned me off was the seating. We are a family of 5 and once we finally got a table (waited about 45 mins for our ADR) they seated us in a car. I had to sit in the back alone. Not much fun on a family vacation.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

My kids enjoyed the atmosphere very much but have made it clear that they would prefer not to go back...

The food to us was a bit below Applebee's. The shake which everyone raves about was "off". DD and I had the turkey sandwich and it was overly salty. DS had the ribs which he did compare to Applebees and DH burger was good, but no where near great. Our waitress was wonderful and actually salvaged this from being a bad meal. We all ate about 1/3 of our meals, but we enjoyed the atmosphere and I am glad we can say we tried it...

Just a side note, this is the only restaurant that my kids have requested NOT to return and we have had some other meals that were "off".

 

[smylie1]

The Sci-Fi is horrible. Horrible, horrible, horrible. You are going to hate every aspect of the place from the service to the food to the atmosphere.

So if you happen to have an ADR for the Sci-Fi on 9/25 anytime between, say, 1:30 and 5:00, I would cancel it immediately. (and if its not too much trouble, can you post on here a little before you do cancel it?)

Thanks! Thant's all I needed to know!

 

[tami82]

Ive said it many times but it is all about the kids sometimes. Again if you take a look at the menu to see what they have and realize this isnt a gourmet meal but rather a place for great burgers, fries, & shakes, it will all be good. I have decided to pay out of pocket for this meal even though we are on the 5 night free dining. Id rather save my TS for a more expensive meal.

 

[Pakey]

We eat lunch at the Sci Fi on every vacation where we go with more than just the 2 of us. We do lunch, not the dinner. We make the earliest ADR for lunch because then they aren't seating too far behind which is common for here.

I think some things on the menu are good (milkshakes) some are decent (burgers, onion rings) and some things are downright awful (turkey sandwich was inedible). We've always had decent service and we enjoy sitting in the little cars. Plus, it's always nice and cold in there.

 

[ms.ojo]

THANKS for that and this is why my family choose Sci-Fi for our meal, it looked like a FUN place, have any pics??

The pics on the official Disney site for this restaurant are very good! You will have a fun time I'm sure. Stick w/ the basics.

 

[cassie58]

We were there in Nov. and going back in Aug. The food comparison to Appleby's & Chili's is about right - we had read to only go for milkshakes, which IMHO were just okay, but I really enjoyed my chicken sandwich w/salsa, and you could get a burger at dinner(was only on lunch menu). We weren't on DDP (off-site), and stopped early in the day to try to get reserv. They were full(for 6), but said to try back. We came out of IJ show, and headed over, and they worked hard to get us a table-said to give them 15 min. and we sat in a car(this one was a table in between a front and back of a car to fit 6, rather than the ones where 2 sit in front/ 2 in back), but we were happy just to get in! Our waiter was very attentive, offering to take pic. of the whole table, and bringing refills we didn't even ask for, if he saw glasses getting empty. The kids liked the movies, and my father-in-law thought it was a very cool set-up. We were also able to get milkshakes to go, as we were dashing over to make Fantasmic. It wasn't a meal to write home about, but decent and a fun atmosphere. We didn't need the AC/dark in Nov. (we were actually in pants-temps in 60s), but will probably appreciate that aspect this time! Have fun!

cassie58
11/08-ASMO & Timeshare
8/09-CSR