Soooooooo over disney food quality and prices.

[Tropical Wilds]

Then the Outbacks in your area must be amazing.

 

[raidermatt]

Le Cellier is the equivalent of a chain steakhouse, though it is important to say what kind of chain. There's lots of different steakhouse chains of varying quality.

It's definitely not even in the same league as Shula's, Morton's or Ruth's Chris.

The steaks themselves are Outback quality, though the sides/appetizers are a notch above that.

 

[raidermatt]

Then the Outbacks in your area must be amazing.

Around here, ok, nothing special, same as Le Cellier.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Then the Outbacks in your area must be amazing.

Nope. Theyre just as disappointing as LC.

 

[Colleen27]

Le Cellier is the equivalent of a chain steakhouse, though it is important to say what kind of chain. There's lots of different steakhouse chains of varying quality.

It's definitely not even in the same league as Shula's, Morton's or Ruth's Chris.

The steaks themselves are Outback quality, though the sides/appetizers are a notch above that.

I would put it between the two, on par with Logan's or Texas Roadhouse - a decent cut of steak, enjoyable and well prepared though not top notch.

I read the comparison to Outback and wonder if Outbacks in other places are just much better than ours or what, because at the one that was near our house the norm was tough steaks and rubbery seafood, on par with a steak or seafood night at Golden Corral (and yeah, I've had the joy of experiencing those - my 14yo loves GC for after football games when quantity is more appealing than quality). Its been years since I've been to an Outback, though, because ours went out of business just a few months after Texas Roadhouse opened in the same shopping area.

 

[pumba]

hubby and myself...and sometimes our kids and their kids go to disney...maybe two times a year...
I go with the thought...OH GOOD I DONT HAVE TO COOK or CLEAN up...I have really enjoyed most of our meals at Disney...
I am not outraged by the costs...because places around our town can cost pretty much the same ...
I told my friend once...yes the burgers are pricey...but the place SHE went to in town was 5.95 just for the burger...and fries were another two...so I told her you are going to pay for a good size burger (they are not small like mc donalds or burger king)..and you get nice tasting fries..you pay for it..

Like I said...I love going anyplace and eating anyplace( except two of the ts places)...not because they were bad but we didnt care for their food).. I dont have to clean up after or do the dishes..

I hope that you all have great experiences in Disney on your next trips..
I am waiting for mine to come ..

 

[raidermatt]

I would put it between the two, on par with Logan's or Texas Roadhouse - a decent cut of steak, enjoyable and well prepared though not top notch.

I read the comparison to Outback and wonder if Outbacks in other places are just much better than ours or what, because at the one that was near our house the norm was tough steaks and rubbery seafood, on par with a steak or seafood night at Golden Corral (and yeah, I've had the joy of experiencing those - my 14yo loves GC for after football games when quantity is more appealing than quality). Its been years since I've been to an Outback, though, because ours went out of business just a few months after Texas Roadhouse opened in the same shopping area.

Haven't been to a Logan's but have been to quite a few Texas Roadhouse's (all in CA). When I strip away all the hype around Le Cellier and just consider the steaks, I just can't put Le Cellier in the Texas Roadhouse level either.

It sounds to me like you had a bad Outback in your area. The ones I have been to are hardly anything special, but they are definitely not Golden Corral steak night either.

 

[Colleen27]

Where do you eat? Lets talk MK

Tonys Town square= worst than olive garden. Can you really tell me you think this is great italian? Really?
Crystal palace. I don't know what you compare it too but sorry I can't go any better than outback for that place.
I've never done Liberty tree tavern so I can't comment.

So pretty much in one major park every ts restaurant is mediocre at best.
Its not bad but sorry yeah, its the same quality. personally Tony's is worse

To be fair, you picked about the worst park for food options. Half the restaurants in the MK depend on characters rather than food to fill the seats and that's always a recipe for mediocre.

CRT & CP both have major consistency issues, just like every other character meal on property in our experience. Every trip I say we're done with character dining because no matter where we go the experience is just not good to outright bad, but every trip we get lured back by the convenience of not waiting in character lines in the parks. I cannot express how disappointed I was in the addition of characters to Tusker House lunch because that was a meal we really enjoyed and I hate to see the offerings streamlined, the quality suffer, and the experience become chaotic/loud and rushed like all the other character meals.

I was very leery about trying Tony's after all the bad reviews but our meal there was rather nice. Not outstanding, but decent Italian food same as we can get at any number of chain Italian places close to home, and the cappuccino cheesecake was memorably good. My girls wanted to go for the Lady & the Tramp tie-in and we were pleasantly surprised.

The Plaza is one of the best TS values on Disney property - reasonable prices and portions plenty generous for sharing. It isn't fine dining but on our visits there the food has been fresh and tasty and the ice cream desserts are as good as any ice cream parlor you'll find.

LTT lunch is enjoyable as well. Again, not fine dining or haute cuisine but for what it is - New England influenced American comfort food - the food is good, the portions large, and the specialties excellent. But I think it gets overlooked because it is "just" pot roast and turkey and burgers rather than anything ethnic, themed, or creative. Dinner we haven't tried; without characters I see no appeal in the limited, fixed menu.

I also think great is subjective. Disney lets "foodies" down, especially those who remember the Eisner glory days of Disney dining (and I often think the reason my reviews tend to be mostly positive is because I don't so I'm not holding restaurants up to comparisons against days gone by), but most of their restaurants meet the standards of good family dining - at premium prices, but that's true of any resort and especially at one that has as strong a "captive audience" factor as Disney.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

To be fair, you picked about the worst park for food options. Half the restaurants in the MK depend on characters rather than food to fill the seats and that's always a recipe for mediocre.

CRT & CP both have major consistency issues, just like every other character meal on property in our experience. Every trip I say we're done with character dining because no matter where we go the experience is just not good to outright bad, but every trip we get lured back by the convenience of not waiting in character lines in the parks. I cannot express how disappointed I was in the addition of characters to Tusker House lunch because that was a meal we really enjoyed and I hate to see the offerings streamlined, the quality suffer, and the experience become chaotic/loud and rushed like all the other character meals.

I was very leery about trying Tony's after all the bad reviews but our meal there was rather nice. Not outstanding, but decent Italian food same as we can get at any number of chain Italian places close to home, and the cappuccino cheesecake was memorably good. My girls wanted to go for the Lady & the Tramp tie-in and we were pleasantly surprised.

The Plaza is one of the best TS values on Disney property - reasonable prices and portions plenty generous for sharing. It isn't fine dining but on our visits there the food has been fresh and tasty and the ice cream desserts are as good as any ice cream parlor you'll find.

LTT lunch is enjoyable as well. Again, not fine dining or haute cuisine but for what it is - New England influenced American comfort food - the food is good, the portions large, and the specialties excellent. But I think it gets overlooked because it is "just" pot roast and turkey and burgers rather than anything ethnic, themed, or creative. Dinner we haven't tried; without characters I see no appeal in the limited, fixed menu.

I also think great is subjective. Disney lets "foodies" down, especially those who remember the Eisner glory days of Disney dining (and I often think the reason my reviews tend to be mostly positive is because I don't so I'm not holding restaurants up to comparisons against days gone by), but most of their restaurants meet the standards of good family dining - at premium prices, but that's true of any resort and especially at one that has as strong a "captive audience" factor as Disney.

Completely agree re Plaza - reasonably priced and pretty good quality food. My wife especially enjoyed the soups.

 

[eliza61]

Like I said...I love going anyplace and eating anyplace( except two of the ts places)...not because they were bad but we didnt care for their food).. I dont have to clean up after or do the dishes..

I hope that you all have great experiences in Disney on your next trips..
I am waiting for mine to come ..

I'm very much like that also Pumba. I do always try to say that I've had very few bad meals at the world but over the past say 5 years, I've had very few great meals also.

That's why my vote was to simply lower expectations.

I still do a few wdw restaurants.

1) there are some times when we simply don't want to leave the park. So if we're in HS and we generally don't leave, I know my food at Hollywood and vine will be ok and filling (or any place in HS) . will I leave saying WoW, that was great. Nope, not a chance. If some one polled me outside I would say "it was ok".

2) the clean up factor is a big hit for me also
3) short trip. generally if we come down for any thing under 5 days we tend to never go off site. We love when we stay for 7+ days because we look forward to going offsite at least 2X's for a great meal.

So for example, if I'm speaking with a first timer and they ask me how's the food at disney?

I'll tell them generally, it's ok. Never will I use the word great. sorry but imo disney food simply is not great.
I will tell them that the character meals are primarily for seeing the characters and you will not get a good meal at one of them.
I will tell them that dollar amount does not equal quality. That you are paying a premium for location not quality. Do not think that 40 steak at le Cellier will be worth the 40 bucks.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I also think great is subjective. Disney lets "foodies" down, especially those who remember the Eisner glory days of Disney dining (and I often think the reason my reviews tend to be mostly positive is because I don't so I'm not holding restaurants up to comparisons against days gone by), but most of their restaurants meet the standards of good family dining - at premium prices, but that's true of any resort and especially at one that has as strong a "captive audience" factor as Disney.

I think this is where the divide occurs. Those of us who were dining at WDW in the 90's are very disappointed with the decline in food quality. Those who started visiting post-Eisner have never experienced the quality of food WDW once served. Those people wouldn't see a decline in food quality. I'm more than willing to accept that the food hasn't declined in the years they've been visiting WDW. Why do they refuse to accept the fact that it once was better? I don't see why people get upset, when others complain about WDW's food. Some of these same people bash all Universal's food, which is just as silly as saying all WDW's food is bad. I don't feel an emotional attachment to either company that would cause me to be offended by negative opinions. Since I'm not a major stockholder or employee cooking the food, why would I?

PS: I appreciate the way your posts always appear to be objective & well thought out.

 

[minnie mum]

Not true. Two things that business listen to (at least businesses that hang around) are purchase decisions and customer feedback. In Disney's case they get their feedback from guest surveys, complaints, and yes, some message boards.

Will this particular negative quality trend change? We don't know, but again, Disney DID IT BETTER IN THE PAST, so there is no reason they can't do better in the future.

That's not to say they need to provide "fine dining" at every turn, but the value has taken a hit in recent years and that's really what most are complaining about.

Of course Disney get's guest feedback, and they may even pay attention to them. Will they change their dining practices to improve the quality/value in the future? Why should they? Are the guest complaints about declining quality hitting Disney in the pocketbook? Are they seeing a decline in ADR bookings at their TS restaurants? Are they seeing a decline in purchases of the Dining Plans?

I would love to see a return to the good old days where you really could expect the occasional 'exceptional' meal. Where you could safely assume that you could get an excellent meal at any signature restaurant and an acceptable meal at any park TS restaurant.

But living in the past is just counter productive. I think I am practical (or cynical) enough now to realize that nothing happens (with any business, Disney or otherwise) unless there is an underlying financial gain for the company. In short, I think it would take a major course correction in Disney financial policy before we saw the kind of improvement that you are hoping for. Thus my recommendation to adjust your expectations accordingly. I would rather go without the rose coloured glasses and a practical outlook than to indulge in a lot of wishful thinking and be repeatedly disappointed.

 

[PatriciaH]

I think food everywhere has gone downhill in the last few years. Not just at WDW. The signatures and TS used to be really good now-eh. The Signature Dinners during Food and Wine were fantastic now they are pretty boring. We went to Tchoup Chop (Universal) in November and it was not good at all. In the past it had been great. Mythos was blah the last time we ate there and I used to love it. Used to love the Kitchen at HHR and it stunk in October. Our last time in NYC (August,) nothing really stood out (went to Becco, Mesa Grill, Eataly-good but way too LOUD.)

The restaurants in our working class town are not chains and pretty pricey but going downhill. We keep comparing everything to one little place that is always packed for lunch and dinner. He has reasonable prices ($6.95 for lunch/$10.95 for dinner,) always has homemade soups, salads, grass fed beef, organic foods-fantastic. 3-5 specials every day at lunch and dinner. It can be done. We still find really good places every now and then. We had a great lunch in Boston a few weeks ago. The place (North by Northeast) was also packed.

On our last trip LTT was a very good lunch. They had venison tips with wild rice as a special and DH and our friend loved them. I still love Boma although the prices for buffets are outrageous now. Tusker House was still good at lunch. Plaza at MK was junk (and I used to love it,) Jiko was just OK in December (awful the last time we were there in October.) Yachtman's and Mama Melrose just OK in November. Party For The Senses was pretty good in October and Victoria and Albert's was awesome as always.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I think food everywhere has gone downhill in the last few years. Not just at WDW. The signatures and TS used to be really good now-eh. The Signature Dinners during Food and Wine were fantastic now they are pretty boring. We went to Tchoup Chop (Universal) in November and it was not good at all. In the past it had been great. Mythos was blah the last time we ate there and I used to love it. Used to love the Kitchen at HHR and it stunk in October. Our last time in NYC (August,) nothing really stood out (went to Becco, Mesa Grill, Eataly-good but way too LOUD.)

It's funny that you mention TC. We've never been fans, even though we've always loved Emeril's @ CW. I've told my DH more than once that Emeril should be embarrassed to put his name on TC. A lot of people love it though, so it's obviously just not our cup of tea. Mythos has always been inconsistent. We've had great meals there & not so great ones. I was commenting on here a couple weeks ago that I couldn't believe it keeps winning Best Theme Park restaurant. IMO, Le Bistro & HBD (in that order) are both better than Mythos. We've always enjoyed the breakfast at The Kitchen, but have only eaten dinner there once. I don't really remember what we thought about it back then. We've been going to WDW lately, because we only buy APs for one set of parks at a time. I hope the food at our favorite UO places hasn't gone downhill that much.

 

[colinsdad]

We're going to try some of the Boardwalk Restaurants that we've never tried before on this trip to get out of the parks. I also think there has been a downward spiral of food quality.

We have ressies at Kouzzina (my hope is that if an Iron Chef has put her name on a restaurant it better be good - and I love Kat ) and Il Mulino at the Swan.

 

[maxiesmom]

Now I have to add a disclaimer: I grew up in my familys restaurant in NYC. I don't buy into the excuse that disney has to feed millions of people. Sorry you can feed the masses with quality food. NYC does it every day, Las Vegas does it every day.

I could be wrong but I don't believe most good restaurants in NYC or Las Vegas turn their tables in just over an hour, as the restaurants do in WDW. It is a lot easier to cook, serve, and eat quality food when you have the time to do so.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Completely agree re Plaza - reasonably priced and pretty good quality food. My wife especially enjoyed the soups.

I agree, plaza is pretty tasty! Their prices are good. You cant go wrong!

 

[BEASLYBOO]

We have ressies at Kouzzina (my hope is that if an Iron Chef has put her name on a restaurant it better be good - and I love Kat ) .

Had dinner there this Sat, the 18th and it was very good! I hope you enjoy it! Highly recommend the whole roasted fish!

 

[cluvsdisney]

I could be wrong but I don't believe most good restaurants in NYC or Las Vegas turn their tables in just over an hour, as the restaurants do in WDW. It is a lot easier to cook, serve, and eat quality food when you have the time to do so.

Of course you can! DH & I do it all the time. There are tons of good restaurants that has a larger menu variety and better prepared food where you can eat in an hour or so.

I am not talking about expensive restaurants where you want to take it slow and enjoy the restaurant as much as you enjoy the dinner or if we are with a bunch of people for an occasion where the meal is the thing. But for a lunch or dinner, it is very easy to get a good meal in a little over an hour.

 

[brunette8706]

Im telling you this with a straight face, Le Cellier and Outback ARE on the same level. And thats being generous!

And yes, Tony's is awful.

Just my opinion.

*
Totally AGREE! Overpriced steak with a lower quality. Shula's, Morton's, The Prime Rib Restaurant, now those are real quality steakhouses.