Value vs. Moderate Food Courts

[WDW Princess 71]

For those of you who have stayed at both value & moderate resorts, can you please compare the quality of the food at the food courts for me? We stayed at Pop Century last year and thought the food was absolutely disgusting, I wouldnt eat there again if I were paid to. That is just my opinion, no flames please- this pre-cruise trip, we are planning to stay at CBR or POR, and I'm curious if the food court quality of food is better than the Pop or just the same? The menus look very similar online so I'm weary, and I would love to hear some advice so I know what to expect in advance, thanks!

 

[bicker]

You may want to go into detail about what you found to be dissatisfying at Pop Century. That might help folks more directly reply to your inquiry.

What I can tell you is that fwir the counter-service food at deluxe resorts is apparently worse than that at the budget resorts, so "better" resort doesn't generally translate into better counter-service food.

I don't know from any recent personal experience though. My last moderate resort vacation was over a decade ago. However, back then Dixie Landings Cotton Mill food court was far better than my brother's All Star Resort food court or the deluxe counter service eateries we ate at the year prior or the year subsequent.

 

[Sugardimples]

If you didn't like Pop's Food Court, you probably won't like any of the food courts.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

You may want to go into detail about what you found to be dissatisfying at Pop Century. That might help folks more directly reply to your inquiry.

What I can tell you is that fwir the counter-service food at deluxe resorts is apparently worse than that at the budget resorts, so "better" resort doesn't generally translate into better counter-service food.

I don't know from any recent personal experience though. My last moderate resort vacation was over a decade ago. However, back then Dixie Landings Cotton Mill food court was far better than my brother's All Star Resort food court or the deluxe counter service eateries we ate at the year prior or the year subsequent.

I have only stayed at Pop once because it was the first trip I was paying for alone last year, while when I go with my family, we always stay at the YC- there is no way that I would compare the food quality at Hurricane Hannah's (the CS at the YC) to the food quality at a value food court. While the menu at HH is very limited, I've enjoyed many items there so the only comparison I would say is that the deluxe CS is limited in choices but certainly way better IMO than the quality of the CS at the value food courts. Again, this is only comparing YC to Pop because that is my only experience and hence the reason for my question here though.

Specifically, we thought the burgers were horrific, dry, and tasteless at the Pop food court, and the pizza was somewhat edible. We didnt try anything else and waste our money thank goodness after having the burger experience the first day- but looking around at the other items, they didnt look appetizing to us either.

 

[daisyyy]

Geeze, that seems a little harsh. IT IS a food court. Everything inthe Food Court can not be that bad. Maybe you made a poor selection. You don't have to eat there. you can go to the park, or DTD, and pick something there. Bring your own stuff from home. We've stayed at all of the moderates, and a few of the values over the years, and we've always thought they were excellent. they all have various selections, and fresh fruit and boxed snacks if you don't want to have a counter service meal. The only one we didn't care for was CSR. Otherwise, food courts offer flexibility when you don't want a big meal, or take the time to sit down. You will get a million different opinions here, but it depends on what you expect, and what your standards are, maybe compared to your expectations we have low expectations... so what we may like, you may not.

 

[SmallWorld71]

If you didn't like Pop's Food Court, you probably won't like any of the food courts.

I'm inclined to agree. I think that all the values and mods have good food courts and do remarkably well, considering they are feeding the masses. With the exception of Epcot, where you can get some good CS, I find the food at the resorts to be a much better selection than the themeparks. That said, my personal favorite is POR. No specific reason except it seemed a bit less hectic.

I will add that pizza is gross pretty much everywhere on Disney property with the exception of the TS and WPE. This isn't something specific to Pop. Burgers aren't something I usually eat on vacation, so can't comment there. My personal favorites at all the food courts are: the bakery items, fresh fruit, pasta dishes (especially the chicken penne alfredo at the values and the create your own pasta at POR) and the create your own salads. The food courts usually do a good job with the daily specials, too. DS had some salmon that was just as good as what we got at TS places while there.

I also think that environment and expectations can play into things. I've stayed at the Beach Club and I really don't think there is a difference in quality of the basic foods. However, sitting by the Crescent Lake and looking over to the Boardwalk is so lovely as opposed to eating in a loud, sterile food court. It's like when my kids won't eat something at home, but devour it when we are at the beach. (We live by the beach and I bring all the food I need to get rid of with us when we go. LOL) Everything tastes better with a lovely setting.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Geeze, that seems a little harsh. IT IS a food court. Everything inthe Food Court can not be that bad. Maybe you made a poor selection. You don't have to eat there. you can go to the park, or DTD, and pick something there. Bring your own stuff from home. We've stayed at all of the moderates, and a few of the values over the years, and we've always thought they were excellent. they all have various selections, and fresh fruit and boxed snacks if you don't want to have a counter service meal. The only one we didn't care for was CSR. Otherwise, food courts offer flexibility when you don't want a big meal, or take the time to sit down. You will get a million different opinions here, but it depends on what you expect, and what your standards are, maybe compared to your expectations we have low expectations... so what we may like, you may not.

I agree that there are lots of other options. We are definitely willing to go elsewhere to the Boardwalk or DTD to eat lunch instead if we know the food court will be bad according to our standards again. I didnt think I had high standards- my brother is in college and I'm only 3 years out, so I know what campus food court food is like, as well as fast food and mall food courts, and I've never disliked any of those options. To us, the food at the Pop was just poor and not even comparable to McDonalds or other fast food.

We are really only looking to eat one lunch at the food court, thats it, so I guess I am making a bigger deal out of this than need be. I'm just a super planner ; ) We only eat lunch at the hotel the first day as we'll just be relaxing by the pool before hitting the parks the next 2 days before the cruise, so I'm thinking our best plan will be to just check out the food court, and if it looks appealling, we'll stay, and if not, we'll drive elsewhere.

 

[catne]

have eaten at POFQ, POR and POP...and I will agree that the burgers are not the best - and the pizza was just barely OK. I like flame-grilled and the food courts' burgers taste more like baked burgers; pizzas taste like freezer type instead of fresh made. That said, we rarely order burgers or pizza (our philosophy is we get too many McD's burgers on the road, and pizza is common fast food, so why not try the non-fast-food choices?)

At Pop, we enjoyed the Asian station, as well as fried chicken dinner, and Italian pasta dinner, too. At POR, we have had entree-type salads - very good, very fresh & loaded with chicken. At POFQ, we've had breakfast platters (delish), biscuits & gravy (hubby thought delish), beignets, muffaletto sandwiches, giant taco salads, pasta with Italian sausage, deli-type sandwiches, etc. Cheeseburgers once -- and they were just OK.

 

[patsal]

Values and mods have the best selection and much more diversity than the deluxes. They also handle crowds much better.

 

[pumba]

we have stayed at Pop, ALL Star resorts and Port Orleans Riverside and also French Quarter.....I think the values food courts are much better then the mods....Movies is our favorite food court ...we went there with 11 of us from the neighborhood......we all enjoyed the food court there...all different likes and dislikes and even one vegetarian.....we made out fine

 

[dalt01]

If you didn't like Pop's Food Court, you probably won't like any of the food courts.

i will take it one step further...............i you didn't like pop century food court you probably wont care for MOST of the counter service restaurants in all of WDW............with the possible exception of Flame Tree BBQ, Columbia Harbour House and Sunshine Seasons.

 

[yooperfan]

Wow! You are judging the whole food court on one meal? I am not a big fan of Disneys CS hamburgers myself, but I've never found the whole court to be distasteful because of it. What time did you eat? Maybe they were sitting a while if it wasn't normal eating hours or the end of a normal meal time.

 

[mom of princessx2]

When we stayed at Pop we found the food to be good but we didn't have the burgers so they may be different. We enjoyed the fried chicken and in the Italian section we liked the salads and the pasta. We ate there several times during our stay. Our last trip, over spring break, was at the BCV and though we didn't dislike HH, IMO it was really on the same line with all the CS resturants we have eaten. In fact we only ate there one night because we could walk to Epcot for so many more choices. I think the CS at the resorts are pretty much the same from value to mod to deluxe.

Now, the Mango Mojitos at HH are a different story

 

[chocovrdmicears]

Well I don't have good news for you.
We have stayed at POP, POFQ, CSR, AKL and Poly. We found POP to be the best food court, especially in terms of variety.

 

[blondietink]

CS's food court might be better fo ryou. Seems to have a different variety and much of the food is cooked right there in front of you. I would have to agree with the other posters, though , as we have found the food court at POP to be one of the best around.

 

[MissJanice]

We really like the Mod food courts better than the values. We find that there is better food (although the prices are higher) at the moderate food courts, which is great when your on the dining plan. If we stay at a value with QSDP then we will go get the better food at the mod food courts. Usually the food kind of matches what is in the TS restaurants (ie Tonga Toast at Poly QS...not a mod, I know.) Just my opinion.

 

[ChefColette]

I think the value resort food courts are fine, nothing spectacular, but you get what you pay for. I don't know if you consider Pepper Market CS or not, but that's a good "moderate" option.

 

[WDW Princess 71]

Thank you to everyone for your replies. I respectively disagree with those who think I would dislike all CS food throughout WDW if I didnt like the food court food, because I have enjoyed CS food at multiple locations throughout the parks. Maybe the poster who suggested I ate at an "off" time or the food had sat long was the reason behind my experience, because I know there is a lot faster turnover at most of the park CS places. Anyway, what I've learned after giving this more thought and reading the responses here is that everyone's opinion is different and I guess I was searching for a single definite answer when there isnt one. I'll just have to check out the selection when i get to the resort, and if it brings back deja vu of the Pop, we'll drive elsewhere, if it looks better, then we'll go for it. Thanks again for all the input.

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

Pop has probably the best food court of all the resorts.
Really though the Deluxe hotels etc all serve the same burgers, hot dogs etc.
The only difference is the pizzas are different at the values VS the deluxes (such as the mara and contempo) and CSR has a totally different food court options.

Really Pop has far more options than others. I think I agree with PPs you probably wont like any food court if you had an issue with Pop's

 

[bicker]

. . . I guess I was searching for a single definite answer when there isnt one.

That's almost-always the case, with regard to qualitative or other subjective matters.

Best of luck.