Very Disappointed in Disneyland restaurants

[pixarmom]

I]
]Just like how you can't compare Disney hotels to outside hotels of the same price, you can't compare Disney restaurants to outside restaurants of the same price. I walk in knowing full well how this system works and what prices to expect. But yes, dining was still important to me, even though I knew it wasn't the same ballgame as to my typical experience. When it comes to TS, I never consider it just to be 'theme park food.'

This is a great point. We're WDW vets, but I haven't been to DL since childhood. We books lots of ADRs at WDW - both lunch and dinner - not just for the food, but because we want to know there will be a place for our three boys to sit down and enjoy a meal without standing in line or hoping we get a table. (At CS, we accomplish that by eating at 11:15 am.)

We have WDW APs and an annual family vacation to Newport Beach, so we're in the unusual position of doing an extra quick trip to WDW in July and a quick trip to DL before Newport in August. But we're prepared to compare DL food against average theme park fare (not necessarily against WDW,) and I'm hopeful that DL will come out ahead of something like Six Flags!

 

[AmyPond]

I hate the ADR system. It's my least favorite thing about WDW trips. We only made three ADRs for our week long trip this year. And we didn't make any on our week long trip a couple years ago. On our next trip (whenever that will be) we will probably make 2 ADRs (one lunch at Restaurant Marrakesh and one dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh.)

We actually go about the same type of park touring for both Disneyland and WDW.

Same approach with meals too......"Just say no to ADRs and Priority Seating!"

 

[carolinamama]

I hate the ADR system. It's my least favorite thing about WDW trips. We only made three ADRs for our week long trip this year. And we didn't make any on our week long trip a couple years ago. On our next trip (whenever that will be) we will probably make 2 ADRs (one lunch at Restaurant Marrakesh and one dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh.)

We actually go about the same type of park touring for both Disneyland and WDW.

Same approach with meals too......"Just say no to ADRs and Priority Seating!"

I don't like ADRs either, but we do like TS. I don't like having to plan everything around when we're going to eat. But, since we do the dining plan and there's a lot of places we want to try, that's part of the game now.

I remember growing up when my mom would run to City Hall if we were at the MK, or at Epcot, to the space underneath Spaceship Earth to make ressies for that day. Epcot was cool because it was on a TV with a two way camera, so you could see the CM on the other side as you made your ressie, or at least it was cool in the 80s!

 

[HydroGuy]

I am also. Maybe a comparison between european dining and DLR/WDW. Price vs quality?

Jack

Hey, I ate at lots of "Trattorias" in Italy and now will try the Wine Country Trattoria at DCA. We also visited Naples so maybe can hit Naples restaurant in DTD. What I hope to avoid at DLR is the seven pounds I gained over three weeks in Europe!

 

[Sherry E]

Hey, I ate at lots of "Trattorias" in Italy and now will try the Wine Country Trattoria at DCA. We also visited Naples so maybe can hit Naples restaurant in DTD. What I hope to avoid at DLR is the seven pounds I gained over three weeks in Europe!

I would bet that the food in Italy is out of this world! That's where most of my eating would be done if I went to Europe. I would not be able to leave Italy!

 

[HydroGuy]

I would bet that the food in Italy is out of this world! That's where most of my eating would be done if I went to Europe. I would not be able to leave Italy!

Yah and hopefully you could avoid my seven pounds! The good news for me is I worked out real hard in the month before I left and lost 12 pounds before getting on the airplane. So the seven I gained does not seem so bad!

 

[Arizona Rita]

I have read the first page and last page of this thread.
We just returned from the Baltics and DLP and let me just say that when the food at the train station is better than what you can get inside DLP, it really makes me appreciate DL and Village Haus and the corn dog truck!
When my DH is with me we will go to Blue Bayou but when its just me and the kids, next trip Halloween. we will do Cafe Orleans or other counter service for the main meal and just grab something from a stand like fresh fruit which they also did not have at DLP. I have a new appreciation for the fruit stands now too.

 

[jimreuter]

At Cafe Orleans, if you sit outside, you get the view of the river traffic and the people passing by, and sometimes the Bootstrappers Pirate Band.

At Blue Bayou, you dine on the patio of a southern mansion - on one hand you get the view of the bayou, with the boats going by and the fireflies (and strange bird noises) and if you look the other way you see the mansion all lit up - it is a very pretty place to enjoy a meal.

At Carnation Cafe, you dine next to Main Street, and watch the traffic going by - The Dapper Dans, The All American Band, The Straw Hatters.

At Big Thunder Ranch you get "all you can eat" barbecue, and live entertainment all day long.

If you prefer, you can get steak gumbo, or vegetarian gumbo, or clam chowder in a bread bowl and sit at tables overlooking Rivers Of America (from the Royal Street Veranda).

Tell me what you get at McDonalds, or Mimi's, or anyplace else for that matter, that involves you in the Disneyland experience.

Yes, I am a castmember, and I work at Blue Bayou. But I am telling you the same things that I tell my friends and family. And I am telling you some of my favorite places to go for breakfast (Carnation Cafe) lunch or dinner.

 

[QueenDoOver]

At Cafe Orleans, if you sit outside, you get the view of the river traffic and the people passing by, and sometimes the Bootstrappers Pirate Band.

At Blue Bayou, you dine on the patio of a southern mansion - on one hand you get the view of the bayou, with the boats going by and the fireflies (and strange bird noises) and if you look the other way you see the mansion all lit up - it is a very pretty place to enjoy a meal.

At Carnation Cafe, you dine next to Main Street, and watch the traffic going by - The Dapper Dans, The All American Band, The Straw Hatters.

At Big Thunder Ranch you get "all you can eat" barbecue, and live entertainment all day long.

If you prefer, you can get steak gumbo, or vegetarian gumbo, or clam chowder in a bread bowl and sit at tables overlooking Rivers Of America (from the Royal Street Veranda).

Tell me what you get at McDonalds, or Mimi's, or anyplace else for that matter, that involves you in the Disneyland experience.

Yes, I am a castmember, and I work at Blue Bayou. But I am telling you the same things that I tell my friends and family. And I am telling you some of my favorite places to go for breakfast (Carnation Cafe) lunch or dinner.

I completly agree

 

[nunzia]

At Cafe Orleans, if you sit outside, you get the view of the river traffic and the people passing by, and sometimes the Bootstrappers Pirate Band.

At Blue Bayou, you dine on the patio of a southern mansion - on one hand you get the view of the bayou, with the boats going by and the fireflies (and strange bird noises) and if you look the other way you see the mansion all lit up - it is a very pretty place to enjoy a meal.

At Carnation Cafe, you dine next to Main Street, and watch the traffic going by - The Dapper Dans, The All American Band, The Straw Hatters.

At Big Thunder Ranch you get "all you can eat" barbecue, and live entertainment all day long.

If you prefer, you can get steak gumbo, or vegetarian gumbo, or clam chowder in a bread bowl and sit at tables overlooking Rivers Of America (from the Royal Street Veranda).

Tell me what you get at McDonalds, or Mimi's, or anyplace else for that matter, that involves you in the Disneyland experience.

Yes, I am a castmember, and I work at Blue Bayou. But I am telling you the same things that I tell my friends and family. And I am telling you some of my favorite places to go for breakfast (Carnation Cafe) lunch or dinner.

Excellent points...and whenever I eat at Riverbelle Terrace I think of Walt and how he enjoyed looking at his river.
Comparing theme park to theme park: Seaworld was very good, comparable prices, flavorful and healthy choices. LegoLand was horrid..I took one bite of my very expensive hot dog and threw it away, it tasted so 'off'. (the green apple fries were pretty good, but did it really need to take 20 minutes to serve four people from a stand that serves ONE thing? New appreciation for Disney after that place.)
The Riverbelle Terrace sandwhiches are really excellent..when they say 'carver' they mean it. In my next life I want to work F&B in Disneyland. (I actually planned on doing it in this life and got my BS in the field, but family rebelled about living in CA so we made it to Las Vegas )

 

[perlster]

Tell me what you get at McDonalds, or Mimi's, or anyplace else for that matter, that involves you in the Disneyland experience.

Do you have to pay $14 parking + $72 admission to get into McDonalds or Mimi's or ....?

 

[NewbieMouse]

Do you have to pay $14 parking + $72 admission to get into McDonalds or Mimi's or ....?

Do you ride Space Mountain at McDonald's or Mimi's or ....?

It's Disneyland. It's expensive. To compare it based on price to anywhere else that's concentrating solely on food is like comparing apples to oranges. I honestly can't remember if I thought the food was better at WDW or DLP, but I wasn't really concentrating on that, nor on the value for my dollar compared t outside restaurants. I knew I was going to be paying for pretty much everything through the nose

 

[carolinamama]

Tell me what you get at McDonalds, or Mimi's, or anyplace else for that matter, that involves you in the Disneyland experience.

Do you ride Space Mountain at McDonald's or Mimi's or ....?

It's Disneyland. It's expensive. To compare it based on price to anywhere else that's concentrating solely on food is like comparing apples to oranges.

Exactly. It's the same way I feel about staying at a Disney hotel/resort as well.

Someone mentioned Legoland food - I did enjoy my panini, but most of the food we had was nothing special. And I had a similar experience trying the apple fries. One location that does nothing but make apple fries, and there were two other people in line. It took 5 minutes after I placed my order. I had the same feeling - they make ONE thing, and they can't keep up with the demand, which was pretty low at the time.

 

[ktlm]

I'm a WDW vet, most recent trips being Dec 2008, May 2009, and December 2009. We were at DL this June, and we thought the food was really good. I would say it was every bit as good as WDW. WDW TS tends to be inconsistent. It has a great variety of TS restaurants, but the food quality isn't always great. Don't get me wrong, I love WDW dining- I'm online at 180 days ahead of the trip at the crack of dawn (actually I think it is before dawn) making reservations. We have had a few great meals there and many good meals, but we have also had many medicore meals, and at least one downright nasty meal. The CS meals aren't that great either. We have had a few good ones, but far more mediocre, and several that have been thrown in the trash can after a couple of bites (my DD had never met a chicken nugget she didn't like until WDW).

At DL, we only had one meal I would term as mediocre, and that was dinner at Ariel's grotto. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either.

We thought the food at Carnation Cafe and Blue Bayou were really good. My mouth is watering just thinking about Carnation Cafe's potato soup. We thought Minnie's breakfast was good and the character interaction was spectacular. We thought Goofy's Kitchen dinner was 100 times better than Chef Mickey's dinner (the worst meal we have ever had at WDW). Goofy is clearly a better cook!! The Fantasmic dessert box was yummy. We never got a CS meal we had to throw away either. All in all, we were really happy with the food at DL. We never had a bad meal.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I agree that one of the strengths of DLR dining is the year round ability to sit outside while eating and be surrounded by the park. I guess that is why I gravitate to mainly CS.
In WDW sometimes you have to rely on a TS meal just to get out of the heat.

 

[HydroGuy]

I agree that one of the strengths of DLR dining is the year round ability to sit outside while eating and be surrounded by the park. I guess that is why I gravitate to mainly CS.
In WDW sometimes you have to rely on a TS meal just to get out of the heat.

I never really thought about it but you are so right!

 

[mmlover74]

Man, I wish I could be in Italy right now and eat my way thru Italy north to South. Also, i would be able to visit where my Gpa grew up.

About the meals, I have eaten at CC for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I enjoy the loaded potato soup and the sandwich with the pretzel bread. I have eaten at Minnies and GK for breakfast and liked GK better for the food, but Minnies better for the wide range of characters. I haven't been to WOC dinner package, but my meal at WCT was good last year. I enjoyed my blue cheese burger at Taste Pilot too.

I enjoy the food I ordered and have ordered them multiple times. I wanted to go to CO, but it was being refurb the last time I went. yes, I was bummed, but I got over it and am thinking ways to go back. However, I just had a trip to WDW, so I don't think it will be anytime soon.

What do you expect from CS meals and for Disney to feed large numbers of people in a short time on the spot? McDonalds would change too if that happened.

I haven't eaten at Napa's or SH55 or BB, but I plan to.

 

[Quilter007]

Another big difference between WDW & DL dining is the ability to quickly go off-site & eat. It's difficult for someone who isn't familiar with the area and doesn't have a car to do that in WDW, but in DL there are a lot of non-Disney food options in all price options. I say this as I'm munching on left-over El Pollo Loco from lunch.....kids just finished swimming.....so today we got two meals for our family for half the price of a TS meal inside the park. We loaded up on fastpasses this am while riding rides. Got lunch outside the park. Swam. Eating dinner now & will go use fastpasses & ride more rides until we are wiped out. Today, we bought a Dole Whip & we'll probably buy a couple of churros. Tomorrow, Disney will probably squeeze more out of us! El Pollo Loco is a little hard for the casual tourist to find, but there are plenty of options. WDW -- is really, really hard to find non-Disney food in any reasonable period of time. At least that was our experience in the three times we went there. So, I don't think Disney has as much incentive to invest in restaurants in DL since they really don't have as big of a captive audience.

 

[aristocat65]

I'm sure this is a common disappointment among WDW vets. From what I've heard, food is an intricate part of the WDW experience. For DLR, it isn't. Many are there for shorter trips and aren't concerned with experiencing a wide variety of food, or anything more than a quick meal. I could see someone getting bored and underwhelmed with eating at DLR for 10 days...most are only there for 3-5 days.

I think you hit the nail on the head. 10 Days. We go to WDW for usually 8 days and never run out of interesting places to eat, but DLR is 5 days tops for us. Out of those 5 days we usually plan about 3 sit down dinners, and don't feel I'm missing anything. I agree DLR food has definitely improved, but at the same time WDW food quality has gone down in recent years. Probably a result of giving it away for free the last 5 years.

 

[vettegirl]

I have always enjoyed my meals at DL, but 10 days would be very hard to find different restaurants to try on property. My favs are the BB, Taste Pilots Grill, Hungry Bear, and the French Market.