What has happened to the Disney restruants???

[sandieb]

Update: We visited WDW this time bringing our 4 grandsons - ages 2, 4, 6, & 12. We usually choose buffests to minimize the wait time. We eat dinner out most visits no matter who we take. This visit besides the 3 listed below, we also went to Chef Mickey's, Biergarden, and the Rose & Crown. I KNOW THEY ARE NOT FINE DINING (WHO WOULD WITH THIS GROUP ANYWAY)! The food was poorly prepared, the service indifferent and the floor littered with food and debris. Canned and frozen vegetables are not acceptable in my opinion - they remined me of Old Country Buffet. However, the cost is significant. Biergarten & Crystal Palace are $28.99 per adult and Chef Mickey's is $29.99. Trail's End is $20.99. We went to Trial's End because we were going to take the kids to the bonfire.

I don't think it unreasonable to expect fresh, well prepared food at any restaurant, especially with the standards usually held at WDW. I don't think it should be necessary to go to a signature restaurant and order filet of beef to have a pleasing meal. The servers could smile and act interested. The dining area should be cleaned between parties.

I will say the CM at the Biergarten did a good job. The food at the Rose and Crown was very good, the CM professional, and the atmosphere enjoyable.

My experience does not mean that I don't like WDW, but that I believe the pleasure of dining at the unique restaurants has diminished.
Sandie

Oh my goodness! We are at WDW for probably our 15th visit over the last 10 years. The food is terrible and the atmosphere even worse. We had meals at the Crystal Palace, Prime Time Cafe, and Trail's End. Both buffets were boarderline terrible. A few salads at CP showed some imagination and the steamed broccoli was good, but otherwise it was awful. Trail's End was very disappointing. It was never high end, but we could count on decent everyday food reminiscent of home cooking.

I am NOT a complainer, but the cost of these meals is significant, and the quality should be better. We have eaten at almost every restaurant at Disney and have rarely had a poor meal.

Is my experience unique?

Sandie

 

[Cheshire Figment]

This is because of the Basic Disney Dining Plan!

Unfortunately, many people on the DDP, whether they pay for it directly or paying a higher rate for their room and getting "free" dining, look to the highest price items on the menu. This is based either on the attitude of "I paid for it and can get whatever I want" or "as long as it's free, let's get the best items".

For example, at Le Cellier where is a $22.50 difference in price between the lowest price adult lunch entree and the highest price dinner entree. Each restaturant receives a fixed dollar amount credit for each meal sold under DDP. Each restaurant has to make a profit.

As food costs go up it takes more money to operate a restaurant.

So as things progress more and more of the higher end cost items will vanish.

The signature restaurants do not have so much of a problem as they get paid double the regular restaurants.

If they ever do away with the Basic DDP within about six months you will find a lot more high end selections at all the restaurants.

 

[ammo]

Is my experience unique?

Is your experience unique? Sadly, no. The DDP explanation sounds reasonable. We have heard it from quite a few people who eat every meal in the restaurants (we don't).

We also spoke to a friend who has worked as a chef at Boma for several years, and he says last year's wild fluctuations in commodity prices (coinciding with high fuel costs) led them to make some cost-cutting moves. Unfortunately, those changes have not been reversed as fuel and commodity prices dropped.

And let's be honest, there are a lot of people who don't primarily care about the quality of Disney food. They say so right here on the boards. Eating at a Disney restaurant is part of their vacation experience, and as long as they enjoy the theming or the show (characters, etc.), they are happy. They're not too bothered if the quality of the food drops, even if prices stay the same or rise. That's fine if they feel that way, but I don't.

 

[Justsyd2]

Could you be more specific regarding, "terrible and awful?" Was the food spoiled? Did your family get sick, or did you just not care for it? I understand that you didn't enjoy it. I'm just not certain that I understand why you didn't enjoy it. Did you speak to management about your meals?

 

[Joshua_me]

It's our *very* strong opinion that there should be some Disney restaurants that don't participate in the DDP...

We *fully* understand how tight money is right now, but if you choose to pay extra, you should be able to get a better level of service and food.

I don't see a problem with that....

 

[MarkinNM]

I cant say as I have NEVER eaten on Disney property but one can be sure on this, if the DDP wasn’t profitable you can bet your house that there would BE NO DDP!!!! Don’t kid yourself in saying its all because of the DDP.
We have restaurants here locally we have been going to for years and the food as well as the service have not been up to what they were in the past. I am a firm believer in that is lead by the MGT team meaning ANY restaurant is only as good as the MGT team, poor MGT = poor food and service....

 

[cglaura]

I cant say as I have NEVER eaten on Disney property but one can be sure on this, if the DDP wasn’t profitable you can bet your house that there would BE NO DDP!!!! Don’t kid yourself in saying its all because of the DDP.
We have restaurants here locally we have been going to for years and the food as well as the service have not been up to what they were in the past. I am a firm believer in that is lead by the MGT team meaning ANY restaurant is only as good as the MGT team, poor MGT = poor food and service....

I think what was meant was that the ddp was a reason for the drop in higher priced higher quality food.

A steak is $22 A burger is $9. The restaurant gets paid a set $13 regardless of what you choose (these are all made up numbers) ...so, they are going to be more apt to drop the higher priced stuff and push the lower so they make a bigger profit. Which leads to an overall decline of offerings.

I'm sure this isn't the sole reason, but I can see the point, that yes the ddp is profitible, and this is how they make it so.

 

[MarkinNM]

I think what was meant was that the ddp was a reason for the drop in higher priced higher quality food.

A steak is $22 A burger is $9. The restaurant gets paid a set $13 regardless of what you choose (these are all made up numbers) ...so, they are going to be more apt to drop the higher priced stuff and push the lower so they make a bigger profit. Which leads to an overall decline of offerings.

I'm sure this isn't the sole reason, but I can see the point, that yes the ddp is profitible, and this is how they make it so.

Sorry it doesn’t work that way, I used to work in restaurants and how it works is cost per plate. Meaning that the cost of the plate to the public directly relates to the cost of the bulk food bought. Granted it’s been well over 19 years since I last managed a restaurant but I used to do a cost plate analysis weekly with the cost of the bulk food bought PER plate then adjust the price to maintain profitability, in my case we usually kept it about 15% give or take a few dollars. Meaning that each entrée bought cost the restaurant 15% of the total price, keep in mind this excludes the labor to make and serve the food (that’s a whole different story). I am sure each restaurant gets a certain amount of $$ from the sale on the DDP, the more they “charge” to the DDP I am sure they get more of the money per say credited back to them, and I am sure that is still VERY profitable. I hope I explained this, as I know it sounds confusing but I still think it has to do with the MGT team.

 

[cglaura]

I understand what you are saying, I have no idea how they really charge. I was just going by Cheshire Figmant's post that they receive a set price per person & was trying to clarify his statement.

I took it to mean, they get $13 (fictitious price) per adult, regardless of how much they eat or what the price is on the menu....meaning the restaurant doesn't charge back to disney a fluctuating amount based on the meal.

I'm sure it is a combination of many things, mgmt, disney, outsourcing, economy, bad weather crops, different chefs, etc etc.

 

[Uncleromulus]

I'm wondering what the OP meant by --"and the atmosphere even worse".
And tho we haven't been to such places as Trails End and Prime Time in years, the food and atmosphere at the Signature restaurants seems pretty good. Not much has happened to them.

 

[TDC Nala]

Not entirely about the dining plan although that is a component. Disney as a corporation is streamlining and homogenizing its food service programs in order to cut costs. Same thing is occurring at Disneyland, which does not have a comparable dining plan.

It's our *very* strong opinion that there should be some Disney restaurants that don't participate in the DDP...

There are several restaurants on Disney property that don't participate in the dining plan. Most are located at the Swan/Dolphin or Downtown Disney. I am in agreement that the food at most of these places is of better quality (which I believe is due to the fact that they aren't run by Disney, rather than the fact that they don't accept the dining plan). However, the previous poster no doubt means restaurants within the theme parks, and there is only one restaurant inside a theme park that does not participate in DDP. Don't see that changing anytime soon.

I've learned that it isn't too much trouble to leave a park and eat at a resort.

 

[Tiger926]

Not entirely about the dining plan although that is a component. Disney as a corporation is streamlining and homogenizing its food service programs in order to cut costs. Same thing is occurring at Disneyland, which does not have a comparable dining plan.

Disney is doing this with everything - clothes, souveniers, refillable mugs, etc. This is the best way to make profit, so it stands that they will do it with food as well. It must be working as people are still eating and buying!

I come from a restaurant family here in Canada, where minimum wage is almost $10.00/hour, Worker's Comp is thousands of dollars per month, and taxes are out of this world, and so it's very hard to make a profit in the restaurant biz these days. Just this past month the following chains have closed up shop, yet small independents are still in business as they are able to adjust things a bit easier in regards to labour patterns, food, etc..


Closed

Outback Canada, 2 Applebee's restaurants in my city and 1 Montana's restaurant.

More is coming as my dad says and he's been in the restaurant/catering/pizzeria/bar/cafeteria biz for over 40 years.

Tiger

 

[MickeyNicki]

I have to say the dinner buffets at 1900 PF (absolutely horrible food) and CP (so salty we could not eat it) need a huge facelift!

 

[Pakey]

Having been a visitor to WDW for many years, long before the dining plan, I also agree that the quality/variety of food offered is no longer at the level it once was. Since the dining plan is incredibly popular, I assume that the majority of visitors prefer affordable food rather than quality dining.

We now eat many of our TS meals at non-plan participating restaurants.

 

[Colleen27]

We also spoke to a friend who has worked as a chef at Boma for several years, and he says last year's wild fluctuations in commodity prices (coinciding with high fuel costs) led them to make some cost-cutting moves. Unfortunately, those changes have not been reversed as fuel and commodity prices dropped.

That's happening everywhere, though. Grocery prices shot up last summer and packages shrunk, based on higher fuel costs, but now that oil has dropped and gas is back under $2/gallon, those prices haven't come back down and the packages haven't reverted to their original sizes.

I don't buy the DDP explanation, personally, not as a cause of the changes. I think the DDP and the menu changes are all part of the same overarching corporate philosophy regarding Disney dining - a focus on appealing to the masses that is a stark (and disappointing) contrast to the approach of the preceding decade or so. It shouldn't come as any surprise, though, considering that right along with complaints about declining food quality/ "dumbed down" menus come complaints that you can't just walk up and be seated at TS restaurants any more. When the better food/menus left the restaurants so empty that walk ups were possible at the handful of TS locations in a park that handles tens of thousands of visitors even on the slowest day, it is obvious that the appeal of those dining options was too narrow and that changes were inevitable.

 

[walt's assistant]

My first reaction is with the restaurants you chose. We have never been fans of the CP...always very noisy, chaotic, and the food was below average the last time we were there. 50s Prime Time is another place where we were "1 and done", though the schtick was cute. Trail's End is nothing special in our opinion.

 

[Pakey]

My first reaction is with the restaurants you chose. We have never been fans of the CP...always very noisy, chaotic, and the food was below average the last time we were there. 50s Prime Time is another place where we were "1 and done", though the schtick was cute. Trail's End is nothing special in our opinion.

Not so. We always dine at the "signatures" and I feel these have been dumbed down also. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, business speaking, but for those of us who enjoyed being able to have quasi-fine dining at the World, that's pretty much gone now.

 

[Coconuts]

Yes, I think there is a difference in quality, but I think it is more a global economy problem, not just Disney Dining or services, that is at fault here. This quality decline can be applied to non-Disney restaurants and businesses. Things are tough all over.

Now don't jump all over me; I am NOT saying that I feel sorry for Disney because they aren't as profitable as they once were; I am sure that they are still making money, just not as much as before. I was just saying that in general, the economy stinks!

 

[emmabemmainc]

I love it--you go to 3 restaurants and all of sudden it's, "oh what has happened to disney restaurants???"--please. First of all, the cost of the food at Trail's End is not "significant"--it's one of the cheapest, if not THE cheapest buffet on property.
Also---you expect wonders from any buffet? Yes, most people like Boma (although it was not my favorite-but I'd never call it terrible), but at Crystal Palace? Really? What do you expect?
It just cracks me up--people expect miracles from buffet eating. I can't even imagine any food at WDW being inedible--I've had some not so great food, but nothing I absolutely could not eat, unless it contained something I didn't like--exp. beets, certain spices, etc...
Then, you've got the bandwagon jumping in about the horrible dining plan killing good food and waaaaaahhh..woe is me. I went a few months ago and had wonderful food--and YES, I do believe the signature restaurants are wonderful--go to Jiko, have the filet and tell me how it's gone downhill. And yes, I have eaten at WDW, at various places, many times. What's funny to me is that the first time I ate at 50's PT, it was probably over 15 years ago (give or take a year) and I thought it was not very good. Since then, I've eaten there 3 times and actually thought the food improved! So, it's not everything.


Dramatics. Blah.

 

[pearlieq]

I've also been quite disappointed with Disney dining in the last few years. The quality has slid, but what really irks me is the "dumbing-down" and homogenization of the menus.

I swear if you named a mid-tier WDW restaurant for me I could name at least 4 of the appetizers and about half of the entrees without every seeing the menu. There's nothing wrong with their offerings per se, they're just dull and overpriced.

We've been eating offsite more and trying to find little pockets of good food and value in out of the way places around the property. When we do go to the main restaurants it's almost always for the theming over the food.

We taking my mom this Sunday and I was apalled by how many times I caught myself saying "The food's not that great, but it's a cute place to see" as I described the restaurants.