WORST DISNEY DINING EXPERIENCE

[Sabrina°o°]

Worst was Hollywood and Vine. Loved the characters but not the food.

 

[JZCubed]

Good food should always trump bad service.

There are at least three standout experiences where, forget the service, food was simply inedible.

1.) Hummus from the Children's Menu served to my child at CA Grill had so much raw garlic, it was inedible even for most for adults.
2.) Grey meat fast food style hamburgers served to children (and some adults) RESORT WIDE. Of all the things Disney should be able to do well, it should be hamburgers. Heck, they even charge a relative premium on most menus for hamburgers, and still, lousy.
3.) I'm noticing fewer frozen pizzas on Qwik Serve menus, and that's a good thing - See #2 Hamburgers.

Disney serves a large amount of food, most of it is fine for what it is. Some could be better. Busy kitchens at any level of restauranting, just like a ride, can 'breakdown' too.

Back to service - not surprisingly, most poor service we've had was late in the evening at Disney spots that operate throughout the day and evening. But we have rarely, if ever, experienced anything that was truly poor service.

The one standout may be that same evening at CA Grill (which might be why it does stand out) and may have as much to do with the place having recently re-opened from renovations. Regardless, we've been skipping the place and revisiting others - disregarding my mantra, "Do not travel for food at Disney (eat where you are staying)."

I've not completely disregarded the mantra, we're going to have a few more in-park lunches that have little to do with food - uniquely Disney & Character dining. We're less likely to be disappointed if we arrive with the attitude that the experience is not about the food. Never let a bad meal stop you from having fun.

 

[*pixie*dust*]

Worst Buffet -- Hollywood & Vine -- dirty, poorly maintained food not kept at proper temps
Worst Show-- Spirit of Aloha-- long boring show, high price, low quality food and communal outdoor seating
Worst TS-- San Angel Inn-- Horrible service, terrible food

 

[lazer]

We will never go back to Tusker House. It was dirty, the characters were rushed around and the service was SLOW. The food wasn't that great either. Thankfully, my kids and DH agree that we don't need to give it another try.

We had terrible service at Coral Reef. But, it might have had something to do with the fact that our waiter was being yelled at constantly by a group of 10 sitting by us. He wasn't doing enough to get them moved closer to the tank and wasn't bringing out their food & drinks fast enough. They were the rudest diners I've ever been around, so that might have skewed my opinion!

Overall, we've had good experiences. I much prefer the disney food than the sit-down meals we had at Universal (save the resorts). There weren't many choices and the quick service wasn't much better than mcdonalds...which we don't eat.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Wolfgang Puck's on the West Side. Rude people, bad service. Had to send my steak back 3 times and they still couldn't get it done. Never again.

West side, yes. That place has a bad reputation. Marketplace thou (QS), YUMMY!!!!!!!!

Tonys was the worst meal ive ever had. Service wasnt great either. Its the only restaurant my son specifically refuses to go back to. Me too!

 

[GreyStr0ke]

For price, Artists Point was probably the worst and most disappointing meal I've had at Disney. This was last weekend too. Definitely, not what I would expect from a signature restaurant. Service was fine but the food left a lot to be desired. Between our group of 4, we ordered 3 different entrees and no one was overly thrilled with the final results. Good beer and drinks though...

Service wise, Via Napoli would take the cake. Rude waiter, very rushed, and mediocre pizza at best.

 

[mel&me]

Unfortunately just because its Disney does not equal a perfect everything. If someone working is having a bad day this effects there work. On waitress side can be rude. On cook side I see this as worst than a rude waitress because food is bad. Even if not related to a bad day, people make mistakes. My tip will reflect accordingly to my visit.

 

[verleniahall]

To be fair - being "rude" is part of the schtick there. Granted, if the CM isn't really into it that day, or you don't feel like playing along, I could see the disconnect. Then again, they could have just been a bad server that day. Sorry that happened - but do love me some PB&J and Red Velvet Milkshakes as well!

There is "schtick" and rude, and he was rude. the DH and i were talked, and we didnt realize that we were supposed to take care of the plates/siverware,etcc... and the serve cam eback and yelled at us over it and them slamed the stuff in front of us. - but it was like another pp said - the people next to us must have been regulars, becuase he was basicly butt-kissing them. I swear - they had like 4 milkshake refils "on him" a piece - and it was a family of four.

We LOVED our respective milkshakes though - I had the Red Velvet Milkshake, and the DH hada pumpkin something???

 

[Pete S]

Turf Club at Saratoga Springs. We were looking forward to this, trying something new. We weren't expecting it to be a library or anything but it was incredibly loud, louder than any bar I have ever been in. I had lamb which was okay but my wife and daughter's meals were not very good either. The server was good but could not salvage this experience.

 

[tinkerhon]

Totally agree....that was our experience too and I have Xed Chef Mickey off my list forever!

we hardly ever complain about our food/service---- we try to think about all of the people that, for various reasons, cant go to Disney--- However, that being said---- we had heard about "Chef Mickeys" bfast for years, and finally did it last year--- WORST EXPERIENCE EVER--- we now refer to it as "Camp Mickeys"--
Food was cold--- my daughter almost get knocked over twice trying to get cereal, and cant even describe how loud it was !!!

 

[Katy Belle]

50s Prime Time Diner...its been a few years and I don't think I can ever go back. We had a waitress that, at the time, was very well known and well liked here on the Disboards. She really dropped the ball with us. She started out fun and cute, but basically ignored us the rest of the time. She brought drinks after a while...and then we would try to flag her down for refills and she would yell something cute at us and away she would go, with no refills for us. We were on the Dining Plan, so she had us order our dessert with our meal. We waited and waited and waited for our meals....tried to flag her or a manager down to inquire as to where our food was....ignored. Finally, someone delivered our DESSERT. Before our meals. We should have left then, now I certainly would. But we waited for our food longer. Then had to wait for dessert. It was ridiculous. We did get a manager involved and I don't remember if they gave us our dining credits back or not...I just remember the pain! We were in there for hours, would have rather been in the park.

 

[Miaka1]

Crystal Palace dinner. Food was horrible, and server was worse. He spilled our drinks twice! The second time onto our autograph books. We had to ask a manager for a towel, because he just walked off and left the mess! We complained, was offered new books, but as it was our last night, we would have had no chance for new autographs. I was able to get them dry, and manager apologized.
I do have to say the character interaction was amazing. AMAZING!
Best food by far was spirit of Aloha show.

 

[GAN]

Three pages of messages on this topic and not ONE warning about Marrakesh!

Well, just in case you've never been -it's horrible. I realize there are some that like it, but our meals were so bad we will never be back. To put it in perspective, my wife has eaten Sea Urchin -have you seen Sea Urchin? She thought Marrakesh was worse.

 

[Coconut8473]

Just be wary that this is frequently an act with many waitstaff at any restaurant. They play the pity party to get a bigger tip. That's why I tip solely based on their job. I have students that work at local restaurants and I don't tip them any more than someone I don't know. If they do a bad job, they are tipped accordingly. If they see me some other time and ask why, I tell them the truth. If they are waiting on me and bemoaning their problems to me or other coworkers, I do tell them it's not appropriate to do that in front of customers.

That is exactly what I was thinking when I read the post.[/QUOTE]

I totally agree, but in this case, to be fair, she was an otherwise excellent and super-attentive server... I think she was just an over-sharer and we engaged a little too much with her, I don't think she was intentionally trying to scam us.

I have little things I call "Magic Killers" - kind of like the "4th wall" in movies and television... when I go to Disney, I don't want to think about the real world at all (including seeing the news or headlines). I know that's probably a completely selfish and irresponsible thing to do to some extent (especially since, 9 times out of 10, I do end up checking in with work at some point). I once complimented a cashier in one of the gift shops on her crystal Mickey earrings. She was super cheerful, but made a comment like, "Wish they were real diamonds... but they're not, not on what they pay me here!" Total Magic Killer!!!!

 

[perditax]

A few notes from a recent short stay:

1) I've ranted about this in other threads, but: fifty-buck steak in Jiko ordered medium rare arrived well done. No we didn't send it back; we'd already been waiting an hour.

2) Boma food was either bland or loaded with sugar. I tried the 'fufu', which I've read is mashed sweet potatoes and white potatoes, and it just tasted overwhelmingly of honey. Sweet enough to be a dessert. I hadn't realized. Butternut squash soup was almost as sweet. "Durban spiced chicken" contained no noticeable spices.

These are both far from the worst food I've ever eaten but they guaranteed I'm unlikely to dine at either place again.

 

[L&Lfan]

And Boma used to be FABULOUS!

 

[RyMacJ]

Worst Service: Wolfgang Puck's. This was in '07 on our Disneymoon. Our server was openly flirting with me in front of DH. He asked where we were staying and for our room number! I am totally not joking. I think I remember that our room number ended up being on our receipt because we were on DDP and being really creeped out him being able to know where we were. We were supposed to check out the next morning and ended up leaving that night instead, partly because of this experience and partly because I fell trying to catch the bus after dinner. We were just done that night. Period. I'm so glad it was the last night of our trip and not the first!

Worst Food: Crystal Palace. Completely gross. This was 2013

We have a dinner ressie at Chef Mickey's for June and I'm so scared. I've heard so many horrible things. The ONLY reason we booked it was because we let both our girls choose a restaurant (we spent lots of time explaining all of the restaurants to them) and this was the one DD6 chose. I guess I should have left it off the list to tell them about! (DD5 chose 1900 Park Fare).

 

[staceyrhood]

There's been a few...but, I would say the worse was California Grill...my husband and I went for our anniversary a few years ago, we were all dressed up and ready for a nice dinner. We got sat by the window during fireworks and that was the most exciting part. All the tables around us had a lot of loud children and almost everyone was in shorts and the lighting was very bright. Then the food came out and it was just ok, we got back home and ate again I had been there a few times before and remembered it being more of a quiet darker restaurant with great food, but not that night. Now we go only go to Jiko for a "nice" dinner at Disney.

 

[georgina]

Three pages of messages on this topic and not ONE warning about Marrakesh!

Well, just in case you've never been -it's horrible. I realize there are some that like it, but our meals were so bad we will never be back. To put it in perspective, my wife has eaten Sea Urchin -have you seen Sea Urchin? She thought Marrakesh was worse.

I've been, and the food was fine. Not fantastic (not much Disney food is), but acceptable for dinner. We did not particularly enjoy 50's Prime Time, but we only went one time so it could have been an off night.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I did not care for Bongo's in DTD. It has been a long long time. But expected Cuban food or food with a Cuban flair and it was just not up to what I was expecting.

I have not had any other experiences that were awful...but I do have places I am not in such a hurry to return to: CRT, Tony's--

What is fascinating is that some folks' never returns end up being others' can't wait to go again.