BrianL
Doom Buggy Driver
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2013
Ha ha - no, I haven't. I hear it has improved a bit lately though.
Why isn't the food better at WDW?
- Thread starter DanenRox
- Start date
Ha ha - no, I haven't. I hear it has improved a bit lately though.
snoopy352
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2011
Well it only has one way to go.
snoopy352
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2011
I just read through this entire thread and I scratch my head at some of the extreme posts on each side... "We GO to DIS for the FOOD!!!" "I have NEVER had a BAD meal at WDW!" "Only 1 bad meal out of 200!" And then we have ... "The food is HORRIBLE!" "Everything here is AWFUL!" and on and on lol. The truth is somewhere in the middle. MOST of the food is decent. Some of it truly is terrible (MK CS, DHS CS, and Tony's for me); some truly great - but the specifics are subjective. I just can't understand how people can generalize and think every single morsel of food ever eaten in a place as large and diverse as WDW can be in one case "horrible" or in another case "always" great.
Okay, I am dying over here because my experience at Coral Reef was exactly like that. Now, the appetizer and kids meals were more akin to a chain restaurant (Applebee's, etc.), but their signature dish tasted exactly like a fish Lean Cuisine meal!I don't know if "what you're expecting from a theme park" is a fair statement though. Yes they are churning out food for the masses, but all of the restaurants are ran with their own chefs and managers etc...it really is no different than any other restaurant on Earth that is consistently busy, they just happen to be located in WDW. Also, it sure can't be the cost of quality food vs profit thing considering they charge an arm and a leg. I get the fast food being nothing special because it all pretty much comes from a central place and really is for the masses, but the restaurants really have no good excuse. I'll admit that there are a few great places if you know where to look, but good food at those prices really shouldn't be hit or miss like it is. I've eaten at all but 3 places in the whole of Epcot, and for all of the touting of excellent restaurants, there are only 2 that I can think of where the food is outstanding or where I've never had a bad meal and that's Garden Grill and Le Cellier. Even those have gone down in quality according to most people. Le Cellier is no longer a hard to snag ADR. Chefs de France was awful the last time I went. I kid you not, my entree tasted EXACTLY like a Lean Cuisine that I've eaten a million times in my perpetually dieting life lol. I was sooo disappointed. If I had sat there and tried I could have told you exactly which Lean Cuisine it was. I thought I was one of the Griswolds and they just stuck a little French flag in my frozen dinner.
MickeyWaffles
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2010
FYI, some McDonald’s food was available in the parks from the late 90s-2008ish. You could get McDonald’s fries in all the parks, as well as McDonald’s burgers and nuggets at one or two spots.
https://www.yesterland.com/mcwdw.html
We never ate at them since we don’t like McDonald’s. But ... there was a McDonald’s presence at the parks for nearly a decade.
vacationer1954
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2010
That's a good rule of thumb for everything we read online.
Maistre Gracey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2002
There are two different tier restaurants in my opinion (which clearly can be be broken down further).
Parks vs Resorts
There is a total difference between a quality park restaurant vs a quality resort restaurant.
That said, the food, in general has declined.
But what do you expect? Everything else at WDW has been declining as well.
Parks vs Resorts
There is a total difference between a quality park restaurant vs a quality resort restaurant.
That said, the food, in general has declined.
But what do you expect? Everything else at WDW has been declining as well.
Dean Marino
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2015
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Interesting suggestion about Swan and Dolphin. We have never been in either hotel so I don’t know anything about the restaurants.So, to answer the OP's question...
"Why isn't the food better at WDW"
Because it does not have to be. You EAT it. The solution is simple - DO NOT eat it. If you buy into DDP? You have made your choice: Volume, not quality. When you stop paying for junk? The junk will go away.
Right off - get OUT of the Parks. They serve "Park Food". If that is what you desire? No problem.
Now - options?
Consider TIW. A very GOOD 20% off all dining plan - great for Adult parties, not so good for a family with children. With children, eating Chicken Nuggets every hour? Go for DDP.
Go off site, or non-Disney owned. Exception: avoid the fake SIGS at Disney Springs. Not a single one is worth your time. Great buildings - lousy food. Instead? Consider the GREAT on-site Restaurants at the Swan/Dolphin. No DDP - TIW accepted. Or Capa at Four seasons.
OFF off site? Cabs don't care
This is very simple.... if WDW chooses to offer slop? Go elsewhere. Grab a cab, vote with your wallet
All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.
I used to like Morton’s (Friday and Saturday night Prime Rib in particular)but since Tilman Fertitta purchased them it seems to me the quality has gone down. I am a part time Houstonian but dread whenever Tilman buys out a steak restaurant that I like. I haven’t eaten at Morton’s for a few years so maybe quality has improved again but likely not.
Your suggestions don’t help when you really require QS in the parks with kids but for a good late meal Swan and Dolphin and Four Seasons are interesting suggestions.
Oh my. I certainly don’t need an expert to tell me if I like the food I am eating. Talking head experts for everything these days and I will continue to ignore. I have eaten at Ramsay’s restaurant in Heathrow a few times and certainly nothing special in my opinion.
Super 27
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2005
While I do agree that the food has gone downhill over the last 10-20 years, I still think that the park food is significantly better than what you'll find at other theme parks around the country, and at the end of the day that's all Disney has to compete against. Go eat at ANY Six Flags/Cedar Fair/Busch park, and then come back and tell me how awful Disney food is.
OfCourseTheresAlwaysMyWay
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2017
Ding ding ding.
I think the food at Disney is great, especially when compared to other theme parks.
Having recently been to Knott’s Berry Farm, however, I think it’s the overall winner...
DisBuckMan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2015
Go across town to Universal. Years ago, I didn't think Universal's food was better, but I do now. Been going to both for many years, and Universal has, IMO, eclipsed WDW in the food department.
tarheelmjfan
Proud Redhead
- Joined
- May 10, 2001
It's obvious that most people don't consider S/D restaurants "Disney food", because they don't accept DDP. It's hard to imagine they wouldn't receive more recommendations, if they were on a level playing field. IMO, they definitely have the best restaurants on property, other than V&A. It's obvious DDP significantly skews the suggestions here. It's too bad, because most people are missing out on the best restaurants on property.
I was going to say the same thing, then I saw your post. Universal somehow manages to feed the masses better quality food. IMO, WDW vs UO is the only fair comparison. People don't spend multiple days at Six Flags, Busch Gardens, etc. WDW & UO are the only parks that have a captive audience for several days. They should strive to do better than the parks that only have people visit for a day. If UO can do it, WDW could as well.
Alicefan
Give me a cloudy day in Winter!
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2015
OMG I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice this! lol I literally have lived off of those things since I was about 13 years old as my go to, pop in the microwave lunch when I have no time. I know those classics like the back of my hand! lol For the record, I've never had a good meal at Coral Reef. I would put that one down as the worst food on property myself. I've tried it about 3 times because you really can't get a clear picture on just one visit. The food there is just bad. It's so bad in fact, that I simply wouldn't trust a fish dish there to not make me sick. The only thing that was decent was the lobster bisque. Also, they should really find a way to keep the noise down in that place. I found it to be the noisiest restaurant on property as well. Talk about ruining a beautiful atmosphere. It's not so much the talking but the clanking sound of silverware and dishes. Kind of defeats the purpose of the tranquill theme. Some things just shouldn't be attempted in a theme park atmosphere I guess.
Alicefan
Give me a cloudy day in Winter!
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2015
What ever it was was like cold glue. lol Why would anyone want that kind of queso with chips? I mean, what do you do with it?
goofyintoronto
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2011
You eat it fast.
hereforthechurros
Here for the spring rolls too
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2017
Typically you fill warm tortillas with queso fundido and eat it that way.
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