Terrible food at Disneyland this week

[mamacatnv]

We just got home following 5 days at DL. 12/26-12/30

We are CS style eaters, I personally don't like the whole dining experience with reservations months in advance for mediocre food. We prefer to eat when we want, with whatever is close by at that time. That is our vacation style.

I was very surprised at the inability to order things without cheese for DH. Most of the sandwiches, burgers etc came with cheese and he can't do cheese. We could only order hamburgers, the occasional plain chicken sandwich or a hot dog for him as everything else came with cheese and they "don't do special orders" or "Modifications".

Standard burgers, fries and chicken strips from Galactic Grill were decent one day and then stone cold and hard another day.

What is up with no lids for drinks? A tray full of $6 sodas and no dang lids. This was a trend throughout the parks,

Splitsville was ok but 1.5 hrs of bowling and dinner for 8 (pizza/fries) was $800

Our hotel had a really good complimentary breakfast which we took advantage of and then a couple of nights, we returned to our hotel and ordered UberEats for dinners.

Bread Bowls in French Qtr were extremely disappointing. It was raining, no real place that was dry to eat and they gave us a cold, hard sourdough bread and a container of stew to disassemble and reassemble ourselves. That lunch was just plain miserably awful. My stew had no meat, too many large chunks of onions and DH's had an overabundance of mushrooms.

Funnel Cake from Hungry Bear was a lump of gooey dough.

Ice cream carts had few selections.

CornDog on main street was cold, burnt and lacked any real corn dog flavor.

The Cold Brew coffee with Taro Cream at Docking Bay was amazing.
My family liked the offerings at Docking Bay. they ate there twice but Hubs the finicky wouldn't eat there and we went to Hungry Bear for chicken sandwiches.

I enjoyed several turkey legs.

The pasta cones in DCA were quite good.

Flo's french fries were yummy

Snack and cocktails at LampLight was a highlight. The Aioli Brussel sprouts were to die for!

Churros in Fantasy Land were good - hot and crisp.

We enjoyed drinks at Oga's twice.

Coffees at Ghirardelli did not disappoint.

Dinner for 10 at Mimi's on Friday night was the culinary highlight of the week. Good food, great space to relax, excellent service and not anywhere near Disney prices with far better quality.

IMO Disney has never had "great" food, I never really understood what everyone raved about. I had low expectations and therefore was not really disappointed.

 

[China Expat]

I'm a local and won;t visit until the quality of the overall experience improves!

 

[cmph]

Yikes, we had better experiences than many PPs. We just returned from a stay 12/26-12/31. Breakfast only at the hotels (Home2 and DLH club level). Two teens, DH who has celiac, and me. TS details:

Craftsman Grill - loved the charcuterie pizza, meh on the nachos (not exactly as described, disappointed DD), good drinks, grilled cheese hot dog sounded weird to me but DS liked it; messed up DH's allergy order, which arrived after the rest of us were half-done so he ate snacks elsewhere later. (They comped some of our food b/c they felt bad.)

Carnation - we actually had a good experience here, with a great waitress. Two had chili (both liked it), DD loved the sundae, DS liked his patty melt, and my club sandwich was good and fresh.

Carthay Circle lounge - mixed feelings, food was great but SO overpriced. DD absolutely loved the crab cake, but that thing was akin to the overpriced scallop people keep referencing above. She wanted to go back another day for it, and I was like 'no way'. Kids liked the bao buns, but of our two orders - one was spicy, one was not (very odd as they were ordered and came at the same time). Pasta was decent, but way overpriced. DH had the posole, liked it fine. We immediately went to Pym's for a pretzel b/c DD and I were still hungry but couldn't justify dropping another $50 for a couple more small plates.

River Belle - DH's gf specially prepared catfish was not the most exciting thing, but they were super super careful and subbed things as needed; it was very prettily presented. DS liked the fried chicken sandwich. I had the loaded tots, which were ridiculous but delicious (definitely enough for a meal). DD did not like the burnt ends grilled cheese; she wanted something that was more grilled cheese, with some meat added, and the meat/sauce was very much dominant. Monkey bread was not warm and was disappointing.

Trader Sam's - DS and I split the pupu platter, really enjoyed that. DH had the salmon salad and liked it. DD had the Hawaiian platter and raved about it (just found the rib a little difficult to eat).

Quick service / snack highlights:
- Kids loved Ghirardelli sundaes
- Kids loved the Destran Ice cap (weird green apple soda thing) at Ronto Roasters. DD actually insisted on repeats, which is unusual for her b/c she wants to try new things typically; she advises to avoid a straw and sip from the top. (If anyone is interested in additional reports on NA drinks, let me know, b/c she got MANY, all over; this was the only one she repeated.)
- DD loved the shrimp pasta at Alien Pizza Planet
- beignets in NOS were good and fresh
- DD liked the clam chowder in a bread bowl at Pacific Wharf
- DH liked the carne asada street tacos at Cocina Cucamonga (these were noted to be the safest GF choice, btw, not sure why?)
- Matterhorn macaroons just as good as I remember, and a good purchase if you end up in a Space Mountain LL that takes 30+ min. DD and I took funny pictures holding one up against the backdrop of the actual Matterhorn while standing still in line forever.
- the few things we had at the festival were good and lines were non-existent

QS meh:
- I really wanted some vegetables but it was cold, so not a cold salad; I wanted hot food. The others had already picked Cocina Cucamonga and Pacific Wharf, so I went with the szechuan chicken and vegetables at Lucky Fortune. It was 99% chicken and water chestnuts. Tasty but a bummer.
- Pym's pretzel. It's a pretzel. It's fine but nothing special. The sauce container is tiny for the pretzel, so I realized why they were selling it separately, but come on, it's a $13 pretzel - toss in 2 little cups of the sauce lol. (Side note - super awkward to wander around with a tray loaded with that and drinks, without a free table in sight.)

Mobile order was great - way too many people seem to prefer to stand in lines, for whatever reason. The only thing that wasn't available with an immediate return were the beignets.

 

[DLgal]

We just got home following 5 days at DL. 12/26-12/30

We are CS style eaters, I personally don't like the whole dining experience with reservations months in advance for mediocre food. We prefer to eat when we want, with whatever is close by at that time. That is our vacation style.

I was very surprised at the inability to order things without cheese for DH. Most of the sandwiches, burgers etc came with cheese and he can't do cheese. We could only order hamburgers, the occasional plain chicken sandwich or a hot dog for him as everything else came with cheese and they "don't do special orders" or "Modifications".

Standard burgers, fries and chicken strips from Galactic Grill were decent one day and then stone cold and hard another day.

What is up with no lids for drinks? A tray full of $6 sodas and no dang lids. This was a trend throughout the parks,

Splitsville was ok but 1.5 hrs of bowling and dinner for 8 (pizza/fries) was $800

Our hotel had a really good complimentary breakfast which we took advantage of and then a couple of nights, we returned to our hotel and ordered UberEats for dinners.

Bread Bowls in French Qtr were extremely disappointing. It was raining, no real place that was dry to eat and they gave us a cold, hard sourdough bread and a container of stew to disassemble and reassemble ourselves. That lunch was just plain miserably awful. My stew had no meat, too many large chunks of onions and DH's had an overabundance of mushrooms.

Funnel Cake from Hungry Bear was a lump of gooey dough.

Ice cream carts had few selections.

CornDog on main street was cold, burnt and lacked any real corn dog flavor.

The Cold Brew coffee with Taro Cream at Docking Bay was amazing.
My family liked the offerings at Docking Bay. they ate there twice but Hubs the finicky wouldn't eat there and we went to Hungry Bear for chicken sandwiches.

I enjoyed several turkey legs.

The pasta cones in DCA were quite good.

Flo's french fries were yummy

Snack and cocktails at LampLight was a highlight. The Aioli Brussel sprouts were to die for!

Churros in Fantasy Land were good - hot and crisp.

We enjoyed drinks at Oga's twice.

Coffees at Ghirardelli did not disappoint.

Dinner for 10 at Mimi's on Friday night was the culinary highlight of the week. Good food, great space to relax, excellent service and not anywhere near Disney prices with far better quality.

IMO Disney has never had "great" food, I never really understood what everyone raved about. I had low expectations and therefore was not really disappointed.

You can modify literally ANYTHING at the counter service restaurants. I have 2 picky eaters and do this everywhere. No cheese, no sauce for burgers, chicken sandwiches, tacos, etc. It's easy to do in the app. There is a pull down menu for customizations. Sorry you didn't know that. They can further customize when you order in person. It's absolutely untrue that they don't do modifications.

The no lids is a CA state plastic waste thing. That and the no plastic straws. They do have lids, but you have to ask for them. They are behind the counter.

People need to stop eating at French Market. It is probably the worst CS restaurant at DL (tied with Galactic Grill, honestly). They always use day old bread bowls there. Yuck.

LOVE those Brussels sprouts at LL! You chose well there.

 

[wowsmom]

This reminded me, is the bread basket still absent at Napa Rose? We haven't been for about a year, although we have always had fantastic meals there. Just haven't been able to score a reservation for a long time.

I thought of you when we ate there 12/14. We got the foccaccia. It was okay-ish. The rest of our meal was fantastic. We were shocked when we got the bill & there was an $18 charge for the foccaccia. Our waiter (who is our absolute favorite there) had forgotten to tell us there was a charge. So he removed it from the bill for us.

Our experiences at Napa Rose have been very good to excellent this year (Jan, April, June, Sept, Dec). Fall of 2021 we went 4 or 5 times and every time I had to send my meat back - once due to a tough pork chop but the rest were overcooked steaks.

 

[DLgal]

I thought of you when we ate there 12/14. We got the foccaccia. It was okay-ish. The rest of our meal was fantastic. We were shocked when we got the bill & there was an $18 charge for the foccaccia. Our waiter (who is our absolute favorite there) had forgotten to tell us there was a charge. So he removed it from the bill for us.

Our experiences at Napa Rose have been very good to excellent this year (Jan, April, June, Sept, Dec). Fall of 2021 we went 4 or 5 times and every time I had to send my meat back - once due to a tough pork chop but the rest were overcooked steaks.

I don't like foccacia enough to ever pay $18 for it. I am done being sad about the lack of bread. I learned how to make the Napa Rose Lavosh and make it even better myself at home with lavosh I purchase at Trader Joe's. That was really the only thing I thought was unique in the bread basket anyway.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

Doesn't DB7 have the famous cold brew? Are they not open during early morning hours?

They do have the famous cold brew and finally tried it for the first time yesterday. We mobile ordered it but the first available time is 10:30. The enormous line of cold brews at the counter at 10:30 was hilarious and I wish I’d thought to take a photo. It would be really great if they added the cold brew to the Ronto Roasters menu or made at least drinks available at DB7 at park opening. And it would also be awesome if they would add a similar hot coffee drink to the menu during the winter months!

 

[DLgal]

They do have the famous cold brew and finally tried it for the first time yesterday. We mobile ordered it but the first available time is 10:30. The enormous line of cold brews at the counter at 10:30 was hilarious and I wish I’d thought to take a photo. It would be really great if they added the cold brew to the Ronto Roasters menu or made at least drinks available at DB7 at park opening. And it would also be awesome if they would add a similar hot coffee drink to the menu during the winter months!

Ronto Roasters has a tiny kitchen. They don't have the space to do coffee drinks, really. I'm surprised DB7 doesn't open earlier and serve breakfast. I feel like it would be popular.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

Ronto Roasters has a tiny kitchen. They don't have the space to do coffee drinks, really. I'm surprised DB7 doesn't open earlier and serve breakfast. I feel like it would be popular.

I also think it would be popular. I’d love it if they added another breakfast option, too.

 

[DLgal]

I also think it would be popular. I’d love it if they added another breakfast option, too.

They could serve some of the breakfast dishes they serve at the Galactic Starcruiser.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

FYI, both the nachos at Craftman Grill and the lobster nachos at Lamplighter’s are still excellent and HUGE!

 

[mamacatnv]

You can modify literally ANYTHING at the counter service restaurants. I have 2 picky eaters and do this everywhere. No cheese, no sauce for burgers, chicken sandwiches, tacos, etc. It's easy to do in the app. There is a pull down menu for customizations. Sorry you didn't know that. They can further customize when you order in person. It's absolutely untrue that they don't do modifications.

The no lids is a CA state plastic waste thing. That and the no plastic straws. They do have lids, but you have to ask for them. They are behind the counter.

People need to stop eating at French Market. It is probably the worst CS restaurant at DL (tied with Galactic Grill, honestly). They always use day old bread bowls there. Yuck.

LOVE those Brussels sprouts at LL! You chose well there.

At Galactic Grill the special was a cranberry chicken sandwich. I ordered at the window since my mobile app would never work the entire time we are at DL (another thread) it literally would not work for me but did for everyone else in our party. I specifically asked for that sandwich with no cheese and was told by the cast member that they would not make any modifications. I then asked about the steakhouse burger, same response, no modifications. Finally, I asked what I could order with no cheese and was told either a hamburger or the chicken strips. Those were the only options.

I also asked about lids on several occasions and were told they were out.

 

[DLgal]

At Galactic Grill the special was a cranberry chicken sandwich. I ordered at the window since my mobile app would never work the entire time we are at DL (another thread) it literally would not work for me but did for everyone else in our party. I specifically asked for that sandwich with no cheese and was told by the cast member that they would not make any modifications. I then asked about the steakhouse burger, same response, no modifications. Finally, I asked what I could order with no cheese and was told either a hamburger or the chicken strips. Those were the only options.

I also asked about lids on several occasions and were told they were out.

I would have asked for a supervisor because that's BS. They can absolutely leave the cheese off the chicken sandwich. I'm sorry you were told that. It's not their protocol at all.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Whatever you do next time you go to Disneyland avoid La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney because when I ate there for the very time with my parents we thought we would enjoy a nice breakfast but it was so horrible. My dad and I ate french toast at the La Brea Bakery for breakfast and it was so terrible we couldn't finish it and my dad discovered it was sourdough bread we were eating. I don't know why La Brea Bakery gets business in Downtown Disney but they seem to be a hit with everyone

 

[DizMe]

Whatever you do next time you go to Disneyland avoid La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney because when I ate there for the very time with my parents we thought we would enjoy a nice breakfast but it was so horrible. My dad and I ate french toast at the La Brea Bakery for breakfast and it was so terrible we couldn't finish it and my dad discovered it was sourdough bread we were eating. I don't know why La Brea Bakery gets business in Downtown Disney but they seem to be a hit with everyone

I like it. It used to be better when they had the more extensive menu, though. Many of my favorites got the axe after covid, but I still like it and it's pretty easy to get in. I don't think I've had the French toast, but I can see how sourdough would be a turn-off for many people.

 

[Aurora0427]

Dinner for 10 at Mimi's on Friday night was the culinary highlight of the week. Good food, great space to relax, excellent service and not anywhere near Disney prices with far better quality.

IMO Disney has never had "great" food, I never really understood what everyone raved about. I had low expectations and therefore was not really disappointed.

Mimi’s is pretty much better than any sit down restaurant at Disneyland given the selection, food quality, and cost. Their bar is excellent. My parents took us there before Covid…. We’d eaten lunch at Blue Bayou earlier. They bought dinner for 5…. Including booze for 3, and spent less on dinner than they did for just the two of them at Blue Bayou, where they paid for two entrees and no cocktails.

If we’re not staying for an evening at the parks, we will always have dinner at Mimi’s or Ruby’s before heading home.

 

[DontSpamMe]

I thought of you when we ate there 12/14. We got the foccaccia. It was okay-ish. The rest of our meal was fantastic. We were shocked when we got the bill & there was an $18 charge for the foccaccia. Our waiter (who is our absolute favorite there) had forgotten to tell us there was a charge. So he removed it from the bill for us.

Our experiences at Napa Rose have been very good to excellent this year (Jan, April, June, Sept, Dec). Fall of 2021 we went 4 or 5 times and every time I had to send my meat back - once due to a tough pork chop but the rest were overcooked steaks.

We ate at Napa Rose this last weekend. We were seated in the "kids" room away from the main dining area. It ended up being great as we had the room to ourselves for most of our meal. So a quiet room with our last tunes of Christmas music for the season in the background.

Everything was good we had pretty much every everthing off the starters and seconds menu. Both were different menus than what the app advertised. The only negative was the foccaccia. Our waiter was able to pull off the savy up-sale. $18 for bread is nonsense and not worth it.

We did eat at an offsite restaurant as I wanted as I was determined for some redemption following that terrible prime rib at Blue Bayou. I eat prime rib once a year and I didn't want it to end that way.

We ended up at Black Angus. I was so surprised to find one. I thought they were all closed and I hadn't eaten at one since I was a kid. It was surprisingly delicious and at a decent value.

We completed our off site dining with some in-n-out.

Overall, a decent trip and it solidified we won't be eating many meals on-site until things get better. At least the popcorn and Dole whip are still delicious.

 

[GoofyGoofyGoofy]

Does anyone have any recommendations for places at the DLR for someone who is low carb/keto? Thanks

 

[Astylla]

Does anyone have any recommendations for places at the DLR for someone who is low carb/keto? Thanks

My best advice is to use the DL app to look at menus. From the wait time page choose "Dining" from the drop down menu and all dining locations will pop up with menus to browse.
I've been keto the last 5 years and find the following helpful ; All are counter service or food carts :

Turkey legs
Salads - get dressing on side
Bengal BBQ - DL - Ask for sauce on the side , also have veggie skewers too.
Black Tap - DTD - Burger spot and can ask for no bun or lettuce wrap
Plaza Inn - Fried chicken and ask for only veggies, same with Pot Roast

Honestly most things I mobile order and just take the bun off myself or allow myself some carbs while walking around. It's a DELICATE BALANCE.

 

[GoofyGoofyGoofy]

My best advice is to use the DL app to look at menus. From the wait time page choose "Dining" from the drop down menu and all dining locations will pop up with menus to browse.
I've been keto the last 5 years and find the following helpful ; All are counter service or food carts :

Turkey legs
Salads - get dressing on side
Bengal BBQ - DL - Ask for sauce on the side , also have veggie skewers too.
Black Tap - DTD - Burger spot and can ask for no bun or lettuce wrap
Plaza Inn - Fried chicken and ask for only veggies, same with Pot Roast

Honestly most things I mobile order and just take the bun off myself or allow myself some carbs while walking around. It's a DELICATE BALANCE.

Thank you for your quick reply! I shall look at all the menus.