Having a hard time staying excited after reading so many terrible reviews on here

ChicagoJ

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 20, 2017
Just when I'm super excited about getting some hard to get ADRs for our April trip, I keep coming across horrible rants about all of the restaurants and our resort (polynesian). It's hard to stay excited because no matter what I research it seems everyone says the food is horrid.

I don't care if the food at CRT is bad, we're there for the magic of the castle since it's our 6 yo dd's first time and she loves princesses. We're also doing Ohana dinner when we arrive at Poly, Chef Mickey which literally everyone on this board hates but it's fab 5 and super early breakfast so fits our schedule well and a trip on the monorail from poly to con. which will be fun for dd. Ohana best friends breakfast on departure day which people seem to think is ok.

But one dinner I was looking forward to was San Angel Inn (the atmosphere looks so cool) and the consensus here is that it's so so to terrible. We're on the dining plan and using 2 credits on CRT and spent the rest on Ohana dinner and breakfast and Chef Mickey so we don't have hundreds to spend on high priced dinners the rest of the time. It's just frustrating because since booking the Poly I'm having doubts there too because people are saying it's overdue for a renovation, worn down, not super clean, etc. We're spending so much money on this trip and I'm going to work hard on managing my expectations. I don't need incredible food, but don't want terrible food either (especially for the meals we will be paying out of pocket for like San Angel Inn). I'm trying to snag a BOG lunch via res finder.

I'm not a complainy person but it's annoying me that WDW is so expensive and has the know how to build such great rides, but they can't seem to get it right with their deluxe resorts (except maybe the floridian) and what seems to be 99% of their dining (and their MDE app is glitchy and sounds like their whole ADR ressie system sucks too). I mean, how hard can this all be for them? A deluxe resort at disney should be equal to a deluxe hotel in Chicago or NY. Disney has the money and resources to do it right, so why don't they?

This is what I need:
I LOVE good atmosphere, beautifully themed
Good service (doesn't have to be amazing but can't suck either)
Good food (doesn't have to be amazing but can't suck either)

What are your absolute faves in MK and Epcot for a family of 3 with a 6 yo daughter?
 
You have to understand some posters are self described "foodies". As long as the food is somewhat decent, the service is good and I enjoy the atmosphere, I'm good. I enjoy all of those dining experiences (haven't done San Angel Inn though). If you can convince yourself that you're paying for the experience, and not just the food, it helps.

We have done CRT more times than I can count and still love going back.
 
My advice - don't worry about the reviews you read on here. If you took a poll of everyone's favorite restaurant and their least favorite, you would have every restaurant on both lists.

We've been to Disney the last 8 years in a row and have eaten at TONS of restaurants during those trips and have never had a truly bad meal. A couple that weren't WOW, but never one that inedible or anything like that.

If you want to eat at CRT, San Angel Inn and Chef Mickey - then go there and you will most likely have a wonderful dinner!!!
 
I think you'll be ok with Ohana since you haven't eaten there before. I think most of the complaints are people comparing what it used to be. Also Chef Mickey will be decent since it's breakfast. :)

I've never eaten at San Angel so can't weigh in on the food but different people like different things so you might like it.

I think a lot of the food is ok BUT the price is so high. That's where the complaints come in. It's just too expensive for what it is.
 


We LOVED San Angel when we ate there in 2016. The atmosphere is beautiful & the food was terrific...and the green salsa? SO GOOD!!
You will get a ton of different opinions about EVERYTHING here...
Usually on the same thread.
 
There's a lot going on here, really. The first is preference, where some are willing to forego super quality food for themeing, and others looking for a certain standard of service or value. Now more than ever, people are discriminating and informed regarding culinary experiences. Disney food is overpriced -ALL OF IT. I think it's the total package people are willing to spend on. As far as reviews -I give some credence to what I read here knowing that many are biased, but put more weight on what is said by people who do it for a living, such as Pete Werner & the crew. A mix of positive and negative reviews wouldn't necessarily prevent me from trying something new, but consistently bad experiences such as San Angel Inn is just not worth it for the premium we pay, IMO -too many options for limited vacation time and money. If you look, there are certain restaurants which seem to produce more consistently positive reviews. Whether it's a Disney restaurant or any other purchase, the most valuable reviews are those which provide specific reasons for the opinion, allowing us to make our own best decisions.
 


I would not worry! We really liked CRT and our DD's loved eating inside the castle, the atmosphere is great and the service was fantastic. The food was really good, I would never expect WDW to be like a 4-5 star restaurants. We also liked San Angel Inn, the food was nothing special but still good. The same goes for Ohana, when we had breakfast there.
 
Stop reading reviews!!!!!!!!!
Experience them for yourself and then form your own opinion of them.
You're going to find people that love places and hate places.

I'll give my opinions but you need to take everything with a grain of salt.
-CRT: Like the atmosphere but have never found food I enjoyed there.
-Chef Mickey's: Used to love but became violently ill after eating there once so I haven't been in a while but would consider going back.
-San Angel Inn: Like the atmosphere but its too dark in my opinon and wasn't a fan of the food.
Those are the ones you mentioned that I have been to.
I've heard great things about Ohana.

My recommendations would be...
-Be Our Guest
-Skipper Canteen
-Garden Grill
 
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We like chef mickeys. I'm not a buffet or a breakfast person in general but I think the food is fine and it's worth it to see Mickey and his friends with no lines to wait in. We ate in the other Epcot Mexican restaurant last time and really liked it and have san angel inn booked this time. I think it will be cool to see the boats go around while eating. If we don't like it oh well we won't go back.
 
My advice - don't worry about the reviews you read on here. If you took a poll of everyone's favorite restaurant and their least favorite, you would have every restaurant on both lists.

We've been to Disney the last 8 years in a row and have eaten at TONS of restaurants during those trips and have never had a truly bad meal. A couple that weren't WOW, but never one that inedible or anything like that.

If you want to eat at CRT, San Angel Inn and Chef Mickey - then go there and you will most likely have a wonderful dinner!!!

Exactly! My family has been over 20 times, rarely do we repeat a TS restaurant. Why? Even if the food was amazing, we want to try new places! I don’t read reviews, food is pretty subjective. Something I love, twenty other people might hate.

As for deluxe resorts, I have stayed in every one except GF ( I have boys, they say it’s too fancy ) We own DVC, and have stayed in most of them. There are things we enjoy about each of them. We just returned from a week at POP with a basketball team, and had a great time. We own BWV, so we stay there most of the one, Disney usually exceeds our expectations.

Have a great trip, I’m sure you will! You have done a lot of research.
 
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Stop reading reviews!!!!!!!!!
Experience them for yourself and then form your own opinion of them.
You're going to find people that love places and hate places.

This! I've found that I also have to remind myself to "step away from the forum" (not so much this one - but another that focuses on cruises and every cruise line) because people can be so hyper critical (in the case of the cruise forum some take the name "critic" way too seriously). It is understandable - you invest a lot of money in a vacation and you want it to be perfect. But perfection is never truly possible, especially when you're traveling.

One other thing I've found is that sometimes if you've been somewhere or done something so much you can get jaded and see every little thing wrong - or lapse into the way things used to be.

Then there are people who are always going to be looking for something wrong. I saw one review of a cruise where from some of the pictures, the person had to be literally crawling around on the floor looking for things to photograph that were "OMG HORRID". Not really - and yes, there are always going to be maintenance issues, but this was NOT something that ANY guest would see just casually walking around living their life.

I would just say what I tell myself - step away from the reviews for a while, schedule what you want based on your tastes and what's going to make you happy, and experience things for yourself! You're pretty much never going to see every single person agree on something, and by listening to some who had a bad experience you might miss out on some place your family would love. I know I still have a reservation for Bongos when I'm there in February (I might go with the Boma one just because zebra domes, but we'll see) which most people at least on here seem to despise - but I've been to her two sister restaurants in Miami and Miami Beach and they are AMAZING, and given what I know about the company that runs them, I expect I'll have a great time.

And sometimes your expectations can really color your experience - if you expect things to be awful you'll likely find them awful, and if you expect things to be good you'll likely find them good - and likely be able to roll with any glitches that happen much easier than if you expect them to be bad.
 
Our Poly stay was perfect in every way in September2016. I'm sure you will love it!

As for the food, everyone has opinions. Neither right nor wrong. I've had folks rave about food at a party and tried it only to find it horribly vile. Its subjective. Go and enjoy your trip!
 
I'm so excited for you and this awsome trip. Everything in life has pros and cons and you need to weigh out what is important to you. It seems that you care most about a magical time for your family and you couldn't have chosen a more magical place. Disney is all about the experience. I try to remember that and manage my expectations just like yourself. Disney is a money making machine and if they saw a glaring issue I think they would shut it down. You got some of the hardest to get A DR in all of wdw, there is a reason they are so hard to get.
I think you all are going to have a great time and you can come back after your trip and let us know what you think of the poly and the restaurants!
Have a magical time!
 
Please don’t let the reviews get you down!

There are many reasons why these places are so popular and can charge so much money. Frankly, if most people weren’t satisfied with their experiences, they would never get away with charging what they do.

We’ve gone to Ohana nearly every visit since 1999, and we were just there in September, and it was excellent. I’ve never had bad food there. Chef Mickey’s was a favorite of ours when my son was little. It’s so much fun for kids, and the food was always decent.

We’ve not been to Cinderella’s, but we thoroughly enjoyed San Angel. The steak and shrimp brochette entrees were very good, and my dessert was to-die-for. Not sure if it’s still on the menu, but it was a white chocolate mousse served in a fried tortilla shell and topped with cajeta sauce. You’ll want to order whatever they are serving with cajeta.

I think your choices are top notch, and I hope you have a magical trip. pixiedust:
 
I can't speak for the hotel aspect, but I'd love to offer insight on the food since I would consider myself a Disney foodie. First, I would say do whatever you feel. It's your family vacation and clearly your daughter loves the princesses. Unfortunately, as Pete Warner mentions in a lot of the DisUnplugged podcasts, Disney often forces parents to sacrifice food quality for characters and it's not right. The places you have selected have food that is just okay in my true foodie opinion, but I don't think there's anything at those locations that are terrible. In fact, if I were in your shoes, I'd also go to those places regardless of food quality because of the ambiance.
For a recommendation on a character dining experience where food quality is not undermined, I'd suggest Garden Grill in EPCOT. Their breakfast is amazing and they feature Mickey, Pluto, Chip & Dale. Plus, it's served family style so you wouldn't have to take your little one to the buffet.
 
If you want a pick me up...there are a few Disney Facebook groups you should join. There are quite a few where 90+% of the members will tell you everything is AMAZING. Of course, it will be a let down if you go and find it's not all so great. The reality is that food is subjective. I personally feel many restaurants at WDW have major quality issues that continue to get worse, but that's my opinion. You might love something I think is bad. It's the danger in reading and asking for people's opinions and letting those guide your choices.
 
We love the Poly. Have stayed there 6 times. The theme is magical and the convenience to MK is great. IMHO 'Ohana is worth it for the dessert. :)

To me the key is to is attitude. If you go in expecting to be disappointed there is a greater chance you will be. Enjoy your vacation and enjoy the restaurants for what they are.

As for the accommodations being on par with Chicago for the price I don't think that is fair. The rides and attractions at WDW are better than the rides in Chicago. :)
 

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