Disney Dining - Not So Good?

[GeorgiaHoo]

Wrapping up a Disney vacation that covered 11/1-11/11 and a bit disappointed in the Disney food. We really liked California Grill brunch, and Via Napoli and Teppan Edo were pretty good. But none of the other TS places justified a return visit (except breakfast at Yachtsman - very good), and just about every QS, except Yak & Yeti breakfast, was subpar. The food & wine booths were really disappointing. Food was often super-salty, and nothing stood out as really good. I liked the crab cakes and scallops from Coastal Eats, and a few other things weren't bad, but wouldn't return for anything.

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

I tend to agree. There are some good options, but most of the dining options at Disney tend to be rather mediocre. Thankfully, I have never had a truly bad meal or snack there. But some of the restaurants are extremely overrated, especially for the price. When my partner and I travel to other cities or resorts, there are always certain places we make sure we eat because its so good. That's never the case at WDW

 

[hllb]

Yeah, I don’t think this is a big surprise. We’ve had good meals there, but few that I’d call great. You definitely pay for convenience there. Mostly the food is good though, and if I were paying reasonable prices for it, I’d be satisfied. It’s really more about the comparison to price point.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Personally I enjoy most of the food at WDW.
I also enjoyed everything that I sampled at F&W.
To each their own.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes, we came to this realization a few years ago. That's why I don't book many ADR's anymore and, when I do book them, it's typically for a signature (where the quality tends to be better) or a tried and true TS (we like Spice Road). We know when we go to WDW, it's not for the food. And F&W, yeah, not worth the lines and hype at all, IMHO!

 

[KimBean]

We have a trip in 15 days and I'm hoping I made some good choices. Finally got to give up some character meals (kids 17 and 9) and chose for food rather then experience.

This time we have free dining but we just talked about next time when we won't have FD (Jan 2019) we might do packed lunch and signature dinner every night.

 

[Hopefully]

Wrapping up a Disney vacation that covered 11/1-11/11 and a bit disappointed in the Disney food. We really liked California Grill brunch, and Via Napoli and Teppan Edo were pretty good. But none of the other TS places justified a return visit (except breakfast at Yachtsman - very good), and just about every QS, except Yak & Yeti breakfast, was subpar. The food & wine booths were really disappointing. Food was often super-salty, and nothing stood out as really good. I liked the crab cakes and scallops from Coastal Eats, and a few other things weren't bad, but wouldn't return for anything.

I don’t agree.
We loved our dinner at Spice Road Table. The lamb was outstanding. We always enjoy Via Napoli. Our dinner at Yachtsman was outstanding. We didn’t eat at any QS this trip. We enjoyed most everything we had at the many F & W booths we tried.

 

[bucky1023]

I find meals at Disney to be the same as anywhere else. there are good, bad and ok. I'm not crazy about every meal I eat out up here in NYC and there are some meals that I truly enjoy. I have had many meals that I thoroughly enjoyed while on my visits to WDW and there have be some not so good. I don't do many CS meals since I don't really like many of the choices to start with, but again I have had some CS meals that I liked a lot (Yorkshire Fish Shop, Tangierine Cafe, BOG)

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

I don’t agree.
We loved our dinner at Spice Road Table. The lamb was outstanding. We always enjoy Via Napoli. Our dinner at Yachtsman was outstanding. We didn’t eat at any QS this trip. We enjoyed most everything we had at the many F & W booths we tried.

Via Napoli was one of the few good meals we had this trip. Haven't had Yachtsman in several years but thought it was good last time we ate there. The scallops and crab cake at Coastal Eats were good, as were the berber tips in Africa. Some of the food was too salty to eat -- looking at you hash -- while some was poorly executed or just poor quality. Thought the food booths had good quality two years ago, not so much this time. Perhaps we are just used to better prepared dishes.

 

[Farro]

Have to disagree:

All fantastic table service:

The Wave
Kona - breakfast
Boathouse
Morimoto
Via Napoli
Skipper Canteen
California Grill (for most of us)

And all of our quick service at both Animal Kingdom and Epcot were great. Magic Kingdom can use some work.

And living in Chicago, we are also used to good food!

 

[Minniesgal]

food has gone dramatically downhill for the last 5 years. Places that used to be favourites we just no longer go to. Our next ten night trip I think we have 4 dinners booked thats all and even that feels too much.

 

[hllb]

food has gone dramatically downhill for the last 5 years. Places that used to be favourites we just no longer go to. Our next ten night trip I think we have 4 dinners booked thats all and even that feels too much.

Which favorites don’t you like anymore?

 

[cluvsdisney]

I find it’s hit or miss. A stand out one trip will be disappointing on the next trip or vice versa. Most of the restaurants have a pretty limited menu so I don’t see why they can’t make those 8-10 entrees consistently good.

 

[megs1313]

we came to the same conclusion years ago. we book way less ADRs than on our early trips.

 

[southjerseymom]

No food at WDW has ever knocked my socks off and made my toes curl. I judge a good dinner if I want to go home with the Chef LOL. But in all seriousness, both my DH and I have worked in fine dining for 35 plus years. The concepts are always good. It is the execution of the dishes that is most often lacking. That said, the venues are doing hundreds and hundreds of covers a day - day in and day out. I give them a lot of credit. My toes don't curl but I've enjoyed some pretty good food in WDW. I just keep my expectations to a minimum and assure DH I'm not hooking up with the Chef.

 

[DisneyDad2015]

I've only ate at 2 restaurants at Disney that I really thought had bad food. One was the mac n cheese at Friars Nook (easily the worst thing I've ever tried at WDW), and the other is what Pete Werner affectionately refers to at Hollywood & Slime.

Other than that, I've thought everything else has been at least average if not well above average. Sure, you're going to pay a lot more then you would at restaurants outside of WDW that are of the same quality, but the food still tastes delicious.

Edit- I'll add Akershus to the dishonorable lists of restaurants. It wasn't to the level of Friars Nook or Hollywood & Vine, but I didn't find it to be that good either.

 

[fely1st]

Over the years I tried a lot of disney food, from QS to TS. And usually all were okay for me. I don't expect a gourmet dinner in a theme park, but I expect outstanding atmospere in disney style, and that is what you get. I really loved a lot of meals, if you like Winnie Pooh and he comes to your table while having breakfast, that's a perfect Disney day start. I think if you will be dissapointed or not depends on your expectations. You can have a lot of fun with disney Dining.

 

[maxiesmom]

I disagree. I have to control myself or I book way too many ADRs. I don't like everything I try at the Food and Wine festival, but I tend to try things out of my comfort zone. I really don't expect to like everything. But the food that was to my taste was all good.

 

[Shanti]

Wrapping up a Disney vacation that covered 11/1-11/11 and a bit disappointed in the Disney food. We really liked California Grill brunch, and Via Napoli and Teppan Edo were pretty good. But none of the other TS places justified a return visit (except breakfast at Yachtsman - very good), and just about every QS, except Yak & Yeti breakfast, was subpar. The food & wine booths were really disappointing. Food was often super-salty, and nothing stood out as really good. I liked the crab cakes and scallops from Coastal Eats, and a few other things weren't bad, but wouldn't return for anything.

If it's not a signature restaurant, it's probably not going to satisfy a foodie. But in my non-foodie opinion, Disney's table service is just fine and consistently delivers tasty food.

 

[CynBeth]

We have always enjoyed every TS restaurant where we have had a meal for B, L, or D. I have a few family members with food allergies and the chefs do a great job. They can even eat at buffets and dinner shows.