Favorite under-rated ride, experience, and foods (and what's over-rated)!

[Disneymom1102]

Thought it would be fun to start a thread of most under-rated rides, experiences, and foods/restaurants!
For foods especially, I seem to hear about the same old snacks (dole whip, school bread from Norway, fish and chips from England, turkey leg, etc.) but I'm sure there are so many delicious "hidden" treats out there too!
(Feel free to include OVER-rated as well!)

Here are my favorite underrates:
Rides - Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth, Peoplemover, Little Mermaid
Experiences - Disney Springs for breakfast, balloon ride at Disney Springs,
Foods - Chocolate ganache drink at Disney Springs, everything from Les Halles

OVERRATED:
Rides - Winne the Pooh, Remy/Ratatouille (made me dizzy), Jungle Cruise
Experiences - watching fireworks from Polynesian beach, fireworks at MK at night (really loud for the kids and ridiculously crowded),
Foods - the pork belly dishes at any of the Epcot festivals, regular Dole Whip, Gideon's Bakehouse (NO cookies are worth a 3+ hour wait)

 

[MomOTwins]

UNDERRATED
Rides - Star Tours (people keep saying it's not as good as the newer rides, but I love it! Bonus if someone in your family is the rebel spy). Similarly, people complain Navi River is too short and not as good as FOP, but it's so pretty.
Experiences - Resort quiet pools. Because sometimes escaping the hustle and bustle of the main pool is what you need to recharge after the craziness of the parks.
Foods - Dole whip SWIRL - dole whips on their own are too tart, vanilla soft serve too boring on its own, but put them together and it's heaven in a cup.

OVERRATED:
Rides - Rise of the Resistance. Not worth the frustration of how often it breaks down and disrupts your daily schedule, half the time is in disappointing "B" mode, and to be honest I've always like MFSR better
Experiences - Stormalong bay. The oft-described "best pool" on property, but for me it's the place where toddlers throw coarse sand in your face, you burn your footsies on the pavement having to walk outside the pool area to the slide, you freeze your tushie in the strangely icy waters of the lazy river (if you are lucky enough to get a tube) and your kids split up in three different directions and you can't keep an eye on anyone or spend quality time together.
Foods - The kitchen sink at Beaches and Cream. Mediocre store-bought ice cream, weird mix of toppings and wayyyyy too much whipped cream.

 

[Disneymom1102]

UNDERRATED
Rides - Star Tours (people keep saying it's not as good as the newer rides, but I love it! Bonus if someone in your family is the rebel spy). Similarly, people complain Navi River is too short and not as good as FOP, but it's so pretty.
Experiences - Resort quiet pools. Because sometimes escaping the hustle and bustle of the main pool is what you need to recharge after the craziness of the parks.
Foods - Dole whip SWIRL - dole whips on their own are too tart, vanilla soft serve too boring on its own, but put them together and it's heaven in a cup.

OVERRATED:
Rides - Rise of the Resistance. Not worth the frustration of how often it breaks down and disrupts your daily schedule, half the time is in disappointing "B" mode, and to be honest I've always like MFSR better
Experiences - Stormalong bay. The oft-described "best pool" on property, but for me it's the place where toddlers throw coarse sand in your face, you burn your footsies on the pavement having to walk outside the pool area to the slide, you freeze your tushie in the strangely icy waters of the lazy river (if you are lucky enough to get a tube) and your kids split up in three different directions and you can't keep an eye on anyone or spend quality time together.
Foods - The kitchen sink at Beaches and Cream. Mediocre store-bought ice cream, weird mix of toppings and wayyyyy too much whipped cream.

Ooh I’ll have to try a dole whip swirled. I think that may be the key!!! Plus trying a flavor other than pineapple!

 

[The Foolish Mortal]

UNDERRATED:
Rides: People Mover. Its a great, relaxing tour
Experiences: The zookeepers at AK. at least that's what i call them. They sometimes bring out smaller critters in small boxes and tell you about them
Foods: Flying Fish. First time I went there, I thought it would be like most WDW food 9average at best). But every meal I have had there was fantastic

OVERRATED:
Rides: Dinosaur. Why? Just why? Its just a bunch of barely moving animitronics while you get shaken violently
Experiences: The evening firework shows. I love fireworks, but the fight for space and a good view in large crowds just makes this experience worthless
Foods: Can I say almost all? I will. ALL! Seriously, I cringe a little when i see people rave about the food at Disney. Almost all of it is, at best, average (and lots well below average). I know its all relative and before I had eaten truly good food at five star restaurants, I probably thought a sit down meal at a WDW restaurant was high end. Its not.

 

[orangecuse]

Underrated- Little Mermaid Under the Sea ride. Its cool, usually a short line, great music.

Overrated- Jungle Cruise, ugh. Not a fan at all.

 

[julie-o]

Underrated

Experience: Tom Sawyer Island! Perfect place to escape crowds at MK. Kids can roam free, you can sit down and chill.
Food: character meal at Garden Grill - highlight of our last trip.

Overrated
Agree Rise, tho great, is overrated. Slinky Dog too.
Cali Grill overrated and overpriced! Also Mickey bars. I don’t like how they taste and they make a huge mess.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Underrated:
Food: Mickey Bars! That dark chocolate and creamy vanilla ice cream are just heaven.
Experience: Mini golf. People are really sleeping on how fun it is (even tho Fantasia Gardens needs some love.)
Ride: Gran Fiesta Tour. I just love a relaxing boat ride.

Overrated:
Food: The cinnamon roll at Gaston’s Tavern. Stale as the dickens. Blech.
Experience: Stressing yourself out getting ADRs and Genie+ reservations.
Ride: Flight of Passage. It’s only mildly more thrilling than Soarin’ with a 5x longer wait.

 

[Disneymom1102]

Underrated

Experience: Tom Sawyer Island! Perfect place to escape crowds at MK. Kids can roam free, you can sit down and chill.
Food: character meal at Garden Grill - highlight of our last trip.

Overrated
Agree Rise, tho great, is overrated. Slinky Dog too.
Cali Grill overrated and overpriced! Also Mickey bars. I don’t like how they taste and they make a huge mess.

I’ve never done Tom Sawyer Island before.
Is there much to do when you get there? I imagine this takes up a long chunk of your day to travel there and back plus spend time on the island?

 

[Chami]

Underrated:
Rides- Living with the Land, People Mover, Navi River
Experiences- Animal Kingdom trails
Food- Pecos Bill's and Garden Grill

Overrated:
Rides-7DM - far too short and not exciting
Experiences- Disney Springs - I'm not super into shopping
Food- Boathouse - This is totally biased based on my food allergies. There just wasn't much choice for me.

 

[Boopuff]

Underrated:
Rides: People mover - relaxing!!
Experiences: Last train to Rafiki's Planet Watch - wait for the cow and donkey... hilarious!
Wild Africa trek - awesome! (helps to get a discount!)
Food: Flame tree = love going into the way, way back corner

Overrated:
Ride: Seven dwarfs - am I the only person who finds the seats really, really uncomforatble?
Experiences: rope drop. nope. I'm on vacation..
Food: Ohana. Not so great. didn't really love it last time.

 

[TinkerPan]

Underrated:
People Mover.
Swiss Family Tree House. No other comparable attraction. What kid doesn't like a tree house? Bonus. Take a minute (or two or three) at the top and enjoy the view and oh so nice breeze.
Tom Sawyer Island. A kids paradise for play. Who hasn't wanted to be brave enough to go into a cave you've been warned against? Or travel over a suspension bridge and explore a real fort. Take your little ones there, and let them have fun exploring. Great way to decompress. Again, no other kids adventure to compare it with.

Overrated:
Disney Springs.
Winnie the Poo.
Jungle Cruise.

 

[WxKristin]

Underrated
Rides: Living with the Land, Soarin', People Mover,
Experiences: Chatting with Animal Kingdom Lodge and Park Biologists/Zoologists; Monsters Inc Laugh Floor; Muppet Vision 3D (the intro/waiting room is the best), Typhoon Lagoon
Food: Sanaa!, Tusker House, Tamu Tamu Dole Whip float with Rum

Overrated:
Rides: Seven Dwarfs mine train (cute, but too short), Jungle Cruise (I have a soft spot b/c my Dad always thought it was hilarious when I was a teenager, but still), Frozen Ever After (I miss maelstrom), and Smugglers Run
Experiences: Parades, Dessert Parties
Food: Boma, Brown Derby, Sci-Fi Dine-in

 

[Day-al]

I’m coming at this from a slightly different angle than most.. Underrated food: anything gluten free! Seriously, it is so nice to be able to safely eat “normal” theme park food like hot dogs, burgers, chicken tenders, French fries, etc. I can’t speak for other food allergies, but as someone who has celiac disease this is a big deal. A very big deal. Are there restaurants elsewhere that offer a gluten free menu? Yes, but you have to go through lots of duds to find a place that knows what they are doing. And it’s relatively easy to make a gluten free steak, baked potato, and salad. The underrated food is the stuff i don’t get to have on a regular basis. The junk food that goes with a theme park visit. There’s still plenty I can’t have, especially all of those instagram worthy cupcakes and desserts. But I’m happy having the savory stuff plus dole whip floats are gf!
Also, underrated rides: Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, Navi, Little Mermaid, People Mover

 

[julie-o]

I’ve never done Tom Sawyer Island before.
Is there much to do when you get there? I imagine this takes up a long chunk of your day to travel there and back plus spend time on the island?

I had never done it until one day last year when MK was insanely crowded and I asked my Disney experts what to do and they said Tom Sawyer. My son was 9 at the time. I loved it because there were maybe 10 other people on the whole island, and there’s lots of shade. He loved it bc it’s truly magical for 5-10 year olds. I wouldn’t wait an hour for the boat, but I would wait 20-30 mins.

Also, I love the people mover but it’s not underrated, it’s a fan fave!

 

[julie-o]

I’m coming at this from a slightly different angle than most.. Underrated food: anything gluten free! Seriously, it is so nice to be able to safely eat “normal” theme park food like hot dogs, burgers, chicken tenders, French fries, etc. I can’t speak for other food allergies, but as someone who has celiac disease this is a big deal. A very big deal. Are there restaurants elsewhere that offer a gluten free menu? Yes, but you have to go through lots of duds to find a place that knows what they are doing. And it’s relatively easy to make a gluten free steak, baked potato, and salad. The underrated food is the stuff i don’t get to have on a regular basis. The junk food that goes with a theme park visit. There’s still plenty I can’t have, especially all of those instagram worthy cupcakes and desserts. But I’m happy having the savory stuff plus dole whip floats are gf!
Also, underrated rides: Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, Navi, Little Mermaid, People Mover

This is great to hear. I’m newly GF and we’re going in July.

 

[Dizzy Lizzie]

Foods: Can I say almost all? I will. ALL! Seriously, I cringe a little when i see people rave about the food at Disney. Almost all of it is, at best, average (and lots well below average). I know its all relative and before I had eaten truly good food at five star restaurants, I probably thought a sit down meal at a WDW restaurant was high end. Its not.

That's pretty much why I'm not really bothering with sit down restaurants. After going through all the menus, majority of the restaurants serve food I can get at home. There a lot of stake houses at Disney, but I'm from an area where stake houses are plentiful. Also a lot of the food sounds too heavy.

I understand that some people don't have access to variety of restaurants.

 

[holden]

Underrated- extra evening hours (wish all parks had them), usually cooler temps and no crowds

Overrated- most of the food. There are very few restaurants we actually like.

 

[NickC]

I'm not complaining, but I have been pretty underwhelmed with the new stuff. I know that there are a lot of people who love it, so I guess I would call it over-rated 'for me'. I'm glad I got to ride SDD, RotR, Rat, MMRR, but I wouldn't keep coming back for them. The mountains, EE, ToT, PM, PotC, etc. are what kept us coming back.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

I’m coming at this from a slightly different angle than most.. Underrated food: anything gluten free! Seriously, it is so nice to be able to safely eat “normal” theme park food like hot dogs, burgers, chicken tenders, French fries, etc. I can’t speak for other food allergies, but as someone who has celiac disease this is a big deal. A very big deal. Are there restaurants elsewhere that offer a gluten free menu? Yes, but you have to go through lots of duds to find a place that knows what they are doing. And it’s relatively easy to make a gluten free steak, baked potato, and salad. The underrated food is the stuff i don’t get to have on a regular basis. The junk food that goes with a theme park visit. There’s still plenty I can’t have, especially all of those instagram worthy cupcakes and desserts. But I’m happy having the savory stuff plus dole whip floats are gf!
Also, underrated rides: Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, Navi, Little Mermaid, People Mover

The cupcakes are super gross, you're not missing anything

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

Underrated
Rides: PeopleMover, Soarin, Haunted Mansion
Experiences: Any tour (Keys to the Kingdom most recently), Indiana Jones
Food: Via Napoli, Flame Tree BBQ, Pecos Bills
Drink: Margarita at Paradiso 37, Grey Goose slushie at France booth

Overrated
Rides: 7DMT, Dinosaur
Experiences: Fireworks, all nighttime shows except Fantasmic
Food: Everything at MK except Pecos Bills
Drink: Coke (sorry we are a pepsi family and its frustrating that its all Coke in Disney)