WORST DISNEY DINING EXPERIENCE

[KellyHonos]

Chef Mickey's has been off our list for a while, as well as Crystal Palace. The best buffet you'll get on property IMO is Tusker House.
Coral Reef used to be a favorite, but the dining room is a little dated IMO. The carpet gives the restaurant a funky smell.

 

[leebee]

Not a horrible dining experience, but irritating none the less. We were eating at CG for my in laws 40th wedding anniversary and had decided to have a special cake made (not cheap). When it’s time, they bring out a birthday cake that says “Happy 40th Ann”. We laughed and explained that it was supposed to be for an anniversary. The waiter took it back to the kitchen and they scraped off the lettering and placed an anniversary placard on top. It looked awful. We really didn’t get an apology or the offer for a refund (and just forget the crappy scraped cake). It was very unmagical.

Worst food was definitely Chef Mickeys though.

I'm sorry about your cake. Was this a special order through the Contemporary pastry shop? They usually do an amazing job- I've heard of many folks who choose the dining location for their special event based on being able to order a cake from Chef Brian at the Contemporary! Assuming this was a special order cake, did you contact the cake hotline directly- or the Contemporary pastry shop- to complain? At the price of special order cakes, there's no way this is acceptable!

 

[wdw4rfam]

Biergarten, coral reef (twice) terrible food at both.

 

[sbbobe]

Merely my wife and I’s opinion. For the most part we have always felt the food and service was very good at WDW. That said , the service we received at our breakfast at Cape May Cafe was beyond horrible and as far as food goes we were not very impressed with Monsieur Paul .

 

[omniscientmommy]

Last year we went to Cape May Cafe for dinner and it was not very good. The food at the buffet was really more like eating at the Golden Corral. That's how the husband and I felt, my in laws and the great grandparents were all about bland food. We definitely won't be back there.

 

[omniscientmommy]

For us both SciFi and Prime Time are no go's. At both restaurants the service was terrible and the food was just meh. The server in Prime Time wouldn't stop with her script even when asked as she was upsetting my son (get your elbows off the table, etc.). The food was very salty as well. It was too much drama for a meal. I tried SciFi this fall after about a 5 year break hoping it had gotten better. It had not from the terrible seating arrangement (we were a group 0f 3 sitting in the car - 1 adult and 2 kids) to the service, to the food. Everyone seems to love both of these restaurants for the most part but we have not experienced the "love" or magic and will not be back.

We have reservations at the sci-fi diner and I'm questioning now if we should go. My husband is a very large man. Like 350lbs. Are all of these booths?

 

[KenHutch]

We have reservations at the sci-fi diner and I'm questioning now if we should go. My husband is a very large man. Like 350lbs. Are all of these booths?

Five years ago I was that large and the seating is a booth shaped like a car. I fit but it was a tad close. They do have tables in the very back near the kitchen. Sci Fi is one of my favorites but I do refer to it as a CS impersonating a TS by having incredible theming. But the burgers have always been good. We have eaten at 50's 3 of our last 4 trips and it can be a mixed bag. When you get a server who is into the fun its great but once we got the saddest most morose person you have ever seen. TH pot roast there is excellent.

 

[mydisneyanytime]

We have reservations at the sci-fi diner and I'm questioning now if we should go. My husband is a very large man. Like 350lbs. Are all of these booths?

No, there are tables at the back but I those have to be requested???

 

[Simba's Mom]

Merely my wife and I’s opinion. For the most part we have always felt the food and service was very good at WDW. That said , the service we received at our breakfast at Cape May Cafe was beyond horrible and as far as food goes we were not very impressed with Monsieur Paul .

In fairness to Cape May Cafe, we've been about 7-8 times. On one trip service was so bad, DH and I actually laughed about it. I couldn't believe how horrible she was! We both agreed that if that had been our first trip there, it would be our last. On all the other trips our service has been great. Some may wonder why we didn't complain to the manager-I guess we were just laughing, wondering where the TV cameras were.

 

[sbbobe]

In fairness to Cape May Cafe, we've been about 7-8 times. On one trip service was so bad, DH and I actually laughed about it. I couldn't believe how horrible she was! We both agreed that if that had been our first trip there, it would be our last. On all the other trips our service has been great. Some may wonder why we didn't complain to the manager-I guess we were just laughing, wondering where the TV cameras were.

We, too, have dined at Cape May on many occasions. The incident that I was referring to went far beyond just poor service. I will leave it at that. Since we had our granddaughters (age 2 & 4) we felt it best to leave without making a scene.

 

[Accidental Magpie]

This was just before Le Cellier became 2 credits. I will never eat there again. They need to lay off the salt ... on EVERYTHING.

 

[mickeymom22]

Our worst dining experience was years ago at Mama Melrose. It took forever to be seated even though we had reservations. Once we were seated no one wanted to serve us. We finally waved someone down to get us drinks. Our drinks came and then no one came to take our order until we waved someone down. Can you see a pattern? No one wanted to claim our table so we just had to wave people down for refills...to order dessert...etc. The food was definitely not worth all the hassles we experienced. We haven't been back since. Some of the entrees were cold, and the food was terrible. For all these reasons, it is our least favorite Disney restaurant.

We also are not fans of Boatwrights Dining Hall at Port Orleans Riverside resort. We have tried it twice, and both times the food is tasteless.
The service was top notch Disney...the food just wasn't worth the price.

 

[Herbord3]

Tony's @ MK - awful service and food.

 

[mdelano4]

I once read (and repeated many times) the only thing consistent about dining in WDW is it's inconsistency. Almost every place we love is mentioned here as bad. We have had good and bad experiences at the same restaurant. Had terrible service and food at Tony's and didn't go back for several years. When we did, it was fabulous. Same for 50s PTC. GG was always on our list. Last trip it was terrible (again, food AND service). Haven't been back to H&V since bad experience many years ago. That was the bad trifecta (service, food and cleanliness) and will likely stop me from returning. All that said we usually don't allow one bad meal to cross a restaurant off the list (unless it's dirty), but if we get two, B-bye.

 

[Shelleyfs]

i think I have to say Tonys. I thought people were over exaggerating about how bad it was and we went for the parade package. It was not good. People compare it to the Olive Garden and I'm okay w/ the Olive Garden every couple of years, so I figured do it for the parade package. After eating Tony's, I feel sad for the bad rap that people give the Olive Garden. :lol I won't eat at Tony's again.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

Just had our worst experience.

We dined at Yak and Yeti a few years ago and loved it, so we returned.

We were seated and got a weather alert that there was a storm rolling in, so we figured we'd prolong things a bit and order slowly. We ordered our drinks, then the server came over to take our orders. We started with appetizers, since we were "undecided". The tuna nachos, 2 wonton soups, and my sister asked if we could get a side of fried rice to snack on. The server replied "we don't do that." He insisted on bringing out the fried rice with our entrees, and seemed annoyed when we didn't put our order for entrees in.

He came back to check on us and took our entree orders. Then, about 25 minutes went by and no one came out. Finally, a server comes with our entrees. Uhh.. what? We told her that we ordered appetizers and she replied "so you don't want this?" We said "well, we'd like to have our appetizers first." She shot us a dirty look and stormed off.

The manager came by a few minutes later. He apologized. We finally received the tuna nachos, which was essentially a salad with barely any tuna and some chips sprinkled in. The entrees were all good, which is unfortunate because the service was so poor.

Our server never apologized. He said he'd give us our annual pass discount and would comp the nachos. After checking the bill (after we paid and left), he more or less took the nachos off at the annual pass discount, then took the AP discount off the price—so he didn't take the full price off the nachos.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

My worst ever was Marrakesh many years ago. Raw chicken. That is an unforgivable mistake. Then they just redid the chicken and put it back on the same plate. Another unforgivable mistake. The Raw Chicken had contaminated everything on the plate and none of the rest of the stuff got a refire. Ay yay yay yay yay. Service was fine and friendly. It took a bit to explain to her why raw chicken juice contaminates everything on the plate. But once the wait person got it, they weren't mean about it. Quite the opposite in fact. Also I didn't expect it to be spicy by any means. But we really didn't get any of the delicate blend of spices the menu said were on things. It was just bland.
But.... The Crepes Atlas was awesome!! Best Crepes Atlas I've ever had. And the good thing is, you can buy that to go!!!

The next to the worst ever was Crystal Palace also many years ago. We had dinner reservations, and it still took 45 miinutes to be seated. Ok it's busy right? Wrong. Half the tables weren't being turned. They were obviously short staffed (presumably due to people being sick.) That's why we waited 45 minutes. Meanwhile, the in charge is standing around the whole time with his thumb up his nose and his eyeballs in his tablet. The servers were busting it as fast as they could. But he just stands there. And to top that off, he calls a staff meeting every 5-10 minutes. Uggh. Now, they probably couldn't run at full volume if he had helped. But even 5-10% faster would help a lot. Throw in those meetings and I think they could have handled a few more tables. The buffet wasn't attended very well. It looked like they cooked in bulk and just piled em up so they wouldn't have to attend to it as often. Wrong response there and as a result things got cold.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Chef Mickey's has been off our list for a while, as well as Crystal Palace. The best buffet you'll get on property IMO is Tusker House.
Coral Reef used to be a favorite, but the dining room is a little dated IMO. The carpet gives the restaurant a funky smell.

Haven't been there in some time. But we always went on Friday. Fish night. Better stuff. Not sure if it's still the same.

 

[Disneylover1970]

Last trip Crystal Palace was excellent for breakfast. We thought Tusker House was horrible, but it was the type of foods, so I blame us. As far as CS, in February 2017, Pizzafari was horrible, but last trip in January it was excellent.

 

[omniscientmommy]

I once read (and repeated many times) the only thing consistent about dining in WDW is it's inconsistency. Almost every place we love is mentioned here as bad. We have had good and bad experiences at the same restaurant. Had terrible service and food at Tony's and didn't go back for several years. When we did, it was fabulous. Same for 50s PTC. GG was always on our list. Last trip it was terrible (again, food AND service). Haven't been back to H&V since bad experience many years ago. That was the bad trifecta (service, food and cleanliness) and will likely stop me from returning. All that said we usually don't allow one bad meal to cross a restaurant off the list (unless it's dirty), but if we get two, B-bye.

I think you're right. Restaurants in resorts, airports, and theme parks have a much higher turnover. Usually due to the lack of experience of the people that end up getting hired and then fired. My sister is the sous chef at an airport where they manage 4 restaurants, she said the people that apply have no experience in food service expecting to get a line cook job. The stories I hear from her frequently make me not want to eat out anywhere. She spends 1/4 of a 10 hour day yelling at people to wash their hands and giving write-ups for similar things.