After 3 days of Disney eating, we cancelled all our remaining table service ADRs

[DisBuckMan]

.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Being from up north we know pizza here

Worst stereotype ever. I've had crappy pizza up north, and I've had crappy pizza in the south...out west, too.

I've had great pizza in all locations, too.

 

[Parker Clan]

Worst stereotype ever. I've had crappy pizza up north, and I've had crappy pizza in the south...out west, too.

I've had great pizza in all locations, too.

lol worst stereotype ever? Possibly a bit dramatic
Well, I will agree I have some crappy up north.. But nothing like some of the pizza in FL. For example at Gasparilla Grill.. Their "gourmet pizza" was garlic bread with Pepperoni on it. According to the lovely Maggie who works at GF but is from NJ "pizza is a sore subject for her" being from up north and now living in FL.

 

[lullwater]

We visit Disney often and the food quality and variety is at a point where we might consider counter service.

 

[DisBuckMan]

lol worst stereotype ever? Possibly a bit dramatic
Well, I will agree I have some crappy up north.. But nothing like some of the pizza in FL. For example at Gasparilla Grill.. Their "gourmet pizza" was garlic bread with Pepperoni on it. According to the lovely Maggie who works at GF but is from NJ "pizza is a sore subject for her" being from up north and now living in FL.

Gasparilla Grill? The QS at GF? That's your comparison? LOL. You're embarrassing yourself.

It may surprise many to learn that once you get outside of the Disney bubble, there are actually pizza places with brick ovens and open fires in the southern part of the US, that make really good pizza.

 

[Harambe]

totally agree..especially since all my kids are all adult pricing...when my kids were little it was a great break, kids pricing was affordable and great way to see characters without waiting in lines...

LOL! Wait until those "kids" start ordering beer! But I agree. I think if you have small children, TS might be easier on the parents, and even give them a small break from finding the table at CS, cleaning it off, and then going for condiments, cutlery, etc. Totally different once you are 4 adults.

We look forward to the TS whenever we go down. Our mantra is that "Food is a theme park." We pick the places that we like.

This was always my favorite part of WDW since I don't do a ton of rides. The ADRs were my "rides"! I will still feel this way, and will enjoy planning out our meals, but will do this looking at the CS menus. For example, at AK, I know we all like Flametree and did eat there once, but I also saw the menu for Yak & Yeti CS and knew we would like that. So when we found ourselves right there at dinner time, we picked up food and enjoyed it immensely! That chicken fried rice was a great lunch, coupled with an egg roll.

As someone else mentioned, there are still TS that are pretty good bargains. We love Sci-Fi and kept that ADR. I got a great salmon BLT for about $17, that came with tasty sweet potato fries. Nothing wrong with that, and only a few dollars over some of the CS entrees. We also did a walk-up at Splitsville, and there were plenty of choices that were bargains (we did not choose those, however - LOL).

 

[goofyintoronto]

Gasparilla Grill? The QS at GF? That's your comparison? LOL. You're embarrassing yourself.

It may surprise many to learn that once you get outside of the Disney bubble, there are actually pizza places with brick ovens and open fires in the southern part of the US, that make really good pizza.

Via Napoli has one. Just sayin.

Yes im a big fan.

 

[Harambe]

Basically I am just saying that Disney food pricing can be a bit of a shock, so I wanted to let folks know that they should at least look at CS as an option for some of their meals. If you do commando style touring, then ADRs might better fit into your schedule, but if you do more free-styling (which we do now that we are four adults, and have many trips under our belts), CS might make more sense, especially given the bump up in choices at CS. TS is still a nice break, and can be a real treat, but it isn't necessary to go TS to find a great meal. Heck, a bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard, along with a good German stout - YES!!! And to eat it while people watching is even more fun!

 

[cigar95]

Have you not tried Via Napoli pizza? Best pizza ever!! Consistently amazing every single time.

Add Wolfgang Puck and Blaze to that list as well. After those three, WDW pizza drops of in quality, practically off a cliff.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Add Wolfgang Puck and Blaze to that list as well. After those three, WDW pizza drops of in quality, practically off a cliff.

I almost forgot about WGPE pizza! Your right....its amazing! Havent tried Blaze yet though.

 

[AngiTN]

I disagree with regard to quick service being comparable to table service. Not saying that Disney table service is the best food around, but certainly better than a QS burger. And there are some table service restaurants that we truly enjoy, like Chefs de France, Boma, Raglan Road and Be Our Guest (though the atmosphere has a lot to do with this one).

Same here. While Epcot does have some better than avg QS none of the other parks do. And not even remotely close to TS options. We find the opposite of OP, the more we try QS the more TS we book. The QS is just not good

 

[Lisa F]

Different strokes for different folks. I am a single mom traveling with my son so the CS experience is like this:
try to find something near where we are so as not to add extra walking just go to to lunch (when I plan my TS I plan my day around being kind of in that area) that has something on the menu my son will like. Sure, I could plan ahead, but doesn't that negate the flexibility benefit of CS?
show up at cs at lunch time, because that is when he is hungry, along with EVERYONE ELSE in the parks.
Get in a line to order. Listen to kid ask me how long it's going to be on that line. Try to corral kid from whirling into other people because he cannot stay still.
Get in a line to wait for food. Wait for food. Try to contain kid who is now even more agitated that we are now waiting on a second line for food and he is starving and wanted to eat 20 minutes ago and we are still waiting for food.
Eventually get tray of food. Try to balance tray with beverages. If toppings/condiments are included, try to verbally contain kid while stopping by condiment spot or topping bar holding full tray of food with beverages balanced (why are the bottoms of cups more narrow than the top?? does anyone ever wonder this? and the bottled stuff rolls around on the tray... and let me tell you it is no fun to have to bend down and retrieve it while balancing said tray and managing kid) and get condiments or toppings for food.
Fight the crowds for a table. Squeeze through large parties with my barely balanced tray in one hand and kid in other hand. Eventually find a table after a couple of false starts that remind me of trying to park my car at the mall around christmas time, and say a quick prayer that my food is not cold yet... but the table is filthy. Set food down on least filthy spot, sit kid down at table, go and get more napkins to clean off table. Use some of the bottled water to clean off the table and dispose of napkins.
Finally sit down red-faced and frazzled myself, blowing the loose hair strands out of my face and "enjoy" my cs meal. It doesn't even matter what it is or how good it is, at this point I'm wishing i'd booked a TS.
We sit down and eat and I do the whole thing in reverse... pack up the trays with trash and dispose of it and give the quick table a wipe before I leave because I am self conscious of the next person who is hovering around my table after noticing we are done with our meal hoping I will get up quickly enough that they can eat their meal before it gets cold. Not a relaxing meal AT ALL.

I tried eating at CS at off times and instead of dealing with the crowds you deal with slow service as they are on a skeleton crew by that time of day and the dregs of what is left as half of it is sold out for the day.


We did all TS on my last trip. My TS experiences were as follows:
Book first lunch seating TS 180 days in advance. Plan touring plan around it. For example, 10:40 Jedi Training Acacdemy into 11:15 Sci Fi Dine in lunch... get out of Jedi Training at 11:10, show up at Sci Fi which is literally 1 minute away at 11:11. Since it is early in the seating, seated within about 5 minutes... and the lobby was not crowded so we sat for those 5 minutes and calmly waited rather than abusing our tired feet by standing in yet another line.
Someone brings me to a table waiting just for me that someone else has cleaned just for me.
Someone comes to my table where I am sitting there relaxing and watching film clips with the kid and asks me what I'd like to eat.
That someone balances the beverages on the tray and sets them down in front of me, rather than making me do it myself.. and they do this for a living so the fact that the bottom of the glasses/cups are more narrow than the tops don't seem to bother them! Beverages (in this case shakes) were brought quickly.
If there is bread service that gives us something to get started on. (not all do though, sci fi doesn't)
Someone brings the food to me.... with condiments. If I want anything special, like horseradish sauce for my steak, that someone brings it to me in a little cup if I ask nicely. I don't have to wait behind the guy patiently pumping ketchup into little cups for his party of 22 who are on the trip of a lifetime to Disney only every single one of them eats ketchup like it is its own food group.
Someone takes my trash away and no one is hovering waiting for my table because they are all outside in the lobby, but I am secure in the knowledge that not only will someone clean off my table before the next patron arrives at it but i won't have to look them in the face apologetically at my half-*** attempt to clean off my own mess with paper napkins and the last mouthful of my $3 bottle of water since there doesn't appear to be anyone in sight who is going to do it for them.
Pay my check (yes more than a CS), leave a nice tip because I am so grateful for the lovely person who brought me my beverages and condiments without drama, and go to our next planned thing.

 

[soniam]

I find TS to be more relaxing than CS. It seems we are always waiting in a long line at the CS, even when we eat early. Then we are battling to find a free table, so I really like having a relaxing meal sometimes.

 

[Lisa F]

Worst stereotype ever. I've had crappy pizza up north, and I've had crappy pizza in the south...out west, too.

I've had great pizza in all locations, too.

yeah pizza in cape cod ("bar" style or "greek" style) is really disgusting. I am "up north" but it ain't New York or even the north end.

 

[pbb&j]

Basically I am just saying that Disney food pricing can be a bit of a shock, so I wanted to let folks know that they should at least look at CS as an option for some of their meals. If you do commando style touring, then ADRs might better fit into your schedule, but if you do more free-styling (which we do now that we are four adults, and have many trips under our belts), CS might make more sense, especially given the bump up in choices at CS. TS is still a nice break, and can be a real treat, but it isn't necessary to go TS to find a great meal. Heck, a bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard, along with a good German stout - YES!!! And to eat it while people watching is even more fun!

We also like the flexibility of CS. I hope you do some quick reviews. I'd love to add some new finds to our mix!

 

[Parker Clan]

Gasparilla Grill? The QS at GF? That's your comparison? LOL. You're embarrassing yourself.

It may surprise many to learn that once you get outside of the Disney bubble, there are actually pizza places with brick ovens and open fires in the southern part of the US, that make really good pizza.

I'm embarrassing myself?
Keep it civil dude. You're pompous attitude is not needed nor wanted on the Dis board. I wholeheartedly stand by my first comment - we know pizza in the north and it's better than FL.. Plain and simple I know I am not the first one on the boards to point this out... I've read it many times before. You must enjoy talking down to other people.. Must be the highlight of your day.
Have yourself a great day

 

[TwoMisfits]

It's okay to say certain areas have a better version of a food than anywhere else. I have yet to ever find anywhere that replicates a true Philly cheese steak and most places are an embarrassment (the worst is the ones who put MAYO on it - are you kidding?? Gross!). If anything says "Philly cheese steak" anywhere and lists lettuce, tomato, mayo, etc, I run b/c it's gonna be awful (and nowhere close to a "Philly" cheese steak experience).

If you are from NY or Chicago or have had their pizza, I can totally believe that no one matches this pizza and some attempts are pathetic...

 

[Princess Mulan]

Different strokes for different folks. I am a single mom traveling with my son so the CS experience is like this:
try to find something near where we are so as not to add extra walking just go to to lunch (when I plan my TS I plan my day around being kind of in that area) that has something on the menu my son will like. Sure, I could plan ahead, but doesn't that negate the flexibility benefit of CS?
show up at cs at lunch time, because that is when he is hungry, along with EVERYONE ELSE in the parks.
Get in a line to order. Listen to kid ask me how long it's going to be on that line. Try to corral kid from whirling into other people because he cannot stay still.
Get in a line to wait for food. Wait for food. Try to contain kid who is now even more agitated that we are now waiting on a second line for food and he is starving and wanted to eat 20 minutes ago and we are still waiting for food.
Eventually get tray of food. Try to balance tray with beverages. If toppings/condiments are included, try to verbally contain kid while stopping by condiment spot or topping bar holding full tray of food with beverages balanced (why are the bottoms of cups more narrow than the top?? does anyone ever wonder this? and the bottled stuff rolls around on the tray... and let me tell you it is no fun to have to bend down and retrieve it while balancing said tray and managing kid) and get condiments or toppings for food.
Fight the crowds for a table. Squeeze through large parties with my barely balanced tray in one hand and kid in other hand. Eventually find a table after a couple of false starts that remind me of trying to park my car at the mall around christmas time, and say a quick prayer that my food is not cold yet... but the table is filthy. Set food down on least filthy spot, sit kid down at table, go and get more napkins to clean off table. Use some of the bottled water to clean off the table and dispose of napkins.
Finally sit down red-faced and frazzled myself, blowing the loose hair strands out of my face and "enjoy" my cs meal. It doesn't even matter what it is or how good it is, at this point I'm wishing i'd booked a TS.
We sit down and eat and I do the whole thing in reverse... pack up the trays with trash and dispose of it and give the quick table a wipe before I leave because I am self conscious of the next person who is hovering around my table after noticing we are done with our meal hoping I will get up quickly enough that they can eat their meal before it gets cold. Not a relaxing meal AT ALL.

I tried eating at CS at off times and instead of dealing with the crowds you deal with slow service as they are on a skeleton crew by that time of day and the dregs of what is left as half of it is sold out for the day.


We did all TS on my last trip. My TS experiences were as follows:
Book first lunch seating TS 180 days in advance. Plan touring plan around it. For example, 10:40 Jedi Training Acacdemy into 11:15 Sci Fi Dine in lunch... get out of Jedi Training at 11:10, show up at Sci Fi which is literally 1 minute away at 11:11. Since it is early in the seating, seated within about 5 minutes... and the lobby was not crowded so we sat for those 5 minutes and calmly waited rather than abusing our tired feet by standing in yet another line.
Someone brings me to a table waiting just for me that someone else has cleaned just for me.
Someone comes to my table where I am sitting there relaxing and watching film clips with the kid and asks me what I'd like to eat.
That someone balances the beverages on the tray and sets them down in front of me, rather than making me do it myself.. and they do this for a living so the fact that the bottom of the glasses/cups are more narrow than the tops don't seem to bother them! Beverages (in this case shakes) were brought quickly.
If there is bread service that gives us something to get started on. (not all do though, sci fi doesn't)
Someone brings the food to me.... with condiments. If I want anything special, like horseradish sauce for my steak, that someone brings it to me in a little cup if I ask nicely. I don't have to wait behind the guy patiently pumping ketchup into little cups for his party of 22 who are on the trip of a lifetime to Disney only every single one of them eats ketchup like it is its own food group.
Someone takes my trash away and no one is hovering waiting for my table because they are all outside in the lobby, but I am secure in the knowledge that not only will someone clean off my table before the next patron arrives at it but i won't have to look them in the face apologetically at my half-*** attempt to clean off my own mess with paper napkins and the last mouthful of my $3 bottle of water since there doesn't appear to be anyone in sight who is going to do it for them.
Pay my check (yes more than a CS), leave a nice tip because I am so grateful for the lovely person who brought me my beverages and condiments without drama, and go to our next planned thing.

This is hilarious but accurate! It sums up my experiences perfectly. I would only add that sometimes you have to dodge the kamikaze birds while balancing your tray!

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Worst stereotype ever. I've had crappy pizza up north, and I've had crappy pizza in the south...out west, too.

I've had great pizza in all locations, too.

Except WNY. I've lived all over the country, and had great pizza in a lot of places, but haven't found any decent pizza in WNY. It was literally the only thing I was looking forward to when we moved to NY - idk how the pizza here went so off the rails compared to the Eastern part of the state.

 

[mco65]

Worst stereotype ever. I've had crappy pizza up north, and I've had crappy pizza in the south...out west, too.

I've had great pizza in all locations, too.

Speaking of Crappy pizza. There is a Pizza place in St. Pete, FL called Cappys Pizza and I will never forget the first time we pulled up there to eat my son said 'OH NO!!! CRAPPY PIZZA!!!"

BTW: I really like Via Napoli Pizza in Epcot... really really good IMO!!!!

I haven't had NY Pizza in a few decades so I can't comment on that.. i am sure its great though!