WORST DISNEY DINING EXPERIENCE

[ibela]

Okay, slightly off topic but want to get your opinion. I just realized the day we plan to spend at Hollywood Studies is the same day we have Chef Mickey dinner reservations. Considering the majority of this forum has indicated that a lot of the HS restaurants are a no-go (50's, Vine, Mama Mel) I am worried we will have an entire days worth of bad food, lol. We are stuck with CM for DD sake, so does anyone have any suggestions for HS that would be good (so we don't go to CM starved and end up possibly being disappointed)

We enjoy H&V for lunch. Same character interaction but the food is better. Or if you don't want to take a chance - quick service (just not ABC Commissary).

Not that you asked , but same with Chef Mickey actually - I hate the dinner there (and breakfast is hit or miss) but brunch both times we went was great and my kids fave of the trip. And O'hana (which is my one must do every trip). I think its about the timing with these buffet restaurants. If we go later in the evening, the meats can be hit or miss (but if the chicken from 1 skewer isnt good, just ask for more from a different one when they come around). If we go earlier, we are rolling out of there.

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

My husband refuses to eat at Chef Mickey's because of the napkin waving thing. He has done it twice, but never again. The food bits and germs potentially flying all around the room grosses him out. I can kind of see his point.

 

[Tozzie]

My husband refuses to eat at Chef Mickey's because of the napkin waving thing. He has done it twice, but never again. The food bits and germs potentially flying all around the room grosses him out. I can kind of see his point.

I am not trying to be snarky however there are more germs in your bathroom at your house than on the napkins at chef mickey's. I don't eat there anymore because my niece and nephew sort of aged out (they are 15 and 16) and prefer regular restaurants to buffets

 

[DisneyWorldbuff]

I am not trying to be snarky however there are more germs in your bathroom at your house than on the napkins at chef mickey's. I don't eat there anymore because my niece and nephew sort of aged out (they are 15 and 16) and prefer regular restaurants to buffets

I totally agree. The handrails at WDW freak me out more than the spinning napkins, but my husband is actually very disturbed by it. When the people start waving it around their heads, his veins in his neck pop out. Just a pet peeve of his. I'm still cool with Chef Mickeys

 

[2hapykdz]

We dined at Whispering Canyon Café recently for lunch and was less than enchanted with our service. My family visited the restaurant for a special event and was less than impressed Our server had limited ability to communicate in English and was not understanding the concept of the restaurant. She was not friendly and definitely had no pixie dust. Will knock this place off our list of places to visit.

Sci Fi Diner.......the atmosphere is AWESOME....but the service was MEH...and the food was AWEFUL!!!! Worst steak of my life....being on the DDP, ya want to get your $$$ worth...but I just shoulda had a burger or reuben....probably woulda been a better experience!

 

[WVU Disney Fan]

Rainforest Cafe. Sat at table over an hour before getting any food

 

[2hapykdz]

Okay, slightly off topic but want to get your opinion. I just realized the day we plan to spend at Hollywood Studies is the same day we have Chef Mickey dinner reservations. Considering the majority of this forum has indicated that a lot of the HS restaurants are a no-go (50's, Vine, Mama Mel) I am worried we will have an entire days worth of bad food, lol. We are stuck with CM for DD sake, so does anyone have any suggestions for HS that would be good (so we don't go to CM starved and end up possibly being disappointed)

Mama's is GREAT....give it a TRY. Get the Fantasmic Package.....have "dinner" at 1ish....and then grab quick service to eat at the show!!!

 

[Bimmy56]

Sci Fi Diner.......the atmosphere is AWESOME....but the service was MEH...and the food was AWEFUL!!!! Worst steak of my life....being on the DDP, ya want to get your $$$ worth...but I just shoulda had a burger or reuben....probably woulda been a better experience!

yes, their reubens are very good! A much better value for the money, if you like them.

 

[sbbobe]

Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast. We had the rudest waitress I have ever encountered at any restaurant. She took her sweet time taking our drink order then would not come around to offer refills. The characters kept missing our table and the waitress did absolutely nothing to help. My three year old granddaughter was in tears. Worst experience I have ever had in 50 trips to WDW.

 

[arminnie]

My worst dining was on property but not officially Disney - the Garden Grove restaurant at the Swan. We did the seafood buffet with lobster and crab. The lobster was so chewy and rubbery that we literally could not eat it. The crab legs were small and tasted "old". The other items on the buffet were just horrible (and not very many anyway). Looked like stuff from a school cafeteria.

I've had better meals from a gas station to go counter. We were there early on the first night so they must have had this stuff in the freezer left over from last week. Truly hideous.

I've had plenty of just "good" not great meals at Disney - and some truly great meals at V&A and GC. Since I live in New Orleans I have access to great food for a fraction of the Disney prices we don't go to Disney for the food. And that's okay.

The only truly bad service issue again was on property, but I don't think it's owned by Disney - Big River Grille. It was years and years ago when BWI was not that old. I had my 9 year old niece with me, and we were eating outside near the check in stand. Two young CMs were not happy about somebody or something and were both tossing the "F" word back and forth. Totally inappropriate.

 

[Jamie77]

The River Roost Lounge. I was there to see Yeehaa Bob Jackson and was sitting at a table waiting for the show to start. A waiter (named David) came up to me rudely and asked if I was going to order something or not. I didn't want to take up a table and not eat, but I wasn't in any rush because I could see that he was busy. I usually tip very generously (I mean, very generously!) but he didn't get one that night.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Cape May Cafe Character Breakfast. We had the rudest waitress I have ever encountered at any restaurant. She took her sweet time taking our drink order then would not come around to offer refills. The characters kept missing our table and the waitress did absolutely nothing to help. My three year old granddaughter was in tears. Worst experience I have ever had in 50 trips to WDW.

I'll bet I know the waitress you had-we had her there once. Fortunately for us, it was about our 5th visit to the Cape May Character Breakfast, but I remember commenting to DH "If this were my first time here, it would definitely be my last." She was awful!

 

[A. Mara Ziwadie]

1) California Grille. It was my first time, and it was my last time. 10 years ago. There was a lobster dish we shared as an appetizer. The lobster was canned. 'Nuff said. People rave about this restaurant like it is the last one on Earth, too.

2) Whispering Canyon Café for lunch. I argue that the sandwich and fries were straight from the food court!

3) Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show: I was with a big party and I don't think anyone liked the food. I thought the food was tasty. At the time, white or red house wine was served with the meal, and it was God-awful! Two sips and I had a headache.

 

[AshClan]

I will concede that every visit is different, and one bad experience shouldn't necessarily prevent you from returning. I find 'Ohana, especially, is a very hit-or-miss place. We've absolutely LOVED it a few times, and had awful experiences at other times....including the time in 2012 when I got salmonella poisoning from the chicken wings!! But I have since gone back once (believe it or not), and we had a lovely dinner. Will be back again next week. Crossing my fingers.....

I also got sick from a veggie omelet at the Pepper Market at Coronado Springs. I think it was just because the cut onions were sitting around too long. The omelet was delicious when I ate it, but about an hour later, I got sick as can be for a good 18 hours or so. Ruined our Valentine's Day.

I agree with most everyone on Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace, though. I have crossed both off my list for good. We've just had too many bad experiences in a row. I'll give it a few chances, but at some point you've just got to give it up.

On BOG....I just want to say that we've had some fabulous dinners there. I really think it depends on where you are seated. The West Wing is the place to be. I can't imagine eating in the ballroom, as it is indeed very much like a cafeteria and crazy loud. But the food and service has always been very good for us. Unfortunately, I have heard they will not let you pick your seating area, so I think we've just been lucky.

 

[BigredNole]

Via Napoli for the Candlelight Processional package. When we booked it a few days earlier, we were told we could order anything of the dining menu. When we get there later in the week, we are told no you have to eat the $40+ meals. The CM that told us we could order anything and we had them verify with her. At first she said no, but then she did acknowledge she said so. Well, that still didn't matter because we could either get the $40+ meals + Candlelight Processional or we could eat what we wanted with no CP passes. So, we suck it up and get the passes and overpay for dinner. We were suppose to get the earl show but they said we could only have the late show. All of this while they are screwing up our orders, none of them came out together, getting drinks was about 1 person at a time and not the table every 15-20 minutes. They delayed so long that we could not get to the correct CP. Then, one pizza came out burnt completely and they argued that it had to be taken back. NHL hockey pucks were softer. It was just a horrible experience that ended up with the manager being taken off the floor by a supervisor and our meal waived.

 

[A. Mara Ziwadie]

I will concede that every visit is different, and one bad experience shouldn't necessarily prevent you from returning. I find 'Ohana, especially, is a very hit-or-miss place. We've absolutely LOVED it a few times, and had awful experiences at other times....including the time in 2012 when I got salmonella poisoning from the chicken wings!! But I have since gone back once (believe it or not), and we had a lovely dinner. Will be back again next week. Crossing my fingers.....

I also got sick from a veggie omelet at the Pepper Market at Coronado Springs. I think it was just because the cut onions were sitting around too long. The omelet was delicious when I ate it, but about an hour later, I got sick as can be for a good 18 hours or so. Ruined our Valentine's Day.

I agree with most everyone on Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace, though. I have crossed both off my list for good. We've just had too many bad experiences in a row. I'll give it a few chances, but at some point you've just got to give it up.

On BOG....I just want to say that we've had some fabulous dinners there. I really think it depends on where you are seated. The West Wing is the place to be. I can't imagine eating in the ballroom, as it is indeed very much like a cafeteria and crazy loud. But the food and service has always been very good for us. Unfortunately, I have heard they will not let you pick your seating area, so I think we've just been lucky.

It is true that every visit is different because menus change so much. One time there was a omelet station at POR and they were cooking the omelets with a heavy oil. Made my cousins sick (I didn't have an omelet). But the last time I was there, they didn't have the omelet station anymore. I am generally fine with the food court at POR. We did the Crystal Palace maybe at the beginning of the decade, and I thought the food was lousy. Chef Mickey's was okay when we did it. I'm not going to go back to a place like California Grille unless I making a lot of money. You try it once. You can't afford to try it again if it doesn't turn out well. We expected something great from the restaurant in Canada. The prime rib wasn't anything that much better from a restaurant outside of the park (can't remember the name).

 

[Pennstate6411]

I would say Coral Reef was by far the worst overall - It had an odor of damp mustiness like a wet towel that had been sitting out for days and it was absolutely freezing in there ( I love cold but this was brutally cold) and it was not on the clean side either. I can't recall what everyone had but it was bad enough I remember everyone wanting to get something else to eat as a snack afterwards as no one finished their entrees.

I was served pretty much raw veal at the California Grill once. It was seared on the outside but the inside was barely warm.

 

[peteykirch]

For me it's easily 'Ohana for dinner.

Not so much for the food, but the service. Everything was pretty much thrown onto the table, and than that was it. It took over a hour for the meat skewers to get to us. Instead of the servers with skewers starting up where they ran out, they instead started at the beginning of the rotation, and it never got to us. Went up to the meat pit and told them we were here for over a hour and the meat has yet got to us, this fixed the situation, but it never should have happened in the first place. The food was pretty meh nothing stood out, and wasn't worth the price tag to get that delicious bread pudding dessert. We will gladly go to Tambu Lounge have a good time there, and get the bread pudding there instead.

 

[goofynut41]

Nine Dragons... Meat was so tough you could not cut it or chew it and had no flavor... Never again...

 

[poodledogs55]

This might not be a popular response, but Grand Floridian Cafe. Incredibly rude waitress, mediocre food (at best), and absolutely boring atmosphere.

Also, the food at Pecos Bill was disgusting. So never again for these two places!

I've actually had really good experiences/food/service at Ohana, Be Our Guest, and Coral Reef!