Space 2020 - Overpriced and Overhyped

[Nimbus]

We just got back from Disney yesterday, and it was an amazing (and expensive) trip. There isn't much I would change with one exception--dinner at Space 220. We at at Space 220 for Dinner on Monday night, and it's hard to put into words how disappointing of an experience it was.

Food v. Price
My wife and our two kids (2 and 4) ate. My wife got the terra-Bolognese, and I got the roasted chicken. The kids shared the spaghetti. I don't actually mind paying $80/meal (we've paid more than this in the past), but the quality of food we received at Space 220 was below what you can expect at a Disney counter service restaurant, making this a ridiculous proposition.

1. The kids' spaghetti had a sauce so thin and watery it formed something of a tomato-flavored soup in the bowl. The kids were turned off by this--who could blame them--and didn't really want to eat it. Worse still, the noodles were lukewarm.
2. My wife's bolognese was so bland and tasteless we wondered if they just straight-up made it wrong. It suffered from the same lukewarm condition as the kids' noodles.
3. The chicken had a dry/tough skin with some portions so leathery I had to eat around them.

I wasn't expecting to be blown away by the food, but even if it was simply Olive Garden quality I would have been satisfied, for the experience promised. But this was downright bad food, none of us could finish our meal, and the "experience" was even more disapointing than the food.

The Atmosphere
A lot of fuss has been made about the atmosphere of Space 220, and honestly had it lived up to the hype I could have overlooked the poor quality of food, but, unfortunately, the atmosphere fell just as flat as the food. I'll cut right to the chase. The quality of graphics on the dinning room screen as well as the elevator are not good. Plain and simple, they are bad. They are far below the industry standard. If you saw those graphics in a movie or TV show, you would laugh at how comically out of place and unrealistic they look. Think circa 2010 video game graphics. There really is no excuse for this as they are not particularly complicated graphics and Disney certainly has teams that know how to produce industry-leading, immersive, photo-realistic visual effects nearly indistinguishable from reality. Disney would never dream of putting graphics of this quality in a Star Wars movie or Guardians of the Galaxy movie, so It's a huge let down that they decided to phone it in here. My daughter, who is four, identified them as being fake almost immediately. We told her we were getting to eat in space, but the jig was up as soon as we walked in.

So we ate poor quality food in front of poor quality visual effects.

We were so excited to eat at Space 2020, I was over the moon when we got a reservation, and I really wanted to love it, but it was a huge $220 let down, and we definitely won't be eating there again. The food was all-out bad. The atmosphere was a let down. Save your money and eat elsewhere. It's not worth it. If you can get a lounge reservation to get a drink and satisfy your curiosity, go for it, but you'll still probably be disappointed as you sip your $15 drink and stare into that poor quality screen.

 

[lowlight]

Oh wow...I was a bit disappointed I didn't get that ADR, but now I think maybe I saved myself some misery. The food part I always take with a grain of salt as appetites vary, but the theming and atmosphere being so chintzy is disappointing. It's hard to tell on video reviews.

 

[marikujawa]

We were there in October and there was much less in the way of space-theming than we expected. It’s pretty much just the elevator ride and the “space view” from the windows in an otherwise ordinary restaurant.

 

[starousse]

Thanks for your honest and detailed review. I've been going back and forth on which reservation I should try to go for. I'm definitely now leaning towards the lounge....Get a drink, a couple of sliders and piece of carrot cake to grab a peek.

 

[SleeplessInTO]

Definitely go for the lounge. The tables are set further back, the screen looked pretty cool to me (I especially enjoyed space Jedi) and the food/drinks, while definitely overpriced, can be ordered a la carte.

 

[Minnie1222]

I think Space 220 is a fun and inspirational experience, especially for young children. It's an opportunity to show them that if they work hard enough, maybe one day they'll dine in real space.

 

[SteveH]

@Nimbus thanks for the review of the food and experience itself. Did the staff or manager ever get involved, or did you happen to ask for them? At $220 I would have high expectations too, delivering sub-par food is just flat out not acceptable.

 

[Nimbus]

@Nimbus thanks for the review of the food and experience itself. Did the staff or manager ever get involved, or did you happen to ask for them? At $220 I would have high expectations too, delivering sub-par food is just flat out not acceptable.

We didn't complain to our waiter (and he was pretty good--not fantastic, but definitely not bad) because we typically don't complain unless something is actually wrong with an order. And I had seen reviews of the food before hand that said it was just ho-hum...I just didn't think it would be that ho-hum, haha. So we more or less just chalked it up to you live and you learn.

I was going in thinking the food may not be the best we've ever eaten, but it's going to be an awesome experience. And there was a healthy dose of FOMA in there too. The food was just of poorer quality then I had anticipated and the experience--contrary to what I had expected--not only didn't make up for it but also contributed to the lackluster experience. So I just wanted to give people a heads up who are going in with the same excitement/expectation as we were.

 

[Nimbus]

Thanks for your honest and detailed review. I've been going back and forth on which reservation I should try to go for. I'm definitely now leaning towards the lounge....Get a drink, a couple of sliders and piece of carrot cake to grab a peek.

The lounge would definitely be the better option. Because the seating is located slightly farther back, I'd argue it actually has a better view than the restaurant seating (the lack of quality in the projection may not be as pronounced), and the food will definitely be cheaper. I've heard good things about the drinks. I constantly refreshed the Lounge Dining reservation page a few minutes a day leading up to the date hoping to snag one, but never managed to. When we got there, I asked about sitting in the lounge but they told us they were completely full for the night. I think if you inquire earlier in the day, it sounds like they may be able to fit you in for the evening.

 

[Nimbus]

The lounge would definitely be the better option. Because the seating is located slightly farther back, I'd argue it actually has a better view than the restaurant seating (the lack of quality in the projection may not be as pronounced), and the food will definitely be cheaper. I've heard good things about the drinks. I constantly refreshed the Lounge Dining reservation page a few minutes a day leading up to the date hoping to snag one, but never managed to. When we got there, I asked about sitting in the lounge but they told us they were completely full for the night. I think if you inquire earlier in the day, it sounds like they may be able to fit you in for the evening.

And for what it's worth, the carrot cake was pretty good!

 

[J-Dog]

Meh. I am definitely not a tech guy, but I had no issue with any of the graphics. I agree that the food is probably somewhat overpriced, but I was happy with our experience and certainly think that it's worth doing at least once.

The 2 things that my 3-year old still talks about from our trip is Goofy and the spaceships at Space220. Just that made it worth it to us.

 

[Grim Grinning Ghostie]

I'm sorry you had such a disappointing experience! If I were to do Space 220, I'd definitely do the lounge. It's a shame that a lot of things in DW seem to be going down in quality whilst the prices continue to skyrocket.

 

[the8ball]

I was hoping to reserve the lounge for this cost/benefit (can get the experience for drinks or a la carte) but my party is larger than 4 and we don't want to have to split up, which makes the lounge not an option. I was actually able to snag a reservation in the restaurant, but not on the ideal day so I'm debating what to do with it. I'm wondering now if I should have reconsidered trying with a split reservation, or for just a subgroup up to 4 people, in the lounge.

I'm bummed to hear how disappointing it was for you. If we are able to go and decide to go through with it, I'd hope we'd get lucky with an experience that made it feel at least close to worth the cost. Thank you for posting about your experience!

 

[Nimbus]

I was hoping to reserve the lounge for this cost/benefit (can get the experience for drinks or a la carte) but my party is larger than 4 and we don't want to have to split up, which makes the lounge not an option. I was actually able to snag a reservation in the restaurant, but not on the ideal day so I'm debating what to do with it. I'm wondering now if I should have reconsidered trying with a split reservation, or for just a subgroup up to 4 people, in the lounge.

I'm bummed to hear how disappointing it was for you. If we are able to go and decide to go through with it, I'd hope we'd get lucky with an experience that made it feel at least close to worth the cost. Thank you for posting about your experience!

Some of the seating in the lounge was bench seating that I could see you getting away with 5-6 people--especially if some are children. If you make a reservation for 4 in the lounge and then talk to the host early enough in the day, they may be able to set you up with one of those tables to accommodate you. I don't know if it would work, but it might be worth a shot.

 

[Aela]

I am one of those people that will absolutely send poor food back. The cooks know the chicken is dried out.. but if no one says anything they will still send it to someone.

a few years ago we did dinner at BoG. My daughter (Disney Adult) had the chicken and it was so dry she couldn’t eat it. I tried it, and agreed. I sent it back, and the entree she got after waiting awhile… was one of our best meals of the trip. What they sent out the first time was absolute crap.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thanks for the review. I think we will be passing on that experience!

 

[Laurieannc]

@Nimbus you put into words exactly what we experienced in relation to the atmosphere. The entire place was a huge letdown. It reminded us of watching a 3d movie without the 3d glasses. Fortunately, after we got into the dining room and were brought to our table, we knew that the experience was not for us. We spoke to the hostess and were able to leave without dining there. Hopefully whoever got our table had a better experience than we did.

 

[LoveMyDogTheDoodle]

We just got back from Disney yesterday, and it was an amazing (and expensive) trip. There isn't much I would change with one exception--dinner at Space 220. We at at Space 220 for Dinner on Monday night, and it's hard to put into words how disappointing of an experience it was.

Food v. Price
My wife and our two kids (2 and 4) ate. My wife got the terra-Bolognese, and I got the roasted chicken. The kids shared the spaghetti. I don't actually mind paying $80/meal (we've paid more than this in the past), but the quality of food we received at Space 220 was below what you can expect at a Disney counter service restaurant, making this a ridiculous proposition.

1. The kids' spaghetti had a sauce so thin and watery it formed something of a tomato-flavored soup in the bowl. The kids were turned off by this--who could blame them--and didn't really want to eat it. Worse still, the noodles were lukewarm.
2. My wife's bolognese was so bland and tasteless we wondered if they just straight-up made it wrong. It suffered from the same lukewarm condition as the kids' noodles.
3. The chicken had a dry/tough skin with some portions so leathery I had to eat around them.

I wasn't expecting to be blown away by the food, but even if it was simply Olive Garden quality I would have been satisfied, for the experience promised. But this was downright bad food, none of us could finish our meal, and the "experience" was even more disapointing than the food.

The Atmosphere
A lot of fuss has been made about the atmosphere of Space 220, and honestly had it lived up to the hype I could have overlooked the poor quality of food, but, unfortunately, the atmosphere fell just as flat as the food. I'll cut right to the chase. The quality of graphics on the dinning room screen as well as the elevator are not good. Plain and simple, they are bad. They are far below the industry standard. If you saw those graphics in a movie or TV show, you would laugh at how comically out of place and unrealistic they look. Think circa 2010 video game graphics. There really is no excuse for this as they are not particularly complicated graphics and Disney certainly has teams that know how to produce industry-leading, immersive, photo-realistic visual effects nearly indistinguishable from reality. Disney would never dream of putting graphics of this quality in a Star Wars movie or Guardians of the Galaxy movie, so It's a huge let down that they decided to phone it in here. My daughter, who is four, identified them as being fake almost immediately. We told her we were getting to eat in space, but the jig was up as soon as we walked in.

So we ate poor quality food in front of poor quality visual effects.

We were so excited to eat at Space 2020, I was over the moon when we got a reservation, and I really wanted to love it, but it was a huge $220 let down, and we definitely won't be eating there again. The food was all-out bad. The atmosphere was a let down. Save your money and eat elsewhere. It's not worth it. If you can get a lounge reservation to get a drink and satisfy your curiosity, go for it, but you'll still probably be disappointed as you sip your $15 drink and stare into that poor quality screen.

Totally agree. Fortunately we had just a lounge reservation but found it underwhelming. Reminded me of old style cartoons . I would have been very disappointed if I had to pay a premium for a meal. Drinks were overpriced but sort of fun.

 

[Sweettears]

To me it’s a case of overhype which has increased expectations. Look at Coral Reef. Marketing could set this up to be a lot more immersive than it actually is. But from experience we know that is decent to mediocre food with a view of a large fish tank.

I still go to CR in fact I did last week but my expectations are more in line with the reality of what is presented.

 

[isabellea]

I’ve decided to go only if I get the lounge. Thinking of booking a late afternoon ADR for drinks and then eating dinner at a QS.