Why is ABC Commissary so bad?

[swissamy]

Backlot express is the best bet for a sitdown spot for a QS meal. They have good kids menus with grilled veggie sandwich that is enough for an adult! We also love it because there are free drink refills and on a hot day, a second (or third) coke hits the spot!!

 

[swissamy]

The Commissary seems to be getting worse in the selections offered (getting fewer and more limited with each menu revision), time spent waiting for the order, phenomenally long lines that move slowly (and not even at peak season/hours) and overall attention to the Disney Experience. I feel like they are just maintaining it but it could really be nice! I would vote to turn it into a cafeteria/buffeteria like the old Crystal Palace!!

 

[olinecoach61]

I don't know why it's so bad but believe me it is. Ate there last summer and it left much to be desired, even from a qs.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

It is a nice space...
My dream for this place and H & V is that they make one into a table service concept, heavily themed.
Really, if DHS is going to grow, there are two (Sci and 50's) and one fancy (Derby.) One more table service would make me happy. And Melrose could be better but, ok four ts...
Don't get me started on theme ideas. A bunch of us went nuts on a thread awhile back.

 

[NiarrNDisney]

Because the food either tastes like grease or cardboard and is typically served cold! Basically if you have ever had a meal on a plane you know what I am talking about!

 

[Respect the Walt.]

On our last 3 trips in 2010, 2011, and 2012 my family has eaten there. We always get the Asian Salad and love it. We have never had any problems there and have kind of adopted as a tradition when we visit HS.

 

[afar28]

I don't even think its that bad
There are better, but it isn't bad

 

[disneysince71]

Just out of curiosity, is the food the same as the rest of the QS joints? I mean burgers to burgers, fish to fish, not the "unique" stuff.

**edit** Tempted to go back just to see if it is really that bad **end**

The burgers are the same but they do not offer a topping bar like Pecos Bill and Cosmic Rays. They do offer Let and Tom but we had to ask for it and it was wilted. Like I said in my first post the last time we went it was better the salmon salad was very good. The burger with the shrimp.. fair and the grilled chic sand.. very good.
Oh... the fish was very small and greasy and not like I am used to from Yorkshire Fish.

 

[RonAnnArbor]

The sandwiches and burgers at Backlot Express are much better than ABC Commissary...so I would recommend that. The pizza at Pizza Planet is inedible.
ABC commissary has the EXACT same burgers and fries as the other QS places throughout WDW -- but its smaller, and they have big problems "behind the scenes" -- the grill area isn't big enough, and the lines move very slowly as the kids back there struggle to keep up with making things. Its not that they don't try -- its that they literally CANT move any faster. As a result people are grumpier, edgier once they get through the line, and they have those same old bland burgers in front of them that they waited for for 20 minutes.
Its better if you go in those off hours between 2 and 4 when the lines die down.
Still, I would recommend Backlot Express for the great sandwiches, which are much better than those burgers.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

That's a great question. It seems like everyone bashes it but there a reasons for that. For us, we really don't like the options, the food always feels cold, under prepared, and kind of uncared for. I've been nauseous a few times after eating there so finally we put the kabash on it. It's a vortex of bad food. We do however love it inside of there to take other food or snacks in and sit in the AC to take a break.

 

[Brewer]

Ate there a couple of times this past December and found the food to be more than acceptable - better than can be said about the Sci-Fi.......

 

[rael ramone]

I have not eaten a QS in the studios in *years*. (It's either Brown Derby or park hop to somewhere else).

The 'commissary' has two strikes against it.

First off, it's a 'feed station' type of place. You need to eat to continue to have energy to manuver the park. Here's food. Eat. (Never mind what the food tastes like). Now get back outside.

The second is highlighted in the 'Unofficial Guide' as to a problem that the Studios has (esp. in that area & in the commissary itself). The synergy between ABC and Disney used to be subtle. Now it's completely and totally 'in your face' in the Commisary Lane area and ramped up times a 100 in the place itself.

 

[popcenturylover]

We ate there this past September & we didn't think it was that bad. It didn't stand out but, it wasn't horrible!

 

[Minnie Sue]

We ate there in May 2012. It was our very first Disney meal (park, we'd had lunch at our resort). We'd planed to eat dinner at Pizza Planet, not realizing that it closed so early. ABC was the only place open and it just had that... institutional feel about it. Not much of Disney's themeing, I guess. We were on the DDP and got burgers and fries because that seemed a safe bet. The burgers looked good and were huge, there was a plethora of fries and we got some kind of generic dessert (pudding?). The burgers were bland (frozen) and the fries were tasteless. It wasn't bad, per se, it just wasn't as familiar and comforting as say, McDonalds, or as fresh and delicious as your local premium burger joint. It just...was, haha. I think an overhaul in branding could help it. Is it supposed to taste like cafeteria food? If so...okay, then.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Let me first say we have not been to ABC since late ‘90s, early ‘00s. While I believe the reviewers, I just don’t understand how the food quality/preparation could be different from the other QS burgers and dogs. What could the issue be? And how can it not seem to ever get better?

Must point out that if we do QS at all at DHS, it is either Starring Rolls or Pizza Planet.

We really don't know. It's sort of sad. We ate there last time and it was just okay. Not as bad as it used to be.

I never eat at Pizza Planet, but that's because my dad doesn't like pizza. We usually do the Backlot. We like Sci fi best for lunch

 

[draybook]

We, too, ate there this past September and it was just fine. As a matter of fact, we also ate there in September of 2011 and December of 2009. Tasted just fine and took only about 4 minutes to have the food on the table.

 

[Pooh Lover]

I don't know that it's bad, it just doesn't offer anything that appeals to us. We've even gone in there a couple times, looked at the menu and left. I would certainly give it a try if they changed the menu for the better.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I don't know that it's bad, it just doesn't offer anything that appeals to us. We've even gone in there a couple times, looked at the menu and left. I would certainly give it a try if they changed the menu for the better.

I agree. Their menu is always changing, but the burger is usually the only appealing thing on the menu.

 

[Communicore]

True story: when I was first a CM I was selected to work at Commissary and I refused, then the guy said Electric Umbrella, and I refused, then finally the new Cosmic's (Tommorowland had just re-opened) and I said yes!

 

[Chrononymous]

admittedly...this was a few years ago, so I can't say how they are this week.

But I have had horrid food and service there. I have had dry cold hamburgers, and still-frozen-inside breakfast sandwiches. I have had to ask for condiments because they were missing, and weren't refilled on the counters. I have dealt with snappy unhappy CMs there that don't embody the Disney Spirit.

I just don't feel like it's worth it to go back there anytime soon.