Epcot Food Ops Update

[mousermerf]

Not much to report this week

Epcot has added Sunshine Seasons (in the Land) to their EMH food offerings - further making Epcot the park with the most EMH food offerings. Currently, it offers sit down meals until 10pm at the San Angel and the Rose and Crown, and quick service (until close) at Eletric Umbrella, Cantina de San Angel, and Harry Ramsden (fish and chips) in addition to the added Sunshine Seasons.

On the flip side, most likely having something to do with Ice Station Cool's rehab - the Fountainview Cafe in innoventions plaza has cut its operating hours to now close at 1pm daily (used to stay open until 7pm).

 

[Captain Hank]

It's nice to have more of a selection in FW during EMH. It didn't make a whole lot of sense for the vast majority of attractions open to be in FW, while almost all of the food was in WS.

 

[lentesta]

Mousemerf, how are guests liking the new menu at Sunshine Season's? Has Disney done any guest satisfaction surveys on it?

Len

 

[bhg469]

im too lazy to look it up but does anyone know how long the ice station cool rehab will be?

 

[Skippy]

7 June 2005: Ice Station Cool rehab

Ice Station Cool is now closed to begin a 6 month refurbishment. The Ice Station theme will be removed, and will be replaced with something more in keeping with it's location next to Innoventions.

(from wdwmagic)

 

[BRER STITCH]

Thanks for the update MOUSER! :wave:

Now....if we could only get them to keep a couple of the shopping areas in the World Showcase pavilions open...

:lookaroun

 

[Showmemousefan]

Sunshine Terrace

We ate there several times on our end-of-May visit. The kids build your own sub meal for $3.99 hit the spot. They also have good muffins at a reasonable price!

 

[Thrawn]

Sunshine Seasons food was great. Ate there ... either twice or three times. Wood stoves are awesome!

 

[maxime29]

My mouth waters for some salmon.

 

[surfsupdon]

I'm just glad more food options are opening. When I was at the EMH back during the first week of January, Pecos Bill had a huge line out the door--waited almost 20 minutes for two burgers, but it was the only place open for real food.

 

[Thrawn]

My mouth waters for some salmon.

YES!!!

 

[Number_6]

I've eaten there a couple of times. Once early, so I just grabbed some fruit and cheese and once in the afternoon, so I got a salad that was topped by some seared sushi grade tuna. It was excellent.

 

[DigitalDisney]

It's too bad they upgraded to crazy non-standard food instead of just upgrading the existing meals (using better ingredients / presentation)

My whole family used to love the Farmer's Market / Sunshine Season Food Fair, and we used to have to choose between many options that we liked. Now there isn't one single thing on the menu that any of us like. Not one thing. It's depressing that this has become the trend in WDW restaurant refurbishments lately.

 

[Fran98765]

It's too bad they upgraded to crazy non-standard food instead of just upgrading the existing meals (using better ingredients / presentation)

My whole family used to love the Farmer's Market / Sunshine Season Food Fair, and we used to have to choose between many options that we liked. Now there isn't one single thing on the menu that any of us like. Not one thing. It's depressing that this has become the trend in WDW restaurant refurbishments lately.

Healthier options with a larger selection then burger or hot dog is bad how?

We ate at SSFF in May and we liked it a lot. They had several things that looked good and both DH and I enjoyed our choices, plus DS loved his sandwich and applesauce.

 

[DigitalDisney]

Healthier options with a larger selection then burger or hot dog is bad how?

You're dead wrong.

If they wanted you to eat healthy, they would remove the ice cream vendors and stuff like that. They keep them because they make excellent profits. WDW is a business, not a health club (which is why they're trying a different approach to food).

This is far from being about healthy eating. It's about taking away standard fare and replacing it with food that only appeals to a limited audience. There are plenty of people out there that prefer eating burgers, dogs, chicken fingers, etc. It's what you would call a comfort zone, and now that's slowly being deteriorated.

Even if it was really about healthy eating, the Farmer's Market / Sunshine Season Food Fair used to be one of the healthiest places to eat in all of WDW. It had a great selection of salads, soups, sandwiches, BBQ, pasta, and much much more. Not only that, but just about everything on the menu looked good, and it was tough to finally choose something to eat. Do you go with the house salad, or BBQ chicken, or a pasta dish? Descisions, decisions...

Now, Sunshine Season is a friggin disaster. :hurl: There's not one standard version of anything on the menu. No vegetable or chicken noodle soup on the soup menu. :hurl: No chef's or caesar salad on the salad menu (the only salad that looks somewhat acceptable to me has a questionable dressing). :hurl: No club sandwich / turkey sandwich on the sammich menu. :hurl: Not to mention that all of the pasta is gone as well.

I know Disney is trying to improve their food options, but they're taking the wrong approach. What they should do instead is upgrade the quality of the food and its presentation. Universal has decent food, and it's not this fancy gourmet crap WDW is trying to shove down our throat. I can still get a decent burger or sandwich there, and top it with their excellent topping bars.

I sure hope Disney gets their act together soon. :hammer: Ironically, they'll probably close their restaurants even sooner because business will be down.

 

[dxwwf3]

You're dead wrong.

If they wanted you to eat healthy, they would remove the ice cream vendors and stuff like that. They keep them because they make excellent profits. WDW is a business, not a health club (which is why they're trying a different approach to food).

This is far from being about healthy eating. It's about taking away standard fare and replacing it with food that only appeals to a limited audience. There are plenty of people out there that prefer eating burgers, dogs, chicken fingers, etc. It's what you would call a comfort zone, and now that's slowly being deteriorated.

Even if it was really about healthy eating, the Farmer's Market / Sunshine Season Food Fair used to be one of the healthiest places to eat in all of WDW. It had a great selection of salads, soups, sandwiches, BBQ, pasta, and much much more. Not only that, but just about everything on the menu looked good, and it was tough to finally choose something to eat. Do you go with the house salad, or BBQ chicken, or a pasta dish? Descisions, decisions...

Now, Sunshine Season is a friggin disaster. :hurl: There's not one standard version of anything on the menu. No vegetable or chicken noodle soup on the soup menu. :hurl: No chef's or caesar salad on the salad menu (the only salad that looks somewhat acceptable to me has a questionable dressing). :hurl: No club sandwich / turkey sandwich on the sammich menu. :hurl: Not to mention that all of the pasta is gone as well.

I know Disney is trying to improve their food options, but they're taking the wrong approach. What they should do instead is upgrade the quality of the food and its presentation. Universal has decent food, and it's not this fancy gourmet crap WDW is trying to shove down our throat. I can still get a decent burger or sandwich there, and top it with their excellent topping bars.

I sure hope Disney gets their act together soon. :hammer: Ironically, they'll probably close their restaurants even sooner because business will be down.

I could not agree more. Some people may like the exotic and off kilter items that Sunshine Seasons has now, but not having plain food as another option there just doesn't make sense to me. I'm not going to complain because there are other places that I like in Epcot, but I just hate that I won't be eating in The Land anymore. Like you, there is not a single thing on the current menu that I would eat. Maybe they will expand their menu in the future.

 

[ZHoyt]

For those who hate it, eat at the multitudes of more traditional restaraunts available. Or better yet, how about you try something outside your comfort zone? It really isn't as outrageous as you think to try new and strange things. Disney deserves applause for offering new options and not forever staying in the traditional theme park food mode.

 

[dxwwf3]

It really isn't as outrageous as you think to try new and strange things.

It is when you have to pay Disney theme park prices for the food :lol:

Seriously, I don't think anyone here is complaining about Disney broadening their menus. That's what I'm saying here. It's great to offer more than burgers and fries at the parks. But in addition to Rotisserie Beef Flatbread with Wild Greens and Tabbouleh, they can also offer plain grilled chicken breast with a baked potato and corn. Not everything has to be exotic to be good. I don't think that is outrageous.

 

[lawyergirl77]

It is when you have to pay Disney theme park prices for the food :lol:

Seriously, I don't think anyone here is complaining about Disney broadening their menus. That's what I'm saying here. It's great to offer more than burgers and fries at the parks. But in addition to Rotisserie Beef Flatbread with Wild Greens and Tabbouleh, they can also offer plain grilled chicken breast with a baked potato and corn. Not everything has to be exotic to be good. I don't think that is outrageous.

Couldn't disagree with you more! But then again, I find the "Rotisserie Beef Flatbread etc." meal you described to be pretty basic food. It just sounds exotic. It's really just a beef sandwich with a salad and a starch...

However, I would find the plan chicken breast to be kind of :hurl: (to quote digitaldisney). Why bother eating the same plan stuff that I make at home as a last resort when I'm tired. Besides, there's not nearly enough in the way of veggies in there!

Labelling something as "fancy gourmet crap" (tm digitaldisney) is dismissing it far too quickly. I applaud WDW's new menus - I think they're really interesting and have led me to try things that I would normally not have tried at home. Part of the fun for me when I go to WDW is to try all of the cool new food that they have. Some of it is less good (okay, :hurl: ), and some of it is awesome!

That being said, if they ever get rid of the chicken fingers over at the Electric Umbrella, I will personally lead the carnage that will ensue!!!!

 

[dxwwf3]

Part of the fun for me when I go to WDW is to try all of the cool new food that they have. Some of it is less good (okay, :hurl: ), and some of it is awesome!

There are too many good places to eat at WDW for me to take a chance. That's where we are completely different. There's nothing wrong with caring alot about the resturants because Disney certainly is one of the best places to do what you do. But I go to the parks for the attractions and the atmosphere. Food is way down on my list

Why bother eating the same plan stuff that I make at home as a last resort when I'm tired.

Well there are some people that can only eat "the same pain stuff" because of their age or stomachs. There are very few places that my grandparents can eat at WDW. And the Farmer's Market/Sunshine Season's Food Fair was one of those places. It provided more than the burger and fries stuff and provided "real food" that could appeal to a large audience. The new menu choices would be great if they still had a few comfort food items.