Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[Jrb1979]

BG used to be much nicer than six flags. Almost felt like Epcot with coasters.

I think its still nice. It may not have the theming it used to but it's still a very good park. Same with SeaWorld.

 

[Saskdw]

We actually have never had any problem with the food quality at WDW. I guess we are easy to please!

Yes the odd meal that wasn't great, but as a whole pretty decent for most of the TS places.

 

[Lilofan]

The fact you have to bring a yeti and microwave to eat food and leftovers in your room is by far the most ridiculous thing Disney has done. LITTERAL pennies a month they are saving.

Traveling up and down I-95 whether it is budget or mid grade motels/hotels most likely all rooms have a microwave which comes in very handy. One can bring plates of the hot / cold breakfast buffet in the lobby and reheat in the room etc . In Disney resorts one can request a fridge but not a microwave I believe.

 

[Disstevefan1]

We actually have never had any problem with the food quality at WDW. I guess we are easy to please!

Yes the odd meal that wasn't great, but as a whole pretty decent for most of the TS places.

Its edible but overpriced for what it is.

I guess that was always the case.

I will say, we had an easier time finding something to eat at in WDW compared to SeaWorld for example.

Its all garbage, but the prices for the garbage at SeaWorld was too high and we end up taking an entire lap around SeaWorld trying to decide.

 

[Grimley1968]

They did a near-complete menu revamp back in the mid-2010's and we haven't returned since. My opinion is that it was a direct result of DDP, when restaurants were basically forced to cheapen their menus in order to squeak out a few dollars of profit.

"Declining by degrees" - Kevin Yee

That tracks - the homogenization of restaurant menus and quality due to demands of DDP. We've only had one meal at CM, and it was post DDP, so we never got to experience it when it was better. But many other WDW restaurants we tried pre and post DDP all decreased in menu options and quality over those years.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

We actually have never had any problem with the food quality at WDW. I guess we are easy to please!

Yes the odd meal that wasn't great, but as a whole pretty decent for most of the TS places.

Same, we’ve been generally happy with the food quality at Disney, it’s not worth the high prices they charge but it’s usually tasty at least.

 

[Grimley1968]

Traveling up and down I-95 whether it is budget or mid grade motels/hotels most likely all rooms have a microwave which comes in very handy. One can bring plates of the hot / cold breakfast buffet in the lobby and reheat in the room etc . In Disney resorts one can request a fridge but not a microwave I believe.

We requested, and got, microwaves in Wilderness Lodge and Polynesian rooms in the early and mid 2000's when our kids required it for travel. Of course those rooms had mini fridges already. I don't know if that's possible anymore.

 

[LSLS]

Traveling up and down I-95 whether it is budget or mid grade motels/hotels most likely all rooms have a microwave which comes in very handy. One can bring plates of the hot / cold breakfast buffet in the lobby and reheat in the room etc . In Disney resorts one can request a fridge but not a microwave I believe.

Which is beyond ridiculous.

 

[Saskdw]

Its edible but overpriced for what it is.

I guess that was always the case.

I will say, we had an easier time finding something to eat at in WDW compared to SeaWorld for example.

Its all garbage, but the prices for the garbage at SeaWorld was too high and we end up taking an entire lap around SeaWorld trying to decide.

Yes the price is ridiculous. But taking price out of the equation the food has been acceptable for us.

 

[DisneyHead123]

We actually have never had any problem with the food quality at WDW. I guess we are easy to please!

Yes the odd meal that wasn't great, but as a whole pretty decent for most of the TS places.

I generally agree… I see hyperbolic comments at times about food being “inedible”, which is just silly. People are truly starving in the world, under or over seasoned food is not inedible, it’s a shade off from what the customer wanted.

I do think the variety has been decreased a fair bit. Especially at character buffets, which I guess makes sense as they have to buy bigger volumes for those. The last couple of times I’ve gotten really excited for the buffets because I was going to throw calorie counts out the window and eat whatever I wanted, but then the choices seemed a bit bland (even for me, who considers Panera the height of culinarily adventurousness). I know Wegmans has largely done away with hot bars as I guess they just aren’t cost effective now - wonder if Disney should consider different options. I hate to say prix fixe, because I think they really over charge for those (at least at a buffet if you are bound and determined to get your money’s worth you can still do that,) but I wonder if saying any plated option on the menu can be chosen for one entry price would make more sense.

 

[Angel Ariel]

yeah but their reason for bringing food into the parks is to save $.

Or meet dietary needs. While Disney is good at accommodating allergies and medical conditions for food, there is always a risk of cross contamination and there are families that choose not to take that risk.

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

I don't think the food at WDW is bad at all. I just have a hard time paying $40 for a baked chicken breast with rice pilaf. We have pretty much sworn off TS. We stick to quick service and festival booths.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Or meet dietary needs. While Disney is good at accommodating allergies and medical conditions for food, there is always a risk of cross contamination and there are families that choose not to take that risk.

This is 100% valid but probably the minority, now that bottled drinks are $5+ we never walk into the parks without a soda or bottled water in our bags, we save $20 a day simply by taking one bottle each in the morning and one bottle each after our afternoon break.

Back when it was $3 we’d just buy it in the parks but at the current prices it doesn’t make sense not to lug in our own drinks.

 

[DisneyHead123]

This is 100% valid but probably the minority,

I would guess it's on the rise, as rates of food allergies are only increasing. As have sensory based eating issues and issues like ARFID. Even for typically developing children, I think you see more of this at subclinical level. I don't remember parents talking about their toddler only eating one brand of snack cracker or whatever when I was growing up in the 80s, now that seems to fall under "Oh, you know how kids are!"

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

yeah but their reason for bringing food into the parks is to save $.

Some people bring food in order to meet their dietary needs/restrictions: food allergy, other medical needs, vegan, Kosher/Hallal.

 

[Saskdw]

This is 100% valid but probably the minority, now that bottled drinks are $5+ we never walk into the parks without a soda or bottled water in our bags, we save $20 a day simply by taking one bottle each in the morning and one bottle each after our afternoon break.

Back when it was $3 we’d just buy it in the parks but at the current prices it doesn’t make sense not to lug in our own drinks.

We always have a grocery order that includes 2 or 3 cases of water so we do the same thing.
We avoid paying $5 for water as much as possible when we have water in our room that is $1 or less.

 

[Grimley1968]

I drink cases of smaller, flavored water bottles at home that we buy from Kroger. If I ever step back in a Disney park I may have to bring down a bunch of Kroger waters and put them in our bag. Let's see them confiscate flavored water from a store multiple states away from WDW.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I generally agree… I see hyperbolic comments at times about food being “inedible”, which is just silly. People are truly starving in the world, under or over seasoned food is not inedible, it’s a shade off from what the customer wanted.

I disagree. Last time we ate at - of all places- CRT- the food was partly inedible. I recall the meat was okay, but the potato thing and the carrots that came with it were inedible. Like, we tried to chew the carrots and they were extremely rubbery.

Last time I dined at Rose and Crown, I ordered a side of sugar snap peas. They were both extremely mushy and extremely tough to chew at the same time. Very starchy. I chewed and chewed, but the tough part was so tough, I eventually had to spit it out.

Other times I have ordered side veggies that were also inedible. Like asparagus that was literally caked with a salt and pepper crust sitting in a pool of grease. The menu described it as 'lightly salted.' Even after removing as much salt as possible the produce that remained was super salty and gross.

I can recall some other doozies too. I mentioned Kouzzina. We found a hard plastic chunk in our food. At least I think it was plastic. That was my guess, but the person who found it in their food was convinced it was a fingernail. And that was just one of the problems we had with that particular meal.

I can think of some other really bad ones too, but I don't want to further gross everyone out. Mind, we've also had some amazing meals.

 

[Ayla]

I drink cases of smaller, flavored water bottles at home that we buy from Kroger. If I ever step back in a Disney park I may have to bring down a bunch of Kroger waters and put them in our bag. Let's see them confiscate flavored water from a store multiple states away from WDW.

Why not just use a refillable water mug? There are literally hundreds of possible options.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I disagree. Last time we ate at - of all places- CRT- the food was partly inedible. I recall the meat was okay, but the potato thing and the carrots that came with it were inedible. Like, we tried to chew the carrots and they were extremely rubbery.

Last time I dined at Rose and Crown, I ordered a side of sugar snap peas. They were both extremely mushy and extremely tough to chew at the same time. Very starchy. I chewed and chewed, but the tough part was so tough, I eventually had to spit it out.

Other times I have ordered side veggies that were also inedible. Like asparagus that was literally caked with a salt and pepper crust sitting in a pool of grease. The menu described it as 'lightly salted.' Even after removing as much salt as possible the produce that remained was super salty and gross.

I can recall some other doozies too. I mentioned Kouzzina. We found a hard plastic chunk in our food. At least I think it was plastic. That was my guess, but the person who found it in their food was convinced it was a fingernail. And that was just one of the problems we had with that particular meal.

I can think of some other really bad ones too, but I don't want to further gross everyone out. Mind, we've also had some amazing meals.

If it's an issue of possible contamination that might make the food unsafe to eat, ok, that could fall under inedible.

I guess the same for food that you literally couldn't chew into a bolus form - but I am a little skeptical that this is happening as often as is reported. It's not just Disney - suddenly I see plenty of Yelp reviews referencing "inedible" food. Maybe I've been extremely lucky but I don't think I have ever, in all my years on the planet, been served food that was actually inedible. Including plenty of cafeteria and mall food from my days working in a food court as a teen. Certainly plenty of takeout. I just feel like "inedible" now means "I didn't care for it".