The Food At Disney Is Awful

Chef Mickey

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yet another person comes back complaining about "all hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken fingers" at ALL Disney parks. Guy at work took his wife and 2 kids (7 and 5) and comes back telling me I am so wrong about Disney despite recommending several things before he left (Out of being begged for tips).

And guess what? I have to hear it because I'm the resident "Disney Expert" at work. As much as I try to convey I don't care, people always have to tell me their Disney problems.

Inevitably, I ask them the 3 following questions to which I always get the same type of response from the new minted Disney expert, because they've been once.

Did you notice any of the restaurants in EPCOT?
"Oh, you mean in the countries? Those are impossible to get into and don't have anything for kids"

What about all the sit down options at MK AND non fried alternatives at Quick Service (Cosmic Rays for example)?
"All they have at MK is popcorn, hot dogs, and snack type food."

What about character dining or the many hotels with restaurants?
"Hotels are too hard to get to and my kids can't sit through a long meal."

From this guy's perspective, the moral of the story was since I don't have kids, so don't understand that kids can't be subjected to sit down meals. Oh, I'm sorry you didn't raise your kids properly to the point they can't behave during a sit down meal.

The unbelievable part was despite my comments back to him on the subject I had NO interest in discussing, he still thinks Disney food "sucks" and they "have no options for families."

Seriously, am wrong in thinking there being plenty of dining options for kids and families? I feel like Disney does a lot wrong, but they do the food thing pretty well.
 
Disneydreamer23

Disneydreamer23

Well-Known Member
My dd was 18 months at the time we went last year and she is a FIRECRACKER , she never sits still. We stayed for 15 days which is 15 sit down dinners, besides the character dining that she sat the whole time every time we ate maybe an occasional time we had to walk her around the restaurant before the food came. If people don't know hoe to do Disney dining they probably wont have the best time. I would tell them next time to make sure they make a reservation some where.
 
sxeensweet

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
:cautious: This kind of thing always totally annoys me! Why come back complaining when I gave you suggestions you ignored due to me not having kids, etc. I still know a lot about the kid offerings and food offerings in the parks because I go so much!! People like that are who gives going to Disney a bad name to those looking to maybe try it. :banghead:o_O:facepalm:
 
jgj123

jgj123

Well-Known Member
Well, he must not be trying.

I've visited Disney with my niece and nephew (I have no kids), their parents and my parents (7 of us) 6 times in the last 9 years starting when my nephew was 1 and my niece was 3 and we've never had problems with dining options or the kids misbehaving at sit down meals. It's not all hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken tenders/nuggets (although sometimes that's what we prefer at times from QS). We're going back again this year and the niece and nephew are now 10 and 13 and had a hand in selecting the sit down meals for our ADRs so they could eat some of their non-hamburger/non-hot dog/non-chicken nugget favorites. They also know which QS locations they want to visit for something else also.
 
Chef Mickey

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
sxeensweet said:
:cautious: This kind of thing always totally annoys me! Why come back complaining when I gave you suggestions you ignored due to me not having kids, etc. I still know a lot about the kid offerings and food offerings in the parks because I go so much!! People like that are who gives going to Disney a bad name to those looking to maybe try it. :banghead:o_O:facepalm:
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Yep, ignored my suggestions and despite telling him reservations are IMPERATIVE, he ignored them because he "had kids." His whole thing is, you can't plan with kids.

I think, kids do better when things are planned because they need structure. Sure, there could be something unexpected that makes the plan not work, but kids will do well when they are "prepped."

My parents used to tell us, "OK, we are going to do this and that, then go eat. How do you behave when we are in restaurants?" Expectations were clear and consequences for stepping out of line were clear BEFORE going. You can reason with a 7 year old.
 
Chef Mickey

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
jgj123 said:
Well, he must not be trying.

I've visited Disney with my niece and nephew (I have no kids), their parents and my parents (7 of us) 6 times in the last 9 years starting when my nephew was 1 and my niece was 3 and we've never had problems with dining options or the kids misbehaving at sit down meals. It's not all hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken tenders/nuggets (although sometimes that's what we prefer at times from QS). We're going back again this year and the niece and nephew are now 10 and 13 and had a hand in selecting the sit down meals so they could eat some of their non-hamburger/non-hot dog/non-chicken nugget favorites. They also know which QS locations they want to visit for something else also.
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Agree. I told him to get a cup of chicken soup for the kids at Cosmic Rays if he wants something not fried. They have salads, wraps, veggie burgers, chicken, and all kind of NON fried options. No planning = poor results at Disney.
 
sxeensweet

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
Chef Mickey said:
Yep, ignored my suggestions and despite telling him reservations are IMPERATIVE, he ignored them because he "had kids." His whole thing is, you can't plan with kids.

I think, kids do better when things are planned because they need structure. Sure, there could be something unexpected that makes the plan not work, but kids will do well when they are "prepped."

My parents used to tell us, "OK, we are going to do this and that, then go eat. How do you behave when we are in restaurants?" Expectations were clear and consequences for stepping out of line were clear BEFORE going. You can reason with a 7 year old.
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Agree completely! My brother has three young kids and they always make reservations and the kids enjoy it! And know plenty others with children who do the same but still some just don't get it!!! Then do nothing but bad mouth Disney parks! :)
 
cat hem

cat hem

Active Member
I'm going with my cousin and her hubby. Both first timers. I sat her done and told her all about ADR and what to do (but she had it easy since I'm totally guiding her along) but at one point she did say "is this really necessary?can't we just flyby the seat of our pants?" absolutely not! plan away!
 
sxeensweet

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
cat hem said:
I think many "first timers" have no idea of the size of WDW. And if they don't do their homework about restaurants or take advice then don't complain! All the crazy guide books out there all point out the best options for families, kids, teens etc. read up!
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Agree! Any new place I visit I ALWAYS get some sort of guide book and I don't even have children! If I did have kids I even more so would get some type of book and do some research before going to any new place! I even tell others to get one and they ignore that too! :mad:
 
habuma

habuma

Well-Known Member
Have taken kids to WDW since they were 4 and 2 (now 10 and 8) and have never had a real problem with food. The youngest is definitely more picky, but even she is able to find something at every place we go. Planning for our next trip, the youngest is demanding that we eat at Chef Mickeys while the oldest is really wanting to eat at Liberty Tree Tavern. Both are kinda wanting to go back to 50's Prime Time (where picky eating can get you in trouble).

And we *rarely* eat popcorn, hot dogs, and snack-like food at WDW.

The biggest problem we've ever had was not with our kids, but with another adult that was traveling with us who was much more trouble at meals.

I think that there are some people who are determined to find something wrong, even when there's plenty of right to be found. If you pointed them in the right direction and they chose to go elsewhere, then that's their problem. As I've said before, if that attitude has them hating it that much, then all the better if they never go back. I'd rather be in a busy park full of people having a great time, than be there on a slow day where everybody else is looking for ways to be miserable.
 
Chef Mickey

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Allym146 said:
I honestly think people like that don't want to like Disney, and if they don't want to, there's nothing that can change that. I'm sorry you're stuck with everyone's Disney despair. That would irritate me so much, especially if you're giving tips when they ask and then they don't implement them!
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That's exactly right. I'm sure many of you deal with the same thing.

The resident "Disney guy/girl" has to hear about all the failures on the trip. Most of the time, it's due to lack of planning or ignorance. I can't tell you how many people "know everything about Disney" despite only being once and others who have never been "know what to expect."

No, you don't. Disney is pretty unique to the theme park experience. I get a kick out of people being experts with one visit and proclaiming they "won't go back" because they've "seen it all and are done with it."
 
Chef Mickey

Chef Mickey

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disneyhead'71 said:
If one refuses to go to actual restaurants and is exclusively QS and Snacks, then QS and snacks are what you get. I wonder what he was looking for that wasn't offered?
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Exactly. The funny part is, Disney's offering are so broad, even the quick service places have other options but he STILL went to the Lunching Pad nearly every time he was at MK.
 

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