Just spent 6 days at WDW and overall was absolutely shocked and disgusted by the food prices. Completely outrageous. No matter how good a meal may have been, it was never justified by the price. No meal was worth what I had to pay. Even some of the waiters would give me advice on what to order and what not to order to save money. Let's just say there were many snarky comments from the staff that indicated their acknowledgement of the insane food prices. But there were two dining experiences that really caught my attention in a bad way.
1. California Grill. I have been to WDW about 14X in the past 16 years and dined at CG about 8-10 times. It was always a special place to eat and among the best meals you could find anywhere on site. Service, too, was impeccable. I haven't dined at CG since they went to a price fix menu a few years ago and I was especially disappointed. Our server was very friendly and took care of us very well, but now we're picking an app, entree and dessert. No creativity. No mix and match. And $89 per head. $89 bucks a head. I typically don't eat dessert (only coffee) but this time I paid for it, so I had to order it. I did find a few items to select, but they probably wouldn't have been my first choice had there been a full menu. Waiter told me that the menu will change seasonally, and that's great, but I told him: I don't care what you tell me -- the quality is NOT the same. My steak arrived room temperature. I felt like I was dining at a wedding, and not a high end restaurant. There's all sorts of reasons I could imagine for this change (chief among them, more predictable, efficient cash flow with less stress on the kitchen, and faster turnover), but it's not worth it anymore. Don't see myself going through that again. I am paying top dollar and have a limited selection. No thanks.
2. O'Hana. It's been several years (pre-Covid) since I've dined at everyone's favorite all-you-can-eat Hawaiian bbq. I used to love the mai tais and the hot meats on skewers from the grill pit. It's ALL GONE. The mai tais used to come in a big round tiki glass with a pineapple wedge, and now it comes in a water glass with a small lime slice. Plus, they're not even good anymore. The BBQ is now behind glass like an open kitchen, cooks in white coats and the food is served in bowls and skillets. Totally stinks. Meat isn't nearly as hot, variety is not there (way too much emphasis on wings) --they used to have pork, chicken/turkey, beef, shrimp, now it was chicken, beef, a bowl of shrimp and wings. I really feel for all the Disney waitresses (they put up with a LOT), but our server was just going through the motions, and when I said to her, "Did you guys stop doing the skewer thing?" she just snapped back, "Yes, I will get you some more wings." Totally homogenized. Character and vibe gone. I don't need to look at cooks with meat thermometers in their sleeve pocket behind glass. I loved the Hawaiian dudes cooking skewers over an open flame. Another Disney classic totally ruined and off my list.
1. California Grill. I have been to WDW about 14X in the past 16 years and dined at CG about 8-10 times. It was always a special place to eat and among the best meals you could find anywhere on site. Service, too, was impeccable. I haven't dined at CG since they went to a price fix menu a few years ago and I was especially disappointed. Our server was very friendly and took care of us very well, but now we're picking an app, entree and dessert. No creativity. No mix and match. And $89 per head. $89 bucks a head. I typically don't eat dessert (only coffee) but this time I paid for it, so I had to order it. I did find a few items to select, but they probably wouldn't have been my first choice had there been a full menu. Waiter told me that the menu will change seasonally, and that's great, but I told him: I don't care what you tell me -- the quality is NOT the same. My steak arrived room temperature. I felt like I was dining at a wedding, and not a high end restaurant. There's all sorts of reasons I could imagine for this change (chief among them, more predictable, efficient cash flow with less stress on the kitchen, and faster turnover), but it's not worth it anymore. Don't see myself going through that again. I am paying top dollar and have a limited selection. No thanks.
2. O'Hana. It's been several years (pre-Covid) since I've dined at everyone's favorite all-you-can-eat Hawaiian bbq. I used to love the mai tais and the hot meats on skewers from the grill pit. It's ALL GONE. The mai tais used to come in a big round tiki glass with a pineapple wedge, and now it comes in a water glass with a small lime slice. Plus, they're not even good anymore. The BBQ is now behind glass like an open kitchen, cooks in white coats and the food is served in bowls and skillets. Totally stinks. Meat isn't nearly as hot, variety is not there (way too much emphasis on wings) --they used to have pork, chicken/turkey, beef, shrimp, now it was chicken, beef, a bowl of shrimp and wings. I really feel for all the Disney waitresses (they put up with a LOT), but our server was just going through the motions, and when I said to her, "Did you guys stop doing the skewer thing?" she just snapped back, "Yes, I will get you some more wings." Totally homogenized. Character and vibe gone. I don't need to look at cooks with meat thermometers in their sleeve pocket behind glass. I loved the Hawaiian dudes cooking skewers over an open flame. Another Disney classic totally ruined and off my list.
