FutureCEO
Well-Known Member
At least they’re trying with the drumstick! It’s in line with the theme. I’ve never been there so wasn’t aware. I’m not a huge smokehouse/bbq fan.
My issue is the food waste.
Especially at buffets
At least they’re trying with the drumstick! It’s in line with the theme. I’ve never been there so wasn’t aware. I’m not a huge smokehouse/bbq fan.
My issue is the food waste.
In a nutshell. This...
Chef Mickey's
View Gallery
Magic Kingdom Resort Area
Disney's Contemporary Resort
Buffet/Family Style, Character Dining
$$$ ($35 to $59.99 per adult)
Bolded is the real issue.
Sixty dollars for a buffet. "Kids" aka a 3yo is $30 for a buffet. A three year old eats one Waffle. $30. Hard to walk out of a place like that with even an ounce of dignity left.
I actually think Food and Bev at Disney is a pretty decent quality. Especially for the numbers they turn over, and the fact it's a theme park resort. The prices though, they are exorbitant. I can't remember the last time I got the check at a Disney F&B location and didn't feel ripped off.
You want to see waste? Go to a WDW buffet at closing time. The entire buffet will be 100% full and stocked and the entire thing goes into the trash. I'm talking 50-100 pieces of chicken, an entire uncut prime rib, a full serving container or potatoes or pasta. Directly from the oven into the garbage.
Hey, it works for Vegas and cruise ships, so why not right?I would point out that these places still see customers paying more and filling the tables. Nothing against a good chat session and venting but really nothing is gonna change as long as the masses are willing to shovel mediocre food down their gullets and pay huge $$ for it.
@aladdin2007. The bean counters ruined Kona recently with its awful new menu so thats another one we dont go to anymore. We have found that the ones with outside management like Tutto Italia and Marrakesh are much better service and food and portions and are more worthy of a higher price.
Brown Derby is another example, while still being really nice there with good food (one of my favs still), the prices are ridiculous for what you get, and the service seems to have a slow non caring attitude as of late. All of this is just my own opinion of course from being there often and noticing first hand. Regarding service it all depends on who you get, many are super fantastic, others just don't want to be there. That can be anywhere really not just dining, (emporium looking at you, yikes some mean ones work in there).
@aladdin2007
Bingo--the 3rd party restaurants are run much better in our experience, plus the menus are typically larger. We have crossed Citricos, Narcoossee's, Artist Point and Yachtsman Steakhouse off our list over the years. Just not good enough for the price! These signature restaurants are an excuse to charge more for a perceived value-works in other places, but most of the time the restaurant fails to deliver. Service, food, food temperature you name it. My DF and I had a steak from Yachtmans-K.C. strip, no taste, unseasoned, service was awkward. Citricos menu is boring me lately and Artist Point has nose dived again. These places all had the same problem-serving lukewarm food! Unacceptable for the price and experience you are paying for.
Now California Grill & Brown Derby have been absolutely fabulous the past few trips-Cali since the rennovations since before it had some serious issues.The Boathouse is also a favorite new spot. I have abandoned many of the signature restaurants for newer spots at Disney Springs. Splitsville & Homecomin' are a great value and both have attentive servers and managers. Trattoria Al Forno was outstanding last fall with the big family trip.
Even our last trip we grabbed lunch at Casey's-what a disaster that place is. Hot dogs were barely warm. French fries were okay, but you can't serve warm food. You only serve hot dogs-keep up with production! They really need to have a manager expediting the orders-the employees were just yelling back and forth at each other over the food.
Totally agree about Kona too-turned into a food factory. We stay at the Polynesian for our winter trip, which was two weeks ago and ate at KC 5 times during the trip. DF isn't big on sweets for breakfast so he has eggs or omelets. The ham and cheese omelet was different daily. The amount of ham was a joke to the point of just serve a cheese omelet for Pete's sake. The potatoes, which he doesn't care for in general were cooked sometimes, almost barely cooked other times or bland. I will say DM and I had macadamia nut pancakes and Tonga toast the other days and they were both great. Her toast was greasy one day, which was from the oil not being hot enough from being busy. One day we dined at the Grand Floridian Cafe and it was fantastic and another day we went to IHOP.
For future trips we will be reverting back to regular dining restaurants and visiting Disney Springs more frequently to add variety.
and that's just my opinion
THIS. I assumed they were placing massive orders all at once with particular distributors, then dispersing the ingredients to the restaurants, so it starts to feel like everyone is offering similar things at the same time. Wish it didn't have to be that way. Ever notice how Disney is always introducing new dishes, snacks, treats, etc? Sometimes those food items seem to hit a home run with lots of people, whether we are talking gourmet or street/carnival fare. They are maybe only offered in a few locations, but they are consistently popular AT those locations. SO! Those items would stick around, be safe from elimination, right? On their way to being Disney food traditions, even. And then they disappear. Only thing I can think of is the cost per ratio of ordering smaller amounts of all different ingredients to make highly specific dishes depending on where you're eating.First - I realize it is WDW - you are open 365 days a year, and you are doing hundreds, if not over a thousand covers a night in each restaurant. You also have a large number of patrons who base there decision to dine at a location on a menu they looked at over three months ago (and this is WDWs fault too) so you cannot go changing the menu depending on what you can fresh and local that week (unless you are Artist Point and we are talking about Copper River Salmon). That forces you to buy a lot of your stuff from a provider such as Sysco.
Second - I realize it is WDW and there is going to be a mark up because you have a captive audience.
However, the food had gone well below Sysco levels. It is for the most part unadventurous, uninspired, and lacking in any real identity. Same breast of chicken, same side of green beans, same side of three or four starches that are on the rotation. Just add a different sauce (from a bag) to make it "unique" to a given restaurant. Then charge DOUBLE what the same quality food would get you in the real world. Not a 10 to 20% theme park mark up, but damn near double the pricing.
There are some places in WDW that do have a decent product, and where I have been pleasantly surprised. But most of the times I leave feeling like I ate at the local bar down the street and was robbed in the process.
-dave
THIS. I assumed they were placing massive orders all at once with particular distributors, then dispersing the ingredients to the restaurants, so it starts to feel like everyone is offering similar things at the same time. Wish it didn't have to be that way. Ever notice how Disney is always introducing new dishes, snacks, treats, etc? Sometimes those food items seem to hit a home run with lots of people, whether we are talking gourmet or street/carnival fare. They are maybe only offered in a few locations, but they are consistently popular AT those locations. SO! Those items would stick around, be safe from elimination, right? On their way to being Disney food traditions, even. And then they disappear. Only thing I can think of is the cost per ratio of ordering smaller amounts of all different ingredients to make highly specific dishes depending on where you're eating.
Disney is an interesting place when it comes to wining and dining. By and large, I've been moderately happy with the balance between price and quality, but...
Sanaa for instance. I found the quality to be outstanding and the pricing fairly commensurate. Boma on the other hand, will never see my business again. It's pricey enough for an adult but outrageous for children. And while one could argue an adult could eat a lot of expensive stuff - there isn't that much of it. Sure, the meats are obviously it, but everything else? Meh. And what kid will eat their money's worth? Not a one. Then there's the drinks and overall experience. It takes forever to get seated, forever to get your drink ordered (and served), forever to make your way through the line for food... Yeah, I'm good on Boma.
Then there's the drinks; I'm talking cocktails and "novelty drinks" - not beer and wine, which are "known quantities." Sure, they're overpriced, but it is what it is - and you know what you're getting. All the slushies and mixed up stuff, especially in the parks though? I suppose one can't fault Disney (too much) as they stick to strict measures of alcohol (jiggers) in their recipes. A bartender giving you a "strong drink" because he likes you? Yeah, ain't happening (or at least, extreeeemely rare). Same exact deal as buying slushies in N'Orleans or Key West. It's watered down stuff for tourists - for a lot of money. Stick to the beer, wine or shots.
You want to see waste? Go to a WDW buffet at closing time. The entire buffet will be 100% full and stocked and the entire thing goes into the trash. I'm talking 50-100 pieces of chicken, an entire uncut prime rib, a full serving container or potatoes or pasta. Directly from the oven into the garbage.
180 days !!!! sorry what. I cannot even book per se that much in advance
V&A is pretty darn good... I've been to Per Se, TFL, 11 ect etc.... The view from Per Se may be the coolest... Per se is not that much worse than 11....Great restaurant! Can you imagine a restaurant at Disney 1/72 of what Per Se is? Ad Hoc should/could be possible.
By the way, Eleven Madison Park makes Per Se look like Cracker Barrel. A must try if you haven’t.
Clearly Disney isn't the place to expect buybacks and strong pours. Third-parties have more discretion when it comes to that sort of thing.
You can't screw up a cupcake
So all the reservations can be filled up long before you actually know when you are going.why can you book dining 180 days in advance anyway?
Health codes say it can't be donated. I understand this is how it has to be. It is just the ridiculous over preparation of food. It's not a problem exclusive to Disney.That’s all about Health Code and not much to keep and reheat when it’s already cooked to heck and back. I wouldn’t want them keeping food past it’s prime. Should be donated to a food bank and shocked that it’s not.
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