WORST recent experience?

[mom2morgan]

We do this from time to time, I know, but things seem to change pretty frequently. For those who've been within the past few months, are there any new WORSTS?
Ours, hands down, was Whispering Canyon (mainly because of the all-new "skillets only" dinner menu, but also because we didn't get to experience ANY of the fun shenanigans this place is supposed to be famous for). At this point, this is NOT one I would recommend or return to under any circumstances.

[Crow]

this yr i was there twice, June and Aug.
very disappointed w the pixxa at ITALY in Epcot compared to the previous yr. service was not good either
HOB and Wolfgang Puck at DD werent good
and the food court at POP crowded and not as clean at night.
there were good meals though at other places

[mydisneygirls]

Chef de France: Will not go back. This is surprising because it was our favorite place last year. Maybe it had something to do with our waiter. He took our drink order and I asked for a Diet Coke. Upon sipping it, I realized that it wasn’t diet. When I said to the waiter this isn’t diet, he said hold on and left the table. When he came back he said to me, “MY COMPUTER SCREEN SAYS IT’S DIET COKE, SO IT’S DIET COKE.” I said, well maybe the person pouring it made a mistake and could I have another one. His response was, it's diet so what else would you like. I should have said the check right there and then. When our meal came, both DD1 and I had the short ribs. I had asked for some extra gravy to put on the noodles and you would have thought I was asking for gold. He said, “well, I never heard of that so let me ask.” I should have asked for the whole pot because the noodles had no taste at all and the meat was so dry you could have choked on it. Neither of us ate it. We sat there for I’d say a half hour waiting for him to return. When he did, he noticed that we hadn’t eaten. I told him it just wasn’t good and showed him how dry the meat was. He took it away and offered dessert which was good.

I do have 2 though....Whispering Canyon. So sad how this has gone downhill. Maybe they will change it back to the way it used to be.

[TinkerbellT421]

I would have to say Whispering Canyon. While the skillet was edible, it wasn't great, I was just "eh" on it. And the waitress was just awful, miserable and couldn't be bothered with us. Unsociable, and left me feeling jealous of watching others have great fun with their waitstaff.

[mom2morgan]

Chef de France: Will not go back. This is surprising because it was our favorite place last year. Maybe it had something to do with our waiter. He took our drink order and I asked for a Diet Coke. Upon sipping it, I realized that it wasn’t diet. When I said to the waiter this isn’t diet, he said hold on and left the table. When he came back he said to me, “MY COMPUTER SCREEN SAYS IT’S DIET COKE, SO IT’S DIET COKE.”
LOL - well, you know, if you see it on a screen somewhere it must be true...

[EeyoresBestFriend]

It was the Brown Derby for us a couple of weeks ago.

Was really fabulous last year. Menu has changed ~ it was still good, just not 2 TS good, in our opinion. And the server was TERRIBLE!

Ah well, live and learn . . . .

All others were fantastic!:thumbsup:

[buzznwoodysmom]

We were there in July/Aug. and I am happy to say we were very pleased with all our meals.

I have to say that back in December I was very disappointed in Cape May Cafe. It wasn't bad, I just felt it was way too pricey. At the time I said it would probably be the last time we ate there. However, I have it booked for a party of 11 on Ash Wednesday in Feb. I guess it wasn't too bad after all. Sigh!

[mydisneygirls]

LOL - well, you know, if you see it on a screen somewhere it must be true...

Can you believe it!!!! I actually told the consierge at the hotel because I couldn't believe it happened and he couldn't believe it either. He felt so bad that he credited back mine and my daughter's meals (we were on the dining plan).

[Simba's Mom]

Lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. DH had had some fries there a few years ago that he LOVED (had some spice on them) and couldn't wait to have them again. Not only were the fries plain and tasted like they were hours old, his sandwich had kind of an "off" taste.

[Gator]

For me, it was Garden Grill. The food was very plain. The service was less-than-Disney. And the volume level was really loud - even for this rocker. I just really wanted to escape that place as soon as possible.

[Lindsey310]

We do this from time to time, I know, but things seem to change pretty frequently. For those who've been within the past few months, are there any new WORSTS?
Ours, hands down, was Whispering Canyon (mainly because of the all-new "skillets only" dinner menu, but also because we didn't get to experience ANY of the fun shenanigans this place is supposed to be famous for). At this point, this is NOT one I would recommend or return to under any circumstances.

Agreed. While we didn't have any bad dining experiences while we were there in aug/sept, we were there in march 2012 and ate at whispering canyon. It was disgusting, there was hair in my husbands food :ack::ack::sick:

[Crow]

yea Cape May i think is overpriced and not worth it. the square set up is confusing for people and food only ok

[Katzateer]

For me, it was Garden Grill. The food was very plain. The service was less-than-Disney. And the volume level was really loud - even for this rocker. I just really wanted to escape that place as soon as possible.

I think it is so amazing how some dining is soooo different. We have had great luck at Garden Grill and the only part of it loud for us is when you are at the entrance. Can't wait to go back in January since it is one of my daughters favorites.

Glad we have so many choices so if one doesn't work out there is great dining waiting at another Disney dining option.

[rafiki fan]

There have been many posts over the years of who has the best burgers on property but I have never heard who has the worst. Found it!! Cafe Rix at the Coronado. We had eaten there before and really enjoyed being able to sit and look out over the water. This time (Sept.) I got the burger and my wife got the cuban. Her sandwich was pre-made and the pork was overcooked and in small portions. My burger was a dry preformed tasteless piece of mystery meat that barely qualified to be called a burger. Our daughter threw away her burger after a couple of bites. I can't believe Disney would serve this bad of food at at place where they hold so many conventions.

[Janmac]

For us in April, it was probably San Angel Inn at Mexico in Epcot. This has always been a major favorite in our family for a lot of reasons: the volcano, the jaguar in the jungle, the boat ride (which sometimes younger kids in our group do while the older ones finish supper - really fun those times we were seated by the river), the food, the beverages.

The jaguar has been silent. Kids are getting too old for the boat ride. While the food on our last trip was ho-hum to bad it did improve this trip. The service was the straw. Rude and disappearing person. (Can't really call her a server - I think someone else even brought our food.)

So with sadness, we are quitting the Inn. We may try Hacienda de San Angel.

Jan

[epceddie]

T-Rex at Downtown Disney was horrible when we stopped there for an early dinner. The food was mediocre, but the atmosphere was frightening. I have never been in a restaurant that loud. The tables were right on top of each other and there were screaming kids everywhere. Surprisingly, our waiter couldn't have been nicer. We couldn't wait to get out of there, because of the noise level and all the chaos. We ended up at a SSR quiet pool with a bar. Spent most of the night there and had a great time.

[Checkers]

We just returned yesterday and our worst meal was at the Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club. My DD's inlaws were in town unexpectedly and wanted to go to dinner. We were able to get a table for 9 there on short notice. Well, the entire meal took us over 2 hrs. (and we didn't even have dessert) and the wait for our food was so long that I finally asked our server if there was a problem. The food was just ok and with 3 children in our group it was a long evening!

[Airblue1]

Pre Plated
Hotel Food
Will only go back by request from our DD and she's only 17 months. So they have a little more time to get it right!!!:mickey::mickey:

[1DisneyNut]

We were there end of July and we only ate at one table service restaurant inside WDW this time. We have been putting restaurants on the never again list for several years now. We are tired of overpriced, cheap made mediocre food and poor service or service with bad attitudes. This time, unfortunately it was San Angel Inn which has always been our favorite. They have changed the menu to this stupid family dining format geared towards increasing profits with the dining plan which we do not use. They used to have a good selection on the menu but not anymore. On top of that, when we finally settled and ordered, our food was less than mediocre. We will probably never eat there again. This is exactly why we go offsite to nice restaurants now.

On a side note, we went into T-Rex with intentions of trying it but after looking at the menu for a minute and not caring for it and having to yell at each other over all the noise, we practically ran out of that place.

[RedSoxFan]

Mama Melrose. We were there last November; and although, the food was delicious; the service was terrible. Our food sat under the 'heaters' for 10 minutes before it was delivered. And only because DH said something. Different waiters would go look at the food; but because it wasn't their order, they just left it there. Our waiter was terrible and just didn't seem to care.

DH wants to eat there again in November; so I will go as there aren't a lot of choices at DHS. I hope we get better service this time!!

[moe513]

Ohanas. It was awful. I felt like we were rushed in and rushed out. The food was thrown at us. I actually had a fork dropped on my head. They cm was rushing so much to clean tables that a fork flew off the tray and onto my head. YUCK. I know accidents happen but I felt if they werent rushing around to move the guests in and out it wouldnt have happened. It was way too much money for the rotten way we were treated.

[JerseyDad]

....Chefs de France...usually one of our "go to" favorites, was a large disappointment for us this past trip in August.

.....I ordered the half roasted chicken, rissole potatoes and Broccoli ...and the chicken was dry and overcooked. It left me longing for Boston Market chicken...that's how bad it was.

......my wife and oldest daughter got the grilled tenderloin of beef with black peppercorn sauce...and it was SO salty that they really didn't finish it. That's a dish that I've had there many prior times...and enjoyed greatly...but I had to agree that it was just about inedible.

....topping it off was a waiter that was pretty much invisible (inattentive) our whole meal...and when he was there he was stone-faced and rude.

....the desserts were..of course...decadent and wonderful ...but hardly made up for the let down surrounding the rest of the dinner.

....sometimes a place is SO busy that service staff are stretched to the limit. However, we had an early dinner reservation, the place was just about empty, and there was no reason that I could see for the terrible service.

...it's one of the more pricey restaurants ...and I guess that I expect more in the way of service (which is what we experienced all our prior times there)

[big blue and hairy]

I have to say, whatever the restaurant, McDonalds, San Angel Inn, California Grill, or Victoria and Alberts, if the food or drink is not right, send it back, and do not take no for an answer. You are paying, either they take it back, or don't pay, period.

:sulley:

[Mackflava99]

We had a bad experience at prime Time last year.
First we got a bad waiter, who could care less about being fun, then we had a table of teenagers ( their parents were in another section of the restaurant) throwing food and being loud. I ended up getting into a confrontation with one of them before they finally calmed down. The CMS did nothing to quiet them.

The food was so-so, combined with a bad waiter and the poorly mannered kids, it was a bad experience.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We just had one ... Liberty Tree Tavern last night. The server just didn't want to be there, we had a really long wait to be greeted at the table, and then another really long wait for drinks. She wasn't friendly at all and actually brought the wrong food refills twice, and sighed at us when we re-ordered food (which we had already asked for).

I think the kicker is when she asked how much tip we'd be leaving. Sigh ... we'd had excellent service the night before at Garden Grill, so it realy stood out.

[natstroop]

I think the kicker is when she asked how much tip we'd be leaving.

Wow! I can't believe the nerve of this server. I would have told her, "Not a single dime!" I'd say management definately needs to hear about that one.

[Mickey'sIrishPAl]

1900 Park Fare for breakfast. Horrible service. Standard breakfast offerings. Characters were rushed and we even missed Alice and Mary Poppins after repeatedly telling our waitress about wanting to see her. No refills. Waited for our bill for 20 minutes.

[Granny Jill A]

Anyone who has worked in food service will tell you that it's a stressful, thankless job with low pay and "interesting" customers.

That said, I wonder if the Dining Plan has exacerbated the usual food service problems one can encounter.

I remember meals pre-Dining Plan, and could honestly say we did not have nearly as many "issues" with food and/or service that we do now.

[captain j]

50's Prime Time. The server had no sense of humor nor did she play the part of my "aunt Sally". The food arrived, after what felt like an hour, cold. All that and it cost us almost $100. Never again.

[DonaldDuckUSA]

DBF and I LOVE Prime Time. We never make rerservations, but we're perfectly happy sitting at the bar.

We show up around 4:00 for a late lunch/early dinner and the hostess stops us at the door saying that the resturant is closed. I said "Closed as in you have no reservations open or the doors are shut?" She said "Probably closed for the day. You don't want to know."

She went on to tell us that Hollywood and the Vine is also closed and that all other TS resturants we're trying to accomodate all of their reservations as well as their own reservations. There was close to no chance getting in. DBF and I heard rumors that it was a pluming issue.

I tried to keep it upbeat and optimistic but we were starving and probably in the worst park for CS options.

I forgot the name of the place where we ended up, but it was gross. I ordered a taco salad which came with wilting lettuce, very little corn and black beans, stale tortilla crisps and disgusting dressing. DBF's burger was greasy and undercooked. The fries were cold. DBF said we were better off eating at a McDonalds. I can't believe we paid $20+ for our awful meal.

We ended up going back to our room early and laying in bed with tummy aches.

It was the biggest let down in Disney that we've ever had and easily the worst meal.

[NewmanFamily6]

WCC in October. Bad service without refills on drinks. Food just ok. Who had the idea of jalapeno cheesecake?:sick:

[DisneyDawgette]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but we had a not so nice experience at Hollywood & Vine in October. This always used to be my FAVORITE meal in WDW- don't ask me why... I'm honestly not sure... but when they had zucchini bread on the dessert line, I would beg to go back just to eat it.

The food was... okay. Quality has definitely gone down since I have been last. The sweet corn spoon bread was still great, though!

My main qualm was with the service. She was lacking any sort of personality, she had a terrible attitude, and I honestly couldn't tell you what she looked like. That's a reflection of how many times we actually saw her during the meal.

Sad day. Another example of a former favorite gone rogue. :(

[mudpuppysmom]

On Friday, 11/2 we used the Disney Experience app and I booked Liberty Tree Tavern for 2:20 pm and it was 12:50. We checked in at 2:12 and waited and waited and waited.....the place was nuts when we walked in but my husband stood inside to hear our name. We continued to wait and wait (when we could all sit down I side we did so, at approx 2:30). I waited until 2:40 and asked how much longer the wait would be and the woman said very curtly, "we called your name like four times a half hour ago". When I pointed out we were sitting inside the ENTIRE time she just looked confused and stood there. She blamed us and when my husband said, "lets go" she then said she could seat us immediately. There was no one else in the waiting area--NO ONE! We waited for our server who seemed to be bothered by us and threw silverware on the table in a pile and asked what we wanted to drink --got our orders wrong and again we were blamed! I ordered colony salad which was wet and soggy, kids ordered Mac n cheese and a cheeseburger, husband ordered lamb stew. What came was not was my older son ordered....instead he got the vegetarian burger, not the real thing, but as keeping with the theme of our experience it was his fault, not the servers. We will ßnot recommend this place EVER, not will we return. We found that service all over property has gone down since last year, in fact it seems to slip a little more each year. Hands down though, this was the worst meal experience EVER at WDW. Conversely, the best meal of the trip was had at Mara at AKL. I had nut crusted salmon-- the portion was HUGE and it was quite tasty!

[azcavalier]

After just getting back, I would add Coral Reef. We usually love this, but I think that this time, it was just enough little things that were wrong that made us leave there feeling "meh". The food was good (but not great). However, there were ten of us, some small kids who were probably tired, we sat as far from the aquarium as possible, etc, etc. Our server was not rude, but just somewhat unattentive. I don't remember a single drink refill, and I also don't remember seeing her between the time she took our order, and when the desserts were ordered.

[MissMaryPoppins]

These didn't happen recently but they're the only bad experiences we had at Disney restaurants.

My Dad and I were in EPCOT and he insisted we go to a table service restaurant for dinner. Since we couldn't get into Rose & Crown we tried Chefs de France and got a table. It was beautiful inside, the food was very good but our waiter was awful. From the moment we sat down he rushed us. He was rude when we asked him for a suggestion on wine. We didn't even finish our salads and our dinners were in front of us. He kept coming back to see if we were finished. We wanted coffee and a little dessert but decided to skip it there and went to Morocco instead. Anytime we go past the restaurant or it's mentioned in conversation my Dad says "Never, never again. Ever." We like to have relaxing dinners, enjoy our wine, talk, enjoy our experience, and Chefs de France isn't the place for that, in our experience anyway.

For my Mom's 50th, one of her brothers and his family, my Grandma, and my parents very best friends, and I came to Florida to spend it with her. My uncle wanted to get everyone together for a nice birthday dinner and made reservations at the Brown Derby for 12. My mom, Grandma, and I got there first so I went inside and explained that we had reservations but not all of our party was there yet. The hostess checking me in was very nice and told me to just come back to her when everyone was there. I sat outside with my Mom and Grandma to wait. A few minutes later a different hostess came out and called our name. I stood up and she held up her hands and said to me "Not so fast. Sit." I felt like a dog. So, she said to me "Do you want your party seated together?" I said "Yes, of course." She sighed, rolled her eyes, and told me it would be a while. I just smiled and said "That's fine. We'll wait." We had a great table in the middle of the restaurant, a patient waiter, and a nice meal but I couldn't believe how incredibly rude the hostess was.

[Kaps]

Tx for the reports on WCC I changed to Bomas and XO WCC. Don't want to take a chance =and did not really like the way the changed the menu anyway 5 Days and counting

[DonaldDuckUSA]

DBF and I were planning on having dinner at Prime Time. We're tired of making reservations so we were going to just sit at the bar. It works almost every time.

As we approached the resturant we realized the doors were closed and cast members were directing guests away. Turns out there was some sort of plumbing issue and it was not very pretty.

Since Prime Time and Hollywood and the Vine share a plumbing system, Hollywood and the Vine was also closed.

The other TS resturants were swamped with all the hungry guests. We knew there was no way of getting in.

In any other park, this would not have been a problem since there are PLENTY of delish CS and snack options. HS, however, has probably THE WORST food options in Disney.

I ended up eating a "taco" salad which featured stale tortilla strips and fatty chicken. There were practically NO beans and corn and the dressing was gross. DBF had a greasy cold burger. He said we should have gone to McDonalds where the food would be cheaper and more tasty. Can't say I disagree.

Dinner sent us back to the hotel early with stomach problems into the night. Awful. :sick:

[NewDVCowner]

We just got back from a seven day trip and the WORST dining experience was at Tony's at Magic Kingdom. We had been looking forward to eatting there since we all loved it the last time we were there two years ago.

It started when we walked in. We had checked in on time and they called us in to be seated in a reasonable amount of time. As the hostess was leading us in to seat us they stopped us because the table had been given away. It only took a minute and they seated us at a different table. No big deal, really, and if things hadn't continued it wouldn't even be worth mentioning.

The room they sat us in was COLD. We asked if they could possibly turn up the heat (there was no heater) or close the door that was leading outside (they could not). Again, I understand. You can't do anything about a room not having a heater (I don't know WHY a room wouldn't have a heater, but okay) and the door was open to allow the servers to go through, but there wasn't even a suggestion for us to move to a different area. We litterally had our jackets and gloves on.

When the food came it was ALL bad. Four of the five of us had pasta. Every single pasta dish was overcooked and mushy. This is an Italian restaurant, the pasta should be cooked correctly! The seat I ordered was way over cooked. Things that were listed as being included on the menu were not included on the dish. My sister asked about it and was told that the chefs had told them today that they weren't doing that anymore.

The server was BAD. Really bad. Never came to refill drinks. When asked about things she said, and I quote "I don't know. I just serve the food." She never even suggested that she could check on that for us.

Over all, just a horrid experience, which was made worse since we had all been looking forward to this meal so much because of our prior time there.

[TREECE'S MAGIC]

Last Holiday season I relented to try Coral Reef because my sister insisted ( going against all reviews here ) - it was less than average - well, it was bad, actually - the worst we had that trip . The bill was pricey - although, we had dining plan, the tip was almost the price of a less expensive and probably better meal somewhere else. We had ADR and waited one hr before being seated. I wil not go back . Service was just average . Tea refills once .
Am I picky ? No , not usually - don't mind paying for good food and service. Maybe reading this thread , food in general is on the way downward - soory for that , I am .

[LostBoys]

interesting ... notice how a thread with negative experiences gets more eyes and posts than others?

I never felt Disney had good dining options up until about 2000ish... (and MK food was the worst out of a bad lot) then there were some good dining options, quite a few fact. Then the Disney Dining plan came along, at first it was ok and there were still good options for dining.

Then the dining plan was promoted as an free add on to packages and dining experiences spiraled down hill. Guests dined in restaurants they never would have before and the plan had "tips included" as a feature. Try getting decent service from someone who feels they aren't getting tipped.

Now Disney Dining is very hit or miss experience and that's sad. We used to plan a special evening out every trip (DS with special made chopsticks at what is now Teppan Edo) is one we'll always remember. Illuminations being performed while we were seated at a window at what is now Tokyo Dining is another one, amazing slow cooked pork at what is now Tutto Italia was to die for

This coming January we are weighing our special night out dinning options and ... en we'll see :beer:

[NJGIRL]

LeCellier..... way overpriced. food not good.

[tinkman]

The absolute worse for us was the Commissary at DHS. Had the fish basket, which normally just about anywhere on Disney property is pretty good. But here? Fish was mushy, fries were mushy and tasted like old oil. DW had a salad and it was full of brown lettuce.
50s' Prime Time, April 2012...Food was cold and no interaction or refills from the server.
LeCellier Oct. 2011: Lunch. Terribly expensive for sandwiches and they were just OK.
Now, for a change of pace, places we liked and will go back. Biergarten in Germany, our favorite. Portebellos in DTD is excellent and we really like Tepon Etos in Japan.

[thauenstein]

Tutti Italia in Epcot was terrible. Food was not great. They rushed us the entire meal, didn't get us beverages that came as part of our dining plan. Crowded small table. Extremely disappointed!

[disneylovinmom]

It was the Hollywood Brown Derby. My 18 yr old daughter was actually gagging at the table. :sick: She tried the chopped salad and it was chopped within an inch of it's life and looked really gross once it was mixed. Nothing on the menu even looked good, but I had always wanted to try it. Now I know.

[Itchy]

The worst I have had came from Capt Jacks. They really must work hard for the poor food and service there.

I would not go back to Chef De France as the food was nothing special and service was ok.

[SandmanGStefani24]

really disappointed to see 50s Prime time more than once on this list. I'm not sure what the issue is. I think they are trying to get too many covers into too small of a restaurant maybe?

When we went, it was a long wait but the experience was fun, and the food was amazing. I think they got greedy and are taking on much more than they can handle from the sounds of some of the complaints.

[Wolf]

Last trip (Oct '12) was our final attempts at both Kona as well as Tony's.

Kona we've given half a dozen chances and the service has been awful every time, I think we've finally had it, the food being good can't carry it enough for another try.

Tony's is just too hectic, no fun, not a pretty resturant, the food is meh and the service is nonexistent. Its convenient for the Halloween party but not worth the grouchyness from getting undisney service or heck service I wouldn't give any of my tables at my waitressing job..

[ANG]

We were in WDW over Halloween last year. Whispering Canyon was disappointing. The wait once seated was so crazy long and the food wasn't very exciting.