When were you left underwhelmed by something at Disney?

[Sandiz08]

Ohana dinner this past June. We ate at 8 table service restaurants and that is the only one we regretted spending so much money on. Our server wasn't very friendly, and the food wasn't very good or flavorful. It did keep on coming but since it all tasted the same, we just said no thank you.No characters around to justify the cost.

 

[StraightToDumbo]

MNSSHP...did it 9/24, crowded, minimally staffed, character lines insane, shows packed to the gills. Not worth the money and definitely too crowded.

 

[caribbeandream]

Now you all have me wondering. We have not been to WDW since 2010 and even back then my feeling was I would take a Disney cruise over a trip to WDW any day of the week. (Even my 13 yo keeps asking when we are going on another Disney cruise!) Then in 2013 and 2016 we took one-week long vacations to Disneyland, and fell in love. I am definitely taking notes about everyone's disappointment with table service restaurants and nighttime shows. But one thing I am not doing is skipping Fantasmic!, that is top of my list, at least until I go back to Disneyland and become spoiled for life.

 

[StraightToDumbo]

But one thing I am not doing is skipping Fantasmic!, that is top of my list, at least until I go back to Disneyland and become spoiled for life.

Yeah, I don't get the Fantasmic hate. It's a great show considering what WDW has to offer.

 

[DisneyHardin]

We generally love everything at WDW, but this past trip I had a huge disappointment in The Yachtsman. I was looking forward to it so much and it was just so so from beginning to end. When we checked in we were told to wait outside on the first bench. I thought it was weird that we were told exactly which bench to sit on. Then the girl that came to get us never made eye contact and looked at the floor the entire time. Even when we were walking to the table she looked down so much she kept bumping into things.

Our server was okay but not super efficient considering we were his only table at first. DH and I both ordered the filet and they were not good. I sent mine back and the replacement was marginally better.

I left the dinner in tears because I had talked it up to DH so much and the steaks were barely edible. We expected so much more from a signature restaurant.

 

[parkluvr]

The buses! My least favorite part of Disney. I do everything in my power to avoid using them.

I definitely have to agree with you on this one. We usually stay Deluxe and on just about every trip it seems that we get stuck on multiple occasions waiting 30 or 40 minutes to get a bus back to the hotel. You see 4 or 5 buses for other resorts all come and go and when your bus finally comes there is another one bunched up right behind it. Also during peak periods it's not bad enough that you have to stand on a bus back to the hotel, they also compact you in so that every square inch of the bus is filled. People say that you can't really complain since the buses are free, but I would disagree about the free part since I am paying $400 dollars per night for a small to average sized hotel room.

 

[holden]

I definitely have to agree with you on this one. We usually stay Deluxe and on just about every trip it seems that we get stuck on multiple occasions waiting 30 or 40 minutes to get a bus back to the hotel. You see 4 or 5 buses for other resorts all come and go and when your bus finally comes there is another one bunched up right behind it. Also during peak periods it's not bad enough that you have to stand on a bus back to the hotel, they also compact you in so that every square inch of the bus is filled. People say that you can't really complain since the buses are free, but I would disagree about the free part since I am paying $400 dollars per night for a small to average sized hotel room.

We have pretty much given up on the buses and now rent a car unless we are staying at BC or BW (we walk to EP and DHS).

For our upcoming trip at BC we plan to Uber or Minnie Van to MK and AK.

 

[JRoyster86]

The "Ferrytale Wishes" cruise. In fact, it was such a colossal let down that it was the only time I have ever asked for (and received) my money back at Disney.

 

[AncientSoul]

Navi River Journey was kind of boring for me. It was pretty, and it was a serene boat ride, but it was boring. Maybe I was in a bad mood that day (that was the day our schedule was screwed up due to the rides being down in Pandora at our planned times). I'll try it again and see if I feel any differently.

 

[Kiersten]

I hated Columbia Harbor House. The food wasn't good and the CM's weren't very nice. It was crowded (which we expected since it was New Years Day) but the flow of the crowd was terrible. We had to stand holding our trays for about fifteen minutes before we could find even one chair! We ended up sharing a table with strangers. The management of CH was bad in my opinion.

I also wasn't impressed with Frozen Ever After. My boyfriend and I love Frozen so we got an FP for it. We still waited for an hour and a half and it was pretty dull. Not worse the wait. The Frozen singalong we went to was a lot more fun.

 

[richkaryn]

I may get drug out in the street and shot for this one, but...... Disney cupcakes. Everyone raves about how they're the best thing on property. I've tried 3 or 4 different ones on various trips and every time they are just dry and bleh to me. Guess that's why I can't bring myself to make an ADR for BOG-- cupcakes for dessert.

Oh, and the cheese soup from Le Cellier. Tasted (and looked ) like old bacon grease to me.

 

[richkaryn]

What is something at the parks or on property that you were really looking forward to, but then when it happened you were left disappointed?

We had a lovely trip earlier this month, but one experience in particular just left us completely underwhelmed.

'Ohana at Disney's Polynesian Resort comes highly recommended. By everyone. It seemed like every blog we read, podcast we listened to, and experienced Disney-goer that we talked to all had nothing but great things so say about this place. It's expensive, but we decided that it would be worth it since everyone talks about how amazing it is. So we made a reservation for our "non park" day for breakfast. (Maybe dinner would have been better, but we already had dinner reservations at other places all set up). With all the hype we heard about 'Ohana, we could not wait for our reservation!

But alas...

I know no one may agree with me, but 'Ohana was the worst meal we had during our entire trip. I honestly think we could have gotten the exact same meal from Denny's and at a fraction of the price. Seriously.

Now I will say that the character interaction was great! As well as the atmosphere and the service. We even had a really great seat by the window where we could see Cinderella's Castle. But we were SO excited to eat there and it was just...not good.

So, do you have any experiences like this? I know I'm kind of whining about it, but I bet someone out there has had something like this happen to them and I invite you to vent!

We've eaten there 5 times, and we did have one of the 5 that was a combination of bad/slow/uninterested server, cold food, and failure to bring some of the meats around at all. However, the other 4 times were great. (It was time #3 or 4 that was bad....we have returned since and had better experience)

 

[richkaryn]

CRT is a huge disappointment. It is CINDERELLA'S CASTLE. The food and service should be top notch. It's not. They serve odd food considering a bunch of kids are eating there. The place isn't decked out in luxury like I felt it should have been. Just a total waste of space.

We did a PPO breakfast there in 2013 and our server you could tell was just going through the motions (in a lackluster way) because he knew the gratuity was included (so guaranteed) so he didn't feel he had to work for it apparently. And the food wasn't anything better than we could have gotten at a resort quick service. Jasmine's friend was probably the worst friend of a princess I've ever met too. Didn't really talk the talk or walk the walk if you know what I mean. I even have a picture of her with my son where she has a really "eye rolly, gag me with a spoon" look on her face lol. But at least we can say we ate in Cinderella's castle.

 

[richkaryn]

I can think of several that were let downs, not really bad, just not what I had expected...
50s PT. The food wasn't anything that great, even the famous milkshake and fried chicken. And we got really nothing from the waitress.
Cape May Cafe for dinner (breakfast was really fun!). Just a buffet (and we went out of our way travel wise). I wished we had just drove to Red Lobster off property.
Cinderella's Royal Table. The food was fine. Service was not that great. We were hungry when we left. We went as 2 adults, 9 year old, and 2 2 year olds. We also had TiW, so we did get a "steal" on the price, but there was not enough food. I asked for an extra muffin and got it, but we were never offered free (or to pay) for more food. Couldn't hear the wishing star stuff either.
Club level at Poly...nothing bad, just not worth it for us. We liked the Poly, just can't think of any reason to pay more for club level.

I agree with Cape May dinner.....I don't eat seafood, but DH and DS love seafood, so I sucked it up for them after reading many things saying there were plenty of "non seafood meat options" for people like myself. There were maybe 2, and not good ones at that. And I ordered an adult beverage and I had already hit the buffet, returned for dessert items, finished those and the server came by finally so I could inquire as to the whereabouts of the drink I ordered. DH and DS had finished eating too before it arrived. At that point I really didn't even want it anymore, but I was still paying for it so I sat and drank it. Both DH and DS agreed that they could get as good or better seafood at a chain restaurant.

 

[kenthanson]

Another one for dole whip, just didn't love it. We only usually do one character meal each time we've went and haven't been disappointed in one yet only do counter service meals otherwise.

My biggest underwhelmed thing has been staying of property, we had so many people tell us how cheap it was and easy it was but after staying on resort every time up until then I hattttteeeedddddd staying off resort. Rental car was a pain, driving at the end of a long day was a pain and paying for parking sucked.

We had also always booked with the free dining so there was never any need to bring anything with us, just our magic band/key to the world and a watch, when we stayed off my inlaws we're bringing meals and water bottles and all sorts of stuff so we all needed backpacks and it wasn't fun dealing with all of that.

 

[Tink3815]

We had breakfast at the campgrounds Wilderness Trail's Brunch. The food was terrble. Way to many sweets and everything else was cold. Not worth the 25.00 charge. Was disappointed because was looking forward to a nice morning visiting the fort. Ponderosa or Golden corral has better food.

 

[Monica Ninneman]

The Grey Stuff Cupcake... I was so excited to try it but all of the cupcakes at BOG (Yes we tried all three) were not great. Maybe a bad batch but they were dry and underwhelming.

 

[amberpi]

I don't really vacation other places besides Disney (staying mostly in deluxe), where I stay in a hotel. Is it a common theme that service in Disney hotels are poor?

This seems to be a common theme on these boards, and wondering if maybe giving off property stays a try might be worth it.

Old thread, but wanted to suggest the Swolphin. The service there is SO much better than the Disney owned hotels, and I've only stayed deluxe other than a twice when it was a weird adding a night situation. The location is great, the food is some of the best on property, and since they are chain hotel owned, you at least get a normal business class level of service.

 

[Spencer Wright]

Old thread, but wanted to suggest the Swolphin. The service there is SO much better than the Disney owned hotels, and I've only stayed deluxe other than a twice when it was a weird adding a night situation. The location is great, the food is some of the best on property, and since they are chain hotel owned, you at least get a normal business class level of service.

Yes!! And I was shocked how much less it is!

 

[ElyseInWonderland]

IMHO, nearly all of the breakfast options in the parks and in the resorts are underwhelming and overpriced (even for Disney). As a person who always eats breakfast, when we're at WDW my husband and I typically pack some granola or protein bars to snack on throughout the morning & grab coffee on the way to the park. I haven't yet found a compelling enough breakfast option that would be worth the money (or the time that could be spent on a ride.)

That being said, as a kid I absolutely loved doing the character breakfasts!