With the sheer number of restaurants at WDW, there are bound to be some stinkers in the lot. For the most part, the food is very good, if not great at a few of the upper end places. The 10 listed below, however, are the bottom 10. Many of the counter service places received a pass from me, they are what they are, fast food, and shouldn’t be rated poorly. The ones listed below are just not up to what they should be, and are to be avoided at all costs.
#10: Liberty Inn – Epcot – Ha, fast food! While Liberty Inn is servicable as counter service restaurants, and is actually very nice inside with great seating areas, it still make the list. Granted, when people from around the world think of America, they think fast food, McDonalds, hamburgers, fatties. Does Disney really need to enforce that stereotype? Build a dang nice table service restaurant, it will be packed.
#9: Planet Hollywood – Downtown Disney – Overpriced food surrounded by memorabilia from people no one cares about makes for a bad meal. Despite offering coupons to just about every Disney World visitor, Planet Hollywood is almost always dead, and I foresee a “for rent” sign on the big round eyesore of Downtown Disney.
#8: Rainforest Cafe – Downtown Disney & Animal Kingdom Park – Rainforest is another themed chain with locations at WDW. While the restaurants are busy, the food is expensive and not all that good. The question is, do I really want to eat at a place while at WDW that I can visit at my local mall? I dig the waterfall at the Animal Kingdom location, but there are much better options within a few feet at either location.
#7: California Grill – Contemporary Resort – Long touted as the “crown jewel” of Disney World restaurants, all I hear lately is complaints about the service and food. Granted, the view is to die for, especially during fireworks. Everything else, blah! I have eaten here three times in the last year or so, each visit has either had horrible food or horrible service, or both. Very expensive, but remember, you are paying for the view, don’t expect much else.
#6: Pizzafari – Animal Kingdom Park – Nothing says Africa like Pizza. Rarely open, and that is a good thing. The cool building doesn’t even come close to making up for the poor food. Much better options throughout the park.
#5: Sci-Fi Dine In – Hollywood Studios Park – Where to start. Counter service food (at best) at table service prices. Looping movie that is technically trailers of bad 50’s monster movies that loops every 40 minutes or so, so you get to see it 2 or 3 times during your meal. Just imagine if you worked there and had to see the loop 15 times each shift, I would pull out my hair. Really fun concept (the cars are cool), just poorly done. Stop by for a shake and fried in the afternoon, you will thank me.
#4: Coral Reef – Epcot Park – So much promise, such bad food. The wall looking onto the giant aquarium is cool, but this is the one place that epitomizes the down side of the dining plan. An expensive restaurant, always crowded with dining plan users, why both service good food? They don’t bother.
#3: Tony’s Town Square Restaurant – Magic Kingdom Park – A stretch to call this place Italian. Poor decor, overly loud, it feels like you are eating in an elementary school lunchatorium. I could get by all of this if it weren’t for the food, which is disastrous, to be nice. Strait from the can spaghettios would be more Italian, and better tasting. Eating here, you just get the feeling they are trying to feed you as cheaply and quickly as possible.
#2: Comtempo Cafe – Contemporary Resort – Ok, so a few counter service places made the list. Located right under the monorail (loud) and next to Chef Mickey’s (even louder), this poor excuse from a restaurant offers appalling food, obviously made off site and trucked in, along with no atmosphere and plenty of noise.
#1: San Angel Inn – Epcot Park – Without a doubt, one of the best located restaurants, especially if you can get a table along the waterway of the Grand Fiesta Tour. Romantic as you can imagine. And dark, which is a good thing, as you can’t see the food. San Angel Inn has nothing on Taco Bell when it comes to bland, Americanized Mexican food. Now, I am from the West, where good Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen, and maybe in Orlando, that might not be the case, but that doesn’t mean you have to consume their poor excuse for food and accept it as “authentic”. With all the wonderful options in the World Showcase, go somewhere else, and stop by La Cava del Tequilla for a better experience.
Disagree with my list, or have others you would add? Let me know below:
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