What Happened to Food at Disney World?
Since 2009, the DFB team and I have been eating and reviewing Disney food for this channel, and TODAY I’m finally ready to answer an important question that’s been the elephant in the room for all of us…“Is Disney World Food Still Good?”
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22 Comments
Love this video!! Do you remember the “food vouchers” from early 2000’s? Learned about them from early All Ears newsletter (Deb)!
Great video!!
First went to WDW in 1980. WDW food is not the consistent quality that it once was. There are a few exceptions.
20:10 I'm not gonna lie, having a bar in cars land sends the wrong message 😆
The food at Magic Kingdom is awful, but the resorts have good food.
thought Mind your P's and Q's meant drinking …as in Pints and Quarts. I like your explanation much better ^_^
I bet they make the food great at first to get good reviews, then switch to cheaper ingredients to save cash. Like the Old Fashioned at Geo 82. It used to be the best, but now people are saying it's bitter.
If I had to guess, any amount of food quality slide is likely due to multiple factors:
Climate change is causing major issues with food supply and crop survivability. Unpredictable weather causes issues with growing things. This is not new in the history of human civilization, but the frequency and the randomness of it is new.
Tariffs are causing prices to go up for Disney, and so Disney has two choices: pay the tariffs and pass the cost on to the consumer (prices are already pretty high). Or source your materials from elsewhere, potentially at a lower quality in order to keep prices the same.
All of the above contributes to the quality of the food potentially being worse in order for the company to either save money, or not have to increase prices on guests.
But in a lot of ways, people voted for this outcome so what can you do? 🤷♂️
I am also a lover of Garden Grill. Great food and I love Chip and Dale so it was perfect!
Love the history/back ground details aligned with current happenings with Disney. I also like that it’s a bit slower pace taking the time to explain. Keep them coming in my opinion. 😊
I enjoyed this. I always look for a Dole whip, my friend's son loves a Mickey pretzel so those are our must-haves. Often, that's all I eat there! I have gastro paresis & avoid a lot of foods that cause me pain. The kid's meal pizza at Pizzafari was decent. I do like watching for your videos that match up with which park we're headed to next. Thank you!!
My husband and I went to Disney World in 1995 for our honeymoon. We had the Food and Fun Card. It was amazing! The food was outstanding. We stayed at Wilderness Lodge and ate at Artist Point. I still dream about the crab cakes. The Food and Fun Card included tips. With that in mind, the servers wanted to increase your bill price so they gave you things that you didn't order. An extra salad here, additional ice cream for your cobbler, any items they could add!
Actually the problem with Disney Food and Disney in general as well as DFB too is that Disney has spent much of its time figuring out how it can maximally charge guests for its offerings. Too many of us older people who were brought up on Disney are now retiring, no longer have the money to afford an ALL DISNEY vacation if we ever did – and DFB completely ignores those of us who in order to come have to stay outside the property in florida and maybe eat one or two meals as a special treat inside the parks but otherwise eat near our less expensive accommodations because that is what we can afford to do.Often the choice is between a short disney stay or maybe one or two days at a disney hotel and then the local Best Western or Holiday inn or the like for the rest. DFB could care less about us – who probably make up a huge if not actual majority of visitors to the area – but close. We rent a car- because we also go to Universal and SeaWorld. Maybe we eat ONE meal inside disney – and sometimes that is not even affordable as well. Most of us have found many really nice local eateries where we can actually afford a desert item after a meal. THERE are quite a few but DFB thinks that a steak has to cost us a days pay to be good. THERE is a seafood place I never miss in lake Buena Vista for example. And believe it or not there are PIZZA places that serve a reasonable approximation of a genuine New York SLice as well. WHAT we need is not more DFB – we need a OFB — Orlando food Blog – or similar that actually deals with what the rest of us.
Hey A.J. and team,
I've been trying to find a 2026 update on OHANA and if it's going to be worth the money.
I loved this video. As a TA it’s always helpful to constantly take in new information!
37:29
Yes, please, more of this! This is fascinating!
my family did the dining plan back in I think 2006 and a few times up until about 2016 I think. I loved having it because I could have my own snack credits and quick service meals and feel like I kinda had some autonomy as a kid. I was still with my parents but It was like oh well I already have the credits paid for that means I get my mickey brownie. The dining plans also used to have more food (probably not good for our collective metabolic health) but I remember eating at cosmic rays during that timeframe and for a quick service, I got a drink, half chicken with green beans and red mashed potatoes and a brownie (one of those cup brownies they used to have If I remember right). I may be making this up, but I thought I remembered it at some point being a choice between an appetizer or dessert for the table service.
Disney food post-pandemic has severely declined.
The meat quality went to heck lately. 2 years ago we dined out every night (Ohana, Corral Reef yuck, GrandFlo Cafe, Steakhouse71.) All mediocre cuts of meat….we went 2 weeks ago and ate elsewhere…. Not spending $50 on beef worse than a chain steakhouse.
kinda wished they kept most parks alcohol free.
Go offsite to Charley's Steakhouse. One of my fav restaurants. Expensive, but amazing.