Okay, the thread about Restaurant Marakesh vs Chefs de France just made me think of something that I’ll see what everyone else thinks about. I’ve seen the comment before in other places also that Disney doesn’t do a good job with making the international restaurants “authentic” in terms of the food, either to simplify preparation or to cater to people who like their food a little more bland than some ethnicities might.
I think, if we’re truly being fair, Disney doesn’t do a great job with American food either, at least in terms of quick service. Quick service is supposed to be comparable to fast food (if not a little better), right? But can you name one item in any American style QS at WDW that is the best you’ve ever had? And I’m talking about comparing to the best fast food you’ve had, not anywhere, not homemade. Did you ever hear someone say “That burger at Cosmic Ray’s is the best ever!”? I haven’t. I was trying to think of one, but I really couldn’t. The best I could do is a regional one. If you live outside the areas of the country that are known for BBQ, Flametree is probably the best you have ever had for fast food. But I lived in the south for 6 years and I had a go-to bbq fast food place.
I’m not just trying to troll. I seriously want to know, what QS items are better than readily available fast food anywhere in the country? I bet international visitors who go places other than WDW say the same thing. “You know, they don’t really do a good job of making authentic American food!”
First off fast food is just that fast food. QS at Disney is fast food because it is fast and more compact. No one will stay it is the best food ever because it is NOT. When you have been walking and fighting the crowds for a while and you haven’t eaten you think QS because it is quick and you do NOT need a reservation or pay the price of TS. Even TS is nothing compared to many a sit down restaurant in your city but it is good and it is cool inside where you can sit down and relax while the crowd moves in the 90 degree heat with 90 percent humidity. The thing is if you are coming to Disney World to compare food quality to the outside world, your coming to the wrong place. The prices are nuts for the food you get but that’s the thrill of WDW. For that matter the prices to attend WDW are crazy but we will all still go if we can afford it and some who cannot. WDW, QS, TS. live the dream.
Maybe not best ever but definitely top 75%: bakery goods. (Cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, etc.)
Not an answer to your exact question (both in terms of greatness criteria, and a loose interpretation of “fast food”) but along the same line of thought.
And now that I read that again after posting: Maybe that should have been “top 25%” not 75%… (I meant greater than 75% of most options out there)… clearly I am not a professor or principal.
I was thinking this too, but I don’t know if I’d put any of it at best. The other one I just thought of was ice cream. Not that it is better at Disney then other places, just that when you look at how much it’s marked up at Dairy Queen, it isn’t that much more expensive at Disney.
I’m really just curious so I’ll know what to get next time if there is something out there that’s really good compared with what you can get outside the parks. Right now I assume that the lobster roll at CHH is as good as I would get in New England because I have nothing to compare it with.
I mean, I have a weird thing about DQ M&M blizzards so I’m not the best judge of that statement. (DH calls M&M blizzards a waste of a blizzard though… lol) But Mickey bars > Dilly bars (especially now that they don’t hand dip at DQ anymore by us)
Waffles?
Mickey waffles > whatever passes for waffles most fast food places
Are we talking hamburgers?
I remember ordering chili at American Adventure many trips ago. Worst. Chili. Ever.
While at Epcot we like Sunshine Seasons. One trip with newbies from southern Louisiana they raved over the pork chops at Sunshine Seasons. We looked for the pork chops last trip but they were replaced by a great chunk of chicken. It was certainly edible and plenty to share.
My grandniece loves the Asian noodle or rice bowls at various QS locations. However, they can’t hold a candle to the Flametree BBQ and the combo meal with the three meats. Three of us used to share this a decade ago. I suspect on our next trip she won’t be sharing.
The Greek salad at Cosmic Ray’s barely resembles a Greek salad but after several days of no salads, it’s a decent salad. Since its advertised as a Greek salad it probably fails to meet the American criteria of this topic.
It’s okay that Disney has insane prices. We all expect and understand that.
What isn’t understandable is that it is significantly worse than McDonalds. It doesn’t have to be the absolute best. But on the whole, it is worse than just about any fast food I’ve ever had. It almost takes a special kind of talent to achieve that. It’s worse both in terms of freshness and the quality of the food.
I feel like if Disney let Chick-Fil-A set up and run a restaurant in each of their parks, I’d probably eat there exclusively, even with inflated prices. It’s actually kind of strange that with all the attention to detail in the parks, Disney can’t get the QS food right.
The only QS food I’ve had and not regretted has been the ice cream, cinnamon rolls, and those hot pocket things at Gaston’s.
I’ll be honest, maybe it was because I was expecting the worst, I was pleasantly surprised by the food at WDW. I had heard that WDW’s food paled in comparison to DLR, especially in the QS arena. I found that to be somewhat true, but in the week I was there, I only had one bad meal. It was EMM breakfast at cosmic rays. The eggs were a kin to some kind of plastic/gelatin like substance. Over at DLR there is White Water Snacks and my husband is VERY picky about his burgers and feels that the burgers at WWS are among the best he has ever had. I don’t know that I felt that way about anything I ate at WDW. I would say that in large part, the food was better than the average fast food place and maybe even better than a good portion of the national chains. We were trying to figure out the love affair with cheeseburger inspired food though.
Does this count for the resorts too? Cause I actually really liked the “chicken dinner” at the contempo cafe (which is QS). I can say it’s the “best ever” cause… well it was the only time I’ve ever had it.
Regarding
Well of course not. First it needs to be identified as an actual burger. Which… there’s still tests happening.
And regarding that, I think the main reason Disney can’t get the “quality” of your normal fast food is because it’s not actually cooked on site. It’s usually cooked (or half cooked) elsewhere and then heated at the actual restaurant, isn’t it? Casualty of needing so much food and limited space and time to prepare it, I guess. When was the last time you had reheated food that tasted as good?
I think outside the parks there are quite a few good options with more unique food. But for some reason they can’t get through the gates into the parks.
I think you’re onto the problem here. My best comparison for the burgers in the parks is school lunches. So maybe that does make them authentic American. Just not good.
