Fans Disucss “Awful, Overpriced and Mediocre” Food To Avoid While In Disney

in Walt Disney World

family dining at be our guest

Credit: Disney

When at “The Most Magical Place on Earth“, there is a lot to plan for. From making sure you have your day planned out to booking Disney Genie and Lightning Lane passes and dinner reservations, there’s a lot that goes into planning a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.

And speaking of dinner reservations, Guests have seemingly endless options to choose from when it comes to eating at any of the four Parks, the numerous Resorts, and of course, Disney Springs.

beacon animal kingdom
Credit: Disney

Related: Disney Files Construction Permit For Popular Magic Kingdom Restaurant

In a post on Reddit, a popular social media discussion site, one Disney fan asked others what they would avoid while visiting Walt Disney World, with almost all of them discussing food options in the Parks. See the post below from u/johnySaysHi:

So I’m wondering what is a place you would avoid not just cause it’s bad but maybe it’s unoriginal or mabey to over priced

So I’m wondering what is a place you would avoid not just cause it’s bad but maybe it’s unoriginal or mabey to over priced from DisneyWorld

Below, we will dive into some of the options mentioned. Of course, these are based on individual opinions, and others may have their own! If there is a dining location you are looking to try, it may be best to make your own judgment instead of relying on others, as palettes can be very individual. That being said, it does not hurt to know if a particular dish may not be the best that the restaurant has to offer!

Be Our Guest
Credit: Jenny Patterson/Inside the Magic

Be Our Guest – Magic Kingdom

Due to the sheer amount of options and places within the Walt Disney World Resort property, the comments were filled with varying opinions. Some discussed fan-favorite places, while others talked about restaurants you may be surprised to see on a list like this. Be Our Guest as Disney’s Magic Kingdom is a popular spot for many, often having no dining reservations on the My Disney Experience app. Guests are able to enter Belle and Beast’s castle and feel like they are entering the movie. Whether you are dining in the West Wing or the grand iconic ballroom, the setting of this location leaves it to be heavily desired. The location serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner with price-fixed menus and in the evening, Guests are joined by the Beast, just as Belle was on that memorable evening!

User u/Nicebutboring started with a controversial choice:

I’m going to brace myself for the hate, but…. Be Our Guest.

Surprisingly, a few users in the comment section agreed, calling the restaurant “mediocre”. This may come as a surprise because Be Our Guest has remained one of the most popular and sought-after restaurants in all of Walt Disney World. The restaurant is themed around the classic animated Disney film, Beauty and the Beast (1991), and can be found in the Fantasyland section of the Magic Kingdom.

table in a restaurant
Credit: Disney

See Disney’s official description of Be Our Guest which is below:

Dine in Palatial Splendor

Feast on French-inspired fare in one of our elaborately themed rooms—straight out of the beloved Disney classic!

Be Our Guest Restaurant is an expansive and elegant dining destination located at the foot of Beast’s Castle in Fantasyland. Whether you are enjoying lunch or dinner, you will experience an atmosphere made for memories.

Royal Rooms for Loyal Subjects
Be Our Guest offers 3 meticulously imagineered dining areas, each designed to immerse our Guests in the heartwarming mystery and romance of Beauty and the Beast:

  • The Grand Ballroom – Go for baroque in this magnificent ballroom with its high, domed ceiling, chandeliers and snow-laced Gothic arches.

  • The West Wing – Dine in the Beast’s mysterious West Wing study—if you dare—and perhaps you’ll even spy his enchanted rose.

  • The Castle Gallery – Get swept up in the romance of Belle’s private library, and inspired by the larger-than-life figures of Belle and Beast dancing.

Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom
Credit: Disney

Related: Illegal Marijuana Lab Explodes Near California Theme Park, Multiple People Injured

world of disney at disney springs, night
Credit: Disney

Disney Springs

A few also commented on the theming saying it really depended on what room you were seated in due to the fact that there are multiple rooms you could get. On the other side of the spectrum, one Guest discussed a few restaurants within Disney Springs, the mega-shopping and entertainment center. There are two quite infamous restaurants in Disney Springs, both owned by the same company and both featuring the same type of experience.

Rainforest Cafe and T-Rex

Located in Disney Springs and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, these locations bring Guests into highly immersive environments. From the jungle to an ice cave set in the cretaceous period, it truly heightens the dining experience. It seems, however, the food is not always as popular as the setting. Many in the comments talked about how low quality the food here is, with many saying it’s only worth it for the theming..

User u/threelittlesith brought up these restaurants below:

Rainforest Cafe and T Rex. Especially the former because it’s a chain that you can visit in just about any city, and while it’s pretty exciting, there are so many better experiences and meals.

With T Rex, the last time we went there, the server was like “literally, you could get better food at Applebees for a lot less.” And honestly the only part of that meal that I did enjoy was my appletini, but beyond that, it’s not worth it.

User u/WankSpanker responded by saying:

$20 for a half chicken meal with what seemed to be microwave instant rice…. it sure was nice when i was 11 and had their mac and cheese

Related: Disney Finds New Way to Convince Guests to Purchase Controversial FastPass

We have previously covered Disney fans’ overall dissatisfaction with Rainforest Cafe, with many claiming the food is a “disaster” and needs a lot of work. This time, however, fans were discussing the restaurant located in Animal Kingdom.

When visiting Disney’s Animal Kingdom, many Guests may notice a restaurant that lies just off the beaten path, almost seeming to hide from Guests who are rushing right past it to get in line for Flight of Passage or Expedition Everest. Right at the entrance to the Park lies a Rainforest Café, a famous eatery with nature-filled scenery. Of course, this makes perfect sense to be located at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but recently, many Guests seem to highly disapprove of the food and overall experience of this restaurant. More on T-REX Restaurant and Rainforest Cafe down below:

T-Rex Cafe
Credit: Disney

T-REX Restaurant

Eat, Shop, Explore and Discover

Travel back 200 million years for a Jurassic adventure and megalosaurus-sized eats.

Squawking pterosaurs, wooly mammoths, a massive undulating octopus and life-sized animatronic dinosaurs—including a 15-foot-tall T. Rex—make for a roaring good time. With themed rooms depicting diverse primordial landscapes from a color-changing ice cavern to a fern forest buzzing with giant wasps, you can spend ages wandering from area to area.

Dine on family-friendly American favorites beneath luminescent jellyfish or in a very unique section: the midsection of a triceratops! And every 20 minutes or so, witness a meteor shower complete with rumbling and fiery “explosions.”

Unearth the Past
Budding paleontologists, be sure to visit the Paleo Zone, a hands-on experience where you can dig for hidden dinosaur fossils, pan for precious treasures in Discovery Creek and learn more about “the time before time” through interactive displays.

Animal Kingdom Rainforest Cafe
Credit: Disney

Rainforest Cafe

Walk on the Wild Side

A tropical rainforest retreat and delicious eats await you. Look for the erupting volcano!

Gather your party of explorers and journey deep into the Amazon, where you’ll dine in the company of animated animals to the sounds of thunder claps and sudden rainstorms. Singing birds, trumpeting elephants, chest-pounding gorillas and schools of brightly colored fish welcome you to the jungle, lushly landscaped with tropical vegetation, banyan trees, waterfalls and a starry nighttime sky.

Feel far away yet at home all at once with American-style eats the whole family will love. Then swing by the Rainforest Cafe shop, where you can pick up plush animals, themed apparel and tropical trinkets to commemorate your Amazon adventure.

epcot coral reef restaurant
Credit: Disney

Coral Reef – EPCOT

One of the most unique restaurants in the Walt Disney World Resort can be found in EPCOT near The Seas with Nemo & Friends. While other restaurants in the Park may be more culturally accurate and possibly more delicious, do they let you eat seafood while surrounded by an aquarium? We thought not. In the Reddit thread, a few users brought up this “beloved” eatery.

User u/Tumunu brought up the restaurant:

Coral Reef was awful and it’s only cool if you sit right next to the aquarium

User u/forcedflowers also brought up Coral Reef:

Coral Reef was a terrible and expensive experience. You can’t really see the tanks from most tables and the food is horrible.

Be our guest on the other hand was worth it. Not sure what the complaint about the food was. I was there with a large group in late January and the meal was amazing. It is very loud and there isn’t a real character expletive so if that’s what you are looking for also pass.

new food at Disney Parks
Credit: Disney

The biggest source of contention regarding this restaurant was that the food was average to terrible, with the atmosphere being the only true redeeming quality. At Coral Reef, Guests can get all kinds of seafood, as well as more traditional menu items such as steak and chicken. The majority of responses about this restaurant was that it was cool, but you’re really going for the atmosphere. Here,’s how Disney describes the restaurant:

Seasonal Cuisine

Dive in to ocean-fresh specialties from around the globe or feast on classic gourmet favorites.

Start off with a sumptuous appetizer like lobster bisque. Then, select from our seasonal menu, where entrées may include sautéed shrimp and grits or oven-roasted chicken breast. Small fries will love our kid-friendly fare featuring the grilled fish, grilled chicken or the Jr. Reef Steak.

Cap off your meal with one of our extraordinary desserts such as mixed berry mousse or The Chocolate Wave.

Advance reservations are highly recommended. Learn when advance reservations can be made.

Sharks, Sea Turtles and Scuba Divers!

Marvel at the multicolored magnificence of our living coral reef—all while you dine! Panoramic windows give every table an insider view into the awesome, underwater world of The Seas with Nemo & Friends.

The Seas is one of the largest man-made ocean environments on the planet, and holds enough water to fill 54 Olympic-sized swimming pools! The meticulously crafted habitat has been designed by marine scientists to enrich the lives of approximately 2,000 sea creatures—more than 60 aquatic species!—that call The Seas home.

As you dine, be sure to look for sharks, sea turtles and rays as they swim in this wondrous coral reef. You may even spot a scuba-diving Mickey enjoying the underwater fun!

And did you know? Coral reefs are crucial to the biodiversity of the world’s oceans. They cover less than 1% of the ocean floor, but provide food and shelter to over 25% of all ocean creatures—up to 2 million species! Disney scientists and conservationists are working hard in Florida and around the world to preserve endangered species like sharks, sea turtles and coral.

Space 220
Credit: Disney

Space 220 – EPCOT

One of the hottest new restaurants to open at the Walt Disney World Resort is Space 220 at EPCOT. This brand new, ultra-immersive eatery takes Guests on an elevator to space where they can watch the Earth rotate while enjoying some delicious food and beverages. One of the biggest drawbacks to Guests however is the cost of the food. The menu works at a “fixed-price” meaning Guests will be paying up to $79.00 per person. The restaurant is beautiful and stylish and a nice addition to EPCOT. However, some recent reviews have been mixed, to say the least. User u/missykins8472 brought this up in their comment:

We were really unimpressed with the food at Space 220. Very over priced. Completely under seasoned. I wouldn’t eat there again

A few users agreed, with u/missykins8472 responding:

It’s a fixed price menu. So you are spending $100/per person minimum. You can’t just go and get dessert. You have to order the full 3 courses. We had two separate groups go and both had the similar experiences, in terms of poor food quality.

The atmosphere was fine but your just eating a meal in a darkened room with a big screen as if you’re in space. You “launch” into space on the elevator. If you have a kid who loves space the experience might be fun. But for adults it’s was just okay.

We went because we were curious to try it once.

Window with a view of the Earth
Credit: Disney

At Space 220, Guests can order some truly unique food in a very unique location. But lots of Guests aren’t too impressed More on Space 220 at EPCOT:

A Stellar Adventure

Embark on the ultimate culinary exploration from this new expansion of the Mission: SPACE Pavilion.

Step inside Space 220 Restaurant—featuring a celestial panorama from a space station—for a delicious meal. To begin your journey, board a special space elevator that will ascend to the stars! Along the way, viewports will give you an aerial view of EPCOT as you travel high above the planet. As you dine, peer out and enjoy amazing daytime and nighttime views of Earth from 220 miles up.

Out-of-This-World Dining

Sit down to a prix-fixe, 2-course meal at lunch or a prix-fixe, 3-course meal at dinner—both featuring modern American cuisine.

Start with your choice of appetizer, like Space Greens or Blue Moon Cauliflower. For your main course, choose from delicious options like the Bluehouse Salmon. After dinner, delight in a sweet send-off when you order the Lemon Mousse or Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake for dessert.

Specialty beverages––like the Celestial Cosmopolitan or the Planetary Punch––are also available, along with a wide selection of craft beer.

tony's town square restaurant spaghetti lady tramp
Credit: Disney Parks Blog

Tony’s Town Square – Magic Kingdom

Tony’s Town Square is perhaps the most infamous Italian eatery in all of the Walt Disney World Resort, typically receiving mixed reviews among Guests. The restaurant remains popular but many think the food could be improved. While some may have a negative view of the restaurant, many love it and we actually compiled a list of why we enjoy it as well which you can check out here.

Further down the Reddi thread, user u/ brought up this famous Italian eatery in the Magic Kingdom.

Tony’s. BOG.

tonys-town-square-restaurant sun room
Credit: Disney Parks

At Tony’s Town Square, Guests can enjoy delicious classic Italian dishes such as spaghetti, fettuccine, and even some pizza. But over the years, Tony’s Town Square has remained one of the least beloved restaurants in all of the Walt Disney World Resort with many opting to skip right past it. More on Tony’s Town Square below:

Relive the Romance

Share spaghetti and meatballs and more at this fun eatery near the entrance of Magic Kingdom park.

Step inside this charming turn-of-the-century trattoria on Main Street, U.S.A., with its whitewashed balustrades, French doors and expansive front porch, which offers fantastic views for people-watching. In the lobby, Disney’s 1955 animated classic, Lady and the Tramp, plays in the background while pictures of its famous love-struck stars grace the walls.

Hopeless romantics are bound to gush over the central fountain depicting the cute canine couple, and more characters and scenes from the movie get you in the mood for food, friends, fun times and perhaps even amore!

Advance reservations are highly recommended. Learn when advance reservations can be made.

Meats-a-ball and Much Amore

Tony the restaurateur welcomes you with hearty Italian meals that your family will howl for.

Begin your meal with fried mozzarella. Then, feast on favorites like pizza pie, chicken parmigiana, fettucine alfredo and spaghetti with pork and beef meatballs.

While gazing at your loved one over a steaming espresso or cappuccino, shiver with helpless delight—bite after bite—as you share ambrosial treats like gelato and tiramisù. Molto delizioso!

Tonys-Town-Square-Restaurant entrance sign
Credit: Stockpiling Moms

Due to the sheer number of restaurants at the Walt Disney World Resort, there are sure to be a few “duds” or slightly “disappointing” experiences, but Disney really tries to make sure all options are up to snuff and contain that magic only Disney can offer. Restaurants are constantly changing and menus will continue to be updated for Guests to experience in the future.

Please note that the story outlined in this article is based on a personal Disney Parks Guest experience. No two Guest experiences are alike and this article does not necessarily align with Inside the Magic’s personal views on Disney Parks operations.

What rides, attractions, restaurants or places do you avoid while visiting Walt Disney World? Let us know in the comments below. 

Let the expert team at Academy Travel help you plan your next magical vacation to Disney World’s water parks, four theme parks — Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios — and the Disney Springs shopping and dining district!

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