Changes in Disney World Food Options and Quality

Published: July 19, 2021

In this series of posts, we will be discussing the changes that Disney has made due to the worldwide pandemic from Covid-19 and some other changes that have been made that have nothing to do with the pandemic.

This post will focus on how food is served at Disney World and if the quality of that food has suffered.  Disney food, even quick-serve options have been historically famous.  Many options, delicious entrees and even though prices have been high, you did not really complain because you were getting your money’s worth.

Disney food now, for lack of a better description, sucks.  I am talking about the quick-serve, grab something quick so you can get on more rides, food.  Now don’t get me wrong, Disney quick-serve food has never been confused with Victoria and Albert’s, but it was warm and tasted good for fast food.

At all Quick-Serve locations, you are now required to use Mobile Ordering. No longer are you able to go in and look at the menu to decide.  When using the Mobile Ordering app you need to pick the food that you are ordering and the choose a timeslot of when you will be picking up your order.  Luckily, my family did not run into this problem, but there have been reports of families that have had to wait two to three hours before they could pick up their lunchtime meal.  Once you choose your food items, pick a time and pay for for them, you then need to let the restaurant know that you are there to pick up your order.  You then have to wait for the app to tell you that your order is ready before you can even go inside, this usually takes another 5 minutes or so.  Once your order is ready, you then go to the counter and pick up your food.  Food is now served to you within a cardboard box, No more Disney World paper plates.

I found with this new system, your options are very limited.  My family likes staying at Pop Century for the additional options between the two dining halls.  On this recent trip, both had the same menu and there were at most, six different food options. The one thing that I found with Quick-Serve options at both the resorts and the parks… The food was not good.  The food that we got was cold, yes cold.  You would think that with the mobile ordering, they were cooking to orders, well, with the condition and taste of the food I bought, I can tell you this is not true.

What can you say about the quality of Disney World’s breakfasts when the best breakfast that we had during our vacation was at the McDonalds on Osceola Pkwy just outside of the All-Star Resorts.  My family ate there three times in the week that we stayed at Pop Century because Pop Century’s food-court was that bad.  I was truly disappointed with the breakfast at Pop Century due to the fact that the last time that we were at Pop Century, they had a breakfast platter called the Bountiful Breakfast and it was delicious.  It came with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, a biscuit AND TWO MICKEY WAFFLES!  I raved about it for months and when we had scheduled this vacation, I couldn’t wait to have it again for breakfast.  Wow, was I disappointed.  When I got my food, after waiting 10 minutes in the gift shop even though we pre-ordered our food about 20 minutes before we got there.  It was not the same.  The eggs in my breakfast were cold, there was about half the food as I had previously ordered.  The sausage that they served was disgusting and mushy. and there was only ONE Mickey Waffle that was about 60% of the size that they were on our previous visit.  What made it worse is that it was almost $5.00 more than in our previous visit.

We had two reserved dining options during our visit, Cinderella’s Royal Table and 50’s Primetime Cafe.  The food at Cinderella’s Royal Table was very good, but if you factor in the cost, it was not worth it.  The 50’s Primetime Cafe’s food was OK to good, but none of the fanfare of what the 50’s Primetime Cafe is supposed to be was there.  The only thing that the Cast Members did, was put Aunt and Uncle in front of their name.  Again, I was quite disappointed with the service that we got at the 50’s Primetime Cafe, but I will get into the Disney World service on my next post.

So, needless to say, we were very, very disappointed with the quality and prices of the food that we received at Disney World.  My daughter commented on how they serve better food at her high school cafeteria… at least the food is hot.