Where we found decent food...

[Lady Hiss]

Just back from a 4 day WDW trip with varying success finding good food. Our conclusion: for better choices, leave the parks (with the exception of Epcot, esp. during a festival). There's more variety, better atmosphere, and better quality. Our experiences:

Starbucks (afternoon) - Disney Springs locations - Marketplace was crazy busy, tried to be efficient but long wait
West Side - much more laid back atmosphere, with seating, short wait
MK - crazy busy, long wait, employees were great, frenetic atmosphere
AK - not bad in the afternoon, shortest wait of all, wished for some seating
Epcot - hot, long line; temporary location (I hope)
HS - walked right in & had my drink quickly; mornings are probably much worse, no seating

Steakhouse 71 (ADR) - lunch was wonderful, crab cakes, pasta salad, burger, good service, quiet, just wish it had a view & wasn't in the 'basement' (Contemporary)
Ale & Compass (ADR) - lunch - my favorite meal, attentive staff, comfortable seating, beautiful resort (Yacht Club)
Geyser Point - a boat ride away from MK so takes a while to get there; yummy food, great place to refresh and rejuvenate; beautiful resort (Wilderness Lodge)
Japan quick service - dinner - long, long wait (no Mobile order available); outside area very dark at night; good food, good value, efficient staff but tables weren't cleared so...short staffed maybe?
Germany - snack - got a hot pretzel that really hit the spot but was pricey ($11) - wished for more seating, but high top tables by the lagoon were ok
Flame Tree BBQ - lunch - shocked to discover all the hidden seating at this place (yay!) - good food, longer wait than expected even with Mobile Order, efficient staff, clean tables
Dolphin QS Picabo- breakfast was good, oatmeal & fruit; bacon & eggs (not up to pre-Covid offerings yet); plenty of seating
Dolphin The Fountain - generous portions, BLT was huge, yummy sorbetto
Riviera QS - good choices for quick dinner but not up to pre-Covid offerings yet; Mobile order worked well; freezing cold inside
The Land - poor timing on our part (10:30?) - all booths were closed & only options were Grab & Go :-(

Flower & Garden Festival booths - lines were very, very long so we opted out, sadly. Sometimes you just reach your limit for waiting in lines and this was one of those trips.
Noticed that many kiosk options were same old, same old. Doughnuts at Joffreys; popcorn everywhere; Mickey bars etc. One thing that was hard to find: original Dole Whips - for those with dairy intolerance, it was hard to find options that would work.

Mobile order is here to stay. It works but for those with allergies, it's a problem (as is the battery drain on your phone). Regular ordering lines were ridiculously few and resulted in long waits. Not fun. Not guest friendly.

This is probably too long, but wanted to offer up our 2 cents worth of experience. In the future, we'll be eating at resorts or will drive off-site completely. Not enough quality and variety inside the parks to make it worth the $$.

 

[nonnadisney]

Thank you for this current state of food at WDW. I have to make dining reservations this week and have been debating where to book for a non-park day and a 2nd MK day. So Steakhouse 71 sounds like a good option to eat at for our MK day.

 

[tiggerx3]

Thanks for the read. We also loved our meal at Ale and Compass and had the same experience at Flame Tree BBQ in November. We’re going to try Steakhouse 71 this year.

 

[purpliequeen]

Thanks, OP. We had similar experiences last month.

The only Starbucks we had was AK (Creature Comforts) and the line moved quickly. I actually enjoyed the large Mickey cinnamon bun with the blue icing. Found lots of seating outside around the flora and fauna (those birds are aggressive). Did a lot of Joffrey's throughout the parks. I follow several food bloggers/Instagram people and they convinced me to try the donuts. Loved them.

Absolutely experienced long lines at locations that do not offer mobile order in Epcot. We did the Japan QS one night and agree with your experience. Low lighting was almost dangerous, as the line was down the steps leading up to the QS location. I was suprised Disney didn't address this - feel like it's a slip & fall (more on the fall side) waiting to happen. As soon as we got to the register we knew why the line was so long - only one person working the register, a couple Chefs in the kitchen making the orders, and then three "bussers" filling up drinks, putting pre-made sushi on trays, etc. Found they were really good about cleaning the seating areas quickly & the food arrived quickly after ordering. However, the bathrooms up by the restaurant were NASTY. Prob waited 30-45 min from in line to getting food.

The QS at the pastry shop in France was worse than Japan. Waited an hr (getting in line to getting food). Long line because there were only two registers opened - one on each side (left & right). There was only one or two people working each side. The person working takes your order, puts the food on the tray, makes the drinks, and checks you out on the register. This was coupled with only one TurboChef (to heat up food) working on the left side so the employees had to wait to use it.

All Epcot employees (at least the front facing ones at the register) were young. Like HS young. No work ethic or Disney culture/will/want to be there.

We had a great waiter at GF Cafe and he told us he was looking forward to the College Program starting back up in a few months because those students actually want to be there (in WDW) and generally work hard. I hope this is all true because waiting for an hr at quick service locations is no fun. Especially with the price hikes. It just doesn't add up.