When it comes to dining at Walt Disney World, there’s no shortage of options. From eating around the World at Epcot to character meals and themed restaurants, there are all kinds of dining adventures to be had!
We recently checked out our reader reviews of Walt Disney World theme park dining, and TBH we were shocked at some of the ratings! Some of the most popular (and difficult to get reservations) were ranked among the lowest scores! So we decided to put together this list, along with snippets of reviewer feedback, for you to help navigate your vacation dining.
Here are the 10 Worst Table Service Meals in Disney World Theme Parks — as Ranked by AllEars Readers!
10. Mama Melrose Lunch/Dinner
Mama Melrose is located in Disney’s Hollywood Studios toward the back of the park near Muppet Vision 3D. It’s features Italian cuisine — most notably pastas.
Our readers say:
“Service is not so great, kinda pricey”
“Not the worst meal I’ve had, but certainly not the best.”
“It wasn’t any better than what you could get at a chain Italian restaurant”
Mama Melrose's Lunch/Dinner
9. Cinderella’s Royal Table Dinner
This is the most popular dining reservation in all of Walt Disney World! Located INSIDE Cinderella Castle, the princess welcomes you to join her and her princess friends for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This is an Advance Dining Reservation that almost certainly has to be booked 180-days ahead of your vacation.
“I would only recommend dining here if your priority was to meet the princesses and were willing to pay $$$ to do so.”
Cinderella's Royal Table Dinner
8. Sci-fi Dine-in Theater Lunch/Dinner
Sci-Fi is located in Hollywood Studios and is known for its 1950s theming. During the meal, you eat in old timey cars and watch clips from old Sci-fi films — like you’re at a drive-in! Because of the fun theme and popularity, it can be a difficult reservation to make.
Our readers say:
“I wasn’t impressed. You can barely read the menu because it is so dark. The darkness at least hides how dirty the tables are.”
“Food was okay not great.”
“The idea is good and worth experiencing at least once, but we won’t be in a rush to return.”
Sci-Fi Dine-in Theatre Lunch/Dinner
7. Coral Reef Lunch/Dinner
Coral Reef is primarily a seafood restaurant (though there are landlubber and plant-based dishes, too), located in the Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion. It features a large wall that is a view into the impressive aquarium.
Our readers say:
“Overall food (non allergy was awful) was just ok. I expected more from a Disney experience. “
” It was great for the atmosphere, but the food was a letdown. Nice to check it out once, but won’t be back.”
“Not alot of selection and kinda bland”
Coral Reef - Lunch/Dinner
6. Restaurant Marrakesh Lunch/Dinner
Restaurant Marrakesh is Morocco’s table service restaurant. The location itself is stunning, and the restaurant features a belly dancer!
Our readers say:
“The only con for me was the music is quite loud and my party left with a headache. over all the food was alright, but I won’t be returning here anytime soon”
“Very disappointed in quality of food… No spice, no flavor…”
” If it wasn’t for the music and the pleasant service, I’d be looking to give this restaurant a negative number for a rating.”
Restaurant Marrakesh - Lunch/Dinner
5. Nine Dragons Lunch/Dinner
Nine Dragons is China’s full service restaurant. It’s known for its lovely architecture and large portions.
Our readers say:
“We have had better Chinese food from take out restaurants.”
“Very overpriced, average Chinese food.”
“The food isn’t to me any different than Chinese food you can get at most any decent Chinese restaurant, maybe even not as good.”
Nine Dragons - China - Epcot
4. Le Cellier Dinner
Le Cellier is a signature restaurant located in Epcot’s Canada. They are known for their steaks, pretzel bread, and Canadian cheddar cheese soup.
Our readers say:
“This used to be my favorite restaurant. I didn’t mind to pay $60/entree because the food was amazing. Recently, the food was bland, service was poor, and definitely not worth the money.”
“truly not what it used to be and always have to wait up to half an hour longer than the reservation too. On to new favorites.”
“The food here is good but way overpriced”
Le Cellier Lunch/Dinner
3. Crystal Palace Lunch/Dinner
Crystal Palace is character dining with your favorites from the Hundred Acre Wood. It’s buffet style and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Our readers say:
“Buffet that isn’t very good for food. It’s cool to meet Winnie the Pooh characters and that’s why you would come here, there are better buffets.”
“Unless we return with a Pooh lover, I doubt we will ever return.”
“The food was sparse, lukewarm and not a variety of choices. “
Crystal Palace Lunch/Dinner
2. Minnie’s Seasonal Dining at Hollywood and Vine
While the Disney Junior crew shows up at breakfast here, Minnie takes over during lunch and dinner! She hosts a character meal, where the gang is dressed up for the season — such as Halloween, Christmas, or Springtime!
Our readers say:
“Food is extremely subpar and desserts were horrible.”
“The food was plentiful, with many options, it just wasn’t “the best”.”
“Character interaction was fair, we did feel a bit rushed to get our pictures taken so they could move on.”
Minnie's Seasonal Dining at Hollywood and Vine
1. Tony’s Town Square Lunch/Dinner
Tony’s Town Square is an Italian restaurant that gets its name (and decor) from the iconic scene in Lady and the Tramp.
Our readers say:
“This time, the food was atrocious and the service was terrible.”
“This may be the worst restaurant on property. I ordered the chicken parm and ate about half the dish. I could buy better sauce at Walmart. Such a waste of a great location.”
“The food was marginal. Nothing exceptional. I would not return.”
Tony's Town Square Lunch/Dinner
So there you have it! The lowest ranking Table Service meals according to our readers! Do you agree? Did anything surprise you? Let us know in the comments!
Click here to leave your own reviews to help fellow readers out!
I completely disagree with Le Celier and Cinderella’s Table. Le Celiers food was excellent, the chef came over to explain the menu bc we have food allergies in our family. The ambiance was warm and cozy and our waitress was great. We all loved our meal. And Cindys is one of our favorites! We find the dinner to be excellent there year after year and always found the service to be wonderful.. I do agree with Coral reef though- ugh that place was just awful. Dirty, wait staff looked overwhelmed and unpleasant. We ended up leaving bc the experience was so bad.
I’d have to say, being a passholder and weekly visitor for 20+ years, this is pretty accurate. Nobody should think they are getting 5star food: it’s WDW for heavens sake. The quality has definitley gone steadily down, but what gets people the most annoyed is when the service goes with it. That’s been a recent complaint. LeCellier is esp notable since an entree is about $50-60. For that amount it better be an excellent food AND service experience overall. Lately? It’s not.
I like Sci Fi, it’s one of our favorites. The food is pretty good. It’s not 5 star but how many of you are visiting 5 star restaurants every time you go out to eat?
When you’re at Disney you expect more, but you usually get less. I think the reason a lot of Disney eating establishments get higher marks than they deserve is because of the atmosphere. When we go to Disney we eat out a lot. Most of the restaurants are disappointing when it comes to food and/or service. We have a couple of favorites though. Funny thing, our favorite one of all has very little atmosphere (compared to other Disney restaurants). I always ask when someone says a particular Disney restaurant is great, “Would you be a regular diner if it was 10 minutes from your house?”
This list is 90% on the money. I agree with everything except Hollywood & Vine’s Mickey/Minnie seasonal buffet. We went to the Christmas party and it was worth every penny. The chef came out to chat w/ us about gluten free items and he even made my husband something special. The food was so good, I didn’t have room for dessert which never happens. And the character encounters were the best ever in my 45 years of going to Disney. They all came and hugged me, took many pix, and made me feel like a kid again (I’m 55 years old). Best time @ Disney EVER!
I think what this reveals is that the vast majority of WDW food is just average. Not to die for, but not roadkill either. What makes many reviews so bad is that the expectations are so high which makes the reality so disappointing. After all, it’s WDW, the theming is over the top, it’s expensive, you got to have a reservation months in advance, so it must be fantastic. People need to ask themselves, can a theme park (even Disney) operate hundreds of 4 Star restaurants? The answer is no they cannot. I mean entire large cities often don’t even have more than a few 4 Star places, if that.
The issue with this is I’ve noticed there’s general a clear split with all on-line reviews for Disney Restaurants.
Half of the reviews are like I would write them,
“The awesomeness of being in Disney and dealing with amazing Happy Disney people overwhelms any negatives, and the food was good too!”
The other half detail a string of horrible experiences of waiting and mistakes, but eventually indicate it was a party of twenty three, half of which were diabetic, six in scooters, and fifteen with varied food allergies.
Paying the prices in Disney I expect 4 star food weather it’s a hot dog or filet mignonette! You need to get your act together to bring the good up to the rest of Disney Standards!!