With the sheer number of restaurants at WDW, there are bound to be some stinkers in the lot. For the most part, the food is very good, if not great at a few of the upper end places. The 10 listed below, however, are the bottom 10. Many of the counter service places received a pass from me, they are what they are, fast food, and shouldn’t be rated poorly. The ones listed below are just not up to what they should be, and are to be avoided at all costs.

#10: Liberty Inn – Epcot – Ha, fast food! While Liberty Inn is servicable as counter service restaurants, and is actually very nice inside with great seating areas, it still make the list. Granted, when people from around the world think of America, they think fast food, McDonalds, hamburgers, fatties. Does Disney really need to enforce that stereotype? Build a dang nice table service restaurant, it will be packed.

#9: Planet Hollywood – Downtown Disney – Overpriced food surrounded by memorabilia from people no one cares about makes for a bad meal. Despite offering coupons to just about every Disney World visitor, Planet Hollywood is almost always dead, and I foresee a “for rent” sign on the big round eyesore of Downtown Disney.

#8: Rainforest Cafe – Downtown Disney & Animal Kingdom Park – Rainforest is another themed chain with locations at WDW. While the restaurants are busy, the food is expensive and not all that good. The question is, do I really want to eat at a place while at WDW that I can visit at my local mall? I dig the waterfall at the Animal Kingdom location, but there are much better options within a few feet at either location.

#7: California Grill – Contemporary Resort – Long touted as the “crown jewel” of Disney World restaurants, all I hear lately is complaints about the service and food. Granted, the view is to die for, especially during fireworks. Everything else, blah! I have eaten here three times in the last year or so, each visit has either had horrible food or horrible service, or both. Very expensive, but remember, you are paying for the view, don’t expect much else.

#6: Pizzafari – Animal Kingdom Park – Nothing says Africa like Pizza. Rarely open, and that is a good thing. The cool building doesn’t even come close to making up for the poor food. Much better options throughout the park.

#5: Sci-Fi Dine In – Hollywood Studios Park – Where to start. Counter service food (at best) at table service prices. Looping movie that is technically trailers of bad 50’s monster movies that loops every 40 minutes or so, so you get to see it 2 or 3 times during your meal. Just imagine if you worked there and had to see the loop 15 times each shift, I would pull out my hair. Really fun concept (the cars are cool), just poorly done. Stop by for a shake and fried in the afternoon, you will thank me.

#4: Coral Reef – Epcot Park – So much promise, such bad food. The wall looking onto the giant aquarium is cool, but this is the one place that epitomizes the down side of the dining plan. An expensive restaurant, always crowded with dining plan users, why both service good food? They don’t bother.

#3: Tony’s Town Square Restaurant – Magic Kingdom Park – A stretch to call this place Italian. Poor decor, overly loud, it feels like you are eating in an elementary school lunchatorium. I could get by all of this if it weren’t for the food, which is disastrous, to be nice. Strait from the can spaghettios would be more Italian, and better tasting. Eating here, you just get the feeling they are trying to feed you as cheaply and quickly as possible.

#2: Comtempo Cafe – Contemporary Resort – Ok, so a few counter service places made the list. Located right under the monorail (loud) and next to Chef Mickey’s (even louder), this poor excuse from a restaurant offers appalling food, obviously made off site and trucked in, along with no atmosphere and plenty of noise.

#1: San Angel Inn – Epcot Park – Without a doubt, one of the best located restaurants, especially if you can get a table along the waterway of the Grand Fiesta Tour. Romantic as you can imagine. And dark, which is a good thing, as you can’t see the food. San Angel Inn has nothing on Taco Bell when it comes to bland, Americanized Mexican food. Now, I am from the West, where good Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen, and maybe in Orlando, that might not be the case, but that doesn’t mean you have to consume their poor excuse for food and accept it as “authentic”. With all the wonderful options in the World Showcase, go somewhere else, and stop by La Cava del Tequilla for a better experience.

Disagree with my list, or have others you would add? Let me know below:

Disney Top 10 Worst Disney World Restaurants
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12 thoughts on “Disney Top 10 Worst Disney World Restaurants

  • May 19, 2010 at 12:54 pm
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    Restaurant Marrakesh! It is awful. Bad service, bad food and expensive. A shame because I really enjoy Tangerine Cafe. Oh an any counterservice restaurant in the Studios. I have no idea how they manage to take the same counter service food available throughout Disney World and make it all nasty when you hit DHS.

  • May 19, 2010 at 1:03 pm
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    Julie

    I love Tangierine too, best counter service at WDW. My last meal at Marrakesh was ok, food was bland, but the entertainment was good. It is on my list to visit my next trip so I can get an updated opinion.

    I have to agree on the Hollywood Studios counter service, but I didn’t want to pick too much on counter service places. Outside of Epcot, they are all pretty poor.

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  • May 27, 2010 at 9:45 am
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    The only thing that made me curious was your remark that Pizzafari is rarely open. As an Annual Passholder who is in the parks quite frequently over that last 8+ years, I have *never* been there when it was closed!

  • May 27, 2010 at 9:58 am
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    Dawn – I have actually been there several times when it has been closed “seasonally”. Honestly though, since Everest and other areas of the park have opened, I have not seen or heard of it closing, so that status may have changed.

  • May 29, 2010 at 1:02 pm
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    California Grill? Really? I have NEVER had a bad experience there, neither food nor service.

  • May 30, 2010 at 10:32 am
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    I’d replace California Grill with T-Rex at Downtown Disney.

  • September 14, 2010 at 4:17 pm
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    You forgot The Rose & Crown at EPCOT’s UK pavilion. Every entree comes with mashed potatoes — and not your mom’s tasty dish. These are so bland salt and butter can’t rescue them. Maybe it’s just the British food in general, but they can lose this venue and put a bigger Irish Pub and fish ‘n chips stand in its place.

  • September 16, 2010 at 5:55 pm
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    @Stacy: I actually like Rose and Crown. The food isn’t the best, but I love the patio and view, which add to this restaurant. Plus, one of the best places to grab a pint and relax.

  • October 17, 2010 at 5:02 pm
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    I have to agree with Planet Hollywood and The Rainforest Cafe. Both seem to me to try to get you to forget about the poor quality food because of the surroundings. Unfortunately it just doesn’t really work……

  • April 10, 2011 at 7:27 pm
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    Coral Reef and Calif Grill do not belong on this list.
    What are you typically accustomed to eating?

  • April 10, 2011 at 8:16 pm
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    @otto: As mentioned, some of the restaurants are listed because they don’t live up to what they should be. CA Grill should be the best restaurant on property, it isn’t even close. Coral Reef is consistently one of the most panned restaurants on property. It could be really good and really cool, instead, someone decided to cut back on quality and server boring, plain food. Go to see the aquarium, don’t go for the food.

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