Buster and the Banshee are BACK with another edition of Overrated/Underrated. Today, we are going to talk about the WDW table service restaurants that we consider to be overrated. As with all of our overrated selections, this doesn’t mean that the restaurant is bad. It just means that we don’t believe they are worth the hype that they often get.
We fully admit that some of our choices might be among people’s favorites. That’s perfectly fine. This just represents our opinions – nothing more, nothing less. If you don’t agree with our choices, feel free to leave us a comment and let us know why you are right and we are wrong.
If you are interested, you can go here to see what we think the most underrated table service restaurants are. While you are at it, feel free to leave us a comment there and tell us why those choices are also wrong!
MAGIC KINGDOM: Be Our Guest
This choice was the biggest no-brainer in the history of no-brainers. When you combine “hard to get a reservation”, “overpriced”, and “below average food”, you have the perfect storm of overrated-ness!
Disney has this habit of offering only a prix fix menu at its most popular restaurants, which immediately biases us against it. This usually forces you to purchase and appetizer, entree, and dessert even if you don’t want that much food. That takes away your option to make a meal of multiple appetizers, or skip dessert, or only get a dessert, or whatever. I understand why Disney does this at popular places like Be Our Guest… money. But that doesn’t make it any less annoying.
Even if you get past the whole prix fix menu thing, the meal itself just isn’t a great value. You are paying $67 per person for adults which is a lot for a non-character meal. Therefore, I would expect to get a really good dining experience. However, the food is on par with a catered wedding meal. My guess is that, because of the limited menu, they just continuous churn out plates, stick them under a heat lamp, and the servers just grab what they need when they need it. The experience feels like it is an assembly line just to turn over tables as quickly as possible to get the next $67 per person party seated.
I’ve heard people say how this restaurant is more about dining in Beast’s castle and less about the food. However, I will point to the Grand Ballroom to counter this argument. Honestly, it felt like a cafeteria to me, albeit a nicely themed one. It was just one big loud open space with lines of tables as far as the eye can see. This is the largest of the dining spaces, so you will most likely end up here!
Finally, despite the price, this is not character dining. You used to at least be able to get your picture with Beast after the meal. However, now all you have is Beast walking through the dining room waving. No character interaction whatsoever.
Even with all of these flaws, this restaurant continues to be super popular and likely to be booked 60 days out. I don’t get it!
EPCOT: San Angel Inn
We considered selecting Space 220 as Epcot’s representative in the overrated list. However, since we haven’t eaten here personally, we didn’t think it was fair to base our decision on hearsay. Therefore, we went with San Angel Inn.
The main draw of this restaurant is the unique setting. You feel like you are dining in an open air market at night with a volcano and ancient pyramid in the distance. You also get to watch boats from the Gran Fiesta Tour meandering by while you are dining, which is kind of neat.
Beyond that, there is not much going for this place. The tables are literally on top of each other, so it feels extremely claustrophobic. By the end of the meal, you’re likely to be best friends with your neighbors.
The food itself really isn’t anything to write home about. Perhaps when it opened and Mexican cuisine in the US consisted of tacos and such, a place like San Angel Inn would have been considered refreshing. However, with authentic Mexican food now commonly available, it feels like a more typical Mexican restaurant. Don’t get me wrong… the food here is decent. However, it is nothing really that special.
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS: Sci-Fi Dine In Theater
It is crazy to me that reservations are nearly impossible to get at this restaurant. I get that dining at a “car table” while watching cheesy old movies is kind of a novelty. But is it really so good that it is the hardest table to get in all of Hollywood Studios?
Honestly, I am not a huge fan of the car tables for a party larger than two. Each car has three rows of two, so if you have a party of, say, four, you’ll be split into multiple rows. Because you aren’t facing each other, that means that it is very difficult to have any sort of conversation with the other part of your group. I suppose that could be considered a “feature” rather than a “bug” by some.
Beyond the ambience, the food itself is average at best. The menu consists of your standard array of burgers, shakes, and other fried delights. None of it is anything special, certainly not worth the price and not worth the effort to get a reservation. If you are looking for a good burger, there are much better ones on property for less money. If you truly want to replicate the full Sci-Fi experience, get some burgers from D-Luxe burger and eat them in your car while watching classic monster movies on your phone.
RESORTS: Chef Mickey’s
Chef Mickey’s is always a tough reservation to snag, but I don’t think it lives up to its reputation. This is especially true when you compare it head-to-head with Tusker House.
Both Chef’s Mickey’s and Tusker House give you an opportunity to meet members of the “Fab 5” in various combinations. However, not only is Tusker House less expensive, but the food is definitely a step up from the basic buffet that you’ll find at Chef Mickey’s. Tusker House’s menu is African inspired, so it is a nice break from the standard theme park cuisine. Plus, there is still enough “standard” items for picky eaters.
Some people might be turned off by the impression that Tusker House is too “exotic”. However, there isn’t anything there that would consider to be too spicy or unapproachable.
It certainly doesn’t hurt that Tusker House is cheaper than Chef Mickey’s!
I do admit that it is pretty cool to be sitting in Chef Mickey’s while the monorail rumbles by. However, you can get the same vibe sitting at the Contempo Cafe next door without the price tag!
RESORTS: Beaches and Cream
This is another tough to get reservation that doesn’t live up to the hype. It’s basically an ice cream parlor with some sandwiches and burgers. None of the food is anything special. I feel like you can get much better ice cream, much better burgers at other locations without having to snag a reservation 60 days out at 6am.
Sure, the “Kitchen Sink” is pretty cool. Who doesn’t like multiple scoops of ice cream with every topping known to mankind served in a literal kitchen sink? But at the end of the day, the ice cream – while plentiful – is just average.
Wrap Up
You might be asking, “What about Animal Kingdom?” Honestly, there wasn’t anything there that we thought was overrated. Tiffins, Tusker House, and Yak & Yeti certain aren’t. We thought about putting Rainforest Cafe in the list. However, I don’t think it has a high enough reputation that it would be considered to be overrated. Therefore, there was nothing for us to choose from.
So now that you have read our selections, what do you think? Do you agree with our choices? Are we off our rockers? Let us know what you think in the comments!
AD: We hope you enjoyed this post. If you are coming to Central Florida and need a place to stay, please consider the Encore Magic Villa. It sleeps up to 12 and features a game room, theater room, themed bedrooms, and private pool… located within a short drive of the Magic!
If you enjoy this site and want to support us, please consider shopping on Amazon using our affiliate link. There is no additional cost to you, and it helps defray the cost of running this site.
If you really like us, please consider supporting us on Patreon for only $2/month. As a supporter, you get access to our growing library of trip planning infographics!
