When we visit Disney World, we’re usually inundated with nothing but truly magical experiences.
HOWEVER, there are times when things don’t quite go according to plan. Rides close, things malfunction, and yes, sometimes even restaurants disappoint us. But when we asked our readers for their most HORRIFYING stories from Disney World restaurants, we maybe got more than we bargained for.
Here are 10 of the worst Disney World restaurant stories DFB readers shared with us on Facebook.
Raw Chicken?!?!
Erin answered: “Definitely the time we went to Rays Cosmic Cafe and there was raw chicken on my salad. I had started eating the salad before realizing. It was the first day of our trip, and I’m grateful to this day that I didn’t get food poisoning!”
Raw chicken? EW! Starting to eat it before realizing it? Double ew! 🤢
A Scary Server
DFB Beka answered: “Cinderella’s Royal Table – We went last year for our first trip to Disneyworld. I was so excited for this dining experience. Our server was awful and ruined the whole experience. His demeanor seemed almost angry and he kind of threw the plates and silverware at the table when serving. He was unfriendly, never smiled even once, and was generally unpleasant. I almost felt like we had done something wrong to deserve such treatment. You never know what someone is going through so maybe he was just having a bad day, but I can’t imagine that someone could keep that job very long with an attitude like that. It is too expensive a dining experience for it to be that deeply unpleasant. We didn’t mention it to anyone at the time because I would not have wanted the server to get in trouble, but it was very frustrating to say the least.”
We like that Beka even acknowledged that Cast Members can sometimes just have bad days, but this still sounds like a really REALLY off day.
When Someone Just Poos All Over Your Day…and The Wall
We’ve got another story from Cinderella’s Royal Table, and we will warn you ahead of time: this one is NOT for the faint of heart. Nikki told us: “Cinderella’s Castle….my boy who is now 10 was under a year old. He was fussy. He had a blowout and poop went all over the wall! It was so embarrassing. Had to throw his clothes away. Luckily we had pj’s in the diaper bag.”
Okay, so we can’t control what happens with kids, and these things happen, but GROSS.
The Dark Is Scary For Young ‘Uns
According to one reader, Stephanie, a dark restaurant left her little one scared. She said, “Be our guest. Horrible seats, my kids were afraid of the dark and hated it, then I got the wrong meal and my kids ordered chicken with a side of Mac and cheese and fries and got Mac and cheese for their entree and both sides.”
We get it — restaurants that are dark inside could be off-putting for smaller children.
Other Guests Ruining The Experience
Sometimes the problem isn’t the service or what YOU do, but what other guests do. John answered: “Le Cellier. My wife and I were sat next to a table of four. Although well dressed, I swear they’ve never been in a restaurant. The woman kept sending her salmon back because ‘it was pink in the middle’. ?????? Salmon is pink all the way through. But that wasn’t even the worse part. Her late teen sons were blowing their noses while at tye table, and throwing the used kleenex on the floor under the table. I love the steak at Le Cellier, but we haven’t been back since.”
That does sound like a problem we’d rather NOT have while dining!
Watch Out For The Flood!
Meredith shared a story about a bathroom incident: “Sci-Fi. My 11 y/o really needed to pee and the bathroom was flooded and flooding into the hallway. They told us the nearest bathroom in the park but our food was already at the table so she held it. It was fun otherwise!”
Okay, that’s not necessarily a good thing to happen inside a restaurant! But tip: If you or your kid really have to go and that happens, just leave the restaurant and find the closest bathroom outside the restaurant — we get they didn’t want to do that at the time, though!
Waiter, There’s A Hair In My Dessert
Melissa told us: “Had the coconut bar dessert at Skipper Canteen and after taking a bite, I turned it to give to my bf to try only to find a thick short hair on it, like long facial hair lol. My server took it off the check after I whispered to him it was on there, it might of been his beard but hey.. sh happens lol.”
At least, Melissa didn’t seem TOO upset about it. Things DO happen, and when they do, you can usually just bring it up to your server and they’ll take care of it.
The Dysentery Tavern
Alina shared two stories with us, but this is the one that stuck with us (and not in a good way): “We have two: One was our first trip when we didn’t know about making reservations and ended up eating at Liberty Tree Tavern. We all got food poisoning and lovingly refer to it now as The Dysentery Tavern (7 years ago).”
Wow. Just WOW.
No Seating Available
Barry said, “Using the top of a trash can for at table at Caseys Corner.”
Okay, we admit that this story hit home because when things get busy at Disney Parks, it’s sometimes hard to find a place to actually sit and eat. And we’ve eaten on the top of trash cans MORE often than we would like.
The Restaurant That Wanted Guests To Freeze To Death
Lori told a story about a restaurant in Animal Kingdom: “This was my bad experience at a Disney restaurant, and I’ve only had one! Yak & Yeti was a spot we were really looking forward to, but it went downhill fast! We were seated for dinner in the upstairs area. Okay, so not the greatest decor, which is part of the appeal. But the problem was the temperature! It must have been 40 degrees up there! I had a sweatshirt with me for air conditioning, because I tend to chill, but the sweatshirt didn’t help with the cold! I had napkins wrapped around my hands because they were freezing! I ate dinner as fast as I could, and I don’t even remember what I ate. I just wanted to get out of there! As soon as I was finished, I ran outside and sat in the sun to warm up. I was shivering in the sun! It was that ridiculous! I’ll probably give the restaurant another chance, because I really don’t remember what the food was like, but next time I’ll check the temperature in the seating area before i commit! “
Yes, sometimes Disney gets a little EXTRA with that Florida air conditioning, especially in the summer. It’s hard to enjoy a meal when you feel like you’re dining inside Elsa’s ice castle.
We got SO many comments and feedback on this one, and most of the stories weren’t quite as extreme as these, but it is a good reminder that sometimes things aren’t always as magical as we want them to be while on vacation in Disney World. So the best thing you can do in such a situation is if there is a problem with your food or service, calmly bring it up to a Cast Member or supervisor. When other things outside of Disney’s control happen, though, you just have to sort of grin, bear it, and try to find the humor in it.
We’ve got a great resource for you when you plan your NEXT Disney World trip – our DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining. We wrote our ebook after decades of visiting Disney World, so that we could help you have a stress-free vacation! Click here and use code WDW2023 to get 25% off!
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Do you have a Disney World restaurant horror story? Share it in the comments!
Lloyd says
Had a bad batch of mussels at Le Cellar, became violently ill. Have never gone back. In all reality the “sit down restaurants have lost there draw. Food is no better than you get in your home area or make at home and given the pricing it’s not as good.
Take out is also over priced but it does live up to expectations.
Karen L Leafe says
Years ago we ate at the Sci-fi. We sat in one of the car tables. We were having fun, enjoying the decor and watching the “movie”. Well we saw it many times. No one ever came to take our order. Finally someone asked if we wanted to order dessert. We hadn’t ordered any food yet! That meal took us way longer than we planned.