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| through this arch is the legit dining room |
Take a potty break and grab a snack people. This will be a long one.
Never thought I would be saying i had a really crappy meal at Disney____anything. Just typing it makes me sad. But- I do think there is distinct difference in level of castmember service at WDW vs the DL due in part to the crowd demographics and "vactioners" vs. local crowd. Sadly, a perfect example of this was my recent dinner at Cafe Orleans with Hubs. If you love Disney and don't like to hear negative things about it, cover your ears or move away from this page immediately. I have lots of negativity to impart.
So, Hubs and I are regulars at the WDW in Flo-rida. Disneyland, not so much. Right now we are on pace for once every 7-10 years or so. So we have this conference in LA and decide to fly in early to go to Anaheim. Super excited for Carsland etc. As soon as possible we got reservations for Cafe Orleans with big plans for the Monte Cristo and some beignets. Cafe Orleans generally has raves from diners--and why should we be different?
Day Two a cold front arrives. Cafe Orleans has no heaters on its extensive patio. Consequently, it was a little chilly once the sun went down. upon check in at Cafe Orleans we say we'd like indoors please. We wait for like 15 minutes and get called for our table. Hostess takes us immediately inside the door to the restaurant and a service station and seats us at a super unglorious table by the outside door that is wide open. Technically, yes, we are seated inside, but seriously? I didn't want to be a dick so I didn't say anything and just sat. We had a view of the hostess stand out the door and the waitstaff station inside the door. nothing else. We weren't even technically inside the restaurant. You could tell that this used to be the wait area where the hostess stand had been at one point but it got cleared out for 4 extra tables. At the end of this foyer was the real entry and doorway to the indoor dining room.
We sit and sit and sit. One of my pet peeves is no one at least bringing you water so already this was not going well, table aside. Per Hubs, the waiter popped his head out, looked at his one table of 8 and then his table of 2 (us) and went for the table of 8 first. 10 minutes later he finally cruised over with drink order and a lame "oh sorry I'm so busy". We order and he goes away. Hubs had asked if we could get a basket or bread or something while we wait. Waiter-man looks really confused by this. I guess no one ever asks for bread? He does however offer us the option of ordering a basket of french fries. Um, no thanks.
Iced tea arrives. Full to brim and not one hint of an ice cube. On top of that it was dark brown and just looked nasty. My man didn't even get it off the tray before I told him to get some ice and come back. It wasn't even my tea. I ordered a latte and apparently they had to go to Starbucks to get it and bring it back based on the amount of time it took to get it to the table.
I ordered some fall chicken stew thing--actually can't recall, and Hubs did in fact get the Monte Cristo. But not before the Waiter stops by and proudly offer us the "bread" he has procurred. A small plate of 4 melba toastish garnish for the onion soup. Whatever. He was bummed we were not as excited as he was.
The disappointment continued when entrees arrived and the MonteCristo sandwich, a deep fried and therefore, traditionally HOT sandwich, arrived luke warm. As in marginally warm outsides and cool to the touch cheese and meat insides. I was warned not to touch my plate b/c it was so hot. That extended only to the plate though. My stew was also only moderately warm. Overall tasty but too much smokey flavor. it was like the DL kitchens had just gotten a new indoor smoker and everything that came out of the kitchen was getting smoked. It was overkill. My meal the previous night at Carthay Circle was also uber smokey. Back to the shrimp . . . it was ok but I didn't eat even half and neither did Hubs. His biggest food pet peeve is definitely non hot food. My man likes his food HOT right out of the oven. And really, are you going to serve a deep fried sandwich that is cold? How does that even work? It makes me think they make them ahead of time and just refry or microwave or something. Whatever they are doing IT IS NOT WORKING and must be stopped immediately.
By this point the waiter sensed how pissed off I was getting and just stayed away from us for the most part. No one got a drink refill or anything. He was gone. Eventually he came by to ask if we wanted the check--clearly we would not be interested in dessert. When he brought the check he dropped off some consolation birthday beignets shaped like Mickey heads, and HOT. Good to know that they can really make hot food there. The beignets were far and away the best part of that meal.
And thus we ended our trip to Disneyland on a low note the likes of which i have never experienced at a Disney anything. Way to go Cafe Orleans. You get a 2 and a big fat NOT recommended.
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| sad table right inside the door |
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| looks good! but its cold. gross! and wait- what is on the side there? is it BREAD? |
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| best and hottest part of the meal |
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