What Is The Worst Theme Park Food?
We tally folks' favorite restaurants on the site. But not the worst. Here's your chance to vent about your less-than-spectacular culinary experiences at theme parks.
From Anthony X
Posted August 22, 2002 at 9:43 PM
Don't you love when you spend $6.50 for a cheeseburger and fries and the beef turns out to be smaller than the tomato and the fries are cold?
What is the worst theme park food you have ever had? Please state the park, the restaurant, what you ordered, and why it was bad.
From R G
Posted August 23, 2002 at 12:20 AM
The worst food i've ever had at a theme park was at Knott's Berry Farm at the Bigfoot Grill(or somthing like that).The fries were good,but the burger meat was so soggy that the burger buns were soaked.i didnt even finish it and i was pretty mad i paid $5.50 for this!I dont recomend this place at all!
ANYTHING AT BUSCH GARDENS TAMPA, ITS CHOICE OF FOOD IS POOR THE QUALITY VERY POOR AND THE STAFF SERVING IT VERY VERY POOR, EAT BEFORE YOU GET THEre AND AFTER YOU LEAVE
With the exception of Wolfgang Puck's in Downtown Disney and Mama Rosa in MGM, all pizza in the Orlando are put that disgusting fennel seed on it.
Why would anyone do this? So, now I always ask if the place prepares pizza with fennel seeds.
From Anthony X
Posted August 23, 2002 at 6:41 AM
the worst food i ever had was at six flags great america. the restaurant is mooseburger lodge and the burgers are terrible. they are burnt and are smothered in bbq sauce. stay away from them.
From Mr. D. T.
Posted August 23, 2002 at 7:34 AM
To be honest, I never had ONE Mooseburger the entire time I worked at Great America, but I thought they looked mouth-watering. I never felt like paying $8.
As for the cold food, it depends on what time you eat and the attendancy.
I must agree with the pizza's in Orlando. They taste kind of bland. They have for many years.
From Anthony X
Posted August 23, 2002 at 7:44 AM
the bad burger i had at mooseburger must of been a one time thing. i guess i caught a bad chef that day.
THE ITALIAN PLACE AT BUSCH GARDENS IS THE WORST I HAVE EVER HAD. BUT I GUESS ITALIANS LIKE THAT KIND OF SLOP
in six flags magic mountain they make burned burgers i like the fries but the burgers taste like a fried boot.in hurricane harbor the burgers are good
The worst food ive ever had at a theme park was at SFSTL.We had hamburgers near the front of the park, cant remember the name of the Rest. but they were like hockey pucks and evetnaully threw them away. That is why i always eat at McDonalds from now when im in the park, their food may not be great but alot better than what their in park Rest. feed us!!
Most of the take out window burgers at Knott's are pretty rank, but their other stuff is pretty good.
Magic Mountain food sucks rocks. Cedar Point and Kennywood both have pretty good eats. King's Island is fair to poor.
When Disneyland removed the Monorail Cafe, they killed the best restaurant there.
Magic Mountain hands down. Never once have I had decent food. The burgers are bland, fries and weird, and pizza topped with motor oil. When I ate at the pizza place near Batman, there were ants crawling on the ordering counter as well as the eating tables. I mentioned this to the employee behind the counter but she shrugged. When I went to guest services to complain, I gave them my receipt and they didn't even reimburse it!
Kings Island has the worst food. The only thing good there is LaRosa's pizza...
My son loved the Skyline Chili at King's Island. I had a couple of chili dogs for lunch and that thin chili turned the buns into inedible mush. That chili must be a regional thing, huh?
The worst food ever is at Six Flags St. Luois. Very surprisingly the best food i ever had at a amument park was Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. (I got a burger/fries at burger bar. the name is somthing like that.) Cedar Point food is okay. And Kings ISland food is good. Espcily La Rossa Pizza and some of the food in the action zone.
Anything at Six Flags over GA! It's been years since I have been there, but man, I can still taste the gross food!
If your heading to SFOG, pack a lunch in a cooler, and eat it in your airconditioned car!
Can't say that I have personally had it but I guess my answer would be the bacteria ridden kind.
Salmonella hits up to 141 at Disney. Beware the roma tomatoes!
From Jet Nitro
Posted August 24, 2002 at 7:09 AM
Worst themepark food. Thats simple: Any of the "Theme Park Owned" facilities in the six flags chain. They have never attained high quality yet they still see it as their "God-Given" right to jack up the price year to year. I can only hope Six Flags Corp. will get smart like they have at some of their parks (Magic Mountain for example) and hand off control of ALL their food service facilities to third party(McDonalds, Panda Express,ect..) And another thing..Lets start serving beer in ALL of the parks!!
Actually, one of the places that used to have the best food on Disney Property would rank as the worst now, in my book. The "Mickey's Back Yard Barbeque" used to use the same kitchen as the Hoop-De-Doo Revue and had some great ribs, burgers, hot dogs, etc. However, last year, as the budgets were cut, the people paying $50/head to be entertained got fed by a local grocery store, Publix, who now do all of the catering for Mickey's BBQ and (I shake my head at this) for the Hoop-De-Doo Revue. Oh, great, I just paid a fortune to get something I can buy at the grocery store for $2.50 and get better quality. Terrible experience, and I can't wait for the Dixie Stampede to open up about 1 mile from Disney, so that the mouse can see how a dinner show is supposed to treat guests...
That nasty ass food court at SFMM next to Goliath. I don't know why I was stupid enough to eat there twice, but I did.
The first time I had the pizza. I swear that the pizza that they serve is the Budget Gourmet frozen French bread pizzas (Can you tell I'm a bachelor?) It was all soggy because some genius decided to hold the cooked pizzas in a steamer. They served it with the bagged salad that you get at the grocery store. It was wilted and some of the lettuce was brown. Throw in a refillable souvenir cup, and it came out to like 16 bucks!! Not even worth half of that.
The second (and last) time I ate ther I said, "F**k the pizza! This time I'm gettin' the tacos. They can't be as bad as the pizza." Did I mention anything about me being stupid?
These were elementary school cafeteria tacos!! Nasty! You'd think if they were gonna serve some nasty tasting crap like that, they would at least put it in a fresh taco shell. Nope. Not Magic Mountain. Don't ya just love soggy, chewey taco shells? The meat-if you want to call it that-was friggin nasty! I had to put like 4 packets of taco sauce on each taco just to kill the "flavor". I mean, c'mon we're in Southern Cali where 1 of every 5 people are Mexican. YOU WOULD THINK THEY COULD SERVE SOME DECENT MEXICAN FOOD!! Unlike other parts of the country, Southern Cali has access to ingredients for good Mexican food. BTW Knott's has the best breakfast burritos anywhere (even better than my Grandma's)! Chorizo, eggs, beans, cheese, salsa, guacamole, lettuce. Now that was some real Mexican food! There's nothing more that a Mexican hates than getting served some bad Mexican food...
I have a great treat, if you want it in your park just email me. it's great for fund raisers too! THE WORLDS FIRST AND ONLY GLOW IN THE DARK POPSICLE. JGWOOZ@ONE.NET
Folks visiting the two theme parks in Los Angeles County, Universal Studios Hollywood and Six Flags Magic Mountain, can check online the county's health inspection reports for every food service location at those parks.
The URL is http://lapublichealth.org/rating. You can read my article about the Web site at http://www.latimes.com/la-tech-findit5.story.
Search for "26101 MAGIC MOUNTAIN" (no quotes) in the "Street Name" field to get the inspection reports for all the food service locations at Magic Mountain. (Hint: Avoid the Mooseburger Lodge, folks!)
Search for "100 UNIVERSAL CITY" (again, no quotes) in the "Street Name" field for Universal Studios Hollywood. Search "1000 UNIVERSAL CENTER" for CityWalk. USH's health inspection record is actually pretty impressive, with many locations scoring a perfect 100 on their most recent inspection.
If anyone knows of another local government that's put its food inspection reports online like this, please let us know.
No Doubt the absolute worst park food is at Hershey Park. The rides were great but the food was awful.
We should fax this list to Six Flags. Their name keeps popping up as the worst food nearly everywhere.
From Anonymous
Posted August 26, 2002 at 8:27 AM
The worst fries were at the Dino Cafe at IOA. There was so much salt, you couldn't find the fries. It's one of the few times I've returned food and made them do it over.
From Anonymous
Posted August 31, 2002 at 1:51 PM
ANY food at ANY Six Flags park! Undercooked and WAY overpriced!
Well, I dont tend to eat too much at parks but all the places I've been to have had really good food. At Cedar Point, I have never had a bad experience with the food and at Dollywood some of the restaurants are buffets so its really convienent! Anyways, I would have to say, if anything, pizza at most parks are waaaaaaay too greasy for me!
From Jet Nitro
Posted September 1, 2002 at 7:34 AM
The thing im discovering from this small informal poll is that the smaller parks and chains(cedar point,dollywood) have the better food for the fact they make it themselves. Whereas, with the six flags chain, most of their sutff comes preprepaired from a master kitchen and is simply reheated.
Not quite food but.... had a rather poor Cappuccino at Alton Towers (Corner Cofee). Needless to say I took it back and was given another, acceptable (though not great) one.
Blackpool Pleasure Beach,
Over rated, over price and Disgusting!!!
From Anne Evans
Posted September 2, 2002 at 10:37 AM
The American Adventure, England.
I'm sure there's a better way to get rid of toxic waste than to put in the food.
Oh I definetly have to say Six Flags Magic Mountain's Mooseburger Lodge. The burgers were burnt to a crisp, and it was completely DROWNING in BBQ sauce. I had to pay almost $12 for a hamburger fries and a drink...with no refills!
From Keiko Smi
Posted September 2, 2002 at 3:19 PM
SEA WORLD SAN DIEGO
No VARIETY SAME THING EVERY WHERE, yuck yuck, nearly starved
SFGA New Jersey is not know for it's food, and SFGA is no exception. They are trying to bring in outside resaurants into the park because their own food sucks. Then when the outside restaurants come in, they see the competition, and lower the bar to the level of the traditional fare. Ooooo let's have a plate with two pieces of generals tso's chicken and a half a spoonfull of rice for $8.00 plus $2.50 for a souvenier refil. Bring your checkbook and unlimited balance credit cards!
From Mr. D. T.
Posted September 12, 2002 at 11:36 AM
I agree that Six Flags refills are an obscene rip-off. If you need a drink, I might as well recommend water. Tap water. Especially on the hot days.
WDW and Universal have their ups and downs. Most of the pizzas at WDW don't come out so satisfying (Louie's at USF was OK). I thought the foot-long hot dogs are nearly the same quality as most theme parks. I thought the popcorn was off-the-shelf quality.
I know a lot of places in in the Orlando area with ... as Pumbaa may say -- "Slimy, yet Satisfying" food: 50's Prime Time cafe, Brown Derby, Margaritaville (not with the long wait), NBA City ([slurps] they got great shakes! lol) Le Cellier Cabin .. or Steakhouse, the stand across the Boardwalk, the pizza parlor at Portofino Bay, Japan, the major restaurant at the Yacht Club.
Of course, I have a small list of merely marginal food amd fast-food places like Pizzafari, Restaurantosaurus, Spoodles, the McDonald's stand in World Showcase (?), Popcorn stands, the usual hot dog stands (ok for a small meal), Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, Wimpy's, and Beverly Hills Boulangerie (I spotted several stickers with the old 'Universal Studios' logo).
It really doesn't matter where you go to eat. It depends on how much you need in your system, and what you feel like for lunch or dinner. Still, I wouldn't recommend a sensational chocolate dessert after eating a huge dinner, or you might not feel so good! lol
Don't forget to say grace ... with your whole heart. :)
From Anonymous
Posted May 27, 2003 at 4:39 PM
Well, one person said "It tasted like a fried boot", or something like that, and I felt that it was my duty to inform them that the Goo Goo Dolls Deep-Fried a boot once. So it was YOU who took the boot, eh? I wanted to see it...
No theme park food is good theme park food. With the exception of Coney Island (heck, I basicly have Nathan's once a week, and I eat from the one at Coney Island twice a year), I hate theme park food. I usually force myself to eat it, but when I was eating at Downtown Disney's Wolfgang
F**k, I swore to myself to never eat there again. I'd rather bring my own food.
Blackpool, Pleasure Beach in the UK. Tatty, over-priced food and cafe's. Fast food which has been standing and greasy, not to be touched.
I'm going to say certain parts of Disneyland. I agree that food sucks just about everywhere at many parks but at Disney... I don't know. I guess I expected better. I mean, it's DISNEY! I should have a reasonable expectation for a higher attention to detail and customer satisfaction. ...or so I thought.
Corn dogs - I remember these at the cafe that faced the submarine ride. Those were never good, and rarely warmer than room temperature.
Hamburgers - I thought I liked the Grizzly Bear Lodge in Bear Country ( back when it was called that ) but since it became Critter Country I noticed the burgers were no different than those sub-standard burgers that public schools fed us when we were kids. They're even ice cold. Been there four times since and they haven't been tolerable since. I keep hoping one day they will change.
Pizza - Buzz Lightyear's. It's like those bargain "Two for $5" pizzas at Albertson's. Blech. They're supposed to be a higher quality pizza but it sure doesn't taste like it. Leave the park and go find a national chain of pizza restuarants to see it done right. Even that crap at Chuck E. Cheese is better.
Cappucino - New Orleans Square. I didn't expect it to be Starbucks but... I didn't expect it to be worse that from a vending machine either.
Some of you might think I'm being a whiner. Let me say something good.
Dole Pineapple booth at Tiki room? One of the reasons I even go in the park. The Bengal Terrace? Ditto.
From Anonymous
Posted June 24, 2003 at 6:52 PM
Hmm,
I didn't enjoy the Pizza Vector at SF Magic Mountain very much. And the Panda Express food was OK, but the tables were you eat were in bad shape and the food was HORRIBLY overpriced. The rest of the food was OK I guess, not great, but OK, very overpriced though. Never eaten at Mooseburger though...
Knott's has OK food, not great, but pretty good. The service at those takeout windows kinda sucks.
I found Disneylands food to be pretty good, lol. I guess I really can't comment on theme park food TOO much because I tend to prefer to eat light at parks.
And to the person who suggested serving beer at Six Flags. Good god, Beer + Six Flags Guests = Disaster. Not that I'm dissing Six Flags parks, there the ones I've been to most, but it's not like the guests aren't very rowdy already :-/
Bush Gardens Tampa Bay. Their Food Sucks.
From Anonymous
Posted August 2, 2003 at 1:51 PM
A lot of people blasted Disney for allowing commercial restaurants to operate in their parks, but it's become painfully obvious that most theme parks have failed miserably at feeding their customers.
I, like practically everyone else here, have some truly HORRID memories of park food(specifically Six Flags parks. Funny how their name keep being mentioned!).
The simple fact is: people want access to food(ok, JUNK food) when they attend an amusement park, and if places like McDonalds & Taco Bell can do a superior,lower priced job, then so be it.
From Anonymous
Posted August 3, 2003 at 10:46 AM
With even more belt tightening going on in the world you can rest assure that the quality of all foods in theme parks will be go down.
BUT, the costs of the meals will go up, up, up. Makes no bleeding sense to me. How do you expect to make money if no one buys your food?
When people come up to me and ask where should I eat, i point them outside of the park and go somewhere across the street. You get bigger portions at half the price.
From Mr. D. T.
Posted August 3, 2003 at 1:45 PM
Add that to the fact that most of the food or drinks purchased at theme parks you can find DIRECTLY off the shelf.
I purchased food and drinks at Disney or Universal, but I NEVER purchase food OR drinks at Six Flags. (OK OK so I did in the past.) Simple: I haven't found the need to.
From Mr. D. T.
Posted August 10, 2003 at 4:51 PM
Oh, the agony! Now I'd hate to see customers complain to me about not-so-good food at GrAm. Now that I'm returning there for labor at the foods department as a host. I strongly agree with the complaints about the not-so-good stuff suckin' up money out of millions of wallets.
I just want the customers to receive their money's worth.
Sometimes I'd like my stuff overcooked. I don't know about some of the guests I'm about to encounter in my upcoming job.
I have no problem with the Hormel foot-longs. If I see any suspicious activity in the food, I'm not gonna take any chances. I'd throw it away in a flash.
This time I'll keep my mouth from shouting "Herz yer beef'n chedder on'a dry bun."
Now if I can straighten things out with my other job because I plan on keeping it for the winter.
From Anonymous
Posted September 24, 2003 at 5:03 PM
Six Flags obviously has the worst theme park food. At Six Flags New England I waited an hour and a half for two slices of dismal, cold pieces of pizza at which I was charged $6.50!
From Mr. D. T.
Posted September 24, 2003 at 9:27 PM
An hour and a half?????? That sure don't sound like the Six Flags I know! In that case, I'd say "Go somewhere else!" Lines stretch up to 20 minutes at the most for pizza at my Six Flags park.
In addition, many Six Flags foods come directly off the frozen section. I don't want to give it away, but the good-looking dumplings at Mooseburger come from a box that looks as if you can find it at a nearby Albertson's (or whatever chain).
Foot long hot dogs: shipped from the Hormel Factory, Austin, MN. (I don't remember seeing it on the shelf.)
Bratwurst: Klements, Milwaukee, WI
I'd feel better if theme parks made their own kind of food that you can't easily find, like something unique. Funnel cakes, for example... (It's a good thing Six Flags has a place where they make their OWN pizza, for a change.)
anything from six flags
I cant remember the worst food, but the best is PCW's funnel cakes, and the Wendy's, McDonalds, Tim Hortons, and Quiznos across the street are all good too...not to metion alot cheaper.
From John K
Posted June 23, 2004 at 4:13 PM
old story, but lert me tell you at magic mountain, the food you get is better than what us, employees, get. When I go there as a guest, the hamburger is med-rare, not too greasy. However, employees cannot eat at those places/concession stands. We have our employee cafeteria, which serves dried-up french fries, sloppy hamburgers,burned chicken strips, and burned lasagnas...all that said, now enjoy what they give you
The secret is to go the Mooseburger Lodge when the Restruant isnt crowded. I guess the cooks just start tossing burgers on the grill and forget about them. Ive only had one bad time at the mooseburger.
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