Dining Review: The Brown Derby for Dinner (Worst Dining Experience to Date)

I'd been to the Brown Derby once before for lunch.  It was a very nice experience with good food and good service.  It was basically what you would expect from a signature dining experience at Disney World.

On my current trip we decided to try The Brown Derby for dinner.  We were really looking forward to considering our previous experience with the Derby.  In truth we were in for an exceptional experience that we will never forget.

We had an ADR for 6:25. My wife really wasn't feeling well so I asked if we could postpone our ADR.  The girl at the check in counter had no problem with it and said she'd put our ADR on hold. I actually thought this would work to our advantage because the first showing of Fantasmic was at 7:30 and I expected the place to empty out a little.  I had no idea what kind of impact would result from this decision.

At 7:10 my wife was feeling better so we headed over and got seated by 7:15.  Within a couple of minutes our server came over and introduced himself and took our soft drink orders.  At around 7:20 he came back and took our app orders.  At this point I got an odd feeling.  Something seemed off.  He was not following the old cookie cutter Disney dining process.  Instead of waiting and combining our drink (alcohol not soft drink), app, and main course order, he broke this up.  We ended up ordering our alcohol order with our main course.  This caused issues later.

about five minutes later he comes back to get our main course order and get our alcohol order.  Around 7:30 we get our Cobb Salads but no drinks.  A few minutes later the drinks come.  Overall things are a little slow and confused at this point but we were in no rush. Before asking if we need anything else he takes off and ignores our empty soda glasses.

Forty minutes (thirty minutes after going dry) after the start of our meal we get a drink refill. At least that's what it was supposed to be.  My wife got a Sprite (correct). I got an iced tea (no one at our table was drinking iced tea.  I was drinking Sprite).  My niece got what appeared to be water (correct).  My niece proceeds to take a sip of her water and nearly spits it across the table.  Her water was not water but a Sprite.

At this point our waiter's fast pass for Toy Story must have been up because he disappears for thirty five minutes.  I am not kidding THIRTY FIVE MINUTES.  That means it took one hour and fifteen minutes to get our main course.  Our waiter mumbled something that none of us could make out and then took off.

I take a bite of my lamb...it's hardly even warm.  I try the potatoes...less warm.  I try the green beans...cold.  My wife and nieces food...cold.  By the consistency of the sauce on my lamb I estimate it sat under a heating lamp for a very, very long time.

I sit there for five minutes with my hands in my lap before our waiter appears, looks at us, says nothing, and then runs away.

At this point I feel my blood pressure rising.

At the one hour and twenty minute mark he checks with the table next to us, looks at us,  makes eye contact with my niece and then starts to run away.  My niece bursts out laughing.  This causes him to stop, look back, and then continue his retreat.

At the one hour and twenty five minute mark he reappears.  Takes my wife and niece's plate.  Comes to me and asks if I am done.  I have a full plate of cold food that I have hardly touched since it arrived.  Wouldn't you think you should ask if the food is okay? I let him take the food.  I am in such shock my mind starts to shut down.

At the one hour and thirty minute mark he reappears with some desert menus and vanishes.

He reappears a couple of minutes later to take our desert order.  Order all of our deserts to go.

He shows up with the deserts and bill at at the one hour and forty minute mark.  At this point my wife offers to take care of the rest because she can tell that if I stay in my seat any longer I'm going to kill and eat the waiter so I can eat something warm.

My wife and niece finally escape the Brown Derby after a total of one hour and fifty minutes.

In the meantime I head right to guest relations.  After forty plus dining experiences in WDW I am making my first trip to guest relations to lodge a complaint.  I've never gone to guest services to complain about anything before.  This dining experience was so outstanding bad I could not sit back and let it go.  Normally I would simply write up a bad review and be done with it.  This was so bad it needed more.

I didn't ask for a refund or anything like that. I kept a cool head and tried not to laugh at the absurdity of what just took place as I relayed the details to college program cast member from Virgina Tech who took notes.

I wish this experience ended at that.  Yes there is more.  When I got back to my room I went to have desert.  I had a piece of grape fruit upside down cake.  Yes our waiter dumped my slice of cake into the box perfectly upside down.

I don't know what it was about us that so offended this waiter.  I do know that his kind service earned a 10% tip on a $240 bill.  We normally would have tipped 25% on a bill of that size.  Now some people would wonder why we didn't just blow him off.  Both my wife and I have working in the food service industry.  We always leave some kind of tip.  Maybe he was just  having a really bad day and our stiffing him a tip would cause him to take it out on another table.  Granted he should be more professional than that but he had already proved that he was not capable of being professional.

Final Note:  Just to drive home how bad this experience was - I took the time out of my vacation to write this review.  It was so bad I could not wait.

Failed Disney Slogans

Sometimes the things we never got to experience are the most entertaining things. As an example I’m exposing some of the failed slogans from around Disney World (this is a factious post).


“Get Crabs at Fulton’s!” – A slogan for Fulton’s Crab House that never saw the light of day.



“We Have Mice in the Kitchen!” – A short lived slogan for Chef Mickey’s



“Now With Free Barf Bags!” – Sign out front of Mission Space.



“You’ll Wish You Escaped!” – Ad for Stitch’s Great Escape. Was honored with a national award for truth in advertising.



“Yak With a Yeti” – Awful slogan for Yak and Yeti. It was slammed as it was deemed to be pro-bulimia.



“It’s Fun to Beat Your Kids” – Ad for Toy Story Midway Mania



“Dogs Love Our Food” – Slogan for Tony’s Town Square Restaurant.



“Play with Pooh” – Radio ad for Pooh’s Playful Spot. Was pulled because people couldn’t see the spelling and didn’t understand the context.



“Launch Your Lunch!” – Poorly thought out slogan for The Lunching Pad.



“Your Food Should be Brown” – Slogan for the Brown Derby.

Photo of the Week - The Brown Derby

Disney doesn't use neon signs very. The Hollywood Brown Derby is an exception. DHS isn't open as late as some of the other parks but when you are there after dark it has some amazing sites. Most people are too distracted by the Tower of Terror or the hat and they miss this sign.

Dining Review: The Hollywood Brown Derby

The Brown Derby is the best restaurant you’ll find in a theme park. There I said it. There are so many good things about the Brown Derby it’s hard to list them all but I’ll try.

Food: The food is great. The Cobb Salad is a must eat. You can order it as an app that two people can split or as an entrée even though it’s only listed as an app. It’s one of the best salads I’ve ever had. Both my wife and I ordered it and we both loved it even though our tastes often differ.

Another great thing about the food at the Brown Derby is the deserts. They are amazing. I ordered the Grape Fruit cake. Some people might be turned off by the name but it is a great desert. It’s not too sweet and it’s not too tart. It’s a great end to any meal. My wife ordered the Banana White Chocolate Toffee Tower. It’s hard to describe how good that desert is. It’s unique. I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else. My wife does not like banana flavored things but she tried it anyways. She loved it.

Service: The service was great. Our server was Kimberly from West Palm Beach. She was great. We couldn’t fluster her. I didn’t mean to but I forgot to ask for no blue cheese on my salad. She ran out back and had the order changed. She also stayed pleasant even though we both ordered water and ordered an app for an entrée. We weren’t trying to be cheap it’s just what we wanted. She was always upbeat and responsive.

Atmosphere: The Brown Derby is the best themed of any Disney restaurant. People might laugh at me and say it’s poorly themed. Those people are idiots. People overlook it’s theme because it’s in DHS. If you took the Brown Derby out of DHS people would say it has a great theme. It fits so perfectly into the Hollywood theme of DHS that people tend to overlook it. When you walk into the Brown Derby you are walking into Hollywood.

Price: A lot of people say that the Brown Derby is expensive. They are right but you’ll spend about the same amount if you eat at Le Cellier. Overall I think it’s a little over priced but when you consider it’s located in a theme park you realize it’s about on par for what they are serving.

Overall the Brown Derby is a great restaurant that everyone should try at least once.

Coming Soon to CMDTA!

My WDW trip is fast approaching. All the plans are set. I have my resort, ADRs, airfare, tickets, and a spouse who is mostly willing to go with me.

So what’s on the hit list? Here are the reviews / posts that will be coming:

The Brown Derby: Worth the Money?

Tusker House Review

Tusker House or Yak and Yeti?

California Grill: One Hit Wonder?

The Crystal Palace: Is it Good or Pooh?

San Angel Inn: Second Thoughts

Garden Grill Review

Le Cellier: Is It Over Hyped?

Chef Mickey’s: Back After 25 Years

Hoop Dee Doo: Still the Best?

Kouzzina Review

Is La Nouba Worth $200

CMDTA on the Loose!

Mexico’s Tequila Bar

Down Town Disney Review

There will be more too. I’m sure to have plenty of stories to add on top of these. I’ll have a load of new pictures and videos too. You’ll have to stay tuned to see what happens.

Disney Releases Travel Advisory

Around noon on September 28^th, 2009, Disney released an official warning to anyone planning on traveling to Disney World from February 26^th to March 4^th, 2010. Disney has been informed that The Cousin Mickey Doesn’t Talk About will be raiding the parks between those dates.

Any guests who are brave enough to visit the parks on those dates can expect increased shenanigans, food shortages at random restaurants, and general mayhem.

In the warning the following dining locations were listed as potential danger zones:

Brown Derby – DHS

Tusker House – AK

Kazunia – Board Walk Resort

The Crystal Palace – Magic Kingdom

San Angel Inn – Epcot

Garden Grill – Epcot

Canada – Epcot

Chef Mickey’s – Contemporary Resort

Hoop Dee Doo Review – Fort Wilderness

California Grill – Contemporary Resort

In addition specific parks were mentioned for specific dates. On the 26^th – DHS. On the 27^th – AK. On the 28^th – MK. On the 1^st – EP. On the 2^nd – EP. On the 3^rd – MK. However, it appears that on the 4^th all parks could be affected equally.

Check back often for more details on this serious travel event.

Upcoming Restaurant Reviews

I really don’t fit in when it comes to planning a Disney vacation. Most people book a vacation, and then figure out where they are going to be, then plan the dining. I plan where I’m going to eat before the vacation is even booked. It’s fun. Try it sometime.

Here are some of the locations I’ll be hitting up on my next trip. I’ve somewhat ignored other reviews and feedback so don’t complain that some of the places have a bad rap.

1 – Mexico – Repeat visit – You’ll get to see if the San Angel Inn maintains, gets better, or gets worse.

2 – Garden Grill – First Visit in nearly 20 years. I’ve eaten here before but I remember next to nothing about it. I hope Chip and Dale pick on my wife. She doesn’t understand the whole character thing.

3 – Momma Melrose’s – I like Italian. I’ve worked at three different Italian restaurants and I’ve never eaten here. This should be interesting.

4 – Brown Derby – I think they only reason we are going to the Derby is for the salad and the grapefruit cake.

5 – Crystal Palace – I ate there once over ten years ago. It wasn’t impressive. Let’s see if that changed. Maybe I can tip Pooh and the gang to annoy my wife.

6 – Tusker House – All I can say is, it has to be better than Yak and Yeti.

7 – Tapan Edo (or whatever it’s called) – My wife watches that food network show about this so we might as well go here.

8 – Le Cellier – The last time I ate here you could walk in whenever you wanted. If we get in here you will get a review.

9 – The Norway Breakfast – If Scopa can do it, so can I!

10 – California Grill – Return visit – Can the Grill possibly match its last performance and keep in the top spot in WDW?

11 – Hoop Dee Doo – Return visit – Will the Hoop Dee Doo stand up against multiple visits or is it a one hit wonder?

12 – Kazunna – My wife loves Iron Chef so I don’t have much of a say in this one. At least she’s my favorite Iron Chef.

There you have it. These are subject to change but they shouldn’t change a whole lot. You might see some additions too if we end up on the dining plan. Right now we are not using the dining plan.

Also please keep in mind – it could be years before I get a chance to do these. It all depends on what kind of promo Disney runs.