The Worst: Beyond the Magic
The Worst: Beyond the Magic is a travel podcast breaking down the best and worst of Disney, destinations, and vacations people actually book.
Hosted by travel professionals Pete Morrison and Jamie McMahon, the show goes beyond the highlight reels and hype to talk about real expectations, real costs, and real experiences. From Disney planning mistakes and dining myths to destination travel insights, each episode delivers honest conversations and practical advice you can actually use.
If you’re planning a Disney trip, researching travel destinations, or tired of advice that ignores reality, this podcast helps you make smarter decisions, avoid common mistakes, and get more out of your vacation.
New episodes weekly.
The Worst: Beyond the Magic
Disney Dining Roulette
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
One wrong click and you’re stuck with it, which is basically the Disney dining reservation experience, so we turned that stress into a game. We blind rank Walt Disney World restaurants from one star to five stars, but there’s a catch: once a rating is used, it’s gone, and you can’t move anything later. That means a perfectly fine meal can get buried, a great spot can be forced into the middle, and your hottest take becomes permanent record.
We start in the trenches with quick service and theme-park convenience, asking what Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe is actually for when you’re hungry in Magic Kingdom and trying to keep moving. Then we hit the fan-favorite debate with Be Our Guest, where the castle setting is undeniable but the food and service have to earn the hype. Things swing hard the other direction with Steakhouse 71, a consistent Contemporary Resort favorite for drinks, vibe, and a reliably great night out.
From there we get into what makes Disney restaurants truly “worth it”: character dining and atmosphere. Story Book Dining at Artist Point racks up points for the experience, the theming at Wilderness Lodge, and a certain Evil Queen who does not come to play. Wailulu Bar and Grill at the Polynesian brings the laid-back win with standout cocktails, sliders, spam musubi, and that sunset view. On Pete’s list, 50’s Prime Time Cafe and Raglan Road fight it out between comfort food and pure entertainment, before the controversy hits with a one-star ‘Ohana and a painful Topolino’s Terrace ranking that proves why blind lists are chaos.
If you’ve ever argued about the best Disney World restaurants, character dining value, or which places are overrated, you’ll have opinions here. Subscribe, share this with your most intense Disney foodie friend, and leave a review, then tell us: which restaurant deserves your five stars?
Before you go, make sure you subscribe to The Worst: Beyond the Magic wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribing is the best way to make sure you never miss a new episode.
If you enjoyed today’s show, we’d love it if you left us a 5-star review and shared the episode with your family, friends, or favorite Disney travel group. It really helps us reach more Disney fans.
Have a question, an episode idea, or a Disney topic you’d like us to cover? Send us an email at theworstbeyondthemagic@gmail.com.
And if you’re planning a Disney vacation and need help with resorts, dining reservations, Lightning Lanes, cruises, or creating the perfect itinerary, reach out. We’d be happy to help.
You can also connect with us on Instagram:
📸 Jamie: @5_OnThe_Fly
📸 Pete: @Petriemax
📸 The Worst: Beyond the Magic: @theworstbeyondthemagic
Thanks for listening, and remember…
Sometimes the best Disney memories come from surviving the worst.
Rules Of The Blind Ranking Game
SPEAKER_01All right, Pete, I got a last minute production change for you. That never sounds good. Since the name of our show is The Worst Beyond the Magic, we're not going to do a normal ranking. We're going to do One Star is the Worst Restaurant on your final list, and then Five Stars or Five Stars is the best.
SPEAKER_00I don't say it like that.
SPEAKER_01Yes, you do. You absolutely do. Fine. Five stars. Five stars. All right. Today, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to do a blind ranking of Walt Disney World's restaurants. We'll each reveal five restaurants to the other person that neither of us knew about, so we each pick five individually. And we're going to review one at a time. You have to place each one somewhere from one star to five stars without knowing what's coming next. And once I place it, I can't move it.
SPEAKER_00Correct. So this is less of a restaurant ranking and more of a psychological experiment. A psychological experiment with bread service, sir. So it's basically Disney dining.
SPEAKER_01Welcome back to The Worst Beyond the Magic.
SPEAKER_00Where today's worst decisions are legally binding.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for coming uh coming back to today. So here's what we're going to do. So I um I thought about this and I came up with this little game that Pete and I are going to play. We've each chosen five Walt Disney World restaurants. It doesn't, it could be in the park, could be outside the park, could be at Disney Springs, could be anywhere, somewhere on property, one of five different Walt Disney World restaurants. And we're going to rank them. You don't love this. I don't love this. One being the worst star, five stars, one being the worst, which is of course the namesake of our show. And then five stars being the best. All right. The best part about this is we don't know what's coming next. We haven't told each other what restaurants we've picked. We did confirm uh we've we've done this. We know each other well enough to know that all the restaurants that we've been to, or we think we do. If we if not, we're gonna find out during the episode. That should be fun. Um, once the reading is used, you can't go back and it's unavailable. So once you name something one, the worst, you can't give the next one where you can't change your answer. So again, we don't know what's coming next. You gotta take notes, we gotta do math. The final list is gonna be completely ridiculous. Are you ready for this? I don't know if I'm ready, but we can do this thing. And remember, these are not necessarily our real restaurant rankings, these are the rankings uh for the game that we're forced to create because of this game.
SPEAKER_00All right, because we're gonna end up making like T-Rex the best restaurant on Disney property.
SPEAKER_01We might, we don't know. All right, Speed. I've got I've got five restaurants ready to go. I'm gonna quiz you first because I'd like to I'd like to tease you. Are you ready? Oh, good, good. Remember, remember, one is the worst, five stars is the best. Got it. Roger that. And you only you only get to do one. All right, here we
Cosmic Rays Sets The Baseline
SPEAKER_01go. Here's our lineup. Restaurant number one. Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe.
SPEAKER_00Ah, jeez, man. Threw kind of a softball for like a low one in there. Um cosmic rays. I don't even. This is so low on my totem pole that I uh couldn't even tell you the the the last time I went. Um it's good though. Uh, so it's not the worst. I mean, it's a standby cosmic rays. I want to ask if you even like this place. Um shoot, this makes it hard. I'm gonna have to go four. No, no, four makes it good, right? So I'm gonna go two. I'm gonna go two.
SPEAKER_01You already messed this up. I already question one, and you already screwed this up. Remember. Number two. One is the worst. Rays. All right. We are the worst. One is the worst. Remember that.
SPEAKER_00Man, yeah, I mean, you started this off wicked hard. Wicked hard. Wicked hard. Um, yeah. Man, I don't even know. I'm going, uh I'm tempted to give it a one, but I'm gonna give it a two. And that's uh that's where I'm at.
SPEAKER_01Pete, you're killing me, Smalls. One is the one. Remember, what we're gonna confuse the hell out of each other throughout this entire episode. One is the worst, five is the best. So you're gonna give it a two. I'm gonna give it a two. All right, two stars. Two stars. All right, that's what I got. So, cosmic rays, starlight cafe, two stars, pizza in, locked in. Are you locked in?
SPEAKER_00I need to come back and ask you what you feel about cosmic rays after this.
SPEAKER_01I will. Okay, we'll get there. We'll we'll talk about it in a little bit. All right, I'm gonna keep going though, okay? You ready? All right. Restaurant
Be Our Guest Gets The Shock
SPEAKER_01number two. Be our guest restaurant.
SPEAKER_00Oh man. I love this game. This is terrible. Because now I've got to give BR Guest a better ranking than Cosmic Rays, which I do not want to do.
SPEAKER_01Do you do you? Do you have to?
SPEAKER_00Ah, man. I I feel like putting BR Guest number one is gonna really annoy some people out there. We're gonna do it. I don't love BR Guest. Um, you to be honest, I don't love it less than Cosmic Rays, but if you keep picking bad restaurants, then I'm gonna put something something terrible with five stars. Um, I mean, the gray stuff is not delicious, uh, the service is not impeccable, the characters are not great. Uh, you know, I think the only place I can put this is one star.
SPEAKER_01One worse than cosmic rays, ladies and gentlemen. You were here first. The worst can imagine female technology is like a standby.
SPEAKER_00Like, you know, it might not be the best in the world, but you know, it's a pretty decent little spot to get some food. You want some you want some chicken nuggies in the middle of the afternoon? That's where we're going.
SPEAKER_01I'm saying. All right. Here we go. All right. So here um we've done Kazakh Raves, we've done BR Guest. Number three on my list. Man, you are gonna hate me. Uh, and the best part is you don't know what's coming next. I don't, it's terrible.
Steakhouse 71 Forces A Gamble
SPEAKER_00Steakhouse 71. Ah, see, now that we're on the other end of the spectrum, I don't know if I'm gonna put that number one or not. Yeah, see, now I'm glad I I I deliberately picked restaurants that we hadn't really talked about, so that uh we we got a chance to plug them or or or or whatever. Um, so now you were picking the ones I didn't. So we're good. We're good in that sense. But let me answer this question. Steakhouse 71 is fantastic. We've had good times there. Um, we've seen uh friends there, we've had drinks there, we've had food there. It is always uh easy to get service there. I love Steakhouse 71. Um, I'm just afraid you're gonna put something better there. So I don't know if I'm gonna give it five stars or not. Um I think I think right now this is probably man, I don't want to give up my five stars. Difficult, my friend. This is difficult. All right, you know what? I'm gonna take it. You can't get this type of entertainment anywhere else. You're welcome. You're welcome for this. I'm gonna take a gamble because Steakhouse 71 is amazing, and I love it because of the experiences I've already had there, and then you add the food and service and the alcohol. Um, I want to give it a five-star rating, but I'm gonna go four stars for Steakhouse 71.
SPEAKER_01Four stars for Steakhouse 71. Okay. Point that down. Four stars is off the board, ladies and gentlemen. Four stars is gone.
SPEAKER_00All right now I got middle of the road and best left.
SPEAKER_01Middle of the road and best. All right, so here's what we have, ladies and gentlemen, so far. Okay. All right, so this is just a quick recap. We are three restaurants into five, okay? Here we are. All right, at our midpoint check. Here's the current leaderboard, all right? Number one, cosmic rays. Not number one on the list. This is the first restaurant I gave him. Cosmic Rays, two stars. Be our guest restaurant, one star. Steakhouse 71, four stars. Which leaves left four and five stars. Okay. All right. So you better have a restaurant on this list. What is what is your uh what's your worst decision you made so far, Pete? Since this is the worst.
SPEAKER_00I don't know. I think I think I think I've did I did cosmic rays a little dirty. Um but I I I don't know. It depends on where you go from here. I could be right on.
SPEAKER_01It does, it does. All right, so you okay, so you think you gave cosmic rays you treated it unfairly, the most. Okay. All right, not BR guest, since you gave BR guest one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm still out of all the ones we've talked about, BR guest is still the worst out of this list.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Do you regret any of your placement thus far?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I think we're good. We're gonna find out in the next couple minutes.
SPEAKER_01How confident are you from from one to ten right now?
SPEAKER_00I I am I have zero confidence. That wasn't an option. Uh I need to speak to the producer.
SPEAKER_01What um that well, yeah. Uh ChatGP denied your request for a chat. Sorry. Dang it. She uh just so you know, we've we've just so people at home know, we uh we've named our chat GPT Betty. Betty's our producer. Uh she she looks over our uh outlines of our episodes and tells us if we're dumb or not, each one. So but she Betty liked this one. So um, and she especially likes the part that uh we pick on your accent, and I get to I get to mess with you the entire time. So she she enjoyed that. Um so do you think at this point, now that we're we're three restaurants in, do you think something worse or better is still coming?
SPEAKER_00I am hoping that there's one absolute banger and then one middle of the road so that I'm not trapped into something I don't like. Okay, because if I get the next one at three, the automatically goes five stars for whatever your last one is, and that could be um, you know, the damn pyramid, the damn uh restaurant inside the pyramid, San Angelo, San Angel. Yeah, San Angelo's, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you're right. It could be. We'll we'll see. All right, uh, next one on the list, number four.
Artist Point Wins Five Stars
SPEAKER_01Storybook dining at Artist Point, located in the wilderness lodge.
SPEAKER_00Oh boy. Oh boy. Okay, all right. You know what? You made this one easy for me. I'm gonna I'm gonna win this game because uh I feel like um this one's a little pricey, little price tag on the story storybook dining, but um I've always I've been there twice. I've had great experiences there. I one of my favorite characters is the evil queen, and she is there in all her glory, um, often compared to Grumpy, as my kid says. Uh so Grumpy's there as well. Um, Snow White is another one of my faves. She's there. Um, so the character uh dining is on point, the food is on point, and there's even little like tricks with the food, like gastronomy tricks. You pour things in, they change colors like magic. Um, so I think that's great too. Uh it's not hard to get to. Parking's pretty easy. I mean, it is out of the park. Um it's uh but yeah, I I would easily give this one five stars. Five stars for stars.
SPEAKER_01Five stars. Five stars is off the board. Giving it to Snow White at Artist Point. I think I think alone the evil queen deserves five stars. I think I think she's killing. She is not nice in that restaurant. She, and I don't know. Uh if you look at the pictures, my pictures and your pictures, like she's she's mean mugging the hell out of of us. And uh she's she's not afraid to show it. I love that about the the food is yeah, I know she's she's great. The food is fantastic. I couldn't agree with you more there. As far as trying to get to the restaurant itself, so we have a couple choices, like Pete, a couple choices. Pete said, you can either drive your car, Uber, uh, whatever it is, to park there.
SPEAKER_00There's plenty of parking.
SPEAKER_01You can plenty lots of pockets. Got some smart park. Smart pack. Fantastic. You can either do that. Uh you could do that, or you could take uh from Magic Kingdom if you're leaving from the park. Uh you can take the ferry, and that's the only way to get over there uh from Magic Kingdom over to Wilderness Lodge. Um, another one, another hidden, another hidden sleeper over there is is um Geyser Point, which is the outside bar overlooking the lake. Um, I have personally never eaten there, but I've heard nothing but good things snub point. Uh the drinks are good there. They have a bison burger on the menu, which I've heard is fantastic. That's something I think we need to go to next time we're there together, or that I personally want to check out. But I think Wilderness Lodge as a whole is definitely a sleeper. When you we we we talk about like deluxe resorts and where people want to stay. That's not like wilderness lodge is not ever one that ever comes up as like the number one pick. But I think it's I think it's it's a sleeper hit. Definitely is. All right. I think so. Five stars for five stars for uh for this restaurant. I got it. Five stars. Writing it down. Five stars. All right. All right. Last one, number five on my
Wailulu Lands The Final Slot
SPEAKER_01list. Number five, Waiolu Bar and Grill located at the Polynesian Resort. All right.
SPEAKER_00Um I mean, there's no other stars left to give. There is no other stars, so it goes to three stars. But I do want to say, I think the uh if we put it on three, uh it's not bad. Like I think we've got this, I got this just the way I would have, because I wouldn't have put cosmic rays over Wyolulu Steakhouse or Artist Point. I would not put BR guest over any of those. I think this list is is um magically right on point. I I uh I love Wyolulu. I think it's great. Um, I think the banana old fashioned there is out of this world. Um it's you know, some people just add things to things just to make it creative, but this one it actually works for that old fashioned. I think it was really good. Um, we've had the sliders there, they're really good. We've had the burger, which is good. Um, the spam, uh, the spam musabi, also really good. Um, you know, I I think this could be an easy tie for me with Steakhouse 71, um, but I think Steakhouse 71 would beat it because of um the good times that we've had there. So there's the nostalgia reading to that. And then Artist Point is Artist Point and you know, the evil queen. So I'm I'm pretty stoked about that.
SPEAKER_01I think you did, I think you did pretty well. So just a recap for what we have here, and I'm gonna I'm gonna go in order from from best to worst. Okay, so uh I'm sorry, I'm gonna go from from worst to best, I should say. Worst to best. That's the whole theme of the show. Worst to best. Number one, be our guest restaurant. He gave one star. Number two, cosmic rays. He gave cosmic rays a better rating than be our guest restaurant. So be our guest, cosmic rays. Three stars goes to Wyolulu Barrow Grill, four stars goes to Steakhouse 71. That's one of our favorites. And remember, they have the Knob Creek Disney Select that you can't get anywhere else. Um, we we close that place down every time we go, and we have a blast there. We have a blast, we love it there. Yeah, uh, that is that is the central meeting hub for when we go to travelations retreat in January, and we we have a great time there. The food is fantastic, like you're saying. There's TVs if you want to watch any sports game you go on. The the bartenders are fantastic, the lounge area is nice. Um, it's great. It's great. It's it's easy access. Five stars. Um, and then storybook dining, you gave, of course, five stars. And I and I agree with that one. I really like that one a lot. Um it's a bit pricier if you're not on the dining plan. I have to go back and look. I can't remember. Maybe you know. Is it uh two dining credits on a dining plan? Oh, it is. They moved up to two. Man, see what they did? That's too bad. Um, but it used it used to be one. It was a great, it was a great use of a one one uh dining credit on a dining plan, but I guess it is two now. I guess I think it's worth two. I think it's worth two.
SPEAKER_00I mean it's fancy, the food's good, and you get characters. So I think anything with that combo is gonna take two. Yeah. Is Asker House two or is one? It's one.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. Yeah, that's a good deal, yeah. And then yeah, hoop to do is also two. But you're getting yeah, I agree with that too. I think you're you're getting as much as as much as you can eat as you as you care to drink and eat in at that restaurant. Uh it's a great show. And it's a yeah, it's a fantastic show. All right. I think you did good. I think it wasn't so painful, was it? You made it out alive.
SPEAKER_00Uh, I got scared for a minute. I did I definitely didn't know.
SPEAKER_01You did I love watching you squirm. That's the whole that's the best part of this. That's the whole best part. That's definitely the best part of this.
SPEAKER_00All right.
Pete Flips The Script
SPEAKER_00What I got for you. Is it my turn? Can I can I repay the pain now? You can. You can repay the pain. I'm ready for it. All right. I'm ready for it. So there is a there is a uh, I think that you've been my last one, number five. So if you are gonna say haven't been there, I have a backup to that one, which I know you've been to. So um we're gonna go on. The first one I've got for you is the 50s prime time cafe.
SPEAKER_01I love 50s prime time, I love it so much. The uh the waiters pick on you, it's a good time. The food is fantastic. Um, the drinks are good there, the atmosphere is uh amazing. Like I love it there. I and that's a great restaurant. If you don't want to do character dining, but you still want to get a good meal in you. Um now I'll caution this. The the meals there are a bit heavier than normal. It's like it's like um Sunday home cook. Yeah, Sunday home cooking. Like like like meals like pot roast and fried chicken. Meatloaf. Um, if yeah, meatload, they're they're they're heavier family meals, like what you have together like on a Sunday dinner with your family. They're all fantastic. Uh what what number am I gonna give it? One one is the worst, five, five stars is the best. I like seeing you scrolling now. This is great. It's isn't it? It's fun, isn't it? It's yeah, the tables have turned. I think, and I don't know what's coming next. That's fun. I think I'm gonna give that one. I think I'm gonna give that uh four stars.
SPEAKER_00Four stars for 50's prime time. All right, yeah, yeah. All right, I dig it. Alright, that's your final answer, I assume. I'm locking in. Locking in. Locked in. All right, let's go back to the phone. My phone a friend. Am I phone? Are you my friend? I I can confirm that 50's prime time is good. It is good, and it is heavy on the belly, so you know, make sure you're hungry.
SPEAKER_01Maybe that I I'd recommend that one for like the end of a day. Don't don't start your your morning or your afternoon with that one and then try and walk as as far as you can in the in the Florida heat. So maybe maybe have your day with that restaurant.
SPEAKER_00Yep. It's like Thanksgiving at mom's house. It's good. All right, number two.
Raglan Road Splits Food And Vibes
SPEAKER_00Number two on my list is Raglan Road.
SPEAKER_01I hate you so much. Yeah, there's so much hate. There's so much hate.
SPEAKER_00You are painting me in a corner. Uh I think you did me a favor by giving me be our guest. Uh, I don't know. That one was uh an easy, an easy bottom of the list. So was it?
SPEAKER_01Well, see, you're welcome. I was looking out for you. You're not looking for out for me at all. You just watch it.
SPEAKER_00You haven't heard the whole list. You haven't heard the whole list.
SPEAKER_01You're right, you're right. I haven't. Okay. Um regular road. I do love regular road. Uh Smidic is my favorite beer. I'm Irish. I'm pretty pretty well. I know I don't look Irish. Um, but my name says my namesake says it all. But uh I love I love the atmosphere. I love, I mean, even even if the restaurant is slammed, uh, they still have a really nice outdoor dining area where you Can go, you can walk up to the bar and sit down there, or one of the little tiny tables around there, the high tops, and get uh get a beer to go if you want to. So the experience is not ruined because a restaurant is slammed. But if you want to go in there and watch the show, watch the Irish dancers, enjoy the music, the bar songs that they sing, there's no better atmosphere than that.
SPEAKER_00Um I think Seamus, my question before you answer is is the is the atmosphere better? Is the food better?
SPEAKER_01I think the atmosphere is better.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I don't think they have anything there that's like, oh my god, I gotta have. They have all the Irish favorites. Like they have um God, I got I can't think of any right now. My Irish ancestors. Yeah, Shepherd's Pie. My Irish ancestors are rolling over in their grave because I can't think of any of the yeah, traditional meals other than beer. Um other than the Smitics and the Guinness. Yeah, so I think I think I'm giving that one. Oh man. I'm giving it I'm giving it three stars.
SPEAKER_00Three stars for Raglan Rose.
SPEAKER_01Three stars for regular.
SPEAKER_00Alright, alright. I'm locking that one. Yeah, it's in the middle of the ground. Locking it in. Locking it in at three stars. Alright. We're two down here. We got 50s prime time at four and raglan at three. And then we got a little repeat here.
Wailulu Creates Five Star Pressure
SPEAKER_00Um, I'm gonna throw that Wyalulu bar and grill back at you.
SPEAKER_01Oh, see. So we honestly got folks, we didn't tell each other what restaurants we're picking ahead of time. So uh the fact that we both chose Wallululu Bar and Grill speaks to how good that place is. Uh yeah, it is no, it's it's a great, it's a great, it is it is absolutely beautiful. If you catch it at sunset, like peanut like we did with our our wives, um, it's beautiful. You can see the sunset over Cinderella Castle, over the lake there. Um, the drinks are fantastic, the food is very good. Um, you can try something on the menu that you haven't like ever had before. Like uh what was the name of that, Pete? The spam thing that you had that I tried? The mousabi. Yeah, that it was that was really good. Um, and that's something I had never had before. So it's if you're a adventurous leader, they have it there on the menu for you. And the like I said, the drinks are great there, and the atmosphere is beautiful. So it's located in the pollination. You you can't go wrong.
SPEAKER_00Fantastic. Yeah. Did I say four already? I said four, didn't I? Yeah, you got four and three all locked up. So it's either five stars or down at the bottom of the list with two stars.
SPEAKER_01I hate you. Um I'm gonna give, I don't know, what's last? Wait, what I this is number three, right? Correct. Okay. All right, so I have five two hours. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have to give it. I'm gonna give it five. Five steps. It's giving it's getting five, so I'm gonna throw it in all the way in. You're giving fives here. Five stats for Wiley Ubarrow Grill.
SPEAKER_00You better hope there's not a banger on this list anymore. I hope not. I hope not.
SPEAKER_01Please don't do that to me.
SPEAKER_00All right. Well, I got I think the next I think the next one you'll be alright, but then the last one might be a bit of a challenge. We'll have to see. We'll see how this one plays out. Let's just go ahead and recap before we get into the nuts and bolts. Uh, you uh started out with 50's primetime cafe. You gave that a solid four stars. Uh you you think ranked that right up to the top. And then we came in with uh Raglan Road, gave that a little bit lower than 50s. You got the three stars on Raglan Road, and then you gave away that five-star rating to uh Wayolulu Bar and Grill at the Polynesian. Uh I can relate to that. I can understand why you went in that direction. And so uh here's where we start throwing some softballs or curveballs
Ohana One Star Controversy
SPEAKER_00at you. Uh so Whispering Canyon is my next restaurant on the list.
SPEAKER_01I think this is where you're gonna have to call it, call the audible because I have not been to whispering whispering canyon. I know where it is.
SPEAKER_00All right.
SPEAKER_01But I haven't done it. Whispering canyon. I have not dined there. You've heard about it though, right?
SPEAKER_00Like you know.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah. Yeah. I know they they they pick on you and you've asked for ketchup. The West the restaurant, the uh waiter brings you every ketchup bottle that's on the dining room floor, brings it to your table. Uh they make you wear big, ridiculous cowboy hat. Um yeah, I know. I I know it's a fun atmosphere, but I've I've personally had never eaten there before. But it's located at Wilderness Lodge.
SPEAKER_00All right. All right, let's give you this one then. I I got it, I got the backup written right here. Ohana. Ohana. Because I know you've been to Ohana.
SPEAKER_01I have been to Ohana. I have been. I listen, I'm giving Ohana one star.
SPEAKER_00One star.
SPEAKER_01One star. I'm blowing it up. People are like screaming at their car right now at their at their speakers in their car when they're listening to this podcast. I did not have a good experience at Ohana. And this is this is probably 10 years ago. I should give it another chance, is what I should do. I shouldn't judge it that hard. But when we went, our kids were small, well, we only had two at the time. Um, and it took forever for Lilo and Stitch to get to our like over an hour it took for them to get to our table. And the food is just so it was just so mass-produced. Like it just wasn't there was nothing special about Ohana breakfast. It was your typical your Mickey waffles, it was your you know, sausage, your bacon, your eggs. Um it just wasn't the one thing I do like about them is pog juice. You remember pog juice? You know what that is?
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I like that one. Dinner, though, or just breakfast? I have not. I've been just for breakfast, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so I would agree with you uh uh about uh it being pretty low. When I but I have an opposite experience. So 10 years ago, I think was one of our first times, maybe it was a little bit longer than 10 years ago. We we loved it, we thought it was amazing. Like the food was really good. The we went for dinner though. Um, so the the pot stickers and the banana uh the bread pudding, like all of it was you know really fantastic. And then since we've been back uh a couple times since then, it's just not been the same experience. But um, and I you know I've never I've never heard good things about the breakfast.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, we we we went for breakfast. I mean the characters are great. Like Lilo is great, the stitch is fantastic, stitch is my daughter's, um, my middle daughter, her favorite character. I I like them a lot. Like, and I the character experience is is fantastic, but as a whole, like as a whole dining experience, the food, the atmosphere, and how slammed they were, and how they just try to get you in and out. Um, again, I should give it another chance, but um, it's gotta be one star for me. One star.
SPEAKER_00There you go. All right, man. I like it. Yeah, I like it. I agree with that. That leaves which one? All right. Well, I mean, I kind of yeah. I guess I don't know. You're gonna hate me for
Topolino’s Takes Friendly Fire
SPEAKER_00this one. All right, so the last one on my list is Topolinos.
SPEAKER_01Oh no. Oh no. I gave you let me give Topolinos two stars.
SPEAKER_02Uh why do you hate Topolinos?
SPEAKER_01I don't hate Tapolinos. I love Tapolinos. The that is it is the exact opposite experience of a Valhana. Like you don't feel rushed, you don't feel crowded, that the tables are nicely spaced apart from each other, the service is excellent. The character experience is one of the best on property as far as character dining goes. I I always recommend Tapolinos uh brunch to clients of mine that go, I always want to book that one for them because it's and it's a hard one to get, by the way. That is definitely one at six six o'clock in the morning and six days out. I am Johnny on the spot to get that one because it goes quick. That and Cinderella Castle for some reason. I'm surprised we didn't put Cinderella Castle on the list. Well let me let me finish on Tapolino's a minute. But like the food at Tapolinos is unbelievable. The the breakfast drinks, the Bellinis, the the Bloody Marys. Um I mean, everything everything there is is fantastic. The the atmosphere is beautiful. Um it's it's probably you let me give it, you let you let me give it two stars. It's just your fault.
SPEAKER_00But now you're on record giving toppolino two stars.
SPEAKER_01Send all your hate mail to the worst beyond the magic at gmail.com, people. Yeah. Um yeah, it's uh yeah, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Apologize. But um this is enjoyable from the other side. Isn't it fun? It's fun. Um this is a good idea. But yeah, I listen. I love I love to I love everything about Tapolinos. And is that the riff? Yeah, we love the riff. Kinda.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01All
Debrief Worst Robbery And Best Booking
SPEAKER_01right. Well we did it, man. We it's finished. We we each gave each other five restaurants. Um I think I think we're I think we did pretty good. So let's let's discuss a little bit here. Who ended up with the better list? What do you think?
SPEAKER_00Who ended up with the better list? I think um the I think mine was I was able to get them in in a in a in an accurate order. I think putting Topolinos at uh number two is pretty uh messed up. It's hate it's hateful. That's hateful. Uh but I think the rest of your list is pretty good. I think you probably could have um you know adjusted with Way Lulu um in 50s prime time, but you know, outside of Topolinos, it was good. But all these restaurants are pretty great. Uh uh I you know, I think we both have our be our guests and our Ohana, where we just don't really love them. So that was an easy uh downplay for us. But uh Yeah, you know. Well, what do you what do you what do you what do you think? Who had the better list?
SPEAKER_01I think I think like you said, I think um I think you like your list was like spot on. Like it was it was I didn't mean it for that to happen, by the way. Uh you you picked you picked the right amount of stars for each one of those places. I mean you gave Cosmic Rays two stars, obviously that's a one-star restaurant. Um and then we are I wanted to know what your opinion of uh Cosmic was. It's again, if it's if you are walking through Tomorrowland and your little one says, I'm hungry, and you're like, We got stuff to do. I'm sorry, I can't feed you right now. Mobile order yourself some chicken nuggets from uh cosmic rays and keep her moving. It's uh yeah, you're mobile ordering. Yeah, yeah, there it is. Uh ding, uh take a drink. Um yeah, it's it's just not it's just not great. There's so many better like quick service restaurants. What's a better quick service restaurant?
SPEAKER_00Uh, right there. Yeah, there you go.
SPEAKER_01Like Harbor House is quick service, and I think that place is great. Like, you know, yeah, Columbus, yeah, Columbia Harbor House is fantastic. Um, that's that's probably the best quick service. And then Sleepy Hollow is another one. That's a great yeah, that's a good one for no, I wouldn't. Um yeah, uh there's there you could do so much better than the cosmic rays. But if you need something quick and on the way and keep her going, don't like mobile order and and keep it moving. I'm sorry. Get yourself some chicken nuggets and and keep going.
SPEAKER_00Um it's not great.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the burgers and hot no, it's not it's not good at all. It's mass mass produced and just it's just not good. Um, Steakhouse 71, you gave four. We love Steakhouse 71 together. Uh Storybook Circus, I'm sorry, storybook dining, you gave five. And I that's that's fair. Like, is like completely like all the way through experience and food? Like, yes. I I think that deserves five stars for sure. And then Wyolulu, you gave three, but it that's because you didn't know that what else was coming, or would that be that was gonna be the last one. But I like the fact that we both chose that one for each other.
SPEAKER_00Which uh which restaurant out of all these do you think we ranked too high? Too high?
SPEAKER_01Um and so you got Steakhouse at four and Storybook Dining in five. I don't even remember what I picked. I gave um 50's prime time four, and then I gave Wild Lulu five, right? Yep, and Raglan three. Yeah, I think I would flip those. I think I would give 50's prime probably a five. Out of out of what's on the list. Um, no, I'm sorry. I'm screwing this up. Topolinas would be a five. Yeah. Um 50s prime time would be the four, and then Wild Lulu three. Yeah, and then down we go, right? And two Raglan, then one Ohana. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there it is. Yep, that's exactly it. I and so here's the funny thing about this too. Like, I would not have given 50s um a five or a four, but it just goes to show you that um user experience may vary. Like if you've had fun, if you've if had a great experience, like you know, you really find things about you know, so that you don't you can't always trust the internet because some people don't like big home cooked meals and they don't like to be like yelled at, you know, but other people, you know, like yourself.
SPEAKER_01They want to be I'm a 40-year-old man, don't tell me I finished my vegetables. Come on.
SPEAKER_00I'll put my elbows on the table if I want to.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. Exactly. Um yeah. For those who don't know, the the the servers there pick on you, like in it, like it's great for the kids because the kids get to see all the things that you tell your kids to do, like finish your vegetables and don't put your elbows on the table and uh drink your milk or whatever it is, with the silly little things like that you tell your kids at dinner time. The servers get to pick on the adults and tell them all those things where they are. So it's it's a good time for the kids. They get to see the key the adults picked on for once. But they do have a really nice lounge uh or nice bar out front. Um, and they have they have great, fantastic milkshakes. Um and do they have malts? I think they have malts as well. I like that one a lot. That's one of my favorites for sure. All right, so what um let's see, another question to ask for the for you. Did either of us successfully predict five stars? I think we did. I think that I yeah, I think you yeah, you did. We talked about that one already. Which one is the hardest one to defend out of all these? You gave you you gave BR guest once one's one star, but to someone who really enjoys Beauty and the Beast, that may not be one star.
SPEAKER_00I think that would be a tough one to defend, uh, for sure. Like, you know, you've got the castle, so you're walking up to the castle, um, it's it's gorgeous. The inside is really beautiful, the back room where they have the flower which's dropping the petals, the west wing. It's worth going the west wing.
SPEAKER_01Yep, yeah.
SPEAKER_00The west wing. It's worth going in there to see. If you do happen to see the characters there, I mean it's not character dining, but if you do happen to see the characters, that's extra special. Um, you know, and some people just uh, you know, you don't have to believe me. And I would definitely uh have a hard time. Um, you know, I wouldn't shy people away from going there, but you know, it's not my favorite. Sorry.
SPEAKER_01Here's our worst wanking, excuse me, worst ranking awards. Uh our biggest robbery. I think we talked about it. I gave I gave tapolinos a what a one. Yeah, you did it dirty. You did it dirty. Yeah, I did it, I did it way dirty, way dirty. That's the biggest robbery of them all. What about you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the only robbery I think is uh I don't know, maybe Cosmic Rays got a little too high on the list, you know, because those hot dogs aren't great. But I just think it's a it's an it's a nice go-to if you're hungry and you need something fast to to to cover the hangriness.
SPEAKER_01Most overrated placement. The restaurant placed much higher than it deserved. I keep looking at your list.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm looking at my too. I'm looking at yours. I I honestly feel like um I think we talked about this a little bit. In my opinion, 50s is a little overinflated. Um, but I think that other than that, it's it's mostly right on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yours is yours is spot on. I can't I can't even argue with yours. I can't even I hate that you're good at this game because I made it up and you you won at it. Uh all right, so the worst decision of this episode. That's I mean, that's the regrettable individual placement. That that goes to me. I'm the winner of that. I gave one of my favorite restaurants a one. I gave it a one because I because I didn't know what was coming next or anything. But yeah, that's my fault. My bad. I'm sorry, Tapolinos.
SPEAKER_00All right, restaurant you never need to visit again. Oh, be our guest. Be our guest. And then uh restaurant you would book tonight if we were heading there. Steakhouse 71.
SPEAKER_01Duh. Yeah, that's sweet. We love it there. We love it there. We met so many friends, we met so many other like other travel advisors there, and we just networked. And um it's something that like we being in the army and working for the fire department, like networking and business talk, and so this that's not usually stuff that you and I could talk about at all. But we we made uh we made it a good time.
SPEAKER_00We sure did, yeah. And then the the the service and the food and the drinks, and like you said, the the the bourbon. Like you can't go wrong.
SPEAKER_02Mm-mm.
SPEAKER_00No.
SPEAKER_01Uh okay. Our last last one on this list. The we have to explain this online award, the ranking most likely to upset upset Disney fans.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think we're going back to Tapolino's and be our guest. I think they want to know, they want to know the reasons why. I think I think people would be mad about Ohana too. Um because I don't know, man. I think Ohana used to be good, and people kind of have, I don't know. I the last time we've been there for drinks at the Ohana bar there, I it still looks like it's pretty busy in there. So maybe, maybe people are still digging it. All right. I think uh I think we're gonna close it out. Um so what do we learn today, Pete? Never give a restaurant five stars without knowing what's coming next.
SPEAKER_01We also learned that neither of us should trust one another under pressure. Especially when food is involved.
SPEAKER_00Some great restaurants were ranked where far too low. That's my fault. Some average restaurants benefited from timing fear and terrible judgment.
SPEAKER_01Which is basically how most Disney dining experiences at reservations are made, because you either you have help from Pete and I, or you just go and totally blind, like what we did just now.
SPEAKER_00Right. You're six, it's it's six in the morning, 60 days before the trip with barely conscious, and you're making life decisions. That's right.
SPEAKER_01You have to stick with the decision. It's 60 days out, right? It's gonna stick with you forever. Remember, these are not our real rankings that we just mentioned. Yeah, the game forced us to do it.
Send Your Rankings And Next Ideas
SPEAKER_01Send us your rankings uh in the Gmail that I mentioned. Hit us up online. I'm uh at underscore at five underscore on the underscore fly on Instagram. And I'm PetriMax at Instagram.
SPEAKER_00And the worst beyond the magic at gmail.com. Yeah, so reach out and let us know which restaurant actually deserves five stars.
SPEAKER_01Let us know what uh what blind ranking should we we should do next. Uh resorts, attractions, snacks, you name it, we'll do it. Bathrooms. That's right. Now you're speaking my love language.
SPEAKER_00Until next time, we're here to give you the real deal. Mouth droppings included. Live Beyond the Magic.
SPEAKER_01This has been the worst Beyond the Magic. See you later.