Sci-Fi Dine-in is not for us!

[happymommy]

I would have ordered a Reuben (big fan of them), or the salmon BLT if they had been on the menu. I was actually looking forward to a reuben but wasn't on the menu. I had one a few days later at the Plaza though, which was good.

Dan

They seem to change their menu more often than some places! They have a smoked prime rib sandwich that doesn't sound too bad, as well as the open faced turkey sandwich. My husband has had pasta there before, but I rarely order pasta. Now looking at the new menu, other than onion rings, not much sounds as good any longer to me (but we have 50's Prime Time booked for lunch next month; we haven't eaten there in years).

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I ate there once. Food was horrid. Sorry, but I am over "If it's cute we don't have to do a good job on food or service" (Rainforest, SciFI etc...)

 

[brockash]

In short, our party of 7 walked away from our dinner thinking, “that was a weird experience, don’t need to go back there again” I’ll explain…


We decided to try Sci-Fi Dine-in this year for the first time. It’s never made our list primarily because we’ve had Free Dining in years past and it wasn’t a good use of a TS credit vs other locations. However, this year we paid out-of-pocket for all meals and Sci-fi looked like a fun new place to try, with a more economical menu. This is a “one off” review, so keep that in mind, and with any review a lot of this comes with our own personal preferences.


Venue:
We arrive for our 5pm dinner with the restaurant entrance very full and some folks complaining about how long they’ve been waiting. I think this was primarily walk-ups complaining. The CM’s were very nice trying to handle the situation. We checked in and got our buzzer and our car “table” was ready within 10 minutes. Much better than expected. We knew ahead of time that the venue is supposed to replicate a drive in movie theater, but all indoors, a cool concept. We get brought to our seat in an excellent location just to the right of the screen. The first thing we noticed was how eerily quiet it was in the restaurant. It’s dark, which was expected, but it was WAY quieter than any other Disney restaurant we’ve ever been in. You couldn’t see the other tables all that well because of the dark, and combine that with the hushed environment, it was just awkward and different. If you spoke at a normal voice level it felt like way more customers than normal could hear you. Overall not too bad though.


The movies and ads they show on the big screen are cheesy, but they were nostalgic. I imagine they don’t put anything very interesting up on the screen because then customers may linger in their seats longer and reduce throughput and revenue in the restaurant.


Seating:
Seating was awkward for us. We had the three kids in the front row of our vehicle, my wife and I in the middle, and my parents behind us. It made conversation really difficult. We knew about the seating arrangement beforehand, but didn’t realize how weird it would be. I don’t enjoy talking to the back of my kids’ heads, or craning my head to talk with my parents. It made it hard to carry on any conversation other than with the person next to you. Maybe this why the place was so quiet? I would have much preferred the tables in the middle of the restaurant where we could have sat together at a typical table setting.


Menu/Food quality:
The menu is somewhat limited focusing primarily on burgers with a few other sandwiches, salads and entrees. We had heard good things about the burgers so 4 of the 7 got those (3 All American, and 1 Beef and Blue Burger). My youngest got chicken tenders, my mom and I split a wedge salad and the Blue burger, and my oldest got the Prime Rib Sandwich. 6 of the 7 in our party also got shakes. The burgers were absolutely HUGE, so you won’t go away hungry. All were ordered medium. None of us were impressed with the meat. I’m not sure what “signature blend of beef” they use, but it didn’t taste much like beef, didn’t feel like beef, and had little flavor. The blue burger had an unfamiliar tang to it and the blue cheese was barely tasted. I’m sorry to say that it was probably the worst tasting variety of this type of burger that I’ve ever had. The steak fries were very good. The wedge salad, while pretty basic, was just what I was looking for and I really enjoyed it. The chicken tenders were good. The prime rib sandwich fell flat as well. Not much taste to the meat and kind of on the dry side. Just an average sandwich at best.


The shakes were enjoyed by all. Most got the cookies and cream, with one getting the special pineapple, and myself getting the chocolate. I tasted all three, and mine was definitely the most generic. Tasted very much like an inexpensive Frosty at Wendy’s. The others were very good though.

Summary:
So, in all, while an economical choice, it was just a weird experience with overall below average food quality. If I would have known ahead of time I would have requested a table where we could sit like normal and enjoy the atmosphere that way. It is a very unique environment that looked awesome in pictures but didn’t play out well for us. At least now we know.


Dan

I did not like sci-fi the first time we went and skipped it the next 2 years. Others in our party liked it, so I went back and have been back every year since. I've come to really enjoy the quiet, dark, cool downtime it provides and the foods pretty decent for us,

 

[Bob Dolewhip]

Sorry you didn’t like it! Different strokes for different folks.
I thought it was great that I could put the kids in front of us to keep an eye on them but not have to deal with them during dinner lol. No stolen food and no drinks in my lap.

 

[EdmondD]

The first thing we noticed was how eerily quiet it was in the restaurant. It’s dark, which was expected, but it was WAY quieter than any other Disney restaurant we’ve ever been in

We ate there for the first time ever last year and this was exactly our reaction. As we walked in to our table it was just....surreal. Everyone was sitting there staring at the screen, with nary a conversation going on. My daughter and I looked at each other and just laughed.

We all agreed it was one of the more unique experiences. Not horrible, but once was plenty.

 

[HopperFan]

I have to say I don't think I've ever heard someone come out of it with your POV, especially since most of what you noted was how it normally operates (and well known) so it wasn't a miss on the restaurants part. Complaints are usually food quality and wait ... and the wait is due to popularity. Yes there are always empty tables, it operates on kitchen/staff capacity.

Sci-Fi is one of our favorite restaurants and the ONLY "must do" each trip if we can get in. Ate there in July and have another ADR for September. It is probably the most imagineered restaurant at Disney and we just love the details, the movies and greatly appreciate the dark, quiet and cool re-energize time. I actually love being in a spot, especially at Disney, that isn't a loud, screaming, kids running around dining experience. We can talk among ourselves and not shout.

Only bad meal I ever had was the steak ... we stick to basics now. I was sad to see Reuben gone last trip and ordered wedge salad ...it was HUGE and very good. We have always had good service, last trip exceptional.

Last trip we ate for lunch and we broke our 1 TS a day rule and had 50's Prime for dinner; another great imagineered restaurant with a great server who teased us, fed us our last beans and treated us like family.

Didn’t even think of that! That would be very awkward! “, Hey can you pass me the ketchup“

Dan

Every table should have had it's own ketchup.

 

[JETSDAD]

We thought it was a fun atmosphere but neither my wife nor myself enjoyed the food. Our daughter did like her burger but it's not a place that we plan to return to. As far as the seating arrangement, to me that is kind of the enjoyment of the restaurant.

 

[Eve & Wall-e]

Sci-Fi is one of our favorite restaurants and the ONLY "must do" each trip if we can get in

Sci-Fi is a must do for us as well. We like it because it IS dark, quiet, has A/C, and fantastic theming.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I guess you have never been to a drive-in theater before. Because the atmosphere is exactly correct.

 

[HopperFan]

I've never really researched the restaurant to verify .... but one time, not sure why (well sometimes DS1 gets noticed) but one time a manager came out and took us to our table. He was very personable, talking away and he asked if we knew anything about the story of the restaurant. I said no, but having grown up with drive-ins I appreciated it. He said when they had to design the scenery "behind" the fence they did it by using what would have been the view outside of Walt's office back in the 50's. It kinda looked right to me and I know the parks have so many hidden nods none of us pick up on ... and they still do.

And yes, that made my food taste better.

 

[DisBuckMan]

We decided to give it another try last year after taking a several years' break from it. We were reminded once again that we didn't care for it.

Mediocre food, mediocre service, and with 3 people, we absolutely hate the seating.

 

[sanapp]

I have always liked the atmosphere, but hate the food. I only eat at Brown Derby now or leave the park to eat. HS really needs improvement on the food front.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I think you are spot on with the description of Sci-Fi and if the set up and atmosphere don't work for your family dynamic, there's nothing wrong with that! For us, Sci-Fi is just the epitome of great Disney theming. To walk into a room and feel completely immersed in a whole other environment (very much how I feel when walking into the Mexico pavilion as well), is pretty impressive to me. I could honestly sit in a car in Sci-Fi and I wouldn't even care if they brought me food. I would just sit and admire how brilliant the Imagineers are.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

It's one of those love or hate places.
My family has eaten there nearly every trip since it opened.
We love it there.
It seems like the people that hate Sci-fi give lots of love to 50's PT but I hate it there.
To each their own.

 

[Jennasis]

We LOVE the atmosphere. The food is hit or miss. DH loved the picnic burger when they had it. Still says the best burger he's ever had to this day (it was a burger with a hot dog on it etc). However, the worst meal I've ever had was there too (the "butcher steak"...was burnt to an absolute inedible crisp. It was comical).

 

[TCRAIG]

It's one of those love or hate places.
My family has eaten there nearly every trip since it opened.
We love it there.
It seems like the people that hate Sci-fi give lots of love to 50's PT but I hate it there.
To each their own.

Agree - SciFi is a must do for us but we’re not fond of 50’s food...

 

[markb681]

The darkness...quiet atmosphere...and cold A/C after coming in from the heat! Is a nap waiting to happen! lol biggest reason I no longer eat there!

 

[dreamit]

I like Sci Fi because of the quieter environment and being in the dark. It's great for decompressing away from the crowds and the blazing hot sun. On our trip in 2014, my daughter was turning eight years old. We were at HS the third day of our trip and crowds there were much higher than expected due to the Frozen Summer Fun mania. By a few hours in, my daughter was tired, overwhelmed, and close to a meltdown. I thought we'd have to cut the day seriously short. Our lunch at Sci Fi that day was the perfect remedy. It did wonders for my daughter. She left there refreshed and renewed and we went on to have a really fun day in the park.

 

[LoveToGoToDisneyWorld]

We just went for the first time yesterday and hated it! It came highly recommended by several people and we were excited about going. It was strangely quiet and way too dark. The people next to us looked asleep. I couldn’t even read the menu and then couldn’t see my food to eat it! I got the shrimp pasta and honestly could not see well enough to get the food on the fork. I stopped eating before I was full because of this. We have older kids but also a 2 year old. Terrible place for her. She didn’t like being trapped in the booth with us. We felt like sardines. I also didn’t like having strangers seated in the same car because any conversing we managed to do felt awkward not including them. Our server was slow and didn’t return for drink refills. The film clips were funny, and I have a son who’s at the age where he can appreciate campy things. Another son, however, doesn’t get the camp quite yet and was nervous about them showing something gory. Oy ve.

We could not believe this place has the demand it does!! Horrible, horrible. If it was brighter and more lively, we could understand the hype. Maybe.

 

[goofyintoronto]

The kids thought it was awkward as well. We like to chat during dinner and talk about the day and what we might be doing for the evening, but that’s just our family. So this dynamic just didn’t work well for us. Nothing wrong with the seating per se, just not our style.

You said you knew about the seating style beforehand...and you admitted your family is the type who love to talk up a storm about your day while you eat....so how happy did you think you'd be leaving this place? You really thought it would work? Not being snarky, im just curious.

To each their own...but when im with my family 100% of the time all week long, in the hotel, waiting in line (in the blazing sun), on a ride, in the bus/car, swimming, rushing to an adr, rushing through a crowd to leave the park, etc, 24 hours... the last thing I want to do is talk about our day during a meal. We were all there together in each others faces the whole time, we know how our day went. Which is why we're the type of family to enjoy and appreciate the peaceful, quiet, cool, dark atmosphere SciFi has to offer. But like i said, to each their own.

As for the food, yes, like any restaurant, it can be hit or miss. Its hard to satisfy everyone all the time. I personally have always had delicious meals there...the burgers (the picnic burger is still one of my faves!), ribs, wings, onion rings, etc were all awesome. And the oreo shake is one of my faves!