UPDATE 2025: Disney has announced that Mama Melrose Ristorante Italiano will permanently close on May 10th, 2025. Our original review will remain public here.
With the news that MuppetVision 3D and that whole area will be closing to make way for the new Monsters Inc. Land, comes the announcement that Mama Melrose will be closing as well. You won't see any tears shed here at Mickey From The UK as this was our worst Walt Disney World restaurant experience to date.
There are so many good restaurants at Walt Disney World now - too many, in fact. There's simply no reason to let any bad restaurants on your potential visit list for any upcoming Walt Disney World trip. We have our go-to restaurants which we love to visit whenever we get the chance, but always make room for new ones as well. Two of our previous staples, Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Cafe have done nothing but decline over the years, so we've kicked them off our potential list entirely for every trip. We may revisit some day if we hear things have improved, but that day doesn't appear to be near.
We always love to do the Fantasmic! dining package, and the only restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios we'd have yet to experience is Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano, so we booked a Fantasmic! dining package with a meal here for the first time.
Mama Melrose Initial Impressions
As we entered, we couldn't help but notice the strong smell of fish in the air. I'm not sure if there was a special offer on the salmon or something, but if you do not care for the smell of fish, I would prepare yourself. The restaurant itself is pretty with lots of theming and art across the walls. There were lots of tables, but they weren't too cramped. The seating was all hard wood with no cushions, so it wasn't particularly comfortable.
Our server was English, and of course, being English ourselves, we thought that would be a nice talking point, but we got quite the cold shoulder from the offset. Either way, she took our drinks and food order, and we were given a bread basket. The bread was very good, fresh, and even though I generally don't care for oil dipping, this oil wasn't particularly strong, so it worked well for me.
Mama Melrose Food
We ordered a cocktail each (as it comes with the dining plan), and we had some water. I was quite thirsty, so I got through my water quite quickly, but sadly, our server was nowhere to be found, and my water remained empty for the majority of the meal.
For my entree, I liked the sound of the Meatballs and Chicken Campanelle. As far as presentation goes, it's nothing spectacular. As for taste - it was average. There wasn't a lot of flavour, but it was by no means bad. I think the portion sizes were on the small side as well.
Our server appeared after our entree had been taken away to take our dessert order and then off she went again. It was such a fleeting visit that I completely forgot to ask for a water refill (not that I should need to). I didn't really fancy anything on the menu, so I just had some ice cream and also tried the Chocolate and Cherry Tort, which I'm told was quite good.
Once we were done - with my water glass empty - our server came over with the bill, left it on the table, and walked off. I opened it up and looked it over.
The Mama Melrose Bill
Because the Fantasmic! dining package has a set cash value no matter what you actually order, that is what is presented on your bill. When you pay with a Disney Dining Plan Credit, it doesn't really matter what the cash value is because you're paying using your credits. However, the suggested gratuity is based off the increased cost of the dining package, not the food and drink you've ordered. Even though tipping is a bit of a taboo subject among Brits, we absolutely tip where appropriate as we lay out in our Walt Disney World tipping guide, but this made my jaw drop.
Perhaps it wouldn't have bothered me so much if we had great service, but we didn't. We probably had the worst service I've ever had at Walt Disney World, period. Being told to tip 18% on a $43 set price meal when I had $23 meatballs was just crazy to me. The suggested tip amount of $21 was almost the cost of my meatball entree at $23.
I did not intend to tip the full 18% based on the service we received anyway. However, you should never leave no tip as it affects other cast members as we explain in our Walt Disney World tipping guide. We left a small tip and the server came over, opened it up, huffed, and walked off. She came back a minute or so later, slammed the receipt on the table, and walked off without saying a word.
What We Did Next
This is, of course, unacceptable. So as we left, we went to the check-in desk and asked to see the manager - which is what you should do. The manager appeared to be busy, and the check-in cast members said we could wait but decided we weren't wasting our holiday time waiting, so we said we'll talk to guest services on the way out. We carried on with our day and visited guest services to discuss our experience. We explained what happened and he apologised we didn't have great time and that is not the level of service that should be provided. He also acknowledged the (somewhat of an) issue with the suggested and expected gratuity on the dining package cost, so I don't think this is the first time someone has come to guest services to talk about it. The issue was rectified as best he could and he passed the feedback to the restaurant management. To this day in 2024, this is the only time I've ever had to go to guest services to complain about a restaurant experience.
While a bad server can make or break a restaurant, that is not always enough by itself for me to never go back. We've had subpar service at Ohana, but still enjoyed the food so we do go back every now and then. However, in this case, with bad service, mediocre food, and quite a bland atmosphere, we won't be going back to Mama Melrose again.
Just keep in mind when using table service credits when taking advantage of the Fantasmic! dining package that you're not over-tipping.
