It has now been nearly 5 years since dearly-departed Disney CFO Christine McCarthy offered an infamous answer addressing the impact of inflation on Walt Disney World and Disneyland. This was back on the November 2021 earnings call, concerning the July to September quarter. Meaning that it has been 5 years since the time frame being addressed.
McCarthy said that inflation was on the minds of every CFO, noting that Disney was already trying to manage inflationary pressures. As for how Disney could cut costs, here’s what she offered as options: “We can adjust suppliers. We can substitute products…We can look at pricing where necessary. We aren’t going to go just straight across and increase prices.”
This was also the source of her now-infamous line: “We can cut portion sizes, which is probably good for some people’s waistlines.” (Sorry, I know I reference this a lot. I still can’t get over the absurdity of her thinking these were words she should say out loud in public.)
Terms like “skimpflation” and “shrinkflation” have since entered our collective vernacular, and Disney has become a poster child for both. This is a point we’ve addressed at multiple times over the last 5 years, particularly when menu prices have increased.
Walt Disney World has been hitting guests with a triple whammy: reducing portions, decreasing quality, and raising prices. Obviously all three of those things aren’t happening on every single item (kind of difficult to reduce the size or quality of a 20 ounce bottle of Coke!), but they’re making these “adjustments” wherever possible.
Some of that had already happened back in late 2021! Portion sizes became noticeably smaller at some restaurants post-reopening, with quality cuts along with them. This was one of the big reasons why we stopped eating at two of our once-favorite counter service restaurants, Flame Tree Barbecue and Docking Bay 7.
It is also why, back in late 2020, we “rediscovered” and re-reviewed one simple and straightforward counter service restaurant where I have since dined more than all of the other restaurants at Disney’s Hollywood Studios combined: ABC Commissary.
At that time, ABC Commissary just reopened with a new menu. We remarked at the time that it seemingly had not been hit by price increases or quality cuts, unlike many of its counterparts.
While it had lost its breakfast that was available very briefly pre-closure and its more elevated fast-casual dinner experience that actually accepted Advance Dining Reservations, both of those probably would’ve been quietly retired regardless once the initial fanfare of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge subsided.
In any case, that’s when I discovered my favorite, then-new entree at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Unfortunately, ABC Commissary was visited by three spirits this summer (the Ghosts of Chapek, McCarthy, and Pressler) and this sandwich was likewise hit by the dreaded skimpflation.
The original fan-favorite version of the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich (pictured above from 2020 and below from 2021) featured sourdough bread, thick and creamy cheeses, generous portion of chicken, surprising amount of spice for Disney, and a side of buffalo sauce for dipping. It was served with a side of steak fries, arugula-farro salad, or apple slices.
When I’m dining with Sarah, I order the salad as a “compromise” to offset the highly indulgent sandwich. But, “when the cat’s away, the mice will play” (I think that’s a Walt Disney quote), which is to say that I order the steak fries when dining solo. They are (or rather, were) far superior to the standard Disney french fries.
Earlier this summer, I started receiving reader reports that the quality had declined. Apparently, popular vloggers also enjoy this dish (as should everyone!), lamented its loss of quality, cutbacks, and declared it “dead.” The Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich was allegedly no longer the must-order that it once was, and fans were moving on to the next thing. Accordingly, I went out to investigate.
I regret to inform you that several quiet cutbacks have, in fact, been made to the beloved Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich (pictured below from August 2026). The bread is still sourdough, and seems mostly unchanged versus the recent past. The ratio of chicken to cheese is now skewed in favor of the latter, and doesn’t have the heat it once did. Most notable of all is that the sandwich is no longer served with the side of buffalo sauce for dipping or the option for steak fries.
I’ve ordered the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich more than a dozen times over the last 5 years. It is, without a doubt, the entree I’ve eaten more than anything else during that timeframe.
The only things that would come close are the burgers at Steakhouse 71 and Geyser Point. I haven’t even done Sebastian’s Bistro, Satu’li Canteen, or other go-tos as often as the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich at ABC Commissary.
The last time I reviewed it was a little over a year ago, at which time my thorough research once again conclusively proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this was one of the most delicious counter service entrees at Walt Disney World.
I wrote then that this was one of my favorite guilty pleasure comfort foods in all of Walt Disney World, as it is addictively delicious. It’s also a fantastic value for money at under $13. At the time, it was an easy 10/10 entree.
There’s no denying that the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich has gotten objectively worse since. That much is clear even on paper with the loss of the steak fries and buffalo dipping sauce.
Here’s where some of the complaints lose me, I guess. Maybe I’ve just been around too long and have become accustomed to this type of thing, but the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich is far from the most egregious example of Walt Disney World cutbacks.
This isn’t the first time it has changed in the last 5 years. It’s just the most noticeable because the absence of the sauce and steak fries is rather conspicuous. Not quite the same as gradually reducing the amount of chicken or thickness of the bread, which I’m pretty confident had already happened in the past. And the sandwich definitely wasn’t bringing the heat in 2024-2025 as it was in 2020-2022. (No surprise there–spicy dishes at WDW are inevitably toned down over time.)
The sandwich has also been inconsistent in the past. There are times that I’ve had it jam-packed with chicken-forward filling, and other occasions when it’s been more like glorified grilled cheese.
In fact, if we zoom out and look at the landscape of Walt Disney World’s dining scene since the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich debuted in October 2020, I would say that this has been one of the less-impacted dishes. (And ABC Commissary one of the most unscathed restaurants.)
It has increased by less than $2 during that time, which is below the rate of inflation and below the baseline for Walt Disney World. The skimpflation angle hurts, but we’re seeing that almost everywhere. And by “almost everywhere,” I don’t just mean at Walt Disney World. Have you been to Panera or Blaze Pizza lately?! The Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a bargain (still!) by those real world standards.
To be clear, I’m not defending this or claiming that the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich is better than it’s ever been. That is not the case. It’s worse today than it was one year ago.
This is better described as me throwing my hands up in the air, or saying “it is what it is.” Inflation, shrinkflation, skimpflation, and whatever other -flations I’ve yet to hear of are all things to which consumers are being subjected virtually everywhere.
Unless you’re eating exclusively hot dogs from the Costco food court (a great idea per me; an awful one per Sarah), you’ve encountered this. Everything is more expensive and worse.
With all of that said, the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich is still a gloriously gooey culinary indulgence! The four flavors of cheese meld together nicely for a rich and creamy dish, with the not-so-buffalo chicken making the sandwich heartier. The toasted bread is still good.
Even after the changes, this is still one of my favorite counter service comfort foods in all of Walt Disney World. It’s no longer an easy 10/10, but I’d give it a 9/10 on a good day. If you’re a guest who doesn’t have the burden of knowledge and are ordering the sandwich for the first time, you’re probably going to love it.
If you do have the burden of knowledge, you’ve probably seen this happen already…or everywhere else. Quality and portions are down across the board since 2019. Unless you’ve only been visiting Walt Disney World for the last 2-3 years and have only ordered this single sandwich during that time frame, this is really nothing new.
Maybe it’s just more “jarring” here since the sandwich had been unscathed (or less impacted) previously? Or perhaps it’s easier to point to this as an example since, again, the losses of the steak fries and dipping sauce are plainly visible.
The switch from the steak fries to the standard ones definitely strings. But I should be ordering the salad, anyway, or so says Sarah (the salad is shockingly good and offers nice balance to the heavy sandwich, if anyone cares). Then there’s the lack of dipping sauce, which hits hardest. If Walt Disney World just restored that, this would probably still be pretty close to a 10/10 for me.
That’s doubly true when I look around at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and weigh my counter service alternatives. A Ronto Wrap is more expensive than this, and less filling. Woody’s Lunch Box is a mostly miserable experience, and has had its own quality cutbacks. Sunset Ranch Market and Backlot Express largely underwhelm.
Docking Bay 7 is the best alternative, and actually does have a couple of new menu items I love (reviews incoming), but they are $16.99 and $19.99! In fact, if there’s one reason I’ve eaten at ABC Commissary less in the last ~4 months, it’s because Docking Bay 7 has improved. That’s the real DHS dining story!
I’m also a big fan of ABC Commissary because it’s one of the few in-park restaurants at Walt Disney World with a self-service beverage station. Since I’m crashing here mid-afternoon after a long morning or afternoon, I like to caffeinate up–and it can take several Cokes to put some pep back in my step, especially after that indulgent sandwich.
ABC Commissary also has ranch and other sauces on tap at a self-service condiment station. As you might notice from the photos here, it’s one of the first locations at Walt Disney World that already switched over to Heinz as part of that sponsorship deal. Now, all they need to do is add buffalo sauce on tap, and it undoes a lot of the damage of this change.
Moreover, even though it’s nothing impressive, there’s no better space for decompressing than ABC Commissary at off hours, while the restaurant is empty. The interior has a very basic Art Deco style, but is light and airy, and has a 1990s Walt Disney World vibe that I’ve come to appreciate. Here are more photos:
Ultimately, the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich will continue to be my go-to early lunch at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. In part for lack of better alternatives, and in part because I still love it.
Maybe part of this is the overall experience and my sentimentality for it. ABC Commissary is a place where Sarah and I spent a lot of time during the post-reopening era when we were locals, and we formed a lot of fond memories in the otherwise nondescript restaurant. When Lightning Lanes launched, it was my go-to spot for an afternoon reprieve during testing. Even today, I appreciate that it opens at 10 am, making it the perfect pit stop after an Early Entry and rope drop run.
The Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich continues to be one of the few things I crave when I’m not at the parks. But as much as I love the sandwich, it’s hard for me to separate where my cravings for the experience of reliving our past memories at ABC Commissary end and those for the sandwich itself begin. Like the glorious blend of chicken and cheese in the sandwich, my own sentimentality for the sandwich and the experience of eating it is melded together, if that makes sense.
Truthfully, I think this is one of the big reasons why fans collectively crave and revisit so many iconic items at Walt Disney World. The dish, dessert or drink is delicious, sure. Equally as important, it’s consumed as our senses are heightened, so to speak, and while forming magical memories at Walt Disney World. Good as it might be on its own, the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich wouldn’t taste nearly as delicious if ordered from the Costco food court.
We are mentally marrying the food with the holistic experience of being there, making memories with family and friends. That’s part of the magic of the place, and why we keep going back, chasing that nostalgic feeling of those past trips, rides, and even restaurants. And it’s at least part of the reason why I’ll keep returning to ABC Commissary, although I also believe reports of my beloved Buffalo Chicken Sandwich’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you eaten the Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese Sandwich in the last few months? Did you think it was noticeably worse or lower quality? Would you order it again? Ordered anything else on the menu lately? Think that ABC Commissary is underrated, or is that just my nostalgia talking? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
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