Capone's Dinner & Show

So, I went to Capone's this weekend and had a miserable experience.  We found the "half-price" coupons that every other review mentions and gave it a shot.  When we got there, we paid for the tickets at the window and then were let into the place.  They told us to go upstairs to buy drinks.  Well, we didn't want to buy drinks if we were having unlimited drinks in 30 minutes, so we stood around.  When they saw that we weren't buying at the cash bar, they told us to leave and go outside "with the rest of the "riff raff", as told in-character by one of the waiters.  So, we then go outside and wait in-line in the heat for 30 minutes (this place can't let people inside the A/C unless they are buying more stuff from them???).  Dinner time rolls around, we are shown to our tables on the balcony.  We are told our server would be right with us.  It took about 10 minutes before he showed up to take our drink order and tell us about the buffet.  He also mentioned that there was one other waiter on the balcony level that was helping that night, so apparently it was just these two "mooks" to wait on about 40 tables upstairs.  You know what that means...we got our first drinks in about 10 minutes and then didn't get refills (for diet soda, btw) for about 30-45 minutes, despite walking past us and being told they would be back with them.  Nothing like eating your dinner with nothing to drink!  Which brings me to my next point...The food.  This was some seriously disgusting food.  It was basically overcooked, dried-out frozen tv dinners (family size, of course).  The lasagna was hard as nails.  They didn't have lamps on top of half of the buffet, so you couldn't see what you were eating, nor do they have any signs identifying what you are eating.  I went to pick up some meatballs and the whole freaking pan slipped down into the steamer/warmer, so apparently the pan is not the right size for that buffet table.  Nice!  The roast beef was grisly, there were some questionable "bits" inside of the meatballs.  Now, for the show...You kind of think that perhaps there would be more "gangster-like" acting involved, but it is really more of a singing and comedy show, and neither are done well.  Also, just as another reviewer mentioned, they continuously made jokes about cheap tippers and reminding you to tip your server.  That just seems to be very poor taste.    Lastly, they had some stuff torn-up at the bar area and had a sign that said "please excuse our dust as we remodel", but it's clear that they haven't done anything to keep this place in-shape.  It looks like no upkeep has been done to the place in 20 years.  One staff person even walked by me with a power drill during the show (save the repairs for during the day, when guests aren't there).  I've been to many of the dinner shows in the Kissimmee area over the years and can easily say that this was by far, the worst that I've ever attended.  I couldn't wait to get out of there with our group of people.  Spend your money wisely at nearly any one of the OTHER dinner shows in the area and save yourself a headache!

My family and I came from Chicago to Orlando to see the sights and whatnot for the week of the fourth of July. I only asked to go to Al Capone's Dinner and show. I asked the hotel concierge what he thought of the place and he recommend that I not go to there because it is kind of lame and the other concierge by him also shook his head and said not to, however I decided not to take their advice and go by the good reviews I read. The more I read about it, the more excited I got. So we went there on the fourth of July, our last night there. When we got there the first thing I did was go in to the gift shop. I was looking around for some things to get my parents and decided to get my mom a white headband thing they had, she said it was not for her and she asked me to return it and insisted I buy something for myself for the $7 that the headband costed so I returned the headband, although the woman there wasn't thrilled and told me I can not buy anything there again for the night...rude! The police officer was nice and funny in the line we were waiting in. Once we got in, at 8pm we were greeted by the rest of the amazing staff which included Miss Jewel, our server, and others.

We were then called up to the buffet, which for vegetarians like ourselves didn't include much. But, we are an exception since most people eat meat and the buffet should be fine for them. The salad bar and the rest of the food seemed fresh and good to me. Also the Unlimited drinks and food was great. Our server was also amazing and talked to us a lot and made sure our cups were never empty.

The show is what killed it for me. Being so excited for CAPONE's Dinner and SHOW, I was severely let down. 90% of the jokes were about people being cheap and how they should pay a good tip...yes you read it correctly 90% of the show is about how people should pay a good tip. Also when you sit down there is a card telling you you should pay $7 in tips per adult and $5 per child. which, our server was great and he probably deserved every penny of it. But seriously, does Capone's not pay their employees that they spend 90% of the show telling their customers to? Also Al Capone is in the show for about 5-10 minutes all together. Wait...no he isn't...He is in a movie in the show...their management was probably too cheap to do that. Yet, the staff had to call a family the cheap family...probably written in their script by management. Also the actors probably had to fill in some of the time with random stand up about the audience, which was amusing for me...much more than the written part, but my father started falling asleep because of boredom. The actors were great however and I could see that they all were very talented even with their script, which for someone who gets easily impressed the script ruined it for me. They did have some jokes (not many) that were funny, and many that were inappropriate for young children and/or awkward for young adults visiting with their parents. If you do go, do yourself a favor and order your tickets online for half price because you will feel like you are getting stolen from for $60 per person full price. I am planning on returning to Orlando, just not Capone's unless they do something to their horrid script. Moral of the story...listen to your hotel concierge.

Pros:
-Decent unlimited buffet and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks
-Great cast
-AMAZING servers

Cons:
-Terrible script which forces actors to beg for tips
-Mean gift shop woman

Yes, Capone's is campy, corny and cheesey. And no, don't go for the food. The food (at best) is fair. However, we were looking for laughs, a few drinks and a good time. Capone's fit the need. My husband and I had a great time! Laughed! Dressed the part... and smiled.