I just have to vent about the Liberty Tree tavern

[hippiechick72]

The lady and the manager had me floored at this place. We had ADR's for 5:20pm one day last week. I made my ADR's back in March, I think. Anyways, I even had my hotel print out a copy of all of my reservations when I got there last week. We were supposed to eat at 5:20 on Monday. When we walked in there. The lady at the front desk fought with me and told me that my reservations were for 4:20, even seeing my printout that I had, she still fought with me over it :furious: Anyway, we got there at 5pm and she said she would still be able to seat us about the same time that our reservation was for. YEAH RIGHT!! We got seated at 6pm. I griped and griped, but it got me nowhere. The manager even refused to help me. That really had me going. Oh yeah, and I haven't told you all that my 17 month old was screaming!!!!!! because he was hungry and thirsty. Did they care? Heck no. I kept getting a sympathetic look from one of the hostesses, but she didn't bother to help me.

The food was good and our waiter was good, but getting passed the ignorance and the frustration of the front desk people was just unreal.

And of course, since this was a character dinner, I didn't want to leave because my kids were looking forward to seeing everyone. I would've left in a heartbeat had it not been for my kids and those characters.

This was my only bad experience during my whole week at WDW. Thank god!

[sunny_stace]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. We have ADRs there in Dec., heres hoping we have some luck with the place! I'm glad to hear the rest of your trip went well though! :)

[mskayjay]

This is one of the rare times that I would send a not off to WDW Customer Relations, give them dates, times, all the facts and let them know you were otherwise pleased with your stay, but what exactly was it that you did to have anyone treat you like that? It was obviously a computer error somewhere as you had your ressies printed in hand. Someone owes you an apology. :rolleyes1

[maxiesmom]

I'm not doubting what you are saying, but do you realize that an ADR does not guarantee you will be seated at that time? It is not a reservation for a certain time, it just means that you will be seated at the next available table for your party size. I do know that when we have eaten at the Liberty Tree, we are always seated a bit past our ADR time. They are not the most punctual of restaurants.

[TinkRBel_In_Training]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience :( The manager shouldn't have been arguing after seeing the printout. Maybe in the future you could carry a baggie of cherrios or other snack and a container of juice to keep your little one happy until you get seated.

[iluvpluto27]

Sorry you had a bad experience.

[hippiechick72]

I do realize that an ADR is not a guaranteed seating time. I was mad about the fact that these people had the nerve to argue with me over the reservation time. And then they would keep telling me I was next. Yeah, I was next alright, right after 12 other families got seated and ate their dinner. You would think that, especially with a child crying, that they would have been at the least apologetic.

[tigger536]

No, ADRs are no guarantee of an exact time, but I agree with the OP that an hour is excessive. It sounds like the hostess really did not believe you and basically treated you like a walk in - that would explain why other parties (with non-computer glitched ADRs) came and went while you were still waiting. I agree you should complain (it won't do you any good now but disney should at least be aware that the restaurant treated you that way over an error that really was not your fault.

[wilma-bride]

While I agree with some previous posters that an ADR is by no means a guaranteed seating time, I find it astonishing that with a screaming child, the restaurant manager was not willing to help. Personally, I would have made sure I stopped by Guest Services on my way out of the park to note my displeasure. Regardless of anything else, they could at least have given you a realistic idea of the amount of time you would have to wait.

[maxiesmom]

While I agree with some previous posters that an ADR is by no means a guaranteed seating time, I find it astonishing that with a screaming child, the restaurant manager was not willing to help. Personally, I would have made sure I stopped by Guest Services on my way out of the park to note my displeasure. Regardless of anything else, they could at least have given you a realistic idea of the amount of time you would have to wait.

Not trying to make light of the Op's experience, but I would think anyone working at Disney sees screaming kids on an hourly basis. There is no way they can seat every family with a screaming child ahead of the families with non-screaming children. People would have to resort to pinching their children just to get seated!;)

I'm sorry that the Op's reservation got messed up, but it does occasionally happen. Try looking at it from Disney's standpoint. To them you missed your ADR time, and they fit you in within an hour of your showing up. Not bad for a restaurant that you cannot walk up to and expect to be seated.

I am kind of curuios as to what the Op meant by the fact that she repeatedly "griped and griped". If she kept badgering the CMs, that is not a great idea. The old saying 'Catch more flies with honey" isn't an old saying for nothing. Making the CMs dislike you is not a good way to get what you want. And I think it is never a good idea to anger anyone who works at a restaruant, and still eat there!:eek:

[dogodisney]

The lady and the manager had me floored at this place. We had ADR's for 5:20pm one day last week. I made my ADR's back in March, I think. Anyways, I even had my hotel print out a copy of all of my reservations when I got there last week. We were supposed to eat at 5:20 on Monday. When we walked in there. The lady at the front desk fought with me and told me that my reservations were for 4:20, even seeing my printout that I had, she still fought with me over it :furious: Anyway, we got there at 5pm and she said she would still be able to seat us about the same time that our reservation was for. YEAH RIGHT!! We got seated at 6pm. I griped and griped, but it got me nowhere. The manager even refused to help me. That really had me going. Oh yeah, and I haven't told you all that my 17 month old was screaming!!!!!! because he was hungry and thirsty. Did they care? Heck no. I kept getting a sympathetic look from one of the hostesses, but she didn't bother to help me.

The food was good and our waiter was good, but getting passed the ignorance and the frustration of the front desk people was just unreal.

And of course, since this was a character dinner, I didn't want to leave because my kids were looking forward to seeing everyone. I would've left in a heartbeat had it not been for my kids and those characters.

This was my only bad experience during my whole week at WDW. Thank god!

Just curious.... How did you get print outs of your reservation? Was it something that you typed yourself? :confused3

[catne]

The desk at your Disney hotel can give you a print-out of your dinner reservations. Also may be able to get a print-out from guest relations at the parks...think I've heard people do that too.

[ss9498]

When making my ADRs the CM told me that I would be able to get printout of my ADRs at my hotel by giving my phone number.

[jennwndrlnd]

After going to the reservations check-in last year out CM insisted we take our printout with us each day just so things could be verified if there was a mistake at the restaurants. If they don't offer one you should always ask them to print it out.

[RACHELSMOM1]

We have waited nearly an hour at LTT for our time also, it all depends on the diners inside finishing up. I always bring goldfish crackers and juice box for the little ones.

[musicmama]

The last time we ate there was the last trip that DH was with us. Our reasonably early ADR was "lost", even though I had a printout from Ft. Wilderness concierge with me, and we were left with the crowds to wait. Hour and a half, and we were supposed to be grateful. :rolleyes1 Only reason I agreed to wait was because it was Christmastime and DH requested this one - we had all liked the food before. Nope. Not this time. Not worth the wait - the meat platter had apparently sat under the heat lamp for a good 10 or 15 minutes before we got it - sauces almost hard. I specifically asked to NOT have the mustard sauce for the ham - guess what - it was on there, and I HATE mustard. So, I asked for a separate plate and fresh ham. You would think I had asked for the Hope Diamond.:furious:

We were on the DDP and tips were still included, so I guess our server just figured she was fine and didn't need to worry any more about us. No drink refills, almost no dessert. So I outsmarted her. I got up, went to the kitchen door and asked for the manager. I said that I would be more than happy to get our drink refills and dessert, since it seemed that our server had deserted us. I just wanted a chance to have my picture taken in a costume to show my family and friends that I had had to be our server. Oh yeah, and same pic might even show up on the Disboards.....

Manager was floored. Service improved. But we're not going back this December. Don't need the possibility of a repeat.

[SunnieRN]

I think at disneyworld, just as at any tourist destination (well some more than others), there is a captive audience present.
With ADR's the way they work, having to make most of them 6 mos out for the more popular restaurants, the restaurants know that most people will tolerate waits, even with an ADR. Where else are you going to go when you are on the dining plan and all the table service restaurants are full?
The lack of flexability makes it hard to do anything different.

[dogodisney]

Thank you to everyone who replied about getting the ADR printouts. I didn't know that the resorts would do them.

Once again I have learned something from this site! :disrocks:

[rcortese711]

I have reservations here in August... hopefully it's better...

[honeymo78]

We have consistently found that we wait longer at LTT than almost any other ADR - particularly for dinner. A 15-20 wait past our ADR time has been the norm for us here in the past 3 years /3 trips. Most other locations we wait about 5-10 past our time, if not less (we often arrive 15 min early and get seated on or before our scheduled time).

[Reese]

The exact same thing happened to us. It was in Jan on a P&P night. I had my trusty ADR sheets and it said our ADRs for 5:20. DH raced across the park to check us in and she told him our ADR was actually for 4:30 but they would still be able to seat us. There is no way that I got the time wrong...I triple check my ADR's and have them all typed up on our daily itinerary:coffee:. We waited for another hour to be seated.

[02AggieGirl]

Sorry that you had a such a frustrating experience!! I know how stressful it is when you're child is screaming (and you KNOW you are right)!!

[myhouseofmouse]

This is our favorite place. The first restaurant that had characters. The second Minnie took our 2 year old daughter away by the hand, had my wife and I balling our eyes out. Well maybe not balling, but the eyes were alittle moist. food is always good(not great) but what I would expect for a Family style dining experiance.

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

We have waited nearly an hour at LTT for our time also, it all depends on the diners inside finishing up. I always bring goldfish crackers and juice box for the little ones.

Excellant point. Lat year when I was dining at Crystal Palace, one of those LONG, bad afternnon storms came. People wouldn't leave the restaurant, so no one waiting could get in. I imagine it backed up the whole day's reservations by an hour or more. It seemed to take forever to end.

And I agree with PP, Crying child is a constant, and rude behavior, griping and griping and raising hell, doesn't help make it better.

[skater]

I think it was about 5 years ago when we had our first WDW table service meal at LTT. The service was incredible and was what started me down the path of my Disney obsession :) . It was also not crowded (for lunch). Two years ago we ate there for lunch and had probably the worst service we've ever had at WDW. Not a horror story, just really bad and we sensed a general feeling of superiority there - they know people are lined up and being turned away - why should they go above and beyond anymore?

Last year, we tried it again and it was better, but I still felt that they don't try as hard as they used to (unless I was just lucky to have an incredible server the first time).

[BarleyJack]

40 minutes past an ADR time at LTT is not excessive. There are few table service locations at MK to begin with. People have the right to enjoy their meals; did you eat quickly and rush out thinking of the people waiting behind you and their wait times? Sorry if this come across as hateful but sometimes peoples' sense of entitilement really gets to me.

[skater]

Venting about a frustrating experience does not show a sense of entitlement.

[maxiesmom]

Venting about a frustrating experience does not show a sense of entitlement.

No, but badgering the CMs and thinking that because you have a crying child, you should be seated next does.

[chloelovesdisney]

I too would be frustrated if I had my computer printout with my scheduled times and was told, despite the black and white proof, I was wrong and they were right. I wouldn't be nearly as annoyed by the wait as by their bad attitude. They should have apologized for THEIR mistake and given her the next available table for her party size. I would definitely write a letter to customer service as this particular restaurant seems to have this happen more than others based on complaints here.

[Narnia]

I'd be upset too if I was treated like a walk in. The least the resteraunt could have done is offered the child a snack. A glass of milk and some veggies aren't going out of thier way.

[maxiesmom]

I too would be frustrated if I had my computer printout with my scheduled times and was told, despite the black and white proof, I was wrong and they were right. I wouldn't be nearly as annoyed by the wait as by their bad attitude. They should have apologized for THEIR mistake and given her the next available table for her party size. I would definitely write a letter to customer service as this particular restaurant seems to have this happen more than others based on complaints here.

But if you do that you open the door for every shmcuk to "redo" their adr print-outs. It wouldn't be hard to do. And don't think it wouldn't happen, look how many ways people already find to get around Disney rules.

And how do you know they were not seated at the next table for their size party? As another poster pointed out, the Liberty Tree gets backed up quite often. So they could have been the next seated, for all we know.

I do think that whoever has had this problem should let Disney know, and they they can fix whatever glitch is in their system. If people just complain to the CMs at the Liberty Tree, likely it won't get fixed.

[chloelovesdisney]

I'm not that clever to redo a printout from the hotel front desk. I think that if you tried to white out and type on the paper they would be able to see that but I guess there's always someone who knows how to make good forgeries.

[gigi1313]

here's the part that has me confused... if the op thought that ressie was at 5:20 and showed up at 5 and was not seated 'til 6, that is not being treated like a walk-in... that's how adrs work, next available table after all the other adrs that showed up before you are seated... so imo the op was treated as a 5:20 adr, just as expected!

if it were my screaming/tired/hungry child, i would have sent dh to the nearest cs or snack stand and "ruined" my child's dinner w/a snack just to keep the peace... and my piece of mind...

to the op... were the 12 families seated before you already waiting (inside or out, lots of people wait on the porch, so it appears that they just arrived) or did people actually check in after you and get seated before you? (and were they the same party size 'cause that matters too)

[cymbaldiva]

40 minutes past an ADR time at LTT is not excessive. There are few table service locations at MK to begin with. People have the right to enjoy their meals; did you eat quickly and rush out thinking of the people waiting behind you and their wait times? Sorry if this come across as hateful but sometimes peoples' sense of entitilement really gets to me.

Thanks for reminding me one more time why In absolutely hate the entire ADR system .... I find it ridiculous to have to call 180 days out to put myself in a line to waste 40 minutes more of my valuable park time to wait to eat in a mediocre sit down restaurant.

It's not too much to expect to be seated promptly - the way the system works now is less efficient that walk up only would be - there is still a long wait time, only now people are ill because they thought that just because they had a reservation that they would get a table <shrug>

[RACHELSMOM1]

But, there are so just so many tables. Dinner starts at 4:30pm, and some families take a while to enjoy their meals and visits with the characters. Those with ADRs later than 4:30 will more than likely have a wait, because the families who are still seated have to finish up their meal. LTT is not a fast TS. We have never felt rushed to finish, and when we have a party of 12, we like to sit and visit with our friends while we enjoy our meal. Guests should not ever be rushed to finish a meal - if you want to sit down sooner, make an earlier ADR. We always choose the earliest opening, trying for the 4:30 seating, so we don't have to wait 45 minutes to an hour (which is quite common at LTT).

[musicmama]

The point about this restaurant, more than others, is - not only are their times frequently 'incorrect', they LOSE ADRs. (See my previous post) We had a confirmed ADR, the concierge printout (not easy to duplicate hotel watermarked paper) and they still insisted that our ADR did not exist. Had never existed. And then simply fit us in as if we were walkups. In fact, other walkups of a similar size got seated FASTER.:furious:

The manager was not at all sympathetic - in fact, the attitude really was "so, go somewhere else". I wanted to, DH didn't. Our ADR was for 4:40 - I have my old info in files so I can compare between years - and we weren't seated until after 6pm. We were not the only ones who got told the same thing - several other families were told they had no ADR. I didn't feel entitled, but I did feel belittled. And with the server's behavior, I was even more disgusted.

[jennytablina]

Thanks for reminding me one more time why In absolutely hate the entire ADR system .... I find it ridiculous to have to call 180 days out to put myself in a line to waste 40 minutes more of my valuable park time to wait to eat in a mediocre sit down restaurant.

It's not too much to expect to be seated promptly - the way the system works now is less efficient that walk up only would be - there is still a long wait time, only now people are ill because they thought that just because they had a reservation that they would get a table <shrug>

Well then, what system would be better than the current Dining system in Disney?

I mean far as I can tell the system works fine, everyones catered for in some way; For those who want a quick meal theres the counter services, the vendors and the buffet resturants. Plus a few resturants for those who dont mind giving up a little time to have a slighty more fancy bite to eat.

I mean; if your in the park, and food isnt a big deal, well then the theory goes you'll just get a quick bite from the counter services and so on. This is what my family did the last 5 trips. We went in prepared with a backpack of snacks most days (specially Magic Kingdom ones) and grazed from that if we were feeling peckish or stopped off at one of the zillion counter services about. Sure the queues sucked and maybe the food wasnt a la carte, but it kept us happy.

Next week I'm off to Florida and doing Disney mostly without family. Just me and DBF and we'll be having our first major dining experiences in Disney. I'm going on one of the busier periods of the year so despite making ADRs I'm quite willing to understand I'll still have to wait for my seat, the bookings pretty much free anyways. I'ld be more upset it it was a booking for Cinderellas Royal Table or something, considering you have to pay for that anyhoo

At the end of the day Disney has to deal with high crowds more often than not. There will never be a perfect system that can fully deal with Disneys daily crowd intake. ADR's work, you just have to be aware its not a proper reservation and accept you could lose 2 hours of touring time

[Anna_Claire]

I can completely see both side here. Who's right? Who's wrong? :confused3 Probably a little of everyone...However, as someone with 2 small children planning on a meal here, it makes me nervous, not just for this place, but for the other meals I'm planning as well. Is there any way that you can call the restaurant say the night before your meal to reconfirm? That might be a helpful thing to do. Save everyone a little trouble before it ever starts. I might try that. I think more than anything, we all pay lots of money to go to WDW, and we get all worked up about all of the magic :wizard: and perfection. We forget we are in the real world, which I guess is the point of it all anyway. Then, when something goes wrong, you get jolted back to reality and it's disappointing to say the least. But can you imagine what those CM's must go through on a daily basis? I think I'd have to kill myself! :scared: