DisneyFamily123
Use the Force, Luke!
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2009
Very frustrating check-in problems at Ohana last week. I have an opportunity to talk with Disney management about it. Any suggestions for improvement?
We had a terrible experience that caused us to be over an hour late for the Magic Kingcom Christmas party, and the restaurant manager was not helpful at all. Have you had similar experiences?
Our experience
Had 5:10pm ADR, thought we would get seated quickly since the restaurant doesn't open until 5:00pm. Arrived right at 5:10 and there were 2 lines to checkin; I was about the 10th person in one of those lines. But, I waited and waited... after about 20 minutes I finally reached the check-in person and she said her computer just stopped working. Now another 10 minutes passed. Finally, at 5:40 or so, I got a pager.
Then we waited in the lobby. At about 6pm, I started to worry about making it to the Christmas party on time (7pm) and asked at the check-in... was told they were trying to get us seated soon. I talked to the manager and we were promised the next available table. Still, we were not seated until about 6:30pm.
Now, here's the frustration..... while in the lobby, people told us they were a walk-up (no reservation) and were quoted a 2 hour wait. Why was Ohana taking walk-ups when they were backed up an hour for people like me who made ADRs 6 months in advance?
When we were seated, there were many empty tables in the restaurant. So, what's going on? Do they seat in waves or something?
I talked to the manager again while we were eating and he acted like they did us a favor by seating us at all. He told us we were late and that Disney's policy is anyone 20 minutes or more late is treated as a walk-up... so he supposedly did us a favor by seating us in only an hour and 20 minutes!!! But, it was THEIR FAULT they couldn't check us in when we arrived on time.
When I tried to explain again that it was a problem with check-in, the manager didn't seem to get it. The manager offered to comp the gratuity but I declined. What was the point of that? The server was doing a great job trying to get us out of their as soon as possible. Why punish her? Then we asked our server to put our dessert in a container to go so we could hurry to the Christmas party. She said they don't usually do that but she would ask the chef and manager. Our server came back and said they would not do it. All we wanted to do was get out of there and get to the party.
We ended up being over an hour late to the Christmas Party. I really regret that I didn't just leave and grab a hot dog at Magic Kingdom.
When we finally left Ohana, I met the manager at the check-in because he offered his business card and to create a seamless dining experience at Ohana the next time we visit. At that time, the line just to check-in had about 50 people in it stretching all the way past Kona Cafe to the doors that exit to the monorail! At Ohana's rate, it would take 1 to 2 hours just to check them in and give them pager. I pointed that out to the manager but he didn't say anything.
All I really wanted was for the manager to acknowledge the problem and NOT blame me and act like he was doing us a favor. I really didn't like being a hour late to the Christmas party, but I could have chosen to leave Ohana and get counter service somewhere else.
Been to over 50 other restaurants (23 reservations just this trip) on Disney property and never had such problems. Even at the popular Le Cellier, we were checked in immediately and waited no more than 20 minutes. Everywhere else we went, we were checked in immediately and waited 0 to 10 minutes to be seated.
We had a terrible experience that caused us to be over an hour late for the Magic Kingcom Christmas party, and the restaurant manager was not helpful at all. Have you had similar experiences?
Our experience
Had 5:10pm ADR, thought we would get seated quickly since the restaurant doesn't open until 5:00pm. Arrived right at 5:10 and there were 2 lines to checkin; I was about the 10th person in one of those lines. But, I waited and waited... after about 20 minutes I finally reached the check-in person and she said her computer just stopped working. Now another 10 minutes passed. Finally, at 5:40 or so, I got a pager.
Then we waited in the lobby. At about 6pm, I started to worry about making it to the Christmas party on time (7pm) and asked at the check-in... was told they were trying to get us seated soon. I talked to the manager and we were promised the next available table. Still, we were not seated until about 6:30pm.
Now, here's the frustration..... while in the lobby, people told us they were a walk-up (no reservation) and were quoted a 2 hour wait. Why was Ohana taking walk-ups when they were backed up an hour for people like me who made ADRs 6 months in advance?
When we were seated, there were many empty tables in the restaurant. So, what's going on? Do they seat in waves or something?
I talked to the manager again while we were eating and he acted like they did us a favor by seating us at all. He told us we were late and that Disney's policy is anyone 20 minutes or more late is treated as a walk-up... so he supposedly did us a favor by seating us in only an hour and 20 minutes!!! But, it was THEIR FAULT they couldn't check us in when we arrived on time.
When I tried to explain again that it was a problem with check-in, the manager didn't seem to get it. The manager offered to comp the gratuity but I declined. What was the point of that? The server was doing a great job trying to get us out of their as soon as possible. Why punish her? Then we asked our server to put our dessert in a container to go so we could hurry to the Christmas party. She said they don't usually do that but she would ask the chef and manager. Our server came back and said they would not do it. All we wanted to do was get out of there and get to the party.
We ended up being over an hour late to the Christmas Party. I really regret that I didn't just leave and grab a hot dog at Magic Kingdom.
When we finally left Ohana, I met the manager at the check-in because he offered his business card and to create a seamless dining experience at Ohana the next time we visit. At that time, the line just to check-in had about 50 people in it stretching all the way past Kona Cafe to the doors that exit to the monorail! At Ohana's rate, it would take 1 to 2 hours just to check them in and give them pager. I pointed that out to the manager but he didn't say anything.
All I really wanted was for the manager to acknowledge the problem and NOT blame me and act like he was doing us a favor. I really didn't like being a hour late to the Christmas party, but I could have chosen to leave Ohana and get counter service somewhere else.
Been to over 50 other restaurants (23 reservations just this trip) on Disney property and never had such problems. Even at the popular Le Cellier, we were checked in immediately and waited no more than 20 minutes. Everywhere else we went, we were checked in immediately and waited 0 to 10 minutes to be seated.