Extremely Upset & In Shock with Chef Mickey

[gibbersome]

You're right about the GF. The hotel is themed as a 5* hotel and priced as a 5* hotel. No reason to actually provide 5* service and amenities. Disney's guest aren't that demanding.

I think it's a matter of perception. Disney's guests perceive they don't have much choice. But if you're willing to stay off property, you'll find some of the best rates on a Waldorf Astoria/Ritz Carlton/Grand Hyatt anywhere.


Anyway...all's well that ends well. I don't think I'll be making a trip to Chef Mickey anytime soon.

I have actually become less and less satisfied with my trips with each passing year.

Oh no!

 

[robinb]

Your post was very hard to read with limited paragraphs.

I'm sorry you were disappointed. I guess, in retrospect, it was worth the extra $45 to have it done to your satisfaction .

 

[Pirate Jeff]

I am the first person to criticize Disney when it's warranted. I have actually become less and less satisfied with my trips with each passing year.

HOWEVER, in this case, the OP expected the wait staff at Chef Mickeys to throw a huge birthday party for them. Hold the cake, deliver the cake, light the candles, sing happy birthday, cut the cake, plate the cake, etc. This isn't Chef Mickey's responsiblity, I'm sorry.

And, no, the customer is not always right.

There are two rules in running a restaurant.

Rule number 1: The customer is always right.

Rule number 2: When the customer is wrong, refer to rule number 1.

This person did not ask for an extravaganza. She just paid for a dinner for 20 people. For one guest, to provide that measure of business to any establishment, warrants a bit of courtesy, don't you think? Again, unless they are being disruptive to other guests, they have every right to be treated with courtesy.

There were other options and it's not like the OP went to Billy's Bakery to buy a cake, they bought it at a Disney property.

All this is moot however. Because the manager failed to treat the situation with the attention it warranted and no guest, especially ones whom are enjoying the magic at Disney on their special day, should be treated like that.

 

[si-am]

There are two rules in running a restaurant.

Rule number 1: The customer is always right.

Rule number 2: When the customer is wrong, refer to rule number 1.

This person did not ask for an extravaganza. She just paid for a dinner for 20 people. For one guest, to provide that measure of business to any establishment, warrants a bit of courtesy, don't you think? Again, unless they are being disruptive to other guests, they have every right to be treated with courtesy.

There were other options and it's not like the OP went to Billy's Bakery to buy a cake, they bought it at a Disney property.

All this is moot however. Because the manager failed to treat the situation with the attention it warranted and no guest, especially ones whom are enjoying the magic at Disney on their special day, should be treated better than that.

She did ask for an extravaganza! Did you not read the OP? (Granted, the story was hard to get through with no paragraphs.)

And so what if she paid for dinner? So did everyone else in the restaurant! That is completely irrelevant.

I think we will just have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

[Lewisc]

I get up to get food and the options were very limited. I was so confused by the lack of options. I also went to get roast beef and was told they had slightly pink and very cooked. I asked if they had something more rare and was told nope this is all we have...not too happy at this point. So I served myself a small plate and didn't even eat all of it

The OP didn't like the food. Chef Mickey has a reasonable number of options. Agreed the quality isn't what it used to be. It isn't the kind of restaurant where you can get your meat cooked to order. She didn't like the service. Didn't like the price of the cake. Thought she was being clever buying the cake at the Boardwalk without checking first. Chef It's not the kind of restaurant where you can get meat cooked to order.

I think her expectations were based on the what the meal cost. Her expectations weren't reasonable for restaurant she selected.

Bunkkinsmom's earlier post still rings true. The entire exchange was a failure of customer service on the manager's part. You want customers to keep coming back even when there is misunderstanding that's the customer's fault. The OP came away feeling very upset at how the situation was handled, not to mention the rest of her large group must have felt uncomfortable as well. And now with the post on DISboards, this negative experience will be read by hundreds more.

Chef Mickey's is doing well. The manager offered a solution, just not what the OP was looking for. The hotel manager offered a solution. If I was in that position I might have been tempted to take the server aside, give him $20 and see if they could get the dessert from downstairs.

Disney has a non-smoking policy. Being anoyed when your waiter doesn't have a lighter is very unreasonable.

************

The "question" isn't regarding what is or is not acceptable. The question is how the manager dealt with it. It is my opinion: "not very well at all". Further, the substandard service by the waitress is unacceptable especially for a person who is going to receive an included guaranteed gratuity. Many people make "unreasonable requests" but to them, they are perfectly acceptable. The OP was unaware of the issue with the cake. That is not the problem here.

The problem was with how she was treated by a person who is supposed to make things better, not worse. Further, the OP paid for meals for 20 people, not like she was trying to get something for nothing. Bottom line, there were options. The manager if he had been good at his job, would have found a solution that didn't involve bringing a paying guest to tears at the happiest place on Earth.

The OP was trying to get a $165 cake for $120. She wasn't trying to get something for nothing but she was trying to get something for less then what Disney wanted to charge her.

The manager offered a solution. Some restaurants would have told a customer to bring the cake back to their car.

Jeff--Rule #1 for a restaurant. Make sure you follow Board of Health Rules. Letting the customer keep the cake at the table was a more then reasonable accomodation.

Chef Mickey generally sells out. Those tables would have filled without the OP. Birthday parties of 20 aren't rare. You did hit the problem. The OP thought her party was large enough to warrant some exceptions.

 

[TDC Nala]

I initially saw both the bakery and Chef Mickey under the same Disney umbrella, but perhaps they compete against each other.

They're not competitors, but Disney World is like the government. It is so huge and so complicated that it has to have different "agencies" to do different things. Just try getting one government agency to cooperate with another if you don't go through official channels.

This thread is going to be closed - and I hate to close it because it is good information for people to learn before they start arranging to bring cakes to a Disney restaurant - if it continues to be a debate about whether DIS posters are Disney apologists or whether the manager was tasked with doing whatever possible to keep the customer from getting upset. However, it's starting to be a thread about bickering with each other.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

That cake is so beautiful I would have put it on the table to enjoy it longer! I hate cutting and eating pretty cakes b/c you only see it for a few minutes. I think the little girl would have loved having the cake in front of her for the meal. Then all the characters would know it was her b-day.

 

[DisGirl23]

This isn't a discussion of "the customer is always right". This is someone telling a story of a bad experience with a restaurant...

She didn't care for the food.
She didn't want to pay extra for the cake there.
The restaurant doesn't allow outside food in the kitchen. Regardless of where it came from because it still came from the outside.
The manager offered to let her keep the cake on the table.
She didn't like that answer.
She went down to the hotel concierge and a hotel manager offered to hold if for her and she could come back and get it.
-personally, I would have happily kept it on the table instead of having to truck it down to the lobby during my meal to retrieve it. The CM manager probably thought the same thing.
She thought to bring a candle but, not something to light it with.
She expected a buffet restaurant to serve her outside cake to her.

Learned lesson.
Again, I feel bad that it didn't go as she had thought it would but, I didn't see too much wrong with the way it was handled. And I know we will disagree and that's fine too.

 

[msmayor]

I will say that I found the Disney Bakery system to be VERY difficult to deal with.

When I researched where to get a cake, I was told to go to the Grand Floridian Bakery. When I got there (4 days before the dinner) to order the cake, I was told there was no guest bakery there, and to call the Boardwalk. Then I found out from the Boardwalk that they didn't deliver to Downtown Disney restaurants, and they were (in general) making it hard to get the cake. Here I was, prepared to pay any price for a cake, and I couldn't get one!

So plan B was Publix. Delicious cake. And as I said, the arrangements made ahead of time at Portobello's were great. I didn't even ask them to serve the cake; all we wanted was for it to be brought out and we figured we would do it since we brought it in. Our server and the manager was wonderful though, and they sliced it right at the table and served for us (service overall was fantastic at that restaurant and the gratuity we left reflected that).

Definitely use Group Dining if you have a large party; they were not only able to make our reservation, but they were able to clearly let us know which restaurants could ensure we were all seated together, which had good "space" for a large group, which had good menu items for various ages.

 

[TDC Nala]

Portobello is not a Disney restaurant; they may not have the same rules. It's possible a Disney restaurant would tell you you can't bring in your own cake at all. I'd guess if anyone wants to order a cake elsewhere and bring it into any restaurant, rather than have it delivered by Disney, they would first need to contact that restaurant directly (not through WDW-DINE, they likely know nothing about policies in individual restaurants) to ask what the procedure is, and if they want the cake presented, sliced and served by restaurant staff, to arrange for that.

 

[ToriPeanut]

This isn't a discussion of "the customer is always right". This is someone telling a story of a bad experience with a restaurant...

She didn't care for the food.
She didn't want to pay extra for the cake there.
The restaurant doesn't allow outside food in the kitchen. Regardless of where it came from because it still came from the outside.
The manager offered to let her keep the cake on the table.
She didn't like that answer.
She went down to the hotel concierge and a hotel manager offered to hold if for her and she could come back and get it.
-personally, I would have happily kept it on the table instead of having to truck it down to the lobby during my meal to retrieve it. The CM manager probably thought the same thing.
She thought to bring a candle but, not something to light it with.
She expected a buffet restaurant to serve her outside cake to her.

Learned lesson.
Again, I feel bad that it didn't go as she had thought it would but, I didn't see too much wrong with the way it was handled. And I know we will disagree and that's fine too.

Yeah i agree,

and the customer didn't ask the resturaunt if she can store a big cake there. I would have called bc some resturaunts in my state wont even do that...

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I don't think I would have ever expected the level of service the OP did from a character buffet. I mean, the servers just clear your plates at buffets, deliver your check.

 

[TDC Nala]

I'd also like to caution against chastising the OP for not knowing she couldn't bring in a cake, or not anticipating that she couldn't have it stored at Chef Mickey's or brought out at an appropriate time for the surprise she had planned. She knows better now, and I'm sure her story will benefit some who thought of doing the same thing, especially when they've seen the prices Disney charges for specialty cakes.

 

[taylor3297]

Her experience was a great reminder to plan ahead and don't assume. Also, once you get there, to call ahead and make sure everything is going as planned.

I am glad she shared her experience with us.

 

[MSLRAC]

We witnessed a similar incident at 1900 PF but it ended magically because of a wonderful hostess and manager.

The family coming in before us had an outside cake (from property but not the GF). The dad was shocked when the 1900 PF staff said that they could not store it in their kitchen. He was truly dumbfounded and the hostess realized it. She promptly got a manager and told the dad that they would figure something out.

The manager had a great solution...spoil the surprise of the cake when it was there turn to get photos made and use it as a centerpiece on the table because the characters would be sure to notice. That worked great for them and got the little girl loads of special birthday attention and a royal waltz.

The server did not serve the cake but she did have a group of servers come over to sing, brought over a stack of dessert plates and a clean table knife and asked they had all they needed.

None of the staff at 1900 PF broke any health codes and they really didn't provide any special treatment but they did find a solution and provided excellent service. I think that is all the OP in this case was expecting as well. Sure the OP needed to do a bit more homework but the staff at CM's could have made this bad situation better with just a little work.

 

[Sandisw]

Just want to say that I am sorry that things didn't go well for you but the cake was beautiful.

At least now, many will know that these types of activities and events need to be extremely pre-planned with the establishment. I am sure there are plenty of people will be able to learn from your experience to avoid some of the pitfalls that you experienced.

 

[si-am]

We witnessed a similar incident at 1900 PF but it ended magically because of a wonderful hostess and manager.

The family coming in before us had an outside cake (from property but not the GF). The dad was shocked when the 1900 PF staff said that they could not store it in their kitchen. He was truly dumbfounded and the hostess realized it. She promptly got a manager and told the dad that they would figure something out.

The manager had a great solution...spoil the surprise of the cake when it was there turn to get photos made and use it as a centerpiece on the table because the characters would be sure to notice. That worked great for them and got the little girl loads of special birthday attention and a royal waltz.

The server did not serve the cake but she did have a group of servers come over to sing, brought over a stack of dessert plates and a clean table knife and asked they had all they needed.

None of the staff at 1900 PF broke any health codes and they really didn't provide any special treatment but they did find a solution and provided excellent service. I think that is all the OP in this case was expecting as well. Sure the OP needed to do a bit more homework but the staff at CM's could have made this bad situation better with just a little work.

What a good compromise/solution for that family!

The OP of this thread WAS told to use the cake as a centerpiece but she didn't want to do that, so I'm not sure that solution would have worked in this case.

 

[Tricia1972]

Another thing for others to consider when planning future birthdays at Chef Mickey's, I am not sure that singing Happy Birthday is done there as a rule.

Our experience (we celebrated our middle son's second birthday at Chef Mickey's) was that they brought out a cupcake for him right before the Celebrate song. Minnie was in our area and she came over for a "special" napkin twirl with the birthday boy. After the song, nobody came over to sing. The family just quietly sang "Happy Birthday" and he blew out the candle.

 

[Lewisc]

I'd also like to caution against chastising the OP for not knowing she couldn't bring in a cake, or not anticipating that she couldn't have it stored at Chef Mickey's or brought out at an appropriate time for the surprise she had planned. She knows better now, and I'm sure her story will benefit some who thought of doing the same thing, especially when they've seen the prices Disney charges for specialty cakes.

Some of us are "chastising" the OP for being "upset & in Shock" when the restaurant refused to violate their policy, and board of health regulations. Instead of thanking the restaurant for making a reasonable compromise she is attacking the restaurant for not doing things exactly the way she wanted.

It would never occur to me to bring any outside food,excluding food for an infant, to a restaurant. I would never consider it acceptable to bring my own food for the sole purpose of saving money. Maybe different if you needed to bring something the restaurant was unable to provide. Family member with some food allergies. I'd ask first.

I understand the OP didn't think to ask first. I don't understand what the OP wanted the restaurant to do. Letting her take the cake to the table was a very reasonable compromise. Asking the manager to violate Disney policy and board of health rules was not reasonable. Other restaurants would have told you to put the cake in your car. Enjoy your food in your home and enjoy our food in our restaurant.

JMO but the OP should be thanking Chef Mickey's, and the Contemporary, for offering some solutions to her problem. I have an issue with her using these boards for attacking the restaurant.

I'll stay out of this thread. I expressed my opinion.

People reading this thread are aware of the potential issues in bringing outside food to a restaurant.

 

[MSLRAC]

What a good compromise/solution for that family!

The OP of this thread WAS told to use the cake as a centerpiece but she didn't want to do that, so I'm not sure that solution would have worked in this case.

True, but I got the vibe from her post (could be totally wrong) that the surprise issue was the reason behind not wanting to do that. I could totally see her point in that.

The family at 1900 PF got their surprise moment and it was awesome! I took the family's camera and was snapping away right along with the photopass photographer and we both had tears in our eyes when it was over. It was one of those Disney moments that I will always remember and it wasn't even my kid.