Putting a child to sleep on the floor at California Grill?!?

[GenevieveRaqs]

It is a shame that what others do bother so many people when it does no affect them personally.

This, to me, is the crux of the matter here.

I do think it is odd to have a child and especially an adult lying on the floor of a restaurant. (In this case I really don't see why it matters whether it is an "upscale" restaurant, honestly...a restaurant floor is a restaurant floor whether it is Denny's or V&A.) I probably would have looked askance at the family for a moment, maybe shared a surprised giggle with my husband. But I really don't think it would have ruined my evening. I would have gone back to the conversation at my table, enjoyed my meal and moved on. Unless they were propping their feet on my chair or singing a lullaby so loudly I couldn't enjoy a conversation with my family, I have a hard time seeing how it would have much of an effect on my experience.

 

[sotoalf]

It's quite possible to enjoy a meal and still shake your head at the poor manners of other guests.

 

[baybemama]

I find myself judging people when I'm out eating all the time. However, I think responses are getting seriously worked up over nothing. Disney dining is still Disney which means family friendly. I don't care how expensive/hipster/romantic a restaurant is set up to be. And families do what they have to do. Inappropriate, probably.... but scandalous? Nah.

I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps the child has sensory issues...restaurants often set children off for a variety of reasons. Bravo to the parent who doesn't give a zipadeedooda what other people think of the way he wants to parent. Whatever he was doing, he was being sensitive to his child's needs. Bravo he did what he did instead of choosing to yell, humiliate, or remove and spank. Disney is a demanding vacation for anybody. We push ourselves and our kids to he max to enjoy it to the fullest. We do things we normally wouldn't like eat out late. I don't know...I just think it's odd when people get so worked up about stuff like this and take it so personally.

 

[PrincessAurora]

AND drink their own urine
I will NEVER forget that thread...

Anyways...that poor child! That is GROSS. Who puts their child on the floor of a restaurant???

Drink their own urine?! WHAT? I miss out on all the good threads!

Yeah, small kid on the floor out of the way, not my thing but whatever. Kid on the floor where I can trip and step on their little heads. Um, no. ADULT on the floor? NO WAY JOSE!

 

[Sweet Melissa]

It's quite possible to enjoy a meal and still shake your head at the poor manners of other guests.

Agreed!

 

[sotoalf]

Disney is a demanding vacation for anybody. We push ourselves and our kids to he max to enjoy it to the fullest.

This is the wrong attitude, I think. If you're pushing children and yourself beyond reason, it's not a vacation camp – it's boot camp.

 

[ZoZo]

I can completely understand this. They had a child that was cranky and tired from being dragged all over the park all day long and she was going to ruin the parents meal. I mean come on do you know how far in advance you have to reserve a table there. Plus it's a signature restaurant THAT'S 2 TS credits. How could anybody possibly expect the parents to take some sort of responsibility for their children. They are on vacation for goodness sake. Why should they have to cut their dinner short, just because they have kids.

Oh yeah, that was all sarcasm just for the sarcastic impaired like Sheldon.

Love the "Big Bang Theory" reference!

 

[chip 'n dale rule]

Yeah, small kid on the floor out of the way, not my thing but whatever. Kid on the floor where I can trip and step on their little heads. Um, no. ADULT on the floor? NO WAY JOSE!QUOTE]

Exactly!!! If I had seen just the child on the floor in the corner I really wouldn't have given it a second thought. I do not however think I need to have a grown man lying on the floor that close to my chair!

 

[baybemama]

This is the wrong attitude, I think. If you're pushing children and yourself beyond reason, it's not a vacation camp – it's boot camp.

Well no, it's not boot camp. I wouldn't push my kids beyond reason but their little bodies and brains are simply not used to the stimulation and demands of even just an afternoon in a Disney park. I think the right attitude is simply being sensitive to the child, no matter what situation you find yourself in...whether it's because the parent's screwed up by keeping the kids out too late or not...

again...I just don't see how this parent's actions can cause such an uproar!

 

[maxiesmom]

I am sorry, but the restaurant floor is not an appropriate place for a child to nap. You could have come up with other solutions, but you picked that one. A restaurant floor is not the place for a sleeping child.

Agreed. I don't know why but I am constantly shocked by the odd things people will do, and then claim they are normal. You have a tired baby. You either hold them, or your remove them from the situation. You do not place them on the floor like you do your purse or backpack. We had many meals where we passed the tired child around so that the baby was always being held and the parents could eat. Putting a child onto the floor would never be a choice.

 

[Becky0216]

Agreed. I don't know why but I am constantly shocked by the odd things people will do, and then claim they are normal. You have a tired baby. You either hold them, or your remove them from the situation. You do not place them on the floor like you do your purse or backpack. We had many meals where we passed the tired child around so that the baby was always being held and the parents could eat. Putting a child onto the floor would never be a choice.

Sure, because I place my purse or backpack on a bunch of blankets on the floor right? Too many people think that there way is the only way. We all make choices. Who are you to say it was the wrong one? It did not endanger my child, she got to have a restful nap without being passed around, I got to enjoy my meal. To me we all win. She was not placed on a dirty floor but a few clean blankets. If it was indeed wrong, the waiter would have asked me to remove her.
To each their own, but I am sure all of you are such stellar parents and put the rest of us to shame.

 

[maxiesmom]

If it was indeed wrong, the waiter would have asked me to remove her.

No they wouldn't have. I've been in Le Ceiller before and watched the child at the table next to me roll all around on the ground, because they were pitching a fit. And watch CM after CM step over her, rather than have a confrontation with the parents about controling their child. I thought for sure one of the wait staff was going to go flying, but luckily they didn't. And luckily the child didn't get stepped on. Disney will avoid confrontation if they can.

Floors in busy restaurants are not for sleeping on. It would never even dawn on me to place a child on a blanket on the floor for a nap. I can't imagine it. It just stuns me that someone would do so.

 

[OneLittleSpark7]

My family and I were on the DDP (which was 'free') and we know how to behave appropriately in a restaurant. With the price of a Disney vacation, nothing is free; regardless of how they play with the numbers.

I agree it speaks a lot to the character of the family, then whether they are on a DDP or not.

However, I agree with the spirit of the post blaming the DDP for the changing attitude of guests at Signature Dinning.

There's a big mentality when people get "free" dinning that it's, well FREE! With that mentality I think it, unfortunately, takes away from some of the special status Signature Dinning has. You can also see this with Dress Codes. When everything was OOP people treated California Grill, Narcoossee's, and Bistro de Paris as very special events. Everyone got dressed up and really treated it as an event! Now I've dinned with guests at California Grill wearing ripped jeans and dirty t-shirts. Different restaurants create different ambiances and if that's the ambiance you crave (and there's nothing wrong with that) there are restaurants out there for you. But it's not California Grill.

With "free" dinning, Signature restaurants just don't seem as special. And the OP's experience is a prime example of such.

But I will also say, I don't care who you are or what your excuse it, rolling around on a restaurant floor where hundreds of people have walked before you that day, is absolutely unsanitary and disgusting!

 

[akhenaten]

Gross and inappropriate!!

On one trip my DD was 2 and fell asleep at Spirit of Aloha fortunately we had room and the waitress was so sweet... bringing another chair for my DD to stretch a bit.
If there was no room she would have ended up in my arms and DH would have helped cut my food for me..LOL

 

[jackie101]

I honestly think the staff should have said something. People pay good money to dine there and that just trashes it in my opinion.

 

[jdb in AZ]

i saw a child asleep in the main dining room on a Disney cruise ship, but she was spread out on two chairs, not on the unsanitary floor where people could trip over her.

 

[North of Mouse]

i saw a child asleep in the main dining room on a Disney cruise ship, but she was spread out on two chairs, not on the unsanitary floor where people could trip over her.

If you go back and read the posts, what the OP saw was a man and child on a very unsanitary floor - not that they were in danger of being tripped over but the whole other situation was gross and disgusting. What Beckyo216 was being attacked for (yes, that's right) was for her sleeping baby laying on clean blankets in a corner - NOT where she would have been tripped over. Actually, the poster that let her child lay on the booth was just as germ laden as the floor, unless she was on a blanket. The booths have little kids on them with dirty shoes that have been "everywhere".

 

[FINNZUP]

WHAT?! OH MY. There is so much wrong about that it's hard to know where to start! I am so sorry that your experience was not was it could have or SHOULD have been. You need to write a letter to the dining room Maitre de and tell them of your experience. Be sure to include the date and time of your reservation.

I'm sad for you... that is a nice place to enjoy a good dinner!

 

[bookgirl]

I have one nephew who had weird body clock sleep issues. He had days where he only slept 2 or 3 hours in a 24 hour period. When his body decided to shut down that's just what he did. He slept in some really strange places, including piggyback walking around a balloon festival and once in the middle of the loudest music fest I've ever heard.

If he had fallen asleep in a resturant and curled up in the corner (as it appears this table was) then yeah I might have left him on the floor. It wouldn't be my first choice but whatever. He was out of the way, he was not bothering anyone and kids pass out sometimes. As for dirty, eh, do you let your kids play outside, in the grass and dirt, well i"ve never seen them vacumn a park. A few carpet fibers won't kill them.

HOWEVER

I would have never laid on the floor with him trying to GET him to go to sleep. That's just wrong in so many ways that I can't imagine what was going through the parents head. She should have been taken out of the resturant if she was too cranky or not behaving. Go sit in the lobby let her fall asleep or let her sit/stand/walk around till she was ready to sit. That's just basic parenting.

 

[prttynpnk]

OK, I get that they had spent all kinds of money for possibly the only dream vacation they might have, but so have I. So have all the other people who dressed up a little nicer than park-daywear to come and have a magical evening in that setting- to have a memorable time- not memorable because they watched 3 kids run thru the room reenacting scenes from Cars (seen it) stand on chairs and jump off screaming 'to infinity and beyond' at the top of their lungs (seen it) or be repeatedly hit by crayons from other tables (ouch, seen it) or a child obviouly ready for his crib sleeping on the table (seen it) I know parents shouldn't have to eat chicken fingers until their kids graduate from high school but please people- think of your tired kids who want to go back to the hotel and think of me- a non-breeder that just wants to eat her dinner quietly. Sometimes your kid is about as full of magic for that day as they can take!