Bad Etiquette to save a CS table??

[stellablue]

I was just reading that people think it's in poor taste to save a CS table while others are in line waiting for the food-is this really true?

I thought this was just common sense and we do it all the time outside of WDW. Never had anyone complain to us for doing it. Are the "etiquette rules" different with this at WDW???

 

[ugadog99]

We always do this and will continue to do so. It only makes sense for one person to handle the food while the others get the table and any condiments, napkins, etc that are needed.

 

[Freyja]

Well, we do it at Disney as well. Have never thought it was considered rude. But then again we´re usually not there during the busiest times and we eat on off-hours so finding seats has never really been a problem. This of course means that we´re not keeping the seats from other people who are ready to eat either.

To be honest I just find a bit too much of a hassle to stand around and wait with 4 kids when we have the chance to sit down and rest our feet.

 

[disneywith4boys]

Well, put me on the "rude" list. I always look for a table and sit with the kids while DH gets the food. Call it "common sense"

 

[Mme. Leota]

I think this is a problem when the food lines are very long and if you and the kids grab a table while Dad is the food line, you could very well be preventing someone else from eating their whole meal before you even get yours. We usually do split up because we go during slow times and one of us gets the condiments etc. . . and claims a table, but usually waiting less than 5 minutes for our "waiter" to arrive with our food. Only in small venues have we ever seen the tables fill up, and when it was just DH and I we have shared a table with other couples--meeting other Disney lovers is part of the magic to me anyway!

 

[simonkodousek]

Unfortunately I am on the "rude" list as well. I think it is perfectly fine for one (or more) people to save a table while one (or more) people get the food. However, I think it is wrong when people just sit down at a table for a rest, not intending to get food thus simply taking up space that people who are actually planning to eat at that restaurant can otherwise use.

~Simon

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Guess we are rude too! Why should all of us stand in line when one of could while the others scout out tables

Will I walk in just to rest? Nope... that is what the benches in the park are for

 

[MickeyNicki]

Grew up with my mom saving a table and DH doing the ordering, 36 years and I know nothing different. DH and I do that sometimes too but when it is just the 2 of us and there are plenty of seats open.....and it is really busy I think nothing of asking someone to share their table with us if they are not using all of it.

We were in Epcot, Morocco last week at the Tangeriene Cafe, the only table left was a long booth one by the entrance. There was 6 teens at the opposite one finishing their meals. They were about to leave and a woman with 2 kids were going to sit down UNTIL this one one just about bulldozed her over for the table. I felt so bad for her and the kids so I told her to sit with us, we were just about done anyways. She didnt even give us a thanks or a smile, nothing! Oh well, some people are just that way I guess.

When we were at Ohana there was a big wait so we wanted to sit on the chairs or sofas in the waiting area. We go to sit down in 2 empty chairs and this woman came up and screamed at us THOSE ARE FOR MY FAMILY, MOVE. So we sat on the sofa, she said that was being used too. Well excuse me you freak but there isnt anyone currently occupying the seats and you cannot hold them all for crying out loud! I made a comment to her and she just snorted. There was no one around her for a while, I watched...her family was too busy throwing pennies into the waterfall. So we found a bench, I watched her shoo away many people that wanted to sit. The kicker is her family never came back to sit down, their pager went off and away they went.

We sat for a long time, I went up to go the bathroom and when I came back this woman was demanding that my DH move to the end of the bench so her family can sit...now mind you we are occupying the last 2 spots on the bench, it wasnt like we are spread out or anything. He told her I was coming right back but she wasnt having it, UNTIL I SHOWED UP. Then she backed the heck off.

Common courtesy people, we are taught this in grade school!

 

[Alice28]

We're usually a table saver family- our oldest DS stays with me to help carry the food, and DH and the younger two scout out a table.

That being said, last time we were at MK, it was my dad, myself and my 3 kids (DH had to take my mom to the hospital). Anyway, we waited in line a GOOD 30 minutes at Pecos Bills, this was at about 11:30 in the morning. By the time we got our food, the lines to order were even LONGER. And we could NOT find a place to sit! Tons of people were sitting at empty tables, saving them. We had to scatter outside the restaurant, teetering our food on our laps, not sitting together. In that instance, I do wish that people who were saving tables for their families would have let the people who actually had their food in hand, sit down to eat.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

Rude, rude, rude...If that's OK with you then so be it, no skin off my nose...It's the way of the world these days and certainly if the lines are short and the wait is mere minutes, or you have a baby or an elderly person, exceptions would seem logical, IMO. But if the line is 20 minutes or so and there are people walking and walking, looking and looking for a table and you refuse to let them sit and eat then, IMO, this is rude, They will probably be finished by the time your dinner is ready and certrainly other tables will open in the meantime.

 

[Crystal824]

If the lines are short, and there are lots of tables avaliable saving a table is no problem.
I have been at WDW and other places on many occassions when I come away from a CS with my food and my husband and there is no table but low and behold there are 10 people saving tables for people that are in line. Now if have kids or disabled people, it is hard for everyone to go through the line together and I understand you have to do womthing, but if one person is just sitting there while I stand and eat my food because we went though the line and didn't save a table, that does make me angry especially if I finish eating while standing and you still don't have your food.

 

[CamColt]

I was just reading that people think it's in poor taste to save a CS table while others are in line waiting for the food-is this really true?

I thought this was just common sense and we do it all the time outside of WDW. Never had anyone complain to us for doing it. Are the "etiquette rules" different with this at WDW???

We have always done this whether its Mc Donalds at home, or anywhere in WDW. We too thought it was common practice and never considered it rude...until I read here that it was. I was actually shocked about all the uproar it has caused here.

 

[dvcdisney]

To be honest, I never thought of it as really saving a table. But if that's the case, then that's what I'm doing. Usually when we go, my husband goes to get the food while I sit with my two children at the table. We do not enjoy dragging our children in the line while we get the food. They are usually tired and would like to sit and relax while waiting for the food. (I always feel sorry for those children I see in line hanging off their parents because they are so tired. )

Furthermore, the lines are so busy that I prefer not to be there as well. Even when we just go and get something quick at the cart or something like that, I always go myself or send my husband because it's just too crowded to have the WHOLE family there if they don't need to be. Believe me, I wished some people would do the same.

So no, I don't think it's rude. Like so many people have already mentioned, it is common sense. Everybody doesn't have to line up.

 

[OKW Lover]

Our perspective is that if we are walking around with a tray full of food but all the tables are taken by people saving them (yes, even for the "short" time while another family member gets the food), then its rude. Doesn't matter if its at WDW or back home.

 

[LoveTwoTravel]

I don't think it's rude to spilt up and let one grab a table while the other is in line, especially if you've got kids.

I feel that CS is first come, first served. I feel that's one of the big differences b/w that and a table service. If I want to make sure I get a table or want people to be orderly about when/where they sit then I book a TS. CS is basically a free for all (with civility of course).

I agree that common courtesy is a must: no running people over, try not to hover over someone trying to get them to leave, etc.

I try to give EVERYONE the benefit of the doubt. If someone runs me over, I try to assume that they have kids who have a dietary need (or a bathroom need) or are cranky and tired or...a million things. Maybe they just didn't see we were waiting.

AND, I would totally rather rude parents take out their rudeness on me (by way of snaking our table at CS) than take out their tiredness and frustration on their kids--if getting a diet soda ASAP means a mom or dad won't lose patience with their kids, then I say, "take my table."

 

[Island Mouse]

I don't really consider it saving a table, it's more like using a table. It seems like common sense that if there is more than one person in my party to just have one stand in line for the food and the rest sit down at a table. The whole family doesn't need to stand in line together. Even though the people sitting at the table don't have their food yet, they are still using the table. How can this be rude? It's not like they are standing around the table preventing others from sitting down. They are using the seats themselves. And FWIW if the CS line was so long that a family could eat their entire meal while I was standing in line, I don't see myself eating there at that time. I would grab a small snack and wait to eat a meal later.

 

[sdzman]

I really dont see anything wrong with saving a table while other party members are in line. If things look to busy, I'll go somewhere else or come back later.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I don't think it's rude to spilt up and let one grab a table while the other is in line, especially if you've got kids.

I feel that CS is first come, first served.

Served being the operative word. If one isn't yet being served at a counter service restaurant, there's no reason to be sitting at a table.

I think it's inconsiderate and selfish - the latter because Guests sitting at a table waiting for their food to arrive are preventing Guests who HAVE their food from sitting and eating.

Guests - or diners, in the real world - who wish to sit at a table and wait for their not-yet-ordered food to arrive should be eating at table service restaurants, where that's the standard operating procedure. I don't believe people should be turning counter service restaurants into table service restaurants.

 

[LilyWDW]

I'd rather people send all but one member of their family off to a table then have them all standing in line. If everyone was standing there in the line area it would only make the line longer and cause me to have to head back through them with my food watching out for their crazy children so that I don't end up doing a belly flop onto the floor.

 

[wezee]

I'd rather people send all but one member of their family off to a table then have them all standing in line. If everyone was standing there in the line area it would only make the line longer and cause me to have to head back through them with my food watching out for their crazy children so that I don't end up doing a belly flop onto the floor.

I was just about to say the same thing!!!! There is no reason for the entire family to wait in the food line. Usually it's just DH and I, but I can totally appreciate families sitting down and sending only one or two members for food.
We took my elderly parents to WDW last Oct......Mom was having a hard time in Epcot, with the extreme heat. We stopped in America to sit at a table in the shade....and DH went inside to get her a drink. We took a 15min break for her to re-coop, and never even ordered food.......Was this wrong????