Biergarten...bad experience...should we give it another shot?

[vickalamode]

Hi everyone...just back from a great week at WDW and have a question since we are already planning the next trip.

We booked an ADR for Biergarten during this trip, and it was one of the places I was REALLY looking forward to eating at.

It was just the two of us, and we were seated at the end of one of the tables that is right next to the stage. It was on the "Fenced in" end, and I was pretty much being squashed by the person in the chair behind me. We thought we would really enjoy meeting new people at our table, but the family we were sitting with was downright rude. We were a party of 2 and we were squashed in at the end of the table by a family of 6 who seemed really annoyed that we were ruining their experience by sitting at their table.

First, when the waitress came over, I couldn't even hear what she was saying because the show was going on, I thought she was taking drink orders so I tried to order my drink and the family laughed at me and one of the guys made a rude comment...after she finally did leave I was sitting there feeling really cramped in and uncomfortable and just kind of looked at the show.
After the waitress left, the other family was just sitting there talking and never went up to get food at the buffet...we didn't want to make everyone have to get up just for us since we were squashed in at the end of the table, so we waited and waited for them to get up and when they never did we finally asked them to get up so we could get food one of the people in the family made another rude comment to us in a really sarcastic tone about us being "really hungry" or something. Maybe they weren't trying to be rude, but seeing as they showed no interest in talking with us at all after DBF tried to be friendly to them and the only things they said to us were rude and sarcastic comments, I just pretty much started crying after he said that since I was already feeling pretty uncomfortable. I went outside to take a breather and DBF said that we should just leave...I wanted to just ask to be seated with different people but he didn't want to anymore since I was already so upset so he just told the manager that we wouldn't be staying there. We ended up having Grey Goose Slushes in France for dinner that night.

Anyways, my question is should we give Biergarten another chance next time? I was really looking forward to going here, but now I am afraid we might have another bad experience. I knew before going in that we would be seated with another family, which is fine, but we were just seated with a family who made us feel pretty uncomfortable. Is this experience common? DBF said he doesn't even want to give it another chance but I still want to try it...is it likely that we will be seated with rude people again?

 

[3boys4me]

That is just awful. Who acts like that. I would say to give it another try. We went a couple of years ago and we were seated with a super nice family. It kinds stinks that they put you with such a big group. Maybe 3 smaller parties at a table would work better than the setup you had. I know you have no control over that, but I'm glad you didn't waste your money on a meal that was clearly uncomfortable, to say the least.

 

[HunnyJar]

I'm really sorry that you had such a bad experience. We go to Biergarten generally every trip we make to WDW. Out of all the trips we have had one bad experience. The people we were seated with were definitely intoxicated. Yes, it does make for an unpleasant experience but we knew that wasn't the norm and we made ADR's for Biergarten the following year and had a great time. If you want to try it again, do it!

 

[disnut8]

Yes, give it another try. We've been to the Biergarten many times and only had once experience with two people who were not rude but just sat down, ordered ice teas, got one helping of the buffet and then left without even paying the bill (we are hoping they paid on the way out). Total time in the meal was about 15 minutes. Meanwhile. the other five of us (only seven at the table that night) had a great time after that couple left. But those 15 minutes were awkward to say the least. But that wouldn't stop me from going back. The prices these days are the only reason why I haven't been back in a few years.

I'm not sure what comments were being hurled your way but I would have tried to ignore them and treated the other people like the scum there were. Which was to ignore them and have a fantastic time despite the ignorance.

 

[Pakey]

Wow, I'm so sorry that happened to you. We enjoy Biergarten (although we do go there to drink the really big beers) and have been lucky that we have been seated with others who are there to have fun.

I hope you give it another chance on your next trip there but it would certainly be understandable if you didn't.

 

[Pats Dragon]

We like biergarten and mostly have had good experiences with the other people at our table. If you are sensitive and a bad experience will mess up your day don't put yourself in that situation. Its a vacation and you want to make it the best that you can.

 

[figment814]

If I had the same experience, I would probably be asking the same question!

But, I had a different experience, so I would say try it again!

This was actually a restaurant I wasn't very interested in...I didn't think I'd like the food much...and I am a very introverted person, so I was not jazzed about sitting w/ strangers.

Me and my two girl friends were seated with two adult couples and their grandfather. We chatted so much with one of the couples, that when the checks came they thought we were all together.

The food was great too!

 

[DisneylandDeeDee]

What is wrong with people? Especially at the happiest place on earth. So sorry this has happened to you.

 

[budafam]

I would try it again for sure. We went for our first time last week and I loved the atmosphere. We were so stuffed from all of the snacking that we hardly ate. The family we were seated with was from Pittsburgh and they were sooo friendly. Even though we didn't eat much, I would go back in hopes of being seated with a great family again.

There are some really rude people that vacation at WDW though. Some just don't "get it". More than likely, you shouldn't have that same problem twice

 

[AWHOFAN]

Go again!!! That was just rude of them and bad luck for you two. As soon as you seen it was not going to be right it’s time to get out of there and talk to management. I’ve been to the real Oktoberfest 5 times in Munich and everybody is from another country and they are your friend and you are sitting closer than at WDW. The problem is Americans do not know the custom of sitting with others at a table, which means at a festival include all in the fun.

Auf Wiedersehen my friend.

 

[missminniemouse]

Don't let one bunch of bad apples spoil things for you. I'd give it another try. We have had many good experiences with tablemates.......however..........We had a similar bad experience a few years ago, but we were a party of 4 with 2 small children. We ended up getting seated with a party of 5 (which had only made a reservaton for 4) and insisted they had a reservation for 5. Our Son sat at the end of the table to make room for the other person. The worst part of our experience was that the whole bunch was obviously drunk before they even got into the restaurant and continued to drink. They were very rude and obnoxious and not something I cared to have my children be near. We made the best of it and thankfully the other bunch left before we did so we had a bit of peace and quiet at the end of our meal. This is the only bad experience we've had at the restaurant in over 20 years of travel to WDW. I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience on your first time.

 

[goofyintoronto]

wow thats terrible. sorry you had such a bad experience. I was fortunate enough to sit with a wonderful social family. having said that, i really wasnt thrilled with the food there. Im glad i experienced it, but i wouldnt go back. If your that sensitive, i would suggest you try some place else. However, if your ever in that situation again, I would ask to be moved. Dont let one strangers rotten comment ruin your dining experience!

 

[NMAmy]

We try to go every trip and I've only had one bad experience. When the other family was shown to our table, they threw a fit about the fact that we were "sitting at their table." When I tried to make polite chit chat, the mother told her child, "WHAT have I told you about talking to strangers?" It was really uncomfortable. Our server apologized to me for their behavior right in front of them.

However, on a happier note, we've had some really wonderful table mates. Once we were seated with a family that lived 30 minutes away from us and that was a fun coincidence. The best time was when DH and I were on our own and we were seated with three other couples--all strangers from different parts of the country. DH is in his 50's and I'm in my 40's and we were the youngest at the table by 20 years. One lovely gentleman was celebrating his 70th birthday and bought us each a beer. We had so much fun, we almost missed the fireworks because we stayed to chat so long.

Give it another try!

 

[OhThePain]

You'd think that after spending time on the boards that you would be used and almost expect rude geusts, but then you hear that kind of story and it is still a bit of a shock (I personally would have spit the sarcasm back at them, but it's easy to say that from the outside looking in). It is unfortunate that you had to deal with that. It is also unfortunate that who you sit with can and will affect your experience at Biergarten. It's really the only downfall of the restaurant, IMO.

We have been pretty fortunate with the people we have sat with. Our last visit was really the only time we sat with people who did not get into the spirit of the restaurant. We sat with an older couple and a family of 4. The older couple and us had a great time talking (and drinking), but from the time we sat down until the end of the meal, the family of 4 hardly talked. And not just to us. It seemed like they were not expecting the restaurant to be set up the way it is and were uncomfortable sitting with others. The 4 of us tried to include them in conversation, but I guess it just wasn't their thing.

All in all, I would deffinately give it another shot. You've already dealt with the worst, I think, so there is a big upside you have yet to experience.

 

[catne]

we had a bad table-mates experience there, too. It was me, hubby and adult daughter...we were sat first so "on the rail" overlooking the dancefloor. Next party was also a party of 3...a dad and his 2 adult daughters. They were chatty/friendly UNTIL our beer steins were delivered. Apparently they were anti-alcohol because the appearance of beer at their table turned on the freeze machine (why would you go to a BEER Garden if you don't approve of beer? And the guy told us their ancestors were all from Germany, and all 3 of them spoke German. So no chance they didn't know the place featured beer as well as German food.) Anyway, they just about stopped talking to us in mid-sentence when the waitress delivered our beer; and then they all 3 made a point of not even turning their heads in our direction (which meant they could not actually watch the band since we were between them and the band) Then the third party was sat on the aisle end of our table...an elderly couple who was extremely offended they had to sit with strangers. Woman actually chased after the seater to see if they could sit somewhere else (place was full.) The woman was so sure we were horrible people that she actually took her beverage and flatware with her when they went to buffet (guess we looked like people who would spit in their cokes & lick their forks while they were gone.)

Anyway...food was OK, not much special on there other than good sausage & good desserts. Entertainment was fun...reminded me of some ethnic weddings we've gone too (all those polkas!) Beer was great of course. But
didn't think it was a fabulous place to eat.

Bottom line, we would not go back unless we were in a party of 6 or eight. When we're paying Disney prices for a meal, we don't want the chance of having to share our table with totally rude people.

 

[pixarmom]

I'm so sorry to hear about your negative experience, OP! My experiences at Biergarten have not been similar, but we don't choose to return for a few reasons.

The first reason is the one you identified - you never know who your tablemates will be and how that will turn out. Some other reasons are unique to our family. For example, we love talking with others on the bus/boat/monorail, in line (especially at rope drop) or at the resort. But for meals, we just prefer to use that time for focused conversation with our boys. And since we have a 4-year-old and two pre-teen "Disney adults" (who pay adult prices but don't love German food), Biergarten not a particularly good value for us at this point.

But the primary reason we don't return is that there are so many other restaurants in Epcot that we prefer - it would be hard to fit in Biergarten! Le Cellier, Chef's, La Hacienda, Via Napoli and Garden Grill are always high on our list, so we run out of time. When we can fit others in, it would be Rose and Crown or Tokyo Dining. If we were there without kids, we would try Bistro de Paris.

 

[klmall]

We have only gone once in all our visits to WDW but we're booked for two meals next month; that's how much my DH loved it! The food was okay for me but perfect for DH and DS who love that kind of stuff! I'm not thrilled myself with sitting with strangers and the day we ate at Biergarten in 2007 I had a splitting headache so you can imagine what the German music did to help that!

But I have to admit the large family we were seated with was wonderful! The younger couple (son and daughter in law I think) were big fans of Universal Studios and planning to go the next day so we helped them plan out their visit. Since DH and I have actually visited Germany we all talked about German foods, beer and wine and enjoyed the meal together.

We had a far more miserable time at Teppan Edo with a family on the Dining Plan who felt forced into eating there and was unhappy eating sliced/diced steak and veggies and made our meal miserable as well!

Believe me, I would eat at Biergarten again over many other places at WDW!

Give it a go again!

 

[Amanda Esmeralda]

I have been to Biergarten a few times and while I enjoy the food, every time I go I wonder why I came back.

My husband and I went on our honeymoon trip and the people they sat us with were very nice, but they spent the whole time talking about training for their triathlon. Who wants to talk about exercise at a buffet???

The next time the people were just really unfriendly. They didn't say or do anything as rude as your seatmates but they just were not nice at all and it made for an awkward environment.

I like the food, the entertainment and the service. But unfortunately, I am just not big on sitting with strangers. It is too much of a gamble.

 

[xipetotec]

Hi everyone...just back from a great week at WDW and have a question since we are already planning the next trip.

We booked an ADR for Biergarten during this trip, and it was one of the places I was REALLY looking forward to eating at.

It was just the two of us, and we were seated at the end of one of the tables that is right next to the stage. It was on the "Fenced in" end, and I was pretty much being squashed by the person in the chair behind me. We thought we would really enjoy meeting new people at our table, but the family we were sitting with was downright rude. We were a party of 2 and we were squashed in at the end of the table by a family of 6 who seemed really annoyed that we were ruining their experience by sitting at their table.

First, when the waitress came over, I couldn't even hear what she was saying because the show was going on, I thought she was taking drink orders so I tried to order my drink and the family laughed at me and one of the guys made a rude comment...after she finally did leave I was sitting there feeling really cramped in and uncomfortable and just kind of looked at the show.
After the waitress left, the other family was just sitting there talking and never went up to get food at the buffet...we didn't want to make everyone have to get up just for us since we were squashed in at the end of the table, so we waited and waited for them to get up and when they never did we finally asked them to get up so we could get food one of the people in the family made another rude comment to us in a really sarcastic tone about us being "really hungry" or something. Maybe they weren't trying to be rude, but seeing as they showed no interest in talking with us at all after DBF tried to be friendly to them and the only things they said to us were rude and sarcastic comments, I just pretty much started crying after he said that since I was already feeling pretty uncomfortable. I went outside to take a breather and DBF said that we should just leave...I wanted to just ask to be seated with different people but he didn't want to anymore since I was already so upset so he just told the manager that we wouldn't be staying there. We ended up having Grey Goose Slushes in France for dinner that night.

Anyways, my question is should we give Biergarten another chance next time? I was really looking forward to going here, but now I am afraid we might have another bad experience. I knew before going in that we would be seated with another family, which is fine, but we were just seated with a family who made us feel pretty uncomfortable. Is this experience common? DBF said he doesn't even want to give it another chance but I still want to try it...is it likely that we will be seated with rude people again?

Sounds to me like you just hit some rude people. You shouldn't let it dictate your opinion of the restaurant. I would try again and hope to meet some nice people....


Of course... We usually travel with our own crowd, so I've not had this opportunity at this restaurant either way

 

[ars0525]

Well...depending on my mood I'd either let a few comments fly back at the rude people or I'd ask a manager to re-seat me even if it means waiting a little. And I am pretty go with the flow.

If you liked the food, go try it again. We have always enjoyed the place, but never have come close to the experience you had with other guests.