Big Thunder Ranch BBQ

[RangerPooh]

So we ate here today and I wasn't that impressed. But then I don't care for ribs. But I do have a quesiton for anyone who has eaten here recently as it's not adding up.

We were charged for each drink that was brought to us, for our group (4 adults, 2 kids, 1 infant) with refills we were charged for 11 drinks/refills. This includes the one for the infant. We were also charged for each food item refill. This seems odd as it's all you care to eat. Has anyone else been charged like this? Is it a mistake or the norm? I definately won't be eating there again.

 

[skiingfast]

Drinks are seperate, but should of included the refills.

As you noted Disney still calls it an all you care to eat so food refills as an extra charge sounds really weird. Though I haven't asked for more meat so I don't have experience on that.

I even checked the disneyland sites description and it only mentions that dessert is an extra cost.

I would contact Disney and note the wording on thier webpage because it doesn't sound consitent with your experience and what happens at buffets in the rest of the resort.

 

[GeneralTso]

That is so strange.
We ate there a few months ago and were not charged like that. We paid one price and it was all you can eat/drink. One price.
That sounds wrong to me. Could they possibly have changed their pricing?
That's really ashame if that's the way they are doing it now.

 

[uneekstylez]

We were just there last week and we only paid 1 price. Never got charged for our drink or food refills. And our 2yr old wasn't charged at all.

Maybe you got someone else's bill that had 11 people? I would call Disney and let them know that your bill is calculated wrong.

 

[PinkBudgie]

We ate there in November and also weren't charged that way. We were a big group also, and my 5 year old nephew wasn't charged because he can't eat any of that food. If something looks odd when we get a bill at a restaurant, we ask right at the time. At least then we know. Taking care of it later is much harder, but worth a try.

 

[goodeats]

We ate there yesterday as well, and I too was really disappointed.

Service was super slow. I don't know how considering everyone ate the same food and there seemed to be tons of CMs on the floor. I have never had good service at an in park sit down restaurant at DLR. In the last several months I have eaten at the Wine Country Trattoria, Cafe Orleans, and now the BTBBQ. All the servers were very 'green'. I don't know if it's the high turnover or just bad training, but in general they were so overwhelmed by their tasks that they really lacked that 'Disney Service' style. Granted I have never eaten at Club 33 and I'm sure Blue Bayou has slightly better service, but really this is one area that needs improvement. You get better servers at Olive Garden. Seriously. I have had really great servers at the hotel restaurants though.

The food was not great. The corn bread and baked beans were too sweet, the corn cob wheels were too small, and the meat was kind of strange. My DH pointed out that they couldn't possibly be BBQed considering there was no BBQ smell wafting about (there was however petting zoo smell wafting about for sure!). Maybe they were BBQed many hours earlier? We didn't get served sauce, which I didn't realize were were supposed to get so maybe that would have made it better. The sausage and the cole slaw were good though.


Oddly enough considering this was an 'All you care to eat' experience you could take leftovers home. We did take the meat home, but I'm not sure we'll eat it. I just felt ill about paying $60 for such a subpar meal. Our $15 lunch at Plaza Inn was way better.

I did love the atmosphere though and the entertainment. The singer was great!

 

[dlander]

RangerPooh, sorry you had a bad experience. You were clearly either given someone elses bill or charged incorrectly. I do wish you would have mentioned it to your server at the time. But definitely call guest services and see what they can do for you.

I ate there yesterday with my family and we loved it! We have eaten there several times and never been disappointed with either the food or the service. We had Jayson as our server yesterday and he was prompt and attentive. The entertainment was had us laughing and singing along.

 

[pixiewings71]

When we have eaten there they have noted each refill on the tab, whether it's food or drink, BUT we have never had to pay for the refills. For instance, when we eat here it's just DBF and I (the girls aren't big fans of BBQ so they will generally eat at the Golden Horseshow (chicken nuggets, cheese sticks) and then they go to Pirate's Lair on TSI while we eat) so we have 2 drinks and 2 original orders of food on the receipt, then for each additional dish they bring the receipt states refill but has no charges. If you have additional charges you received an incorrect bill and you should not have paid it. The way the receipt reads is as follows:

2 all you can BBQ $29.99
1 Coke $2.99
1 Hot Tea $2.99

1 meat refill $0.00
1 Coke refill $0.00
1 corn bread refill $0.00
1 hot water refill $0.00

etc etc etc

Total $xx.xx
Tax $x.xx
Total $xx.xx

I hope that helps some.

 

[blackjackdelta]

We also were not charged that way, but we did like the food and the service was great. It was a very busy evening and they were turning walkins away.

Jack

 

[RangerPooh]

We ate there yesterday as well, and I too was really disappointed.

Service was super slow. I don't know how considering everyone ate the same food and there seemed to be tons of CMs on the floor. I have never had good service at an in park sit down restaurant at DLR. In the last several months I have eaten at the Wine Country Trattoria, Cafe Orleans, and now the BTBBQ. All the servers were very 'green'. I don't know if it's the high turnover or just bad training, but in general they were so overwhelmed by their tasks that they really lacked that 'Disney Service' style. Granted I have never eaten at Club 33 and I'm sure Blue Bayou has slightly better service, but really this is one area that needs improvement. You get better servers at Olive Garden. Seriously. I have had really great servers at the hotel restaurants though.

The food was not great. The corn bread and baked beans were too sweet, the corn cob wheels were too small, and the meat was kind of strange. My DH pointed out that they couldn't possibly be BBQed considering there was no BBQ smell wafting about (there was however petting zoo smell wafting about for sure!). Maybe they were BBQed many hours earlier? We didn't get served sauce, which I didn't realize were were supposed to get so maybe that would have made it better. The sausage and the cole slaw were good though.


Oddly enough considering this was an 'All you care to eat' experience you could take leftovers home. We did take the meat home, but I'm not sure we'll eat it. I just felt ill about paying $60 for such a subpar meal. Our $15 lunch at Plaza Inn was way better.

I did love the atmosphere though and the entertainment. The singer was great!

Our server was not very attentive, and we received more attention from the other servers. No sauce for us either. The corn bread was dry, but the beans were tangy Unfortunately while we were there the entertainment decided to take a break, so we only got to see about 5 minutes for show. You pay for entertainment and don't get any

 

[pixiewings71]

When we have eaten there the entertainment takes turns, so every 15 minutes or so a new performer comes out to entertain the crowd. We rarely ate there and had no entertainment. A few times there was a 5 minute break in the performers but that was about it.
We've had non-attentive servers as well, we've also had longer waits to get our food refills but we will absolutely eat there again. The food has always been very good. We love the corn bread (even served cold, altho we wish they would serve it warm), the coleslaw is the best, the beans are good and the BBQ sauce is excellent (imo).
We've smelled BBQ many times, in fact we've smelled it and decided to eat there as a result. We've smelled the petting zoo as well, that's not as much fun. LOL So I don't know where they cook the BBQ but we've definitely smelled it!
I think the service you get depends on the person serving you, we've had great service at the BBQ, we've had mediocre service as well, but that's the case for every place you have a server. In fact, we've had better service at the BBQ then at BB, and BB is much higher end then the BBQ.

I'm sorry that some of you have had negative experiences, perhaps you will give it another try another time and have better results.

OP I hope you can get something resolved with the refills, if they charged you for them they definitely should not have done so.

 

[cmwade77]

We have eaten there twice now and you should not be charged for each refill....if you were, I would call Disney and contest it.....it is an all you can eat buffet, but you do pay extra for drinks and desserts now. However, the drinks offer free refills. All refills will be noted on the reciept, i.e 10 drink refills @ $0.00. Again, I would call Disney for a refund if it does not add up right.

 

[jacs1234]

We ate there under two weeks ago and didn't get charged for any refills.

 

[mak702]

I love it. The service can be slow but I love everything else about the experience. It's a very comfortable atmosphere and I think the food is great. I'm sure you could get a bad bucket here or there but I've been multiple times and it's been great every time. Maybe I'm just easy...