Captain Cook's Last Night

[Mystry62]

Did anyone else here get the grand idea of stopping in for a quick bite at Captain Cook's at the Poly before watching the fireworks spectacular? I've never eaten there before, so I don't know how it usually is, but it took me almost 45 minutes to get a grilled cheese kids meal & a club sandwich.

Another lady in line said she had been waiting for an hour. Is it always like that in there or was last night just a fluke b/c of the crowds?

 

[shane&jakesmom]

Hey, I have never heard of that. What's going on over there.

 

[Mystry62]

I know. I could understand if it was just one person who was disgruntled, but the whole crowd seemed to be pretty irate last night. There were several people waiting (mostly very patiently) for their food, but commenting on how "Un-Disney-like" the service was. And to make matters worse, the CMs were not friendly, telling people things like (to a person who's order was not right) "Ma'am you'll just have to wait... we have 15 other orders to get to before we can fix yours" etc.

It was definitely not the most pleasant counter service experience I've had, to say the least...

 

[habg1]

Please say it ain't so... This would be no good!

 

[B-Ride]

We have stayed at the Polynesian two years in a row and are booked again for next year but I will admit we do not eat at Captain Cook's except for Tonga Toast on check out day. Then we are eating breakfast at 9:30 and it is not too crowded.

We love the Poly but Captain Cook's does seem over crowded. It is not that large and I just think they can't handle a crowd of any size.

Personally I would recommend you eat somewhere else before visiting the Poly to see the fireworks. Also, show up early enough that you can catch the Electric Water Pageant as well.

 

[Lynn5700]

Wow that is crazy!!! Doesn't sound right.

 

[lucas]

Funny you should mention this. Several months ago we had the same kind of experience there. We ordered and had lunch and everything was fine. But then dh went to get back in line to get Dole Whips for us while I waited at the table. He had to be gone a good 20 minutes before I went looking for him. He was still way back in the line waiting. We decided to forget the Dole Whips and just left.

 

[DaisyD]

Well the CMs at Captain Cooks are pretty much always miserable. In all my trips to the Poly I don't think I've seen any crack a smile. Some of those women that work there are just nasty. I have never seen CCs that crowded at that hour so maybe a bunch of non Poly guests were there. Perhaps they weren't expecting such a big crowd and got overwhelmed. Either way I never expect the CMs in that place to be happy. LOL!

 

[SeaSpray]

There is a reason why last night was so busy at CC's/Polynesian: There was a special fireworks presentation last night due to the National Pyrotecnic's convention (I can't remember the exact name of th convention) being held this past week. The culmination of the convention was the fireworks last night. A lot of people knew about it and must've decided to view it from the beach at the resort, and that's what made CC's so busy.

Edited to add:
http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=1744140

Taken from the web site:
"As part of the American Pyrotechnic Association's 60th Anniversary Event, Walt Disney Entertainment will present our biggest fireworks spectacular yet on Saturday, September 20, 2008, at 9:30pm. "Welcome to our World" invites the audience to celebrate one world, one beat and one voice under one sky!
The show will utilize firing locations along the beach and grass near the Seven Seas Lagoon, as well as fireworks island. Guests may view the show from many great locations surrounding the Seven Seas Lagoon, specifically, the Walk Around the World pathway. Please note that Disney's Contemporary Resort is reserved for the
private APA convention. "


P.S. I just re-read the OP and see that they might've known about the special fireworks, so I don't know why they'd be surprised to have such a long wait for food at CCs.

 

[Mystry62]

I did know about the fireworks and went to the Poly specifically for it. I also expected a fairly large crowd. However, I didn't expect to wait 45 minutes to receive food at a counter service restaurant. I cut them some slack because the Poly in general last night was super busy (someone said that it was more packed last night on the Poly beach than on the 4th of July, But my DD & I went over there early just so that we could grab some food and have time to eat it before the show. We ended up getting our food and running to the beach to find a spot so we wouldn't miss it. (Luckily it started late).

My point was, I wasn't sure if the slowness and cranky service was due to the unusually large crowd, or if this is pretty typical at this particular restaurant. From the other posts, it sounds like it isn't out of the ordinary.

I'm a "local" to Disney, so we are over there quite a bit, but I've never been to CCs. We've been at peak times during Christmas week and I have never seen service that slow or CMs that cranky at other counter service locations in WDW.

 

[nbodyhome]

Captain Cooks is one of my least favorite counter service restaurants. Tha said, I've not had any real problem when I want a Dole whip or a snack - it's never been too crowded when I've been.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Last December when my family and I stayed at the Polynesian we went to Captin Cook's a few times in the evening and never had any long waits for our food, so to hear about the trouble the OP had does sound surprising.