DEBATE:Contemporary Observation Deck (All in all it’s just another brick in the wall)

[DVC-Landbaron]

My wife is down in WDW, on an impromptu trip with three other friends. Two are Disney virgins and one has been there only twice before, quite a while ago. Their flights got in today and they are only staying until Friday. So, she is doing Disney commando style!!

For this evening she planned on taking her group hotel hopping around the monorail run, grab some dinner at the Chef Mickey’s and see the fireworks from the Top of The World!!

My daughter (the CM) just informed her that it would not be possible. The observation deck is closed, unless you have a reservation at the California Grill!!! My wife thought it might be just a rumor so she called. YEP! It’s true!! No ressie – no decky!!

THIS IS NUTS!!!

When did this insane policy happen?!?!

Quite!! Listen!! Hear that? (chip, chip, chip)

That’s Ei$ner & crew chipping away at Walt's philosophy!!

 

[KNWVIKING]

Any reason given ? I've never been up there but wonder if it got so crowded that guests eating at CG were not able to enjoy the deck ? Or wasn't the deck ever intended to be a perk for eating at CG ?

 

[CruellaDuVille]

Are there number/saftey issues? We have a lot of decks out here on the west coast that collapse when at weddings, big parties, etc.

Was it getting popular/crowded up there?

 

[Karend01]

I'm pretty sure this change went into effect before the holiday season. I seem to recall somewhere they opened up some other section at the Contemporary - a much lower floor somewhere for fireworks observation.

In some respect, I can see large numbers of people cutting thru the California Grill as a bit of a distraction at a fairly expensive restaurant.

It was a great view - one my daughter & I enjoyed on a few occasions in the past

Karen

 

[d-r]

The problem I had with it was that after everything was over there was no organized why to get back down - the elevators were a free for all and trying to get back downstairs is a nightmare. I'm actually okay with this idea. There are lots of great spots to watch the fireworks. CG is a premium restaurant and patrons should get a premium experience.

Melissa

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Baron, for someone who values the quality of "show" so highly I dont understand your view on this matter. Have you tried to eat at the California Grill after 8pm. It is not a pleasant experience. You end up with 100-200 people walking past your table talking even shouting at loud volumes to each other and packing the viewing areas to capacity and preventing guests of the restaurant from seeing the show. I was hoping for a long time that this would happen. It creates a much better and unique experience for the guests of California Grill and preserves the quality of "show" for these guests. (It is quite obnoxious having drunk people stumble off the elevator and past your dinner table talking about their sex life.) They have started offering fireworks viewing WITH synchronized audio on a lower observation level (cant remember which).

 

[raidermatt]

(It is quite obnoxious having drunk people stumble off the elevator and past your dinner table talking about their sex life.)

Sorry about that.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

Baron, for someone who values the quality of "show" so highly I don’t understand your view on this matter.

Man oh man, Mr. Show. You just don’t ‘get it’! It’s not about the California Grill. It’s not about an upscale (overpriced) restaurant at all!! It’s not about maximizing your return by stuffing as many tables as possible into what was once a rather spacious area. It’s not about turning every square inch of WDW into a profit center.

It’s about the serendipitous effect of ‘finding’ this unadvertised spot and treasuring the fact that it just ‘is’!! That, my friend, is MAGIC!!! Not an overpriced meal in a trendy eatery!! And certainly NOT charging a premium for the view.

Have you tried to eat at the California Grill after 8pm. It is not a pleasant experience.

Yes!! On the contrary. It is very pleasant - - - IN THE DINING ROOM, where it was designed to be!!!! You are right though. GREED took over once again and they JAMMED tables into every square inch of space! For those unfortunates packed together by the deck doors it would be very unpleasant indeed. Too bad they felt the need to ruin this experience for a couple of measly dollars!

You end up with 100-200 people walking past your table talking even shouting at loud volumes to each other and packing the viewing areas to capacity and preventing guests of the restaurant from seeing the show.

Well, I certainly can’t speak for every day of the year, but I can tell you the two times we did it in July there were at most, 2 dozen people, both times. On the third time is was drizzling slightly so I used my alternative which held one other family of four that we got rather friendly with.

They have started offering fireworks viewing WITH synchronized audio on a lower observation level (can’t remember which).

They may have music piped in now, but as of last July they did not. And it’s on the fourth floor and believe me, it hardly compares!!! (although it used to be a great spot if it was drizzling!)

It is quite obnoxious having drunk people stumble off the elevator and past your dinner table talking about their sex life.

Matt’s already apologized, but when you get a minute, drop me a PM and tell me what you heard!!!!

 

[blackshirt]

Baron,
Although I agree with you most of the time(80-90%), this time I must say that you may have lost your mind. I would never consider going thru a crowded restaurant to view a show unless I made a purchase. A double bourbon would suffice. I do agree, however, with the points about crowding people together like cattle, and more importantly, the explosion of knowledge about WDW which has resulted in certain "perks" becoming so popular that Management is forced to make a decision to discontinue them. Knowledge is good because it benefits those that know, but what happens when everybody knows?

 

[WDWHound]

My wife and I have eaten at California Grill twice. Both times the restaurant was packed with as many tables as could possibly be squeezed into it, the wait was over an hour (even with a PM), the room was loud, the service rude and slow, the food mediocore and the prices way too high. The only reason I would ever go near that place again would be for the observation lounge, so I guess I will never be going up there again.

I thought there was an outdoor rooftop deck you could access via the stairs at the Contemporary without going through the CA Grill. Is that still there?

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

Although I agree with you most of the time(80-90%), this time I must say that you may have lost your mind.

Ah, my friend, let me see if I can raise that percentage a little bit on this issue alone!!

I would never consider going thru a crowded restaurant to view a show unless I made a purchase. A double bourbon would suffice.

I absolutely agree!!! HOWEVER!!! Yes, however…. However, this was never the case. It is only recently that the restaurant invaded the lounge, observation area, foray, wide open space (call it what you will). It is only when they began…

… crowding people together like cattle

…. that you were forced to trudge through the dining area while discussing your sexual habits!! (Ooops!! That was Matt!! That was Matt!! Not me!!)

As for the perks becoming too popular, that is an entirely different issue and problem. A problem which Disney used to be good at solving. Creatively, magically and with a little pixie dust! Now they settle for, or rather choose, charging you for the pleasure of the view!

And that STINKS!!!


PS:

I guess I will never be going up there again.

I'm with you Mr. Hound!!!

 

[DisneyKidds]

I've never been to the observation deck at the CR, but I always assumed that it had direct access that was not thru the California Grill. Sorry they took it from you, but I'm surprised that they always allowed people to parade thru the restaurant to get to the deck in the first place.

 

[Another Voice]

For most of its existance, the walkway to the deck was seperate from the lounge area by stairs and a railing. It was only when Disney changed the lounge into a restaurant that access to the observation area was blocked.

And there were two platforms was well for most of the time - one on by the lounge/restaurant and another on the other side of the A-frame. That side used to contain meeting rooms for hotel functions. I don't know why they closed this area off, but it happened the same time they built the restaurant.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

I evidently wasn't clear on the past two posts. Attempt #3!!!

but I'm surprised that they always allowed people to parade thru the restaurant to get to the deck in the first place.

They never had you parade through the restaurant!! At most it was the seating area for the lounge and the back half wasn't even that!! It was just... well... EMPTY OBSERVATION AREA!!

It only became “restaurant” when they decided to jam as many tables as possible into that area. And that was a rather recent development.

Sorry they took it from you

Thank you for that Mr. Kidds!!

 

[DisneyKidds]

Thank you for that Mr. Kidds!!

You are......ah.........welcome .






Note to self.......Whew! Good thing I decided to edit down my last post before hitting the reply button .

 

[d-r]

I'm going to strongly agree with my wife and on with the show. California Grill can be a nice place to eat and a person can get a decent meal there. It isn't very MAGICAL, BARON, for a gazillion goofy heat wearing tourists to haul their strollers through there during your meal. Although YOU may not find magic in a meal at Ca. Grill, other people CERTAINLY DO. Have you ever tried to go down the elavator after fireworks? It is a freaking death trap. I assure you it is not a "found" unadvertised spot, it is common knowledge. Look, some people like Chef Mickey's, some people couldn't care less about it. Some people like Ca. Grill, other's think it is a profit center. Whatever. But you don't have a right to trounce over other people's meals because you "found" this spot that you proclaimed to be "magical" - balony. You can still go up to the 15th floor and have a drink in the lounge and enjoy the view if you do not want to eat there. The situation was out of control - I've seen it out of control - and I've seen it after this change. Still not perfect, but MUCH improved. There were just way too many people trying to enjoy this "free" spot that they had to do something to control it. Heck, maybe it is because of all of these internet boards posting "insider tips" that it got too carried away, I don't know, but something really needed to be done to limit the number of people that were coming up there.

I think the view out of the windows in Artist Point is really nice, too, but I don't expect to be able to go stand in front of them while other people are eating because I "found" them and think it is "magical" - instead I'll enjoy that view when I choose to dine in that restaurant.

 

[airlarry!]

D-R:

This was the one time in a long time that I thought I'd be able to pick on me ole buddy Baron. I have always wondered myself since the Grill opened how long they would keep letting the 'freebies' stroll past the diners. I blamed the inevitable insider tips going public as the reason for the change. There's nothing sinister in that...when a secret gets out, you can't blame other people for wanting to try what the insiders know. I was ready to tell Baron he went overboard this time.

But I'm glad I waited before posting that. I realize now what The Baron's point is. Blaming this on 'the internet' is a convenient way of whitewashing the history of this magical perk.

The truth of the matter, M. D-R, is that the Company, in an effort to upgrade the bottom line, has again taken away a perk that many people have loved. The Baron alone has talked about this on almost every State of the World trip if I remember right in loving tones. The problem lies in the change of the venue, not in the whispers in the chat room--and that's the company's fault.

This Company is attempting to get money from every square inch of the World.

On one level, that's okay. That's a business decision. That's a way to make money for the shareholders. That's a way to eliminate a loss. Yada, yada, blah, blah, blah.

I remember, however, when that wasn't the first concern. And you know what else stinks about the paragraph I just wrote. YOU CAN APPLY IT TO EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD. Laugh at me and The Baron when we talk about Mickey Head Butter or The View. But when it is YOUR little perk that gets taken away, don't come cryin' to me.

And no, before the posters start posting, this decision is not the end of the world. It won't make me not plan my trip for next Mardi Gras. I will still buy Treasure Planet on DVD. I'm not cancelling my Disney Channel on satellite. I have a life, and I'm living it too.

It's just one more, one more.

 

[d-r]

Larry -

On a given day there are probably 200K people on disney property. If 1/10th of 1 percent of those people decide to take in the fireworks from on top of the Contemporary, that is 200 people, and that is too many. I've seen it with both sides lined solid from the door to the end, with two rows of people, the first along the railing and a second row behind them. Because people are in family groups, that is two-four people across. That probably is 200 people or more. Not only does this take away from the "magic" of the people willing to pay for an expensive dinner, it is inconvenient and just flat out not safe. Those elavators really were not designed to move that many people all leaving at once, especially when you throw in the people who were waiting to leave after dinner or drinks for the fireworks. It was a mess, it was uncomfortable, and it was downright not safe. There was nothing magical about it. WDW absolutely needed to limit the number of people up there, because with "free" access it was too popular and there were too many people. I can think of a couple of ways that they could do that. Let it be open only to those people who are having dinner or drinks up there, or at least announce that it is so that people think it is, or just flat out charge for it. There are some really good spots for illuminiations, so popular that people are willing to pay for group events there. So they do. If the view from the contemporary was so great that they had to charge for it to limit the number of people up there (and, imhho, it isn't, but that's just me), imagine the whailing and nashing of teeth. So here you have a crowd control and movement problem - how else could they have solved it? What if 1,000 people showed up on a given night to take in the fireworks? They don't have the staff or structural ability to handle open admission of limitless crowds. This isn't taking away a "perk," this is limiting admission to the people who most deserve to be there at a particular time; in this case, those guests who are eating or drinking there.

I don't buy into the chipping away of butter thing. Sure there have been things that have been taken away that bothered me or I missed (the list would be long, flame tree bbq (returned), ap lounge, discovery island, 2-disc dvds, vault disney) and there have been amazngly brilliant new things that I really loced (HO scale train sets).Things change, and if something is important enough to enough people to justify it it will stick around. FWIW, everytime I see butter on a table it is the real thing - ymmv. You know there are always going to be things that you really like that go away because they aren't as popular with the masses or just don't make that much of a difference to most people.

DR

 

[Bob O]

Ditto's to DVC!!!!! Again disney wants you to pay for something that at one time was free to all. Dont go to the Rest. and pay inflated prices and you dont get a good view of the fireworks which used to be free for all and you werent FORCED to buy something to get the view.
It was nice place to view the fireworks and intially you wenter forced to buy something to enjoy the view, but the need to make more money was more important than the guest experience.
Im sure disney could have found other places on their property to put the Rest. without eliminating the ability for people to enjoy the fireworks from the observation deck, but of course that isnt a priority at this time.

 

[KNWVIKING]

I'm curious about all the CG bashing. Zagats list six WDW restaurants in its top 20, one of which is CG. Even our hosts "Top Ten Restaurants" page has CG #1. I wonder if the day Zagat's was reviewing CG they allowed 200 or so people to pass thru on the way to the deck ?