WOW! I mean, all I can say is , WOW!
I cannot believe the changes between our experiences last Sep with dining and this year!
We were so-o-o-o disappointed this trip in almost every one of our TS dining experiences - 15 in all.
Our first ADR was at Trail's End our first night. Yes, I know, not exactly the best on Disney property, but DH and DD love it for some reason - or at least, they used to!
We had a 6:30 ADR, arrived about 25 minutes early to find a check-in line of about 5 other parties. One by one they were SLOWLY mustered through check-in. Come to find out, every one of them was a walk-up w/out ADR's. It also appeared that there was a training session going on with one of the CM's at the podium and it was bogging down the process. Half-way through, a manager came out and took over. Didn't help! They kept having to ru inside and go around the restaurant with paper and pen, writing down what tables were free.
It too us almost 15 minutes to get to the podium to check in for our ADR. THe manger apologized for the wait and said our table would be ready in about 5 minutes.
We patiently waited and DD and Dneice were messing around having fun, so we were patient.
Then we went over 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. Meanwhile, all of the people without ADR's were being called in and seated ahead of us.
After 20 minutes DH was starting to have smoke come out of his ears. I think the mgr sensed we were not pleased and he said our table would be ready in just a moment.
5 minutes later he finally took us in personally and seated us.
Now, here's the thing. As we were waiting, we looked into the restaurant, to see why there was such a problem seating people. We still don't know. There had to have been at least 20 empty tables in the place the whole time we waited! No one should have been waiting for a table, least of all, those with ADR's!
THe next morning we went to CP for breakfast at 8:25. We waited again, this time for about 15 minutes. We were taken in and once again I see gobs of open tables! Why are we out in the heat, sweating like animals when there are so many open tables?!!
I let it go and proceeded to sit down for breakfast. We were told to wait for our waitress before going up to the buffet, even though I told them we had been there many time and knew the drill.
After 5 minutes, I told the others to go get their food and I got their drink orders so I could tell the waitress when she showed up.
THey were back from getting thier food and I had to give them my drink order as I went to get food.
At some point while I was at the buffet, she finally showed and took the drink order. Eventually she showed back up with the drinks. I think we saw her once more during our meal, and then had to ask for the check. Being on the dining plan, we then had to wait for her to bring back the bill for us to sign, which took bout 10 minutes just for that.
Throughout the trip, this is the same experience at almost every meal!
THe only truly good experience we had was dinner on our anniversary at Narcoosee's. Debby was our waitress and she was incredible!! Had it not been for this one meal, our entire trip would have been a total loss for good dining!
One meal at Hollywood and Vine was a total joke! THe waitress was non-existent throughout the meal. We were choking down half of our meal without any drinks before she showed up. then DH had to hunt her down for drink refills later on. When she brought the bill she had the audacity to tell us she didn't add in the 18% gratuity, did we want her to or were we going to handle it on our own?
WHAT!!! You'll be lucky to get 10% for your "service"!! Unbelievable gall for someone who knew she had neglected us!! DH had a talk with the manager afterwards!
This was the kind of service we had all 2 weeks. Waiting ridiculous time to get in and be seated ( 40 minutes at Tusker House! - DD ended up sick from sitting in the heat waiting for that one!), terrible and neglectful service from waitstaff, and the food was definitely not up to par.
We definitely thought twice about booking our bounceback stay for next year, but decided to go ahead and see how things go through the next year.
We'll be closely watching the boards for reports on whether Disney wakes up and brings back some quality before September 2010!
I cannot believe the changes between our experiences last Sep with dining and this year!
We were so-o-o-o disappointed this trip in almost every one of our TS dining experiences - 15 in all.
Our first ADR was at Trail's End our first night. Yes, I know, not exactly the best on Disney property, but DH and DD love it for some reason - or at least, they used to!
We had a 6:30 ADR, arrived about 25 minutes early to find a check-in line of about 5 other parties. One by one they were SLOWLY mustered through check-in. Come to find out, every one of them was a walk-up w/out ADR's. It also appeared that there was a training session going on with one of the CM's at the podium and it was bogging down the process. Half-way through, a manager came out and took over. Didn't help! They kept having to ru inside and go around the restaurant with paper and pen, writing down what tables were free.
It too us almost 15 minutes to get to the podium to check in for our ADR. THe manger apologized for the wait and said our table would be ready in about 5 minutes.
We patiently waited and DD and Dneice were messing around having fun, so we were patient.
Then we went over 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. Meanwhile, all of the people without ADR's were being called in and seated ahead of us.
After 20 minutes DH was starting to have smoke come out of his ears. I think the mgr sensed we were not pleased and he said our table would be ready in just a moment.
5 minutes later he finally took us in personally and seated us.
Now, here's the thing. As we were waiting, we looked into the restaurant, to see why there was such a problem seating people. We still don't know. There had to have been at least 20 empty tables in the place the whole time we waited! No one should have been waiting for a table, least of all, those with ADR's!
THe next morning we went to CP for breakfast at 8:25. We waited again, this time for about 15 minutes. We were taken in and once again I see gobs of open tables! Why are we out in the heat, sweating like animals when there are so many open tables?!!
I let it go and proceeded to sit down for breakfast. We were told to wait for our waitress before going up to the buffet, even though I told them we had been there many time and knew the drill.
After 5 minutes, I told the others to go get their food and I got their drink orders so I could tell the waitress when she showed up.
THey were back from getting thier food and I had to give them my drink order as I went to get food.
At some point while I was at the buffet, she finally showed and took the drink order. Eventually she showed back up with the drinks. I think we saw her once more during our meal, and then had to ask for the check. Being on the dining plan, we then had to wait for her to bring back the bill for us to sign, which took bout 10 minutes just for that.
Throughout the trip, this is the same experience at almost every meal!
THe only truly good experience we had was dinner on our anniversary at Narcoosee's. Debby was our waitress and she was incredible!! Had it not been for this one meal, our entire trip would have been a total loss for good dining!
One meal at Hollywood and Vine was a total joke! THe waitress was non-existent throughout the meal. We were choking down half of our meal without any drinks before she showed up. then DH had to hunt her down for drink refills later on. When she brought the bill she had the audacity to tell us she didn't add in the 18% gratuity, did we want her to or were we going to handle it on our own?
WHAT!!! You'll be lucky to get 10% for your "service"!! Unbelievable gall for someone who knew she had neglected us!! DH had a talk with the manager afterwards!
This was the kind of service we had all 2 weeks. Waiting ridiculous time to get in and be seated ( 40 minutes at Tusker House! - DD ended up sick from sitting in the heat waiting for that one!), terrible and neglectful service from waitstaff, and the food was definitely not up to par.
We definitely thought twice about booking our bounceback stay for next year, but decided to go ahead and see how things go through the next year.
We'll be closely watching the boards for reports on whether Disney wakes up and brings back some quality before September 2010!
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