Free dining and food court crowds question

[dclfun]

I just wanted to know everyone's experience at their resorts food court during the free dining promo dates. We stayed at Pop Century which was a madhouse- I felt so sorry for the CM's manning the checkout stations and those who replenished and cleaned the self-serve drink/condiment station. I felt sorry for all of us in there actually! Did anyone have a positive, less crowded, experience? I am trying to decide whether to keep our bounceback ressie at Pop or try another resort. I'll be going with adult children and a one year old. My feeling is that all the resorts are crowded in the food court, particularly at breakfast time so I probably wouldn't gain much by going somewhere else. Any opinions or reports?---Kathy

 

[minnie61650]

I had a less crowed experience during my stay at All Star Music September 12-September 19.
There were always several tables to choose from in the front area (near the cash registers)alone.
I was very impressed with the way the staff cleaned the tables as soon as guests were finished. In fact many times the staff would ask if they could take our tray when we were finished eating but still enjoying our hot drinks.

I took a few photos of the food court during our stay.
I will try to post them later.

I am sorry to hear the food court at Pop was so busy during your stay.

I hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay.

 

[nowellsl]

We were there 9/21-9/24 at Pop and had no problems at all in the food court. We don't eat at traditional times - on 9/23 we went in about 4:00 for Mom's night out and walked right up - no line. I think it depends on what time you get there (which is the way it seems at most counter service places)! We went in to buy refillable mugs when we got there about 1:00 - only a few people in line. Never had a problem getting a table.

 

[LoriZH]

Just back from CR no food court so no crowds, lol. However, the concourse area was very busy with Chef Mickey's, arcade, monorail use and gift shop.

 

[dclfun]

Thanks for the replies. The crowds were mostly horrible during breakfast, which is understandably the time most people dine in a food court. We were always able to get a table but the lines were usually really long and snaked back so far that you couldn't actually see which line you were in til it merged. I have to commend the attitude and smiles of the CM's who I felt were under immense stress, esp. when someone's room charge card didn't work, or trying to explain what was included with "free dining" while keeping the lines moving. I can't remember whether our prior stays at ASMo were any less crowded. I was thinking about Coronado Springs until I read someone else's report that said they had to skip breakfast there due to the long lines out into the hallway.---Kathy

 

[AussieDisneyFan]

Also don't forget that Pop is the biggest resort on property with 2880 rooms so naturally it would be more crowded than resorts with half the amount of rooms.

 

[kimisabella]

We were at POFQ for the last week of free dining 9/22 - 9/29 and it wasn't bad at all. It was busy in the morning, but it was never a long wait and there were always plenty of seats available. During the afternoons there was NO ONE around!! We weren't there for dinner, so I don't know how that was, but I would imagine it was not crowded as well.

 

[srgibbs]

We were at POFQ from 9-15-9-23 and yes it was a madhouse in the mornings. So much so that we just avoided it from 7-10am. To be honest, after staying there last year, and we are not that pickey of people, we were all in all disappointed in French Quarter. Food court was dirty as well as the fact our room was never cleaned very well. Bus service was not very good this year and we spent a lot of money on taxi's especially at night. Front desk service was still good. We have been the past 3 Sept.'s in a row and until this year have had great experiences. This last trip was not at all like years past in regard to the resort, food, and crowds. We have decided to do other vacations for a while.

 

[antmaril]

We were at Pop Century from August 28 - September 1 for Free Dining. We didn't have any problems in the Food Court because we ate at off times. We were there the first night at about 8:30 p.m. for dinner and it was almost empty. We had lunch one day about 2:00 p.m. and again no problem. Mornings were busy. I went over for a cup of coffee a couple mornings about 8:00 a.m. and the Food Court was very busy.

If you can frequent the Food Courts at non-traditional times, it is much easier.

 

[StrollPatrolMom]

We were at Pop the 20th to 27th...we had made 2 TS ADR's per day most of those days, so our experience (thank goodness) with the food court was limited. It was busy, crowded, difficult to manage 2 little kids, food, and a stroller...and waiting to check-out was a pain the the butt. I want to relax on my vacation and enjoy being served. Next year we're upgrading to a deluxe and it will be worth every penny to me. I'm going to pick up a PT job in the evenings solely to help pay off the trip. We did have a wonderful time don't get me wrong...and for the money, it was what it was...but next year I'd like to do things a little differently...plus going forward, once my son is over 3 we'd have to do a deluxe or POR anyways...so might as well get used to the prices now...

 

[RJD]

We were at Sports the first week of free dining (last week of August). Yes the food court was very crowded in the morning, but nothing unmanageable in my opinion. It seems like cleaning tables were a bit of an issue, but I think one problem was as soon as one party left, another party grabbed the table not really giving CMs a chance to clean them.