Grand Floridian Cinderella’s dinner, very upset!

[EmilyPr1981]

This Past Wednesday Dec 9th my DD and I had ressies for 6:45pm dinner with Cinderella at the GF.
Epcot was the park we went to that day but my DH, DS elected to stay at Epcot and not join us for dinner. We were all going to meet for illuminations at 9-930. We arrived for our reservations at 6:45pm and the lobby was packed, we checked in and was warned they were behind 15 min or so. that 15 min turned to be over an hour. Once we got there we did not even know who our server was and had to ask for a drink. It seemed like they only had 4 servers working. Still thinking this would be enough time and my daughter would meet all of the characters. Well it was 8:45 finally prince charming came though, but no Cinderella. Now the time was 9:10 DH is calling and at that time Cinderella came through. Still nothing from our server I had to get of them to get my bill. Now 9:20 bill is paid and we got in the car and high tailed it to Epcot for illuminations. We walked in and saw the grand finale from spaceship earth.

What really upsets me is that no one apologized for the wait, but they where sure more then happy to sell you a picture for 30 bucks. Also there where many of other guest steamed as well with the wait times. We are expected to be at our reservations on time why cant they be ready for them. I am writing a formal letter to Disney about this one. I can understand 15 min or even 30 min but 1hr this is nuts. I am not a person that believes in handouts but Disney should of put effort in comping for there error.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I agree that waiting a long time past your ADR is very frustrating and my family and I have done that when we have been to Boma for dinner. I also agree in your situation the very least you should have got was some kind of an appology.

 

[Rip]

I'm sure you're going to get a few "well, it's an ADR, not an actual reservation, so you really shouldn't complain" responses from the Disney-can-do-no-wrong crowd, but I happen to agree with you. Pretty much anywhere else you would at the very least get an apology.

That reminds me of another situation in which many people are forced to wait more than an hour past their scheduled time simply because of overbooking and/or poor scheduling - the doctor's office. I wonder how many of those that will make excuses for Disney are perfectly content to wait just as long past their appointment when seeing their doctor......

 

[wdwtweets]

They get around the whole thing by not taking traditional reservations but work with a priority seating system, even though they do use "reservation" when referring to ADRs.

Did you get the chance to talk to a manager? We had a similar experience at a WDW restaurant and found that the manager did all she could to make it right and we ended up quite satisfied in the end.

 

[ktlm]

We had the same thing happen at the 1900 Park Fare dinner last May. Our ADR was for 6:15. We got there and checked in at 5:45. We didn't get seated until around 7:15 - 7:20. That's a long wait with a 3 year old. Then the characters were very spread out and it took a really long time for them to all get to our table. I certainly hadn't planned on an over 3 hour dinner ordeal.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

I'm sure you're going to get a few "well, it's an ADR, not an actual reservation, so you really shouldn't complain" responses from the Disney-can-do-no-wrong crowd, but I happen to agree with you. Pretty much anywhere else you would at the very least get an apology.

That reminds me of another situation in which many people are forced to wait more than an hour past their scheduled time simply because of overbooking and/or poor scheduling - the doctor's office. I wonder how many of those that will make excuses for Disney are perfectly content to wait just as long past their appointment when seeing their doctor......

I actually go the to doctor when I am sick, I dont go for recereational purposes, so I would have not choice but to wait. Walking out of a doctors office b/c they are behind schedules is certainly not going to cure my illness. Nor will screaming and yelling at the staff, although it may get you removed from the office, so again not cured.

OP I"m sorry you had to wait, that sounds like crummy services, we had to waite over an hour past our ADR time at CP but had excellent service and the hostess apologized several times for the wait. I would have spoken to a managers that night, I know it is too late for that now, but often you will get more response when you complain at the time of the incident, then the manager can access the situation w/ thier own eyes and make any corrections on the spot, you can also complain to guest services while on propery, good luck w/ the letter, I never heard back from mine and its been months.

 

[JenniD44]

We had the opposite experience at the California Grill on Dec 4. It was my birthday, so when we checked in we asked for a seat close to the windows so we could watch the fireworks. We were told it could take up to an hour. We said fine, we just wanted a good seat. Well our beeper went off 20 to 25 minutes later. When we were taken to our table, it was about as far away from the window to watch the MK fireworks as you could get. We saw several empty tables close to the windows, but were told that those had already been assigned. As we sat there, we saw more tables near the window cleared and others who came after us seated there. I was so upset. I made this reservation specifically for my birthday and since it was pouring rain we were not about to go out on the balcony to watch the fireworks.

Finally my DH talked to a manager or someone and she said there was a table finishing their dessert and she would move us to it. Well our dinners came and we ate them, DH went and asked her again and she said we would now be moved. We finally got moved for our dessert. The fireworks were delayed for about 10 minutes, but when they finally went off, we had incredible seats. They did the Christmas Wishes that night and they were spectacular. We also saw the Christmas Wishes from our hotel pool one night and at MVMCP. I thought they were much better than the regular Wishes.

Anyway, sorry for the long story, but it worked out great in the end. It was frustrating to have to go through that when we were more than willing to wait. Sorry that OP had to wait so long. I absolutely think something should have been done, at least an apology.

 

[Rip]

I actually go the to doctor when I am sick, I dont go for recereational purposes, so I would have not choice but to wait. Walking out of a doctors office b/c they are behind schedules is certainly not going to cure my illness. Nor will screaming and yelling at the staff, although it may get you removed from the office, so again not cured.

So I take it you thoroughly enjoy having to waste your valuable time waiting well beyond your scheduled appointment, because I really don't see what your point is otherwise. I'm not aware of anyone that goes to the doctor "for recreational purposes".

 

[DisGirl23]

OP, sorry to hear about your long wait. Was it crowded? Were people lingering over their meal? I like to enjoy my table meal but, I do try to keep it reasonable because I know someone is waiting patiently (perhaps impatiently) for my table.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

A physician's appointment is not comparable to an ADR for a character meal. Physician's have emergencies. Restaurants should be able to serve those for whom they have made reservations.

Disney is doing a poorer and poorer job of providing timely service to their dining guests.

 

[Mysteria]

I'm sure you're going to get a few "well, it's an ADR, not an actual reservation, so you really shouldn't complain" responses from the Disney-can-do-no-wrong crowd, but I happen to agree with you. Pretty much anywhere else you would at the very least get an apology.

That reminds me of another situation in which many people are forced to wait more than an hour past their scheduled time simply because of overbooking and/or poor scheduling - the doctor's office. I wonder how many of those that will make excuses for Disney are perfectly content to wait just as long past their appointment when seeing their doctor......

I don't make excuses for anyone like that. You have to tell the right people what happened though.

I'll wait longer for my dr because if I'm there it's important. I'll complain about it for sure. I'll call the administrator and/or my hmo once I get home. Thishas happened a lot lately since they have a new scheduling call centre.

anyway back to the OP

Op...did you soeak with a manager at the time? I'm thinking not because you were in a rush to get to Epcot, understandable. If not have you called/sent a letter since then about your bad experience?

In general nobody will comp anything unless you speak up. the wait staff rarely have the ok to do that and the higher ups won't know of your bad esperience unless you tell them.

Let them know and hopefully you will be satisfied with their resolution. Good luck.

 

[bumbershoot]

A physician's appointment is not comparable to an ADR for a character meal. Physician's have emergencies.

And restaurants have patrons already seated who are taking their sweet time finishing up their meals. Get a couple groups of slower diners all in a row, and you've got a wait.

 

[shopn24seven]

We never had a problem WAITING, but Mary Poppins was a no-show and my daughter was dressed like her. COMPLETELY like her...hat, gloves, dress and umbrella.
The manager led my daughter into the dining room and said "EVERYONE...HER IS MARY POPPINS", as my daughter waved to the crowd. SHe received claps from everyone. It made her trip!!

 

[Disneyadore]

Disney can't control people that are done eating but do not leave.

I can see all the comments here if somebody wrote:"HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE,DISNEY THREW US OUT OF THE RESTAURANT TO GET OTHER GUESTS WITH AN ADR SEATED.
The server here would be red hot and smoking.

 

[lllGurulll]

A physician's appointment is not comparable to an ADR for a character meal. Physician's have emergencies. Restaurants should be able to serve those for whom they have made reservations.

Disney is doing a poorer and poorer job of providing timely service to their dining guests.

You can blame a lot of that on the discounts and free dining plans out there. As much as I would love to have a discount, maybe that is the trade off for less issues overall.

 

[Jillisa]

We were there for a week in November and at at one TS restaurant a day. We were also there last year for Spring Break (when it was much more crowded) and also had 1 TS meal a day. The service during SB was MUCH better. I don't necessarily blame the wait staff. It seems that there are not enough waiter/waitresses and their tables are too spread out. I watched my them run across the room numerous times, sometimes to completely different rooms, to their tables. I think its a combonation of poor management and not enough waiters/resses. It just didn't seem that efficient. Only onces did we have a flighty waitress but she wasn't too bad. I just noted that it could have been much more efficient and makes everyone's lives easier.

 

[xenole]

What's the actual table plan in this place anyway? A few 2 x seats, loads of 4x seats and the 6-8+ at a table?

I've got a breakfast booked so hopefully that won't be quite as bad. No real rush either so waiting won't be too much of a problem.

Have read here and elsewhere that sometimes your party size can play a part in how long you wait. If you have say 6 people and the x number of tables are already occupied but there are a couple of 4 seaters left, then the smaller parties may get seated first.

 

[RMulieri]

It is NOT a traditional reservation.Only a promise to seat your party at the next available table for your party size.During Free Dining the restaurants are OVERLOADED and long wait times ensue.I am sorry you had to wait, and I am sorry no one kept you informed about the wait time.

 

[golden6911]

1900 PF was the longest wait of my last trip as well. I think that for whatever reason, the characters don't circulate in a timely fashion so people stay longer to see them all, and the wait times get very long. We has a 7:15 reservation and we waited for 45 minutes before sitting. It took about an hour and a half for the characters to all pass through.

 

[TDC Nala]

Disney does use a system where they do not hold tables open for a party with an ADR - they give that party the first available table that opens up that will fit their party, in the order that the guests checked in, so a party of two with three other parties of two lined up ahead of them will not get the first table for two available - so there is no table waiting for you when you arrive, and yes, that is confusing because they changed the name of the system to Advance Dining Reservations rather than Priority Seating.

(The reasoning was that guests were confused by the term Priority Seating. They were asking too many questions and taking up too much of the phone agents' time asking them to explain Priority Seating, when they could be moving on to another party and booking new reservations. So now, they use the term Advance Dining Reservation when the seating system isn't a reservation at all in the way that most guests understand it. This cuts down on the questions asked on the phone, but means many guests don't understand why they have to wait when they arrive.)

This is not in any way meant to be apologist for Disney, because they don't make it clear to guests what exactly they are booking. And an hour wait is egregious even for a "priority seating."