I haven't read through this thread, but I do think its rude if you aren't eating at all to take up tables at a CS restaurant, especially during a busy meal time.
We were at WDW the week of June 10th. We were a group of 8 with 4 adults and 4 kids (ages 8-14). We at CS every day for lunch.
Our first experience was on a Sunday at Backlot Express right at lunch time. Needless to say, that place was a mad house. We learned a few lessons that day. The kids stayed with us while ordering. DH and I were paying for three of the kids (our niece and nephews). This was a huge mistake. Tt was way to crowded in the lines for that many people. The kids were in peoples way when they were trying to get out with their food (they weren't intentionally in the way, it was just crowded without much room). When we finally got our food, we then tried to find a place to eat. There wasn't a table to be found. Even if we split up, we couldn't find tables to seat all of us. We ended up finding a small table, put the tray on that and we all stood around the table to eat. It wasn't the best option but it was all we could do at the time. What did frustrate me was a gentleman was holding 2 tables for his family. We asked if we could use the chairs while they weren't there and would give them back when they came back with food. He said no. How rude. He watched all of us eat around this little table while he guarded those chairs as if they were gold. Oh and we were done eating before his family even got there so it wouldn't have been a problem at all. (To be honest, if I was a more bold person and didn't dislike conflict so much, I would have just taken the chairs..its not like he owns them).
The rest of the week, we tried to eat before or after the major lunch rush. This helped a lot. We would also find out what the kids wanted to eat and send them to find us a table and save it. They were also instructed to get napkins, silver ware, straws, etc so that people would realize they were saving it to eat. We tried to very efficient after our first experience. This got them out of line with us thus, not taking up so much space in line and getting in anyone's ways. It also ensured we would have a place to sit and eat. This worked out really well for us. For what its worth, because we ate at off times, there appeared to be plenty of tables available. It was just more difficult to find us a group of tables where we could all sit together.
We always made sure to leave our tables clean and ready for someone else to use. If the places were getting busy, we didn't linger too long either after eating.
We were at WDW the week of June 10th. We were a group of 8 with 4 adults and 4 kids (ages 8-14). We at CS every day for lunch.
Our first experience was on a Sunday at Backlot Express right at lunch time. Needless to say, that place was a mad house. We learned a few lessons that day. The kids stayed with us while ordering. DH and I were paying for three of the kids (our niece and nephews). This was a huge mistake. Tt was way to crowded in the lines for that many people. The kids were in peoples way when they were trying to get out with their food (they weren't intentionally in the way, it was just crowded without much room). When we finally got our food, we then tried to find a place to eat. There wasn't a table to be found. Even if we split up, we couldn't find tables to seat all of us. We ended up finding a small table, put the tray on that and we all stood around the table to eat. It wasn't the best option but it was all we could do at the time. What did frustrate me was a gentleman was holding 2 tables for his family. We asked if we could use the chairs while they weren't there and would give them back when they came back with food. He said no. How rude. He watched all of us eat around this little table while he guarded those chairs as if they were gold. Oh and we were done eating before his family even got there so it wouldn't have been a problem at all. (To be honest, if I was a more bold person and didn't dislike conflict so much, I would have just taken the chairs..its not like he owns them).
The rest of the week, we tried to eat before or after the major lunch rush. This helped a lot. We would also find out what the kids wanted to eat and send them to find us a table and save it. They were also instructed to get napkins, silver ware, straws, etc so that people would realize they were saving it to eat. We tried to very efficient after our first experience. This got them out of line with us thus, not taking up so much space in line and getting in anyone's ways. It also ensured we would have a place to sit and eat. This worked out really well for us. For what its worth, because we ate at off times, there appeared to be plenty of tables available. It was just more difficult to find us a group of tables where we could all sit together.
We always made sure to leave our tables clean and ready for someone else to use. If the places were getting busy, we didn't linger too long either after eating.
thinkin'
