I just have to vent about the Liberty Tree tavern

[hippiechick72]

The lady and the manager had me floored at this place. We had ADR's for 5:20pm one day last week. I made my ADR's back in March, I think. Anyways, I even had my hotel print out a copy of all of my reservations when I got there last week. We were supposed to eat at 5:20 on Monday. When we walked in there. The lady at the front desk fought with me and told me that my reservations were for 4:20, even seeing my printout that I had, she still fought with me over it Anyway, we got there at 5pm and she said she would still be able to seat us about the same time that our reservation was for. YEAH RIGHT!! We got seated at 6pm. I griped and griped, but it got me nowhere. The manager even refused to help me. That really had me going. Oh yeah, and I haven't told you all that my 17 month old was screaming!!!!!! because he was hungry and thirsty. Did they care? Heck no. I kept getting a sympathetic look from one of the hostesses, but she didn't bother to help me.

The food was good and our waiter was good, but getting passed the ignorance and the frustration of the front desk people was just unreal.

And of course, since this was a character dinner, I didn't want to leave because my kids were looking forward to seeing everyone. I would've left in a heartbeat had it not been for my kids and those characters.

This was my only bad experience during my whole week at WDW. Thank god!

 

[sunny_stace]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. We have ADRs there in Dec., heres hoping we have some luck with the place! I'm glad to hear the rest of your trip went well though!

 

[mskayjay]

This is one of the rare times that I would send a not off to WDW Customer Relations, give them dates, times, all the facts and let them know you were otherwise pleased with your stay, but what exactly was it that you did to have anyone treat you like that? It was obviously a computer error somewhere as you had your ressies printed in hand. Someone owes you an apology.

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm not doubting what you are saying, but do you realize that an ADR does not guarantee you will be seated at that time? It is not a reservation for a certain time, it just means that you will be seated at the next available table for your party size. I do know that when we have eaten at the Liberty Tree, we are always seated a bit past our ADR time. They are not the most punctual of restaurants.

 

[TinkRBel_In_Training]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience The manager shouldn't have been arguing after seeing the printout. Maybe in the future you could carry a baggie of cherrios or other snack and a container of juice to keep your little one happy until you get seated.

 

[iluvpluto27]

Sorry you had a bad experience.

 

[hippiechick72]

I do realize that an ADR is not a guaranteed seating time. I was mad about the fact that these people had the nerve to argue with me over the reservation time. And then they would keep telling me I was next. Yeah, I was next alright, right after 12 other families got seated and ate their dinner. You would think that, especially with a child crying, that they would have been at the least apologetic.

 

[tigger536]

No, ADRs are no guarantee of an exact time, but I agree with the OP that an hour is excessive. It sounds like the hostess really did not believe you and basically treated you like a walk in - that would explain why other parties (with non-computer glitched ADRs) came and went while you were still waiting. I agree you should complain (it won't do you any good now but disney should at least be aware that the restaurant treated you that way over an error that really was not your fault.

 

[wilma-bride]

While I agree with some previous posters that an ADR is by no means a guaranteed seating time, I find it astonishing that with a screaming child, the restaurant manager was not willing to help. Personally, I would have made sure I stopped by Guest Services on my way out of the park to note my displeasure. Regardless of anything else, they could at least have given you a realistic idea of the amount of time you would have to wait.

 

[maxiesmom]

While I agree with some previous posters that an ADR is by no means a guaranteed seating time, I find it astonishing that with a screaming child, the restaurant manager was not willing to help. Personally, I would have made sure I stopped by Guest Services on my way out of the park to note my displeasure. Regardless of anything else, they could at least have given you a realistic idea of the amount of time you would have to wait.

Not trying to make light of the Op's experience, but I would think anyone working at Disney sees screaming kids on an hourly basis. There is no way they can seat every family with a screaming child ahead of the families with non-screaming children. People would have to resort to pinching their children just to get seated!

I'm sorry that the Op's reservation got messed up, but it does occasionally happen. Try looking at it from Disney's standpoint. To them you missed your ADR time, and they fit you in within an hour of your showing up. Not bad for a restaurant that you cannot walk up to and expect to be seated.

I am kind of curuios as to what the Op meant by the fact that she repeatedly "griped and griped". If she kept badgering the CMs, that is not a great idea. The old saying 'Catch more flies with honey" isn't an old saying for nothing. Making the CMs dislike you is not a good way to get what you want. And I think it is never a good idea to anger anyone who works at a restaruant, and still eat there!

 

[dogodisney]

The lady and the manager had me floored at this place. We had ADR's for 5:20pm one day last week. I made my ADR's back in March, I think. Anyways, I even had my hotel print out a copy of all of my reservations when I got there last week. We were supposed to eat at 5:20 on Monday. When we walked in there. The lady at the front desk fought with me and told me that my reservations were for 4:20, even seeing my printout that I had, she still fought with me over it Anyway, we got there at 5pm and she said she would still be able to seat us about the same time that our reservation was for. YEAH RIGHT!! We got seated at 6pm. I griped and griped, but it got me nowhere. The manager even refused to help me. That really had me going. Oh yeah, and I haven't told you all that my 17 month old was screaming!!!!!! because he was hungry and thirsty. Did they care? Heck no. I kept getting a sympathetic look from one of the hostesses, but she didn't bother to help me.

The food was good and our waiter was good, but getting passed the ignorance and the frustration of the front desk people was just unreal.

And of course, since this was a character dinner, I didn't want to leave because my kids were looking forward to seeing everyone. I would've left in a heartbeat had it not been for my kids and those characters.

This was my only bad experience during my whole week at WDW. Thank god!

Just curious.... How did you get print outs of your reservation? Was it something that you typed yourself?

 

[catne]

The desk at your Disney hotel can give you a print-out of your dinner reservations. Also may be able to get a print-out from guest relations at the parks...think I've heard people do that too.

 

[ss9498]

When making my ADRs the CM told me that I would be able to get printout of my ADRs at my hotel by giving my phone number.

 

[jennwndrlnd]

After going to the reservations check-in last year out CM insisted we take our printout with us each day just so things could be verified if there was a mistake at the restaurants. If they don't offer one you should always ask them to print it out.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

We have waited nearly an hour at LTT for our time also, it all depends on the diners inside finishing up. I always bring goldfish crackers and juice box for the little ones.

 

[musicmama]

The last time we ate there was the last trip that DH was with us. Our reasonably early ADR was "lost", even though I had a printout from Ft. Wilderness concierge with me, and we were left with the crowds to wait. Hour and a half, and we were supposed to be grateful. Only reason I agreed to wait was because it was Christmastime and DH requested this one - we had all liked the food before. Nope. Not this time. Not worth the wait - the meat platter had apparently sat under the heat lamp for a good 10 or 15 minutes before we got it - sauces almost hard. I specifically asked to NOT have the mustard sauce for the ham - guess what - it was on there, and I HATE mustard. So, I asked for a separate plate and fresh ham. You would think I had asked for the Hope Diamond.

We were on the DDP and tips were still included, so I guess our server just figured she was fine and didn't need to worry any more about us. No drink refills, almost no dessert. So I outsmarted her. I got up, went to the kitchen door and asked for the manager. I said that I would be more than happy to get our drink refills and dessert, since it seemed that our server had deserted us. I just wanted a chance to have my picture taken in a costume to show my family and friends that I had had to be our server. Oh yeah, and same pic might even show up on the Disboards.....

Manager was floored. Service improved. But we're not going back this December. Don't need the possibility of a repeat.

 

[SunnieRN]

I think at disneyworld, just as at any tourist destination (well some more than others), there is a captive audience present.
With ADR's the way they work, having to make most of them 6 mos out for the more popular restaurants, the restaurants know that most people will tolerate waits, even with an ADR. Where else are you going to go when you are on the dining plan and all the table service restaurants are full?
The lack of flexability makes it hard to do anything different.

 

[dogodisney]

Thank you to everyone who replied about getting the ADR printouts. I didn't know that the resorts would do them.

Once again I have learned something from this site!

 

[rcortese711]

I have reservations here in August... hopefully it's better...

 

[honeymo78]

We have consistently found that we wait longer at LTT than almost any other ADR - particularly for dinner. A 15-20 wait past our ADR time has been the norm for us here in the past 3 years /3 trips. Most other locations we wait about 5-10 past our time, if not less (we often arrive 15 min early and get seated on or before our scheduled time).