Kids at a Separate Table...

[inkkognito]

...and in a separate dining room! Yep, that's what we saw last night at Citrico's (BriarRosie, you'll love this one...it's exciting even for the Disney Dining Jinx couple). I put the full details on my blog at http://celebrationfl.blogspot.com but here are the highlights:

-Family comes into Citricos with 8 kids, none over the age of 12.

-Adults insist kids sit in separate dining room! They wanted the kids put in the front dining room while they would be seating in the rear one. Tantrum ensues on the part of the adults until their demands are met.

-Ensuing floor show consists of one kid using two chairs as parallel bars to perform gymnastics, toddler literally rolling on the floor, lots of running around the dining room, and an actual food fight! A couple seated nearer to them called a manager over but I couldn't hear the conversation and the kids were not reined in (manager probably figured comping their meal was easier than arguing with the parents again).

It was a much more exciting floor show than the Hoop Dee Doo Revue! I was a little surprised because the service wasn't up to par either...Citricos normally offers up the best service on WDW property but on this night we had to ask twice for refills (normally they appear without even asking once), servers were absent for long periods, and hubby was served the wrong entree. Still, none of that was enough to really traumatize us...we were in no hurry, and I had plenty of food to share with him while he waited for his to be corrected, so we chalked it up to their having an off-night. Even tho' we didn't complain, they gave DH a free glass of wine to make up for the entree error which I thought was quite nice.

 

[RMulieri]

HOLY @#$%! My dd would get her behind smacked if she carried on like that....what is wrong with people?I don't knowwhich is worse the out of control kids or the full grown adults throwing a tantrum of toddler like epic proportions.

 

[iluvpluto27]

Seriously some people just shouldn't be allowed to have children!! Why take your kids to a restaurant if you don't even want to sit with them?

 

[julm26]

What would possess a manager to actually agree that children could be seated away from their parents (if you can actually call them parents). You were really good sports!! My DD3 would have been in big big trouble if she acted like that. All children have their moments - too bad there is not a time out chair for parents.....

 

[RMulieri]

Seriously some people just shouldn't be allowed to have children!! Why take your kids to a restaurant if you don't even want to sit with them?

So someone else can deal with the awful behavior I have to admit it sounds enticing....kids misbehaving my nerves are shot...let the rest of the world( or the restaurant) raise my kids and deal with it for the night.i can just throw a temper tantrum, make the Cm think I am a tad unstable, and give the hairy eyeball to anyone that feels like correcting me or my kids

 

[DVC Sadie]

Thanks for the report.

Just goes to show that some parents are total idiots.

 

[BriarRosie]

Oh my GAWD! I had to read the blog to get all the gory details!

Are you busy in October?

Seriously, if I had been at the podium during the parental temper tantrum, I would have no problem chiming in with:

"If you're allowed to have your kids unsupervised during dinner, I'm allowed to teach them every single one of the 7 words George Carlin couldn't say on TV. And I'll tell them they should use them at every opportunity."

I'm also picturing a fantasy scenario of me marching up to their table and starting a food fight.

 

[Uncleromulus]

I have trouble coming to grips with Citrico's even allowing this. Tantrum or not, they should have been told "NO".
My guess is that even had the so-called adults been seated with the kids, the behavior wouldn't have been a whole lot different.

 

[dementia412]

I'm sorry, but if this happened while I was there, they would have had to deal with another meltdown... MINE! If nothing was done by the staff, I would have had a very loud and animated conversation with the family who forced me to deal with their children. I feel very sorry for the kids who obviously are just ignored rather than being taught basic manners.
By the way I have now discovered the OP's Blog, and am addicted.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

That's insane.

 

[inkkognito]

And the big irony of the whole thing was that while they were arguing about the tables when they first arrived, the dad slapped around one of the boys because he was falling asleep. He did nothing else wrong that I could see, but dad boxed his ears and dragged him out of the restaurant for a few minutes before dragging him back in. He smacked the kid for doing nothing, yet the food fight, gymnastics and rampant running all went on unpunished with the parents nowhere to be found.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Just read your blog entry, and that is truly one of the craziest things I've ever heard. I know when I went to Hoop Dee Doo with my extended family, the kids sat at a different table, but we were all between six and fifteen years old, had much better manners, and we were right next to our parents, plus it wasn't a signature restaurant.

I would've complained to a manager if I had been you, as that would of been a huge disruption to me.

 

[Zeebs]

That is pretty bad, I don't see the problem so much if the table is right beside the "adult" table, as usually in a big group of kids they will want to sit together and providing the parents are beside the table and are keeping them in line I don't have a problem with it. But that is just crazy. I agree management should never allowed it.

Now do you think they would sit my two in another room??? They are only 2 and 1 how much trouble could they get up to?

Kirsten

 

[bdcp]

I would think the liability alone would be enough for the manager to say no, even if his common sense didn't. I would have been tempted to tell the family that their insurance wouldn't allow it or something along those lines. Geez, parents who throw tantrums and you gotta wonder are they clueless as to why their kids are so out of control? If they don't want to dine with their kids they should hire babysitters and go out alone. Personally I think the manager should have added an additional 25-30% gratuity to the entire bill for "babysitting services".

 

[dementia412]

Might as well spank a kid who gets sick!

 

[disneyin2008]

I would think the liability alone would be enough for the manager to say no, even if his common sense didn't. I would have been tempted to tell the family that their insurance wouldn't allow it or something along those lines. Geez, parents who throw tantrums and you gotta wonder are they clueless as to why their kids are so out of control? If they don't want to dine with their kids they should hire babysitters and go out alone. Personally I think the manager should have added an additional 25-30% gratuity to the entire bill for "babysitting services".

I was thinking the exact same thing....the liability for unsupervised children breaking something and getting hurt. With parents like that you gotta wonder if maybe they were hoping for something awful like that to get a free meal, or more.

Can you imagine what else they likely did during their stay? Wonder if the kids stayed in a room of their own, lol.

I just read the OPs post to my kids and asked them if they'd like to sit at a table by themselves (mind you they're pre-teens).....they said, if you didn't want to eat with us mom, why take us to the restaurant? Give us money and we'll go to Beaches and Cream for a Kitchen Sink for dinner.

 

[LilGMom]

That is insane!!! The CMs never should have allowed the children to be seated away from the parents, mainly because of possible liability issues not to mention keeping the kids in line so others could enjoy their meals. If the parents didn't want to deal with their kids during dinner that is when the kids either go into a Kids Club or you get an in-room babysitter.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

No wayyyyyyyyyyy should that have been allowed to happen. Those kids should have sat with there parents. What the parents didn't want to deal with them and other people had to. That's BS. I have 5 sons and they are very close in age and they went every where with us. I could never even think of doing something of this. They shouldn't go away with kids if they didn't want to be with them. I also blame management for allowing this. They are minors.

 

[jamieT]

No wayyyyyyyyyyy should that have been allowed to happen. Those kids should have sat with there parents. What the parents didn't want to deal with them and other people had to. That's BS. I have 5 sons and they are very close in age and they went every where with us. I could never even think of doing something of this. They shouldn't go away with kids if they didn't want to be with them. I also blame management for allowing this. They are minors.

this was my thought exactly. The manager should have said. Look, this is a huge liability for us. You are the parents and you will sit with your children. If you do not want to you can get an in room sitter or eat elsewhere, but this is not open for discussion. If the guy went on the manager should have called security. Honestly some people should not be parents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am really appalled with the manager. I mean who allows this?? Did he or she think anyone in the restaurant would appriciate this??? Very poor management and I hope tht someone from Disney sees this and checks into it.

 

[Tricia1972]

There are no words