My mom's 80th birthday dinner :(

[oklamomof4boys]

Not Disney Fault:
. . . few eateries have a table for 17
. . . CM's do not have to sign or otherwise celebrate
. . . you did not buy anything special, so nothing should be expected
. . . there are too many options for all ressie people to know them

Disney Fault:
. . . rude servers
. . . not correctly dividing checks among tables


****************************************************.

I think if they can't guarantee a table for 17 at any restaurant, I should have been told that. If I had known that we weren't guaranteed a table at Coral Reef together I would have chosen a different restaurant. The ONLY reason I chose it was because the CMs ( and I called 3 times and was told the same thing by all 3) said that was the only place they would guarantee we would be sat at the same table- and I specifically told them that was the only reason I was booking at Coral Reef.

 

[Carrie in AZ]

We celebrated my Mom's 80th birthday last year (not at DW) so it is all fresh in my mind. I cannot tell you how upset I would have been if this is what had transpired. I feel awful for you!!! Disney's ads and promos are all about "Making Memories" and "Let The Celebration Begin". You called 3 times to ensure the seating would be conducive for your group of 17 -- you would think the Dining CMs would be able to assist you. I mean, come on, you are not the first large family celebrating a milestone birthday at DW. I realize a table for 17 is not easy to come by, but there have to be options. And, if there are truly none, then that is what they need to tell you. I'm guessing that the Dining Res CMs have probably not even been in all the restaurants to fully understand their layouts, etc. and that is not their fault either. It sounds like there needs to be more extensive training. I would definitely provide feedback on your experience in the hopes that it can lead to further training so that future guests don't also experience a huge disappointment.

Again, I am very sorry.

 

[Sadie22]

Lots of people do not want to have Happy Birthday sung to them. I might even generalize that to say many adults do not want that.

One of my favorite memories from my recent trip is four French waiters at Le Chefs singing to me in French. They asked my permission to sing. I think you needed to have gotten up and spoken with the server to request this, not hope that it would be done.

I believe the dining reservations are taken by independent contractors working for a company that has a contract with Disney, rather than onsite CMs, so the reservations people may not have eaten in every single restaurant as often as some DISers. They may not know the table configurations of every single restaurant.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I would definitely email the complaint rather than call. I have emailed a complaint twice, and both times i have recieved a phone call the next day! Can you believe it? I couldnt! Theyre very quick to respond! The second time i complained, the lady was so apologetic about my dining experience that she sent me a giftcard (which i honestly wasnt expecting, and i told her i wasnt after any freebies, i just wanted them to know about my experience). I would tell them exactly what you indicated in this thread. Good luck!

 

[Rox.jea]

Wow, that does not sound like Disney @ all. I'd e-mail exactly this post to them. Glad I'm not going not CR for dinner.

 

[DisneySarah80]

I have to say, I've been very dissapointed in the CMs knowledge when it comes to booking restaurants on the phone. I know 10x more than they do, and its because of boards like this. Disney really needs to put out a handbook or something for their workers - afterall they are the ones guiding customers and giving the important information. Not everyone knows about these boards, and they don't have the resources from them, and are relying totally on the CMs who, for the most part, know nothing!

 

[fairestoneofall]

i've never had a CM (on the phone) ask me about special needs. however, when you book online, it is a question. and they do specifically talk about guests in wheelchairs online.

as far as the cupcake, that's hit and miss. we've been on birthday trips before and some restaurants brought a treat and some did not. we didn't expect anything.

our next trip is to celebrate DD's birthday. and the only day that a cake is necessary is her actual birthday. and i will ensure she gets a cake because i will buy one.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

I still cannot get over Coral Reef being th eonly place that would "guarantee" your seating for 17...I mean the only place that owuld even be possible would be on the floor next to the rank and I highly doubt they would move those tables together for a large party...in fact I dont' think I have ever seen a party larger than 4 down there!

We have had routinely bad services at Coral Reef...rude hostesses, broken pagers, not calling names to seat, rude servers, extremely slow seating and service...yet we keep going back...

And I don't think it would have been out of the way for your server at the very least to sing Happy Birthday to help celebrate an 80th birthday! I mean come on...Disney is all about memories these days...why not help make some. Tyler has been twice (for a total of 4 weeks) over his birthday and Skye has been once (for 8 days) for hers and I celebrated only the day of mine on one of the trips with Tyler's Birthday in it and all of us had Birthday Wishes and goodies of various things showered on us everywhere we went. And they were at some busy times too (Ty and I were Thanksgiving time, Tyler at Christmas time, and Skye was Spring Break) so if it can happen then, what's the problem???

 

[Agri]

I think if they can't guarantee a table for 17 at any restaurant, I should have been told that. If I had known that we weren't guaranteed a table at Coral Reef together I would have chosen a different restaurant. The ONLY reason I chose it was because the CMs ( and I called 3 times and was told the same thing by all 3) said that was the only place they would guarantee we would be sat at the same table- and I specifically told them that was the only reason I was booking at Coral Reef.

I totally agree with you. This is the one thing that I think is the most ridiculous part of your story - the CM's, not you being ridiculous. LOL

I think its so strange that all 3 said this when all online reservations say that your party may be split up. Having been there, I think you can see that Coral Reef of all the restaurants is the absolute strangest to say they can accommodate a party of 17 for. Le Cellier taking second place in the crazy party size accommodations list.

If someone on the phone says things, they should be held accountable for them. I don't expect the people I talk to on the phone to have experienced everything, but I do expect them to be telling me the truth. Especially if I had called 3 different times and been told the same thing by all 3 different people.

So the "too many options" excuse doesn't fly with me. Those people are being paid to answer people's questions correctly and to be knowledgeable enough about what they are doing so that situations like this don't happen.

Once you're at a restaurant, you're at the mercy of the servers, but the fact that someone made a reservation, was told that all 17 could be sat together at Coral Reef when they in fact could not is ALL on Disney Reservations.

I really doubt the average person calling in is going to think "Hm, I bet they might be wrong because there's too many options for them to be familiar with them all." It's kind of like saying its okay if ticketmaster gives you the wrong seats since the operator couldn't possibly be familiar with all the venues.