Ohana Check-In Problems -- How would you improve it?

[DisneyFamily123]

See I don't understand. The manager told us that he would "take care" of gratuities. Maybe I am just being as naive as usual, but doesn't that just mean the manager will cut a check (or top up the server's regular pay checks) with the 15% or 18% of the meal? So in the end, the server would still get their 15% or 18% tip?

I did talk with a manager (who manages all the Poly restaurants...), he is the next higher manager over the Ohana manager.... He said the server would still have received a gratuity if comp'd.

I still didn't care about getting the gratuity comp'd which wasn't that much money... I was just annoyed that the manager didn't accept responsibility for the messed up check-in and was blaming us. An apology would have been fine... but I didn't get that....

The higher manager did offer his name as a contact and said I was a valued customer and that they were looking to improve the check-in process.... but I wasn't convinced... seemed like he was just being polite.

That's OK...

I won't go back to Ohana anyway.... when we go back to Disney, there's just so many other places I like better...

I would go back to the breakfast.... we ate there twice in 2009 and didn't have any of the long wait. But that's only to make sure we see Stitch!

 

[penny28380]

I was at Ohana last week with a reservation at 9:30 PM. We were seated within twenty to thirty minutes. It was absolutely the best meal of the trip. We plan to go twice next time.

 

[NMW]

ITA. I had Ohana on my list for our next trip, but this thread reminded me of our last experience there in '05... it was crazy then too. I think I blocked out the memory

So, I'm not going to cry if I don't get a ressie there. Probably won't try. Might try Kona though - that's one we've never done.

This is funny because I think that is why we have eaten dinner there the last 3 times! Our first dinner we had there was great, but the last 3, not so much. I think we blocked it out or something. It's only when we are sitting there being crazy rushed through this meal we just waited quite a bit of time to get seated for that we go..."Oh yeah, this is what it was like last time." Must be like chidbirth, you block out the memory of the pain.

Last trip we decided to drop dinner for good. This trip coming up, we are not even doing breakfast there. We are doing an early breakfast at Kona one morning.

 

[Kimberly Hill]

've also seen people turned away shocked they couldn't get a table when they just opened.

I think part of the problem is that when you call for ADR's and can't get them, the CM on the phone tells you to get there when they open to try to get a table. That, on top of all of the other check-in issues, doesn't help.

 

[Tamar]

See I don't understand. The manager told us that he would "take care" of gratuities. Maybe I am just being as naive as usual, but doesn't that just mean the manager will cut a check (or top up the server's regular pay checks) with the 15% or 18% of the meal? So in the end, the server would still get their 15% or 18% tip?

Well, perhaps that happened, but having worked in the restaurant business for many years, the last thing a manager wants to comp is the thing that takes money out of the till. If they comp a $30 meal, they are out much less than $30. If they comp a $30 tip, and actually pay it, they are out a hard and fast $30.

 

[larryz]

The only improvement is making sure you are on time for you next reservation.As you stated you had 5:10 reservations and you arrived at 5:10 which in turn makes you late under Disneys reservation rules.So If you arrived on time which is twenty minutes before your reservation time then I would say you have a point but there is nothing to improve here but your own time management. Sorry to be so blunt nothing against you just this issue is not Disney's fault and you are trying to make it one.

I'm not buying the "15 minutes early" rule. When you make on-line reservations, your confirmation email says nothing about being there 15 minutes early. If that's the case, why aren't they setting the reservation time 15 minutes prior to the actual expected meal time?

No, it's just bad management. Looks to me like it's time to do another statistical study on how long diners take and restructure the timing chart.

 

[angierae]

For my first trip to WDW, the ONLY thing I insisted we do was the Lilo and Stitch breakfast, because I love Stitch and he's my favorite character and I wanted to make sure I got to meet him while at WDW.

We had 8am reservations. We arrived, and it was a bit busy but we got checked in and got our photo done (it was a little chaotic figuring out where the lines were, but we got in.)

I know we didn't spend nearly 2 hours there because we ate lunch at Tony's in MK around 1 (walkup) and I was hungry by then. The characters all came out in pretty good time and we ate and played around with the characters. We might have been there 90 minutes.

But I'm pretty sure we were seated within 15 minutes of our 8am reservations, which was a LOT better than our HORRIBLE experience at Coral Reef, which I will NEVER eat in again.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I'm not buying the "15 minutes early" rule. When you make on-line reservations, your confirmation email says nothing about being there 15 minutes early. If that's the case, why aren't they setting the reservation time 15 minutes prior to the actual expected meal time?

No, it's just bad management. Looks to me like it's time to do another statistical study on how long diners take and restructure the timing chart.

There's no such thing as making an online reservation. An ADR is not a reservation.

 

[larryz]

There's no such thing as making an online reservation. An ADR is not a reservation.

Really?

I went to the Disney website and clicked on the tab that said "Make Dining Reservations."

The page that returned was titled "Where to Eat: Dining & Reservations."

The button I clicked on the page listing the restaurant and time I wanted was marked "Reserve."

The email I got back was titled "Walt Disney World Dining Reservation Confirmed."

The first sentence reads, "Hello, Larry! You've just created a dining reservation for this email address on disneyworld.com."

So, unless they're speaking a different language than English, I guess I was making online reservations.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Really?

I went to the Disney website and clicked on the tab that said "Make Dining Reservations."

The page that returned was titled "Where to Eat: Dining & Reservations."

The button I clicked on the page listing the restaurant and time I wanted was marked "Reserve."

The email I got back was titled "Walt Disney World Dining Reservation Confirmed."

The first sentence reads, "Hello, Larry! You've just created a dining reservation for this email address on disneyworld.com."

So, unless they're speaking a different language than English, I guess I was making online reservations.

It's not a reservation.

 

[verticalchaos]

I was always under the impression that ADR stood for Advanced Dining Reservation. Huh.

 

[larryz]

It's not a reservation.

Ok, I'll bite -- what do YOU think it is? A golden retriever? A Christmas pickle? A box of chocolates?


Here's what the dictionary thinks it is...
res·er·va·tion noun \ˌre-zər-ˈvā-shən\
Definition of RESERVATION
1: an act of reserving something: as
a (1) : the act or fact of a grantor's reserving some newly created thing out of the thing granted
(2) : the right or interest so reserved
b : the setting of limiting conditions or withholding from complete exposition <answered without reservation>
c : an arrangement to have something (as a hotel room) held for one's use; also : a promise, guarantee, or record of such engagement
(from the Merriam-Webster online English dictionary)

Even the list of abbreviations for this site (http://www.wdwinfo.com/abbreviations.htm) calls it a "reservation."

I went to the Disney website, and requested, in response to their offer of accomodation, a seat in a restaurant at a specific time on a specific date.

They responded with an acceptance notice specifically advising me that that time was reserved for my party.

I'm no lawyer, but that sounds like a contract to me, and there would be repercussions were they to tell me, as you have tried, that what I have in writing, using the term "reservation" in multiple statements, is not really a "reservation," but is only some sort of fuzzy request to accomodate me in their restaurant when they feel like it or get around to it.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Here you go:

"Advanced Dining Reservations" is the term that Walt Disney World now uses for table service restaurant reservations. It is not a reservation, having a "dining reservation" time at a WDW restaurant does not guarantee that an empty table will waiting for you when you arrive. It means that you will be given the first available table of the type you wish after your arrival. However, if several other people who have a reservations arrive before you (even if they have a later reservation time), you'll have to wait in line. You should arrive about 5-15 minutes before your ADR time.

This is how far

 

[LORI522]

We had an ADR for 6:20pm. We got there 40 minutes early (with a three year and a 10 month old). I waited in line for 20 minutes before it was my turn to check-in...so technically I followed the "20 minute Dis Board rule". They were out of pagers and told me to check back in 20 minutes, so I got right back in line and waited another 15 minutes. (Maybe they were out of pagers because so many people check-in so early?) There was no seating available, so I sat on the floor and fed my baby. We were finally seated 40 minutes late. So, we waited 1 hour and 20 minutes before getting a table. By this time, the kids were crazy and my hubby was very irritated.

We REALLY enjoyed our meal and the service, but I don't know if was worth the hassle.

btw....After that experience, I showed up 30-40 minutes early for my Le Cellier and Garden Grill ADR's. In both instances, I was politely asked to check-in 5 minutes before my ADR time for my own convenience.

 

[Pumbaa_]

scrooge here, time to shut it down, if you are going to start arguing about what adr stands for time to call it a day