Restaurants half empty?

[poohbear227]

My parents are in WDW and told me that all the restaurants that they scrambled to get ADR's for are half empty! Popular restaurants, like Boma, Teppan Edo, Kona. They ate at popular times too. As they were leaving, they noticed alot of people being let in as walk-ins & the restaurants were starting to fill up.

Do you think it's because people just don't cancel their ADR's in time when they choose to go to other restaurants instead or do you think that Disney holds a certain amount of tables for walk-ins?

 

[llb]

I think kids are still in school, won't find that during vaca breaks

 

[poohbear227]

I think kids are still in school, won't find that during vaca breaks

The thing I'm confused about though, is they made last minute ADR's a few weeks ago and when they made them, there were barely any times available. They got these ADR's by checking the system nonstop & getting lucky. So, the reservation system looked like these restaurants were all booked, but when they got there it was not the case at all.

 

[smiths02]

Also, a restaurant can be booked for the amount of staff working on a given shift and not full.

Since kids are still in school and this is not an as busy time, it is possible that the restaurants look at ADRs a month out or so and then book staff accordingly, so when your parents tried to make last minute ADRs, the restaurants were already "booked" for the amount of staff they had scheduled to work.

 

[poohbear227]

Also, a restaurant can be booked for the amount of staff working on a given shift and not full.

Since kids are still in school and this is not an as busy time, it is possible that the restaurants look at ADRs a month out or so and then book staff accordingly, so when your parents tried to make last minute ADRs, the restaurants were already "booked" for the amount of staff they had scheduled to work.

Aah, I see. That makes sense-thank you!

 

[ssawka]

Also, just because someone makes a reservation, that dose not necessarily mean that they will show up. Some people make multiple reservations so that they have more flexibility on vacation.

 

[TisBit]

Also, a restaurant can be booked for the amount of staff working on a given shift and not full.

Since kids are still in school and this is not an as busy time, it is possible that the restaurants look at ADRs a month out or so and then book staff accordingly, so when your parents tried to make last minute ADRs, the restaurants were already "booked" for the amount of staff they had scheduled to work.

This is the main factor most people don't understand. While there might be empty tables, they may not have the servers to handle those tables. Also, there is a fair share of people making reservations that they don't use or cancel. Gas prices could have caused a lot of people not to make trips during this time too.

 

[yooperfan]

This is the main factor most people don't understand. While there might be empty tables, they may not have the servers to handle those tables. Also, there is a fair share of people making reservations that they don't use or cancel. Gas prices could have caused a lot of people not to make trips during this time too.

I understand the concept, however I don't appreciate paying for ts dining pkg and not being able to get in a place left half empty. Why don't they adjust staff as reservations fill? With so many out of work, I'm sure someone would like the hours. Many of these place are "booked" months in advance.

 

[Disfan20]

I don't know how it happens, but last year we went at the end of June, not a slow time by any means and went to Coral Reef for lunch. This Adr was made months in advance and was very hard to get. We had to settle for 11:30. There were only 4 tables with people at them when we sat down and maybe 6 when we left, which was after 12:30, the time I originally wanted to book and could't get. It was great for us as the service was excellent and we hat the place pretty much to ourselves, but I was wondering the same thing as the OP.

 

[JimmyV]

I understand the concept, however I don't appreciate paying for ts dining pkg and not being able to get in a place left half empty. Why don't they adjust staff as reservations fill? With so many out of work, I'm sure someone would like the hours. Many of these place are "booked" months in advance.

Unfortunately, you have it backwards. They don't adjust the staff to jibe with the reservations. They adjust the reservations to jibe with the staff. Disney has cut back on employees very hard. And in slower times, Disney essentially operates on a skeleton crew. Servers can only handle so many tables at a time, and the kitchen staff can only prepare so many meals at a time. So they adjust the reservation limit to make sure that the staff is not overwhelmed. This is one of the many downsides of the Dining Plan. Restaurants don't really make any money for Disney when so many people are on the plans, so Disney has no real incentive to boost the number of diners. If each additional table served added $100 to the restaurant's bottom line, then it would make sense to hire another server and pay the worker. But if each additional table only adds $20 to the restaurant's coffers, then it doesn't make sense to hire another worker, as that would operate as a loss.

My guess is that the 2 credit signatures and the restaurants not on the plan will be fully staffed and fill as many tables as they can as those restaurants are cash friendly to Disney. But 1 credit restaurants would be the first ones cut back as they barely scrape by.

 

[mcd2745]

I firmly believe the #1 reason is people just not showing up for their ADRs. This can be for a variety of reasons. Whether it's people who made multiple ADRs at different restaurants for the same time (probably the top culprit), or people who just decided at the last minute not to go to the restaurant because someone got sick, or they changed their itinerary for the day, etc., or maybe just forgot.

 

[ssawka]

Unfortunately, you have it backwards. They don't adjust the staff to jibe with the reservations. They adjust the reservations to jibe with the staff. Disney has cut back on employees very hard. And in slower times, Disney essentially operates on a skeleton crew. Servers can only handle so many tables at a time, and the kitchen staff can only prepare so many meals at a time. So they adjust the reservation limit to make sure that the staff is not overwhelmed. This is one of the many downsides of the Dining Plan. Restaurants don't really make any money for Disney when so many people are on the plans, so Disney has no real incentive to boost the number of diners. If each additional table served added $100 to the restaurant's bottom line, then it would make sense to hire another server and pay the worker. But if each additional table only adds $20 to the restaurant's coffers, then it doesn't make sense to hire another worker, as that would operate as a loss.

My guess is that the 2 credit signatures and the restaurants not on the plan will be fully staffed and fill as many tables as they can as those restaurants are cash friendly to Disney. But 1 credit restaurants would be the first ones cut back as they barely scrape by.

I agree with you, but I think it is more the kitchen staff that Disney is concerned with. I don't know about Disney, but servers in most restaurants only make about $2 an hour as salary. The rest of their income comes solely from tips.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Odd. Every place we went to last week was quite full.

 

[Pugmalion1]

I don't know. I think of the restaurants as being half full.

 

[MickeyNicki]

We have seen alot of this on past trips as well...I bet they have reservations and just forget to call and cancel them.

This is pretty good news for me though as we are going up next week for 7 days and have zero reservations (not my choice, it was all DH!)

 

[psac]

I think it's the staffing as well. Have seen this in many WDW restaurants, including Le Cellier.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

this is often the case.. even at LeCellier the whole time we were there there were quite a few empty tables. On our NYE wedding trip we ate at San Angel and there was a huge line at the podium.. all people without adrs, and everyone of the them were turned away in a second.. except for us, we had an adr. Literally all the surrounding tables stayed empty the whole time we were there.. nice for us though, and they put us at a table by the water.. how romantic!

 

[ssawka]

I don't know. I think of the restaurants as being half full.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

It's funny that this topic was brought up because this past December when my family and I were visiting the Yacht Club we were walking past Captain's Grille and overheard this person asking why he needed to wait for their ADR because the restaurant was half empty.

 

[TheRealDrDisney]

That's why people should be charged a nominal fee (~10.00) up front to make a reservation. It can either be credited to the cost of the meal, refunded if on a dining plan or cancellation is made by 24 hours out, or forfeited for no-shows. All the no-show money could be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Win-Win.

At least then people would be more considerate about booking multiple dining seatings to give themselves options - and not cancelling at least 24 hours out.