Ridiculous wait at Mama Melrose...

[mom2rtk]

How exactly am I having a tantrum????

I DID NOTHING at MM. I did NOT go to Guest Relations!

Please!!!

I think people are putting the comments in all caps with your avatar and calling it a tantrum.

 

[brinkley07]

Food is not great, mediocre at best. Both Italians in EPCOT are way superior.

I am from Boston and go to the North End often. Also, I have eaten at all the Italian places in Disney including the 2 in Epcot so I am not a stranger to good italian food. Like I said in my post the food we had was very good, and just because you had an unfortunate experience steves100 doesn't mean you should belittle others or I should erroneously report my experience. I am open to all restaurants good or bad because no place is perfect. This time for you wasn't good, but another time may be great. It's a shame you have spent so much time dwelling on this one experience instead of all of the other wonderful experiences you must have had during your vacation.

 

[Hopefully]

What are you talking about only 1 hour before????
ADR was for 5:10 Fantasmic was 7:30!

Plenty of time

You didn't answer the question. Did you "reserve" the Fantasmic Dinner Package or did you book your dinner at the time you thought was enough time to eat and also attend the early showing of Fantasmic?

 

[Catvondita]

How exactly am I having a tantrum????

I DID NOTHING at MM. I did NOT go to Guest Relations!

Please!!!

The way you are typing. A few people have commented that they can't take you seriously. It's the excessive use of caps and exclamation points.

 

[Alesia]

How exactly am I having a tantrum????

I DID NOTHING at MM. I did NOT go to Guest Relations!

Please!!!

When you type in all caps it means that you are shouting. You have done a tremendous amount of shouting in this thread. Whether you intend it or not, it's coming off as a tantrum.

 

[Jetta8300]

What people have trouble understanding about Disney is they don't and can't operate like other restaurants simply do to demand. In the restaurants in our hotels we book to give you a table at a specific time. That's because we aren't inundated like Disney and as well people don't linger at tables like they do at Disney restaurants. So we can pretty reliably predict the average time per table and know reliably when a table will open up. We book to that average meal length.

That reliability isn't there at Disney. People linger all the time at different restaurants to wait for fireworks shows, or Fantasmic, or Water Pageant, or CP, or lots of other reasons. So Disney can't reliably predict table occupancy times at many of their restaurants. So they don't reserve by time they reserve by table availability. Your reservation is for the first available table for your party size after a certain time. Not for a table at your time.

So the first available table for your party is dependent on when people occupying a table of your size vacate that table. And, if a party of six leaves before a party of four the next party of six will get that table even if they arrived after you.

So, outside WDW we'll be able to book a table for your time but at WDW the reservation will be for the first available table that suits your party size after the ADR time.

There are a lot of chain restaurants that are just as busy, if not busier, than mama melrose, or other disney restaurants for that matter. And they do "call ahead seating" which is the same thing as disney "reservations" apparently. And they somehow successfully seat people within 15 minutes of their reservation time EVERY time. Carrabba's around here is one of the busiest places around, I've never seen less than a 2 hour walk up wait. There are a few hundred people seated in the one by us. I've eaten there hundreds of times and I've never waited longer than 15 minutes. So it can be done. Just because it's Disney doesn't mean they are any busier than any other place at home, and people sit and linger places around home for forever too. So I'm just not really understanding the "it's different because it's Disney" replies.

Whether it's Outback, Maccaroni Grill, Carrabba's, or any of the other super busy restaurants that do call ahead seating, I've never waited an hour. Ever. Now it didn't make me as angry as the OP, we got over it pretty quickly once we were seated, but there were multiple places we experienced long waits during slow season. Mama Melrose, Ohana, Cali Grill, and Chefs de France we waited 45+ minutes for, and Mama Melrose and Ohana were over an hour.

 

[supersnoop]

And they do "call ahead seating" which is the same thing as disney "reservations" apparently. And they somehow successfully seat people within 15 minutes of their reservation time EVERY time.

I've never received a "reservation time" when I use the "call ahead seating" option. Plus, very few people actually call head, whereas at Disney, everyone has "called ahead." I don't think that's a valid comparison.

 

[maxiesmom]

You continue to yell in your posts. That would seem to many to be having a tantrum.

 

[maxiesmom]

I've never received a "reservation time" when I use the "call ahead seating" option. Plus, very few people actually call head, whereas at Disney, everyone has "called ahead." I don't think that's a valid comparison.

Nor do people camp out at Carrabbas waiting for fireworks or light shows. And while many people at Carrabbas may have been walking all day long I doubt as many as at a Disney park, which would mean fewer people taking long brakes at Carrabbas instead of heading back to their hotel room.

 

[Jetta8300]

I've never received a "reservation time" when I use the "call ahead seating" option. Plus, very few people actually call head, whereas at Disney, everyone has "called ahead." I don't think that's a valid comparison.

not true. When you do call ahead anywhere, they ask what time. And then you get seated within 15 minutes of that time. At least all of the restaurants I'm referring to. You give Carabbas, Outback, Macarroni Grill a designated time. All of them are like that that I am familiar with. And most people do call ahead. Some nights they don't take any walk ups.

 

[Jetta8300]

Nor do people camp out at Carrabbas waiting for fireworks or light shows. And while many people at Carrabbas may have been walking all day long I doubt as many as at a Disney park, which would mean fewer people taking long brakes at Carrabbas instead of heading back to their hotel room.

Not everyone is camping out waiting for fireworks. Nobody is waiting at mama melrose at 6:15 in February or May when I went. Same with Ohana. Fireworks were over the first time. It was like 9:30 and We had a terribly long wait. The second time, there were no fireworks going on that night, we specifically scheduled it that way. And still waited over an hour. And just as many people are having birthday get togethers, and "hanging out" back at restaurants back home as there are in Disney. There are just as many people in Disney who want to NOT sit inside and eat for forever, they want to ride rides. That arguement is not valid. Either way, Disney knows how long it takes to turnover these tables on average so it's not an excuse. We had a 5:30 reservation at Cali Grill. Those people are also not hanging out for late fireworks.

 

[Jetta8300]

.

 

[Nancyg56]

There are a lot of chain restaurants that are just as busy, if not busier, than mama melrose, or other disney restaurants for that matter. And they do "call ahead seating" which is the same thing as disney "reservations" apparently. And they somehow successfully seat people within 15 minutes of their reservation time EVERY time. Carrabba's around here is one of the busiest places around, I've never seen less than a 2 hour walk up wait. There are a few hundred people seated in the one by us. I've eaten there hundreds of times and I've never waited longer than 15 minutes. So it can be done. Just because it's Disney doesn't mean they are any busier than any other place at home, and people sit and linger places around home for forever too. So I'm just not really understanding the "it's different because it's Disney" replies.

Whether it's Outback, Maccaroni Grill, Carrabba's, or any of the other super busy restaurants that do call ahead seating, I've never waited an hour. Ever. Now it didn't make me as angry as the OP, we got over it pretty quickly once we were seated, but there were multiple places we experienced long waits during slow season. Mama Melrose, Ohana, Cali Grill, and Chefs de France we waited 45+ minutes for, and Mama Melrose and Ohana were over an hour.

You probably have not been waiting on our "restaurant Row". Friday adn saturday nights you will wait at Olive arden for no less than an hour, Red RObin at least that long, Texas Roadhouse....well folks have been know to still be waiting after my DD waited at Outback, ate and then left...and she waited 45 minutes.

 

[Jetta8300]

You probably have not been waiting on our "restaurant Row". Friday adn saturday nights you will wait at Olive arden for no less than an hour, Red RObin at least that long, Texas Roadhouse....well folks have been know to still be waiting after my DD waited at Outback, ate and then left...and she waited 45 minutes.

Right, but Olive Garden, and Red Robin (always 2 hour+ waits) don't do call ahead seating. The places I'm referring to do. It's similar to disneys reservations where you reserve a place in line for a certain time and then they seat within 15 minutes of that time. Texas Roadhouse does do this, and they don't usually go over the 15 minutes. I have waited a half hour before at some of these places with call ahead, but not an hour. Not even close. And ask any server, there are lingerers everywhere.

It doesn't seriously upset me or anything... But it's Annoying now that they make us plan rides and fast pass things, we have appointments for everything and now a credit card guarantee. But it's ok for them to overbook? I just think it's not ok for waits over 30 min. Certain restaurants seem to be a regular issue. They know how long it takes to turnover tables on firework nights, or whatever else is going on. Nothing is a surprise to them. Nothing is new. Same fireworks crowds and same capacity as always.

 

[Nancyg56]

Right, but Olive Garden, and Red Robin (always 2 hour+ waits) don't do call ahead seating. The places I'm referring to do. It's similar to disneys reservations where you reserve a place in line for a certain time and then they seat within 15 minutes of that time. Texas Roadhouse does do this, and they don't usually go over the 15 minutes. I have waited a half hour before at some of these places with call ahead, but not an hour. Not even close. And ask any server, there are lingerers everywhere.

It doesn't seriously upset me or anything... But it's Annoying now that they make us plan rides and fast pass things, we have appointments for everything and now a credit card guarantee. But it's ok for them to overbook? I just think it's not ok for waits over 30 min. Certain restaurants seem to be a regular issue. They know how long it takes to turnover tables on firework nights, or whatever else is going on. Nothing is a surprise to them. Nothing is new. Same fireworks crowds and same capacity as always.

The ones I am discussing do take call aheads, and een with them,it is still crazy on weekends. I agree tht it can be annoying, and while I am not attempting to say that hour long waits are fun or acceptable, I am saying that there may be reasons that lend to these waits. I am also saying that in the event you are stuck in a line at DIsney and you are annoyed, it makes more sensse to discuss that situatin there, agree to wahtever makes you happy. It makes no sense to come here posing in CAPS, respond ing in CAPS and !!!!! when folks try to explain why this season may have added to being a trial fo MM, and behaving as those who are not in agreement are "Disney apologists".

I am in no way suggesting that you did that, and at this stage in my lie I will not wait in those lines, not even at Disney. But I avoid the restaurants that ae notorious for running late unles I plan on haveing cocktails while waiting. I guess I am lucky, een when I have waited there has never been a wait that long in DIsney.

 

[Baklava]

What fantasmic problem? I' m confused. A lot of posters think the OP had a fantasmic package with MM. Did she every specify that? It sounded to me like she had planned on getting to the earlier showing and made their reservation at a too late time to actually make it?! I have made fantasmic MM reservations before and always set them up for at least 2 hours before the showing. Something can always come up, esp. with the thousands of people at WDW, and at the popular fantasmic shows. I can't understand making a ADR for an hour before the showing? So, IF that is the case then it is on her for making the ADR too close to show time. It was never made clear whether she had a package with MM or she only wanted to get to the early show? Just my thoughts!

First post: "Had ADR last week for Mama Melrose for 5:10 Fanatsmic."(sic) I took "5:10 Fanatasmic," to mean "a Fantasmic package at 5:10," because it didn't make sense to me any other way. If Fantasmic was at 7:30 the OP did have 2+ hours between the ADR and the show and yes, it should have been enough time. Had the OP said to the manager, "I'd like a voucher for the late Fantasmic since I have now missed the first one," or "We would like a second FP because one makes up for our wasted time but a second also gives us back Fantasmic," they might well have gotten that. The OP chose not to make any attempt to get the situation corrected. Yes, Disney screwed up. They'd probably have made it right if the OP had wanted that. The OP seems more invested in shouting at us than he was in getting a solution.

 

[Mkrop]

I was starting to think it was just me. Or that things had gotten better since our last visit. Because we never ate there without a really long wait.

This is what I was thinking, in the 3 times we have eaten at MM over many trips, we always had a ridiculous wait and horribly slow service. We finally got smart and stopped booking there. And most of these were during the beg of Dec so the lights were always an issue then. One time we were furious because the line to check in was super long, then we finally checked in and waited longer. Finally after my DH went up to the podium again to ask WTH was going on, the manager or someone important looking said that there was a VIP who booked a last minute ADR with a huge party and they took priority. Not what we wanted to hear. We finally got seated and lo and behold there was Geena Davis with a huge party. She had done the CP the night before so I guess that was her day to tour DHS and eat at MM. But the wait and the service was horrendous VIP or not. We were not happy campers.

There are a lot of chain restaurants that are just as busy, if not busier, than mama melrose, or other disney restaurants for that matter. And they do "call ahead seating" which is the same thing as disney "reservations" apparently. And they somehow successfully seat people within 15 minutes of their reservation time EVERY time. Carrabba's around here is one of the busiest places around, I've never seen less than a 2 hour walk up wait. There are a few hundred people seated in the one by us. I've eaten there hundreds of times and I've never waited longer than 15 minutes. So it can be done. Just because it's Disney doesn't mean they are any busier than any other place at home, and people sit and linger places around home for forever too. So I'm just not really understanding the "it's different because it's Disney" replies.

Whether it's Outback, Maccaroni Grill, Carrabba's, or any of the other super busy restaurants that do call ahead seating, I've never waited an hour. Ever. Now it didn't make me as angry as the OP, we got over it pretty quickly once we were seated, but there were multiple places we experienced long waits during slow season. Mama Melrose, Ohana, Cali Grill, and Chefs de France we waited 45+ minutes for, and Mama Melrose and Ohana were over an hour.

Nor do people camp out at Carrabbas waiting for fireworks or light shows. And while many people at Carrabbas may have been walking all day long I doubt as many as at a Disney park, which would mean fewer people taking long brakes at Carrabbas instead of heading back to their hotel room.

Many of these types of restaurants at home are near movie theaters so the idea of lingering is still there. People linger bc their movie doesnt start right away so they camp at the restaurant for awhile longer, so I think this is a good comparison.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We also had an incredibly long wait at MM a few years ago and the service was less than stellar. We have not been back. We were just in WDW from Dec. 25 - Dec. 30 and never waited more than 5 minutes past any of our ADR times. Sounds like MM has a problem. I think the only thing you can do at this point, is not go back. Or perhaps e-mail guest relations? I don't think this is an isolated incident.

OP, I would have been upset as well. We schedule our ADR's not only around our other plans (FP+, etc.), but around our DS8's normal eating times. If we had waited more than 30 minutes, we would have asked to be taken off the list and would have probably gone to a CS so DS8 could eat. When looking forward to eating in a certain restaurant, having to walk away and make quick, alternative plans is not fun. This happened to us, once, at Flying Fish, but they were very upfront with us that they were backed up and couldn't seat us until about 45 minutes past our ADR time. They were very kind about releasing our ADR (no no-show fee) and a CM at Disney Dining made a quick reservation for us at a TS that had an immediate table ready in EP.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

How exactly am I having a tantrum????

I DID NOTHING at MM. I did NOT go to Guest Relations!

Please!!!

Look back at your posts. You are yelling the same things over and over, and accusing everyone who disagrees with you of being Disney apologists. It comes off as childish and unreasonable.

 

[nkereina]

There are a lot of chain restaurants that are just as busy, if not busier, than mama melrose, or other disney restaurants for that matter. And they do "call ahead seating" which is the same thing as disney "reservations" apparently. And they somehow successfully seat people within 15 minutes of their reservation time EVERY time. Carrabba's around here is one of the busiest places around, I've never seen less than a 2 hour walk up wait. There are a few hundred people seated in the one by us. I've eaten there hundreds of times and I've never waited longer than 15 minutes. So it can be done. Just because it's Disney doesn't mean they are any busier than any other place at home, and people sit and linger places around home for forever too. So I'm just not really understanding the "it's different because it's Disney" replies.

Whether it's Outback, Maccaroni Grill, Carrabba's, or any of the other super busy restaurants that do call ahead seating, I've never waited an hour. Ever. Now it didn't make me as angry as the OP, we got over it pretty quickly once we were seated, but there were multiple places we experienced long waits during slow season. Mama Melrose, Ohana, Cali Grill, and Chefs de France we waited 45+ minutes for, and Mama Melrose and Ohana were over an hour.

No. Call ahead seating is when you call the restaurant when you are leaving your house. IF the restaurant is on a wait list, they will add you to the wait list when you call. When you arrive, the restaurant will give you a pager and quote you the rest of your wait time. If the restaurant has a 60 minute wait, you call at 6pm and get there at 6:15, you still have to wait 45 minutes. All it does is allow you to add your name to the wait list while you're en route instead of when you arrive. So, it's not factual that every restaurant seats you within 15 minutes of arriving if you do call ahead seating. If that's been your experience, the restaurant either did not have a wait list or you happened to only have 15 minutes left of the wait when you arrived.

Disney ADR's are also not a reservation time, as mentioned. After you check-in, you are seated at the next available table for your party size. Whether that's immediately or in 30 minutes, Disney makes no warranties. Depends on when the next table for your party size becomes available. I do find 60 minutes to be excessive, but like others, would chalk it up to one of the drawbacks of going to a major tourist destination during the single busiest time of year.