Saving Tables....A Complaint

[Jenniww]

I dont know who said it but NO I wouldn't have rathered be sitting at a table with my cranky almost 2 yr old.. i would have liked to be able to just go sit down and eat with our food instead of walking around for 10 min looking at other ppl just sitting there doing nothing but waiting for their food... rude just rude.. I could have had my 6 & 4 yr olds sit at a table while me daddy and baby went to order (Okay I would have been crazy to do this!) but I could have.. OR I guess I could have just put down the diaper bag on the table along with other personal items and just had everyone go up.. but again RUDE... I know EVERYONE is there on vacation not just me.. I'm glad its not like this at other amusement parks I go to almost weekly... Rude.. It's just rude.. We had a great time anyway... Hope ya'll enjoyed walking us walk around with no play to sit I'm sure most of you laughed at us if you were there.. or snickered (stupid people shoud have found a seat before they ordered) but that's okay! What goes around comes around! I hope I can teach my children better!

Oh and if Daddy was holding the cranky child at the table ya'll would have been complaining about the kid screaming his lungs off at Tusker House on 5-31... that would have been rude right? Its no win I guess...

WOW is all I can say! Don't you think that is going a little over board?
If you fail to plan then you plan to fail! I plan ahead and get a table that doesn't make me rude. I don' think anyone was laughing.
AS far as the I hope I can teach my children better part, thats you choice. But honestly this is about a table come on. Choose your battles.......

 

[allisonswonderland]

I save Tables too one of us will stand in line the other gets a table, and what am I thinking when I see people trying to manage food and look for a table, BOY they should have planned better, yes it may be mean and harsh but it is true. When I go to Disney I try to get in as much as possible but at meals we try to relax so that is the reason that would plan esp at Harry Ramsden Fish and Chips in fact in May I was there and while scouting for tables a young mom and daughter asked how many were joining me and when I said 1 other she asked if we would like to join her family t, she had no food either, but someone had let her sit with them. I would not mind sharing a large table but please don't judge and ba angry at me because I think ahead - as there have been times that there were no tables at all esp there and we had to go find another place to eat!

 

[Mkrop]

How, exactly, is a solo traveler supposed to save a table, then go get food?

Thirty minutes to eat a quick-service meal is reasonable. Thirty minutes to hold a table while one's food is being obtained, then another thirty minutes to eat that food, is not. And conversations not held any other time during the day, or even WHILE the food is being consumed, don't need to be held at a table in a busy venue after one is finished eating.

Oh please if I want to have a conversation with my family that is a critical part of the family vacation and I shouldnt feel rushed bc of you. I would not choose a place take over an hour to eat I go somewhere else.

I think you think you are the only person in the world who needs to deal with this and therefore we should all bow to your way of thinking. I have been that solo person not in WDW but other places like the mall and I ceratainly do not begrudge or get the attitude that you have that I need to eat my food right now so you all should get up off your butts and give me your table! yes I am frustrated but that is called life and it teaches me patience!!!!!

 

[jmkrat]

It is just funny at how the people who will not get a table before getting their food get so upset at those who do. If you get a table before hand the problem is solved. You will have somewhere to eat. Most people will share a table if you ask. We have asked people if we could join them and have never been turned away. If we go somewhere and there are no tables, we simply will get a snack somewhere and come back later. I don't regard it as saving a table, it just seems wrong. I am getting a table so I can eat. You should never be that starved in the parks, there are to many places you can get snacks so someone ( especially with kids ) should be able to get something to tide them over. My kids are teens now and we still never go hungry. You can even get healthy options of snacks. Just my feeling on the subject. I don't like feeling like I am evil, because I choose to do something that is smart. I have also never had it take a half hour to get our food. We always go during peak seasons too.

 

[ibouncetoo]

sometimes somebody else is first and that is OK.

These families were in the Dining Area, actively purchasing food to eat in that area. Their Dining experience starts when they enter, not when they start chewing.

Thirty minutes to eat a quick-service meal is reasonable. Thirty minutes to hold a table while one's food is being obtained, then another thirty minutes to eat that food, is not. And conversations not held any other time during the day, or even WHILE the food is being consumed, don't need to be held at a table in a busy venue after one is finished eating.

It's COUNTER service....and there's often nothing QUICK about it. If I want a one hour break for a meal, I'll take it regardless of where I'm dining. If that hour is taken up with waiting for my friend to bring our food from the counter, eating, talking or reading my book while enjoying my dessert, so be it. On the other hand, I've also been the one at my table encouraging others to finish up so we can clear the table when a restaurant is crowded...but I don't think an hour for any meal, any place, is asking too much!

 

[Epcotgal8]

How, exactly, is a solo traveler supposed to save a table, then go get food?

Thirty minutes to eat a quick-service meal is reasonable. Thirty minutes to hold a table while one's food is being obtained, then another thirty minutes to eat that food, is not. And conversations not held any other time during the day, or even WHILE the food is being consumed, don't need to be held at a table in a busy venue after one is finished eating.

THIRTY minutes to hold a table? Exaggerating just a tad? To make a point which is obviously not sensible to an overwhelming majority here on DIS. And now people aren't supposed to have conversation while they eat on vacation? You have got to be kidding me. Either you are joking or you are in need of a Disney trip to lighten up.

 

[madduck]

I have never saved seats because I always thought that it was not courteous to those that have food,not because I didnt plan ahead.After reading all the posts and seeing this poll Iwill now do as the rest of you.I always thought most people believed as I did.Now that I see that its the other way I will join the majority and send my wife to save seats.Thank you for enlightening me.

 

[kittythepoohbear]

Wow, I can't believe this thread is still going. This topic has always bugged me as, polite as I was raised to be, I really cannot see what is so wrong about saving a table while a member of the party orders the food. As other posters have written, you can never know why a person is sitting at a table without food. My elderly aunt (73 but can pass for 60) has a knee problem and cannot stand for extended periods of time. When we travel together, she always saves the table while the rest of us order (and yes, she has trouble standing on attraction lines and if they are too long, we just skip them). I know younger people with illnesses like MS - they don't look sick. And don't get me started on why it is better/easier for a family with children or a larger party to grab a table ahead of time. Read my post earlier in this thread regarding my nightmare Cosmic Ray's story for that one. The CS restaurants also have no waiting area for non-eating/non-ordering members of a party as in the TS restaurants where you can wait until your table is ready. Where would all these people be waiting?
I would never begrudge someone sitting at a table waiting for members of their party nor those who wish to look over a park map or finish a conversation after they are done. WE ARE ALL ON VACATION! Just because your meal is under $10 (well, at WDW it is more like $20) doesn't mean you should rush to eat if you don't want to. And for the solo travellers, I have taken 3 solo trips to WDW with plenty more sure to come as my bf isn't a huge Disney nut. I have never had to wait more than 5 - 10 minutes for a table. That includes eating at busy times on busy days. Once I had to share a table with an older couple which resulted in a lovely conversation. I always try to take the smallest available table, even passing up a larger table if necessary but will always share if I must sit at a larger table.
And yes, it is also a planning thing. As a solo, I try to eat earlier or later than most and will go from CS to CS to find one that isn't too crowded (ahh, the benefits of solo travel!). If you plan to eat at Peco's Bill right before the 3pm parade on July 4th, you better be in for the crowds and plan accordingly. This is not the time to make sleepy, cranky people, child or adult, eat lunch unless you have to.
And that's where this poll and this topic bugs me even more. It makes all the table savers look like inconsiderate jerks who go out of their way to make the lives of the non-table savers miserable, even, as one poster wrote, laughing and making fun of them. While you will find some jerks in every group, I will go on record as saying Disney fans are some of the friendliest and considerate folks I have met. So the next time you (and that is a general you not directed to anyone in particular) walk into a crowded CS restaurant you have several options. Go to another restaurant, have a member of your party save a table, look for a table when you get your food and if you are having a difficult time finding one, politely ask if you can share/take over a table with someone else. If waiting a few minutes for a table can make or break your vacation, I really don't know what else to say. Otherwise, if you ever see a gal with a Piglet tank top sitting alone at a table, feel free to ask if you can share or have my table if I am done. I will be happy to oblige. Now off my soapbox and onto other topics!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Oh please if I want to have a conversation with my family that is a critical part of the family vacation and I shouldnt feel rushed bc of you. I would not choose a place take over an hour to eat I go somewhere else.

Is there something about that critical conversation that prevents it from occuring WHILE you're eating? I don't mean talk with one's mouth full, but a discussion that can't occur DURING the meal doesn't need to be held at a table in an obviously busy location AFTER the meal.

THIRTY minutes to hold a table? Exaggerating just a tad?

Not by much. That you've never had an extremely long wait in line (or at a table while somebody else from your party is in that line) does not mean it's impossible or even unlikely. I've been in line at Tusker House for 25 minutes (keeping in mind that there are VERY few dining options in Animal Kingdom). If I had been able to save myself a table while I waited in line for food, then sat at that table and ate it for an approximately equal length of time, you're approaching an hour.

And now people aren't supposed to have conversation while they eat on vacation?

Here, let me emphasize what's apparently being missed in my statement, by more than one person:

And conversations not held any other time during the day, or even WHILE the food is being consumed, don't need to be held at a table in a busy venue after one is finished eating.

 

[Snow_White]

Just like madduck, my husband and I never used to save tables because we found the behavior to be terribly rude to the people who already had food and were wandering around looking for a table. However, now that I see that nearly EVERYONE engages in this annoying habit we'll be sure to save our tables in the future. To heck with the poor sap wandering around holding onto 2 trays for dear life.

 

[WantToGoNow]

If you ever stood in line with my family, with my 2 small children playing around and bumping into you, you'd ask me to go find a seat while dh waited in line.

Seriously, small children who have been waiting in line all day in the sun are not going to do well standing in those small food lines at the counter service places when you are shoulder to shoulder.

Sorry, but we always have one adult sit with the kids while the other gets the food -- it's better for everyone that way.

 

[TDC Nala]

As long as they're going to eat there, as far as I am concerned I would rather they save a table than have the entire family wait in line up front.

And I am usually there on my own, and don't have someone else to go save a table.

When I get a table, people usually don't like that one person is taking up a table for two or four. But I have to eat somewhere.

I'm not in favor of allowing persons who brought the food from elsewhere to occupy a table at a CS restaurant though.

 

[lagunaseca]

If you ever stood in line with my family, with my 2 small children playing around and bumping into you, you'd ask me to go find a seat while dh waited in line.

I can relate to that!

 

[thunderbird1]

If you ever stood in line with my family, with my 2 small children playing around and bumping into you, you'd ask me to go find a seat while dh waited in line.

Not to mention the longer they stay in line, the more times they change their minds. My dh is almost worse than the kids that way--he keeps adding things to the order if we stand there too long.

 

[kileybeth]

to lazy and hot today to read through the entire thread. . .

kinda like I get in Disney when I am on vacation. . .after touring all morning with 4 kids, I anticipate this break in my day. Gives us all a chance to rotate through potty stops, change diapers (in the restrooms of course!) wash face and hands, fix bottles, (all of this while DH is standing in line!) eat lunch, talk about our exciting morning, plan for the rest of the day and go back and order dessert when we are done with our lunch! (shocking , I know, twice through the line) .

so if you see someone with a party of six (2adults, 2 teens, 2 toddlers) grabbing a table in gleeful anticipation, that will be us enjoying our vaction, including our lunch break!

really folks, it's okay, I asked Mickey, he likes to keep us happy!

 

[dcgrumpy]

30 minutes on line?

I guess I'm lucky I've never had to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes to get my food.

 

[Rafikifan]

Off topic - It's refreshing to see a thread where people have different opinions but don't have to get nasty to voice them.

On topic - it doesn't seem that table saving is a problem for most. But, it obviously really makes some here aggravated. What I don't get is why not avoid getting aggravated and plan differently? When my kids were little and we took them to WDW we learned that you have to do what fits your family. If you don't want to deal with lines at cs don't go at peak times. Have a big breakfast and then a late lunch when the crowds are low. Plan on using CS credits at Epcot where there are so many cs places to choose from. Or, don't do the dining plan and have to do a set amount of cs. There are table service restaurants that are reasonable and offer such large portions your family can share and not pay much more than C.S. The Plaza in MK, Rainforest Cafe, 50's Prime Time, Beaches and Cream, for example. Not all these may work but you have lots of options other than arriving at a busy C.S. place and then getting annoyed because of people saving tables. That is not going to change. Have control over your vacation, don't let it control you.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

usually DH and the kids sit while I go get the food
to have all 4 of us in line and getting the kids to stand still in a huge line is crazy

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

usually DH and the kids sit while I go get the food
to have all 4 of us in line and getting the kids to stand still in a huge line is crazy

And that is one of the best reasons to have some of the party sitting at a table and only 1 or 2 in line for the food. If only 1 person does the ordering I wonder if the line to order/recieve food would move faster. Plus having fewer people at the order/pick up line means less chance of someone tripping over the fidgiting kiddo in the area, while they are trying to carry those food trays that are never well balanced.

 

[taximomfor4]

As long as they're going to eat there, as far as I am concerned I would rather they save a table than have the entire family wait in line up front.

And I am usually there on my own, and don't have someone else to go save a table.

When I get a table, people usually don't like that one person is taking up a table for two or four. But I have to eat somewhere.

I'm not in favor of allowing persons who brought the food from elsewhere to occupy a table at a CS restaurant though.

We are six people... but we'll pull up a seventh chair and you can come eat with us!! We meet the best people all over, especially WDW!