Sci-Fi... Currently no "hitchhikers"?

[MinnieMSue]

I genuinely appreciate that you've got such a glass half full attitude! Based on what I've read here over many years, most people would be more likely to have the attitude that they, "really loved [restaurant] all the times they ate there (and it was always our favorite 'must-do' place to eat because X/Y/Z are always perfect, but the last time we went something negative happened and now we will never, ever, ever go back!"

Yes I guess we do tend to have a positive attitude. We really don’t dwell on the negatives much in really any aspect of our lives. The only thing my kid couldn’t get past and is still bitter about is when people cut in front of us in the splash FP + line and didn’t have fast passes. She told the CM at the last (but usually unused) tap station before going down to the logs and they made him and his kid tap. They were rejected but made up some story and she let them ride and they got the front row that my kid wanted. She was so mad that they “cheated” and she didn’t ever let that go. I laugh about it still because it was the one thang that she let drag her down (and I admit it was frustrating that they didn’t honor their own rules). We always try to give cast complements when we encounter excellent CM and we tend to forget less than stellar experiences. It is just how we roll. My daughter just loves sci fi. Honestly she used to love 50’s but even with asking we have not gotten a CM to play their role in years and finally have dropped that place from our plans. It was particularly frustrating when other waiters in our room were actively playing their cousin roles. So I guess we do sometimes drop a restaurant when we aren’t happy. We like sci fi because we can sit and relax in the dark and zone out to the clips and rest quietly while we eat. It is almost like taking a nap lol

 

[JM23457]

Yes I guess we do tend to have a positive attitude. We really don’t dwell on the negatives much in really any aspect of our lives. The only thing my kid couldn’t get past and is still bitter about is when people cut in front of us in the splash FP + line and didn’t have fast passes. She told the CM at the last (but usually unused) tap station before going down to the logs and they made him and his kid tap. They were rejected but made up some story and she let them ride and they got the front row that my kid wanted. She was so mad that they “cheated” and she didn’t ever let that go. I laugh about it still because it was the one thang that she let drag her down (and I admit it was frustrating that they didn’t honor their own rules). We always try to give cast complements when we encounter excellent CM and we tend to forget less than stellar experiences. It is just how we roll. My daughter just loves sci fi. Honestly she used to love 50’s but even with asking we have not gotten a CM to play their role in years and finally have dropped that place from our plans. It was particularly frustrating when other waiters in our room were actively playing their cousin roles. So I guess we do sometimes drop a restaurant when we aren’t happy. We like sci fi because we can sit and relax in the dark and zone out to the clips and rest quietly while we eat. It is almost like taking a nap lol

Line cutters push my buttons, too. Even when they're kids. I try to ignore it and not get ruffled, but I still get annoyed. I suppose it's because I'm an elementary school teacher, and therefore teach and enforce rule following and fairness every day on the job. Seeing people blatantly disregarding both is a bit grating to me.

 

[kaytieeldr]

So I guess we do sometimes drop a restaurant when we aren’t happy.

Still different. You gave them multiple chances . Speaking of Prime Time, age there once where the cousin who was supposed to be my waitress had a temper tantrum and stormed out!

 

[JM23457]

Still different. You gave them multiple chances . Speaking of Prime Time, age there once where the cousin who was supposed to be my waitress had a temper tantrum and stormed out!

That sounds entertaining, at least. She did her job right up to the end.

 

[Simba's Mom]

If they no longer have "hitchhikers", what about solo diners? Are they going to give us a whole car? I've always been a "hitchhiker". Or will solo diners now be relegated to always sitting at a table instead?

 

[JM23457]

If they no longer have "hitchhikers", what about solo diners? Are they going to give us a whole car? I've always been a "hitchhiker". Or will solo diners now be relegated to always sitting at a table instead?

They should get a whole car, as their practice is to provide cars to those with reservations & give tables to walk-ups. But SciFi is severely limiting tables available to parties of 1 or 2, to avoid having to provide whole cars to less profitable parties.

 

[DisneyHardin]

When we ate there as a party of 2 (pre-pandemic), we ate in the back row of a car with another family in front of us, but we weren't called "hitchhikers.". The hostess just showed us to the table and said our server would be right with us.

 

[cjlong88]

Okay, so I tried looking for a reservation for a party of 2 on some random date. Nothing. The second I changed the reservation for 4, times were popping up. That’s crazy! I never even thought of that.

 

[wendy3]

That wasn't very nice.

Agreed. Life is hard enough right now without making snippy comments and being mean to each other

 

[constanze]

We just ate there a few days ago and they were not combining parties at the “cars”—- so every party has their own

 

[Lilsia]

They're clearly trying to minimize parties of 2, since they don't bring in as much money.

We're usually a party of 2 and have had issues at a few Disney restaurants in the past in terms of having longer waits due to them not wanting to put a party of 2 at a 4-top table, even though we had a reservation & it meant an extra wait for us as later arrivals were seated ahead of us.

So Disney limiting parties of 2 at Sci-Fi is no surprise to me at all. We couldn't book it for our July trip when we tried, even though we got everything else including Topolino's, Be Our Guest, & Garden Grill.

Next time we'll just reserve as a party of 4.

I travel solo and it is tough to book some things as a solo diner. I will have to book as a party of 2 or even 3-4 and then modify the reservation. It is silly. Dessert parties are almost impossible to get as a solo diner. I have talked to cast members about this and they said that for dessert parties, they have a very limited amount of 2 top tables that go right away. I have even seen the parties that still have capacity for groups of 6 that never fill up, even on the same day and they refuse to sell me a space. They rather keep that empty then to give me a spot at the table.

 

[MinnieMSue]

I travel solo and it is tough to book some things as a solo diner. I will have to book as a party of 2 or even 3-4 and then modify the reservation. It is silly. Dessert parties are almost impossible to get as a solo diner. I have talked to cast members about this and they said that for dessert parties, they have a very limited amount of 2 top tables that go right away. I have even seen the parties that still have capacity for groups of 6 that never fill up, even on the same day and they refuse to sell me a space. They rather keep that empty then to give me a spot at the table.

thats terrible and for a dessert party you don’t want to book for more people since you have to pay upfront.

 

[Disney loving Iowan]

I'm a ways off from making my reservations so things may change some till then but it will just be two of us. If things stay the same we will have to be creative with our reservations. Does is matter if you make your reservation for 3 as opposed to 4? Is this something that people are finding is necessary at the majority of restaurants?

 

[Dug720]

I travel solo and it is tough to book some things as a solo diner. I will have to book as a party of 2 or even 3-4 and then modify the reservation. It is silly. Dessert parties are almost impossible to get as a solo diner. I have talked to cast members about this and they said that for dessert parties, they have a very limited amount of 2 top tables that go right away. I have even seen the parties that still have capacity for groups of 6 that never fill up, even on the same day and they refuse to sell me a space. They rather keep that empty then to give me a spot at the table.

For regular ADRs I've always booked for 2 since they don't penalize you as long as you show up. (It also gives the chance for a friend to join me if one of mine in the area can.) I've never had an issue with dessert parties for 1 - granted, I call (because I use a gift card) as soon I can, but even when I was a lot closer to last minute I was able to get HEA as a solo (that one is NOT worth it if you have allergies - nasty, obviously frozen and thawed Erin McKenna stuff. ROL was AMAZING for gluten-free!! I'm so sad that show is no more.)