Service has gone down

[DisFlan]

lynr - missypie is right. Do sitdowns, but try to pick your time and place with care. Try not to pick peak eating times in a crowded park. We wouldn't miss Marrakesh. Or Boma. My kids won't let us NOT do Boma.


DisFlan

 

[pdchris]

Of course people will continue to put up with it - They're giving away FREE dining!

I wonder if Disney underestimated the popularity of the dining plan and is understaffed because of it - I mean - How many more WDW TS restaurants are people going to than they would otherwise (without the plan) --- That WAS the whole point of them offering it in the first place, wasn't it?

Free? Man, I musta missed something when I went in May because I sure as heck didn't get it for free. If you're talking about the dining plan, how was that free?
Finally, if it was free, what's everyone complaining about?

 

[missypie]

lynr - missypie is right. Do sitdowns, but try to pick your time and place with care. Try not to pick peak eating times in a crowded park. We wouldn't miss Marrakesh. Or Boma. My kids won't let us NOT do Boma.


DisFlan

I value early morning park touring, so I don't ever schedule a sit down breakfast. It would make me insane if I had slow service and was trying to make it to a park by rope drop; on the other hand, if we've toured the parks all day and are having a nice late dinner, I'll be more understanding/calmer if the service is slow. So if you really think about your days-what you will be doing and where you want to be at what time - you can still have pleasurable meal experiences.
We didn't have any service nightmares...we just didn't have any service that we thought was "good" (much less "great").

 

[bicker]

Just overworked or uncaring servers.

Or unreasonable expectations on the part of guests.

 

[DisFlan]

Or unreasonable expectations on the part of guests.

Yup. That, too. Good point.


DisFlan

 

[missypie]

Or unreasonable expectations on the part of guests.

I don't think it's unreasonable expect the service at a WDW restaurant for which I pay over $120 for a meal to be at least as good as at my local Chiles. Everyone talks about crowds, but check out restaurants at your town's local "resturant row" on a Saturday night...from 6 pm-10 pm, those places will be packed, with over an hour wait. The really popular restaurants are packed every night of the week. Many many many servers deal with big crowds on a more or less constant basis. People who really WANT to be servers will thrive on the activity, knowing that lots of guests means lots of opportunities for tips.

However, in defense of the servers, I do think that it is unfair for restaurant management to underhire kitchen staff, or bus staff or servers, because then guests get slower service and take it out on the servers in the form of lower tips.

 

[PamNC]

but during our recent trip we noticed the quality of the food had gone down. Not at every place we ate, but several. For instance, Yachtsman Steakhouse...expensive place to recieve a charred steak. I ordered medium rare, and the inside was cooked right but the outside was charred beyond recognition. And the mashed potatoes weren't very good. At Concourse Steakhouse - YUK. I remembered getting the best burger last year at this location, but this time it was a dried up piece of shoe leather. Even the tonga toast @ Kona Cafe wasn't up to snuff. Our breakfast at the Yacht Club Galley was so-so.

Blue Zoo and California Grill were still fabulous. CA Grill had the best sushi I have ever eaten anywhere. Brown Derby was wonderful as usual.

We had a wonderful trip - absolutely splendid but the one disappointment was the food.

PamNC

 

[BANNISTER]

Also wanted to mention in regard to there being no bus staff for the tables. Most all table service will visited over our 10 day trip, the wait staff would take the order, but then it is brought out by the kitchen staff. They really only have to take order, check back on table, present check. I don't think it is unreasonable to accept good service. That is what Disney is known for...being a cut above everyone else.

 

[cubanor]

We were at WDW twice this summer. Once with full family 6/8-6/18 and just two of us 7/23-7/29. We had great service everywhere but difficulty with the CM seating people at Beaches and Cream. My son, a former McD's & Outback worker while in college, was disgusted with the mananger. He called the manager over and told him in 40min. the only thing he had done for his staff was open 2 beers. My son said he should have been filling in any area were there was a need. I judge service by refills on my drinks, checking in to see if meal is okay, etc. We were pampered at Narcoosee's, had great service at WPucks, Olivia's, Ohana's, YGallery, etc. We had a momentary pause at the castle lunch, our group was seated at two window tables, and the server brought apps to the larger table. Then, he brought them to my table without me asking. We ate at off times, so that may have made the difference.

 

[missypie]

We were at WDW twice this summer. Once with full family 6/8-6/18 and just two of us 7/23-7/29. We had great service everywhere but difficulty with the CM seating people at Beaches and Cream. My son, a former McD's & Outback worker while in college, was disgusted with the mananger. He called the manager over and told him in 40min. the only thing he had done for his staff was open 2 beers. My son said he should have been filling in any area were there was a need. I judge service by refills on my drinks, checking in to see if meal is okay, etc. We were pampered at Narcoosee's, had great service at WPucks, Olivia's, Ohana's, YGallery, etc. We had a momentary pause at the castle lunch, our group was seated at two window tables, and the server brought apps to the larger table. Then, he brought them to my table without me asking. We ate at off times, so that may have made the difference.

Interesting comment about the manager. There are two restaurants that we frequent here at home (both happen to be non-chain Mexican) where the manager always comes around and asks how everything is going. We eat out a lot but never see management doing anything anywhere else.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Bannister makes a good point. A # of WDW restaurants (and lots of others also) use "runners" to bring out the food.

 

[missypie]

Bannister makes a good point. A # of WDW restaurants (and lots of others also) use "runners" to bring out the food.

And it is the server's responsibility to make sure the runner does it. A couple of months ago, all of our food arrived except my DDs we told the runner it was missing. After about 10 minutes with no more food, we flagged down the waiter who said "You mean she [the runner] didn't bring it? I told her to."

 

[lodgelady]

We have been to WDW many times over the past 10 years. I can honestly say that the service in all WDW dining has declined. Servers and cashiers are S-L-O-W at the counter service restaurants. Waitstaff at the table service restaurants and buffets seemed overwhelmed at the volume of guests. We went in June-regular season. It felt like they were WAY busier than they expected to be all week. Hope this is not a trend.

 

[missypie]

We have been to WDW many times over the past 10 years. I can honestly say that the service in all WDW dining has declined. Servers and cashiers are S-L-O-W at the counter service restaurants. Waitstaff at the table service restaurants and buffets seemed overwhelmed at the volume of guests. We went in June-regular season. It felt like they were WAY busier than they expected to be all week. Hope this is not a trend.

I agree about the slowness at the CS places. We always ate lunch early - before the crowds. We'd order with no one in front of us. DH would get a table, napkins, condiments, etc. The kids would use the restroom. I'd still be standing there waiting for the food. Sometimes it was comical how difficult it seemed for the CMs to fill the order. (But you haven't seen ANYTHING until you order a hot dog from Casey's at Disneyland Paris. There is a hilarious trip report on Mouse Planet that is totally true. The menu has like three things on it and it takes about 10 minutes per order. Yes, 10 minutes to get someone a hot dog and a coke.)

 

[bicker]

I don't think it's unreasonable expect the service at a WDW restaurant for which I pay over $120 for a meal to be at least as good as at my local Chiles.

How much is it reasonable to expect to pay extra for a meal at WDW versus your local Chili's? Now, how did you come up with that number? Most folks guess WAY LOW, vis a vis the actual value that the general public places on being able to get a meal, when in a captive market situation in a theme park. Generally, folks have unreasonable expectations because they don't consciously realize the value they subconsciously place on things they purchase.

Regardless, my experience is that I get service at WDW restaurant generally superior to that I get at my local restaurants. So, why is it that I get better service at WDW and you don't?

 

[Aimeedyan]

You know, I am not a Disney-can-do-no-wrong person (esp now that I have close family working for them!) but I can't remember a truly bad service or meal there. When we went in May, I noticed Brown Derby had TABLES of dishes piled up and our waitress was spread thin between 8 tables of her own, plus the expectation to bus! There was a long wait even with an ADR due to that, and though it ticked me off they didn't have enough staff, my waitress was a delight! She worked hard to get things to us, stayed on top of the runners to get things out, and we had a great meal. That was the only time I noticed a real lack of staff.

We did counter service around the World (in World Showcase), and everytime got our food quick and fresh.

I'm sure a lot of this has to do with low crowds, too.

We are going back in Oct and I am going to pay extra special attention to service

 

[wilderness01]

We were there last winter and I have to say when there were over 8 in our party, with the tip automatically included, our service was noticeably different and much s l o w e r ! When just my immediate family went and the tip wasn't automatically included service seemed to be better. The only place that is slow irregardless of where the restaurant is, what time of year, what time of day, etc. is the Rainforest Cafe. I have been to several RFC throughout the country and every time they have been incredibly slow with their service.