Skipper Canteen "push"

[tlmadden73]

I have a different take on that. It is so darn difficult to get ADRs anymore, even 180 days out for November reservations that maybe they are trying to get away from it all together (the Skipper Canteen being a guinea pig!?) Like it was long, long ago. On a whim, I could go to guest services in any park and ask to make a reservation at any restaurant for that day. Granted, the parks weren't as busy as they are today, and there were not as many resorts.
However, the latest news that there are sites selling ADRs, the many double bookings for restaurants, make it difficult for many to get ADRs and it leaves the restaurants scrambling?
I also think they should get away from the dining plan, "free" or otherwise.

As I stated above .. I think that no ADRs for a NEW restaurant was a test. But it is a poor test, since all the other restaurants have ADRs avaiable. Why risk going to a restaurant with no ADR when there are several in the park that you can get ADRs for. Frankly, if I were to go to MK soon . I would be MORE likely to hit Skipper Canteen because I know it is walk up.

But it sounds like the place is getting mediocre reviews as well (and high prices to boot).

I agree that the ADR system has created a crazy demand. And that demand creates even crazier demand (a downward spiral).
It just encourages bad behavior (I'm guilty of it like double booking, making multiple ADRs for the same restaurant over several days (and you just end up cancelling them later when you can make your fast passes or get to the resort).

Seem like a good change would be either:
1) Reduce the time of ADRs to 30/60 days .. so you can make your ADRs the same time as your fast passes. A lot easier to plan your vacation 60 days out than first your meals at 180 days. You then should have less "speculation" when making reservations.
or
2) Charge a fee (per person) to make the reservation (rather than the $10/person cancellation fee). You'll see less sites selling ADRs and you'll see less people double
booking ADRs "just to get it" .. (they already make you fully pre-pay for the big meals already (Cinderella, Mickey's BBQ)
or
BOTH

They will never get rid of the Dining Plan (since it doesn't cost them much to offer it) .. like a lot of "convenience" bundles .. it is a money maker for them and allows them to offer it as a promotion. Not only does it cost more than most people would normally spend (easily) per day, it fills the restaurants since you have essentially prepaid for all your meals --- so you are going to use them.

 

[DaddyRobbinDisney]

Another piece to the equation is the prep kitchen. I understand that they built this restaurant partially to be the new food prep center for all the food service in adventure land. They may be working out kinks in the distribution on getting food prepared for other CS areas before they tool the menu.

 

[Anal Annie]

We were there the first week of January and tried it. I actually canceled an ADR at O'hana the week before we went so we could try it (I rescheduled O'hana for our June trip when we're staying over there). I wanted to see if it was worth trying to work in again during our June trip.

Here was our experience. We are not early diners but wanted to try to work it in inbetween FP's between 6:30-7:00ish. While I'm not a fan of having to make ADR's in general - NOT TAKING ADR's MAKES THIS DIFFICULT. I can't figure out why Disney is pushing the whole "plan every minute of your trip with FP's and ADR's" and then they don't offer a way to do it with this restaurant. ANYWAY, we crossed the park around 5:15 to see if there was a wait. There was not. BUT we didn't want to eat that early. It was a pain to have to cross the park just to check tho. The CM suggested coming back in an hour. So we wandered over to the Jungle Cruise which had a 50 min. wait at that time, rode that & returned. They told us about 30 minutes - it ended up really only being about 20 minutes. We were seated in the main mess hall room by the kitchen - had a dimly lit table and noisy location. Our server was efficient and pleasant BUT only cracked a couple of jokes the whole time - she had obviously never ridden the Jungle Cruise before. My DH ordered the Heads on shrimp (I personally don't want to play with my food that much before I eat it) while DS and myself both ordered the Skippers Mac & Cheese (which is supposed to be slightly spicy but it really is NOT ). We also shared an order of the pork dumpling things which were actually probably the best thing we had - those were good. Both entrees however were only OK for the price paid. We use the TIW card and without a discount of some sort (AND NO ALCOHOL) this was literally our most expensive meal all week!!! Even compared to our meals and drinks at Ragland Road - REALLLLY?! I wouldn't say the food is BAD - it was GOOD but it wasn't GREAT for the price paid. I expect GREAT for what we paid.

At this point I am not pushing a return trip to it in June. I would consider going back if they started taking ADR's AND added it to the TIW card. We pay a lot of money to have that card and really try to only eat at restaurants that accept it. This was an experiment and one I'm glad we did. But it's not worth repeating at this time if they don't make some changes. JM2C.

 

[PirateSAM]

Personally, I can't wait to try this next week. Despite the bad reviews, as a PP said, it's all subjective.
However, the part I find most funny, is that some people complain about the food, and complain about the price, but then add... that they'd try it again if it were ADR.
THIS MAKES NO SENSE TO ME! You either like it or not, food or price, an ADR is irrelevant.

I'd prefer they did away with ADR everywhere and only have walk-up restaurant service.

 

[ilovebassets]

The menu doesn't appeal to me at all. And there is nothing on the kids menu DS would eat, so it's a no go for us. It's too bad, we were looking forward to trying it, until we saw the menu.

Totally agree. My husband and kids are vegetarian and not one kids meal is appropriate for them. The one vegetarian meal sounds gross to me. Rice noodles and tofu in pho broth with jalapeños? Doesn't sound appealing at all. Not even the desserts look very good to me. And I'm a fairly adventurous eater and so long as the food is vegetarian, so is DH.

 

[Micca]

... Our server was efficient and pleasant BUT only cracked a couple of jokes the whole time - she had obviously never ridden the Jungle Cruise before...

Annie out of all the info in your post, to me this the LEAST acceptable. Are you kidding me? How is this even possible that they wouldn't require a few cycles through the attraction to pick up the vibe of the humor? These CMs should be steeped in the history of the JC attraction and be prepared to follow suit. Imagine the tips servers could make by telling the stories and jokes. This whole thing is sounding like a lost--or at least misguided--opportunity.

 

[3smithboys]

Like most people, I was stalking the boards and anxiously waiting for news on the menu and opening of SC for my upcoming June trip. This will be my first adult only trip with DH, so I was ok with a different menu that may not appeal to kids. However, the menu didn't appeal to either of us as well!!! (However, I would have been willing to pay oop to try an app or dessert to see the place for the experience.) Add to this, the lack of ability to make an ADR (and I'm not going to take my chances on a walk up during the last week in June to be told that I can't get in and have nowhere to eat...) is stopping us from bothering.

 

[Anal Annie]

Personally, I can't wait to try this next week. Despite the bad reviews, as a PP said, it's all subjective.
However, the part I find most funny, is that some people complain about the food, and complain about the price, but then add... that they'd try it again if it were ADR.
THIS MAKES NO SENSE TO ME! You either like it or not, food or price, an ADR is irrelevant.

I'd prefer they did away with ADR everywhere and only have walk-up restaurant service.

I won't unless they add TIW….an ADR opportunity would be a bonus. I hate the ADR system too. But now that we have to schedule our lives around dumb FP+ they're almost a necessity for TS meals.

 

[Anal Annie]

Annie out of all the info in your post, to me this the LEAST acceptable. Are you kidding me? How is this even possible that they wouldn't require a few cycles through the attraction to pick up the vibe of the humor? These CMs should be steeped in the history of the JC attraction and be prepared to follow suit. Imagine the tips servers could make by telling the stories and jokes. This whole thing is sounding like a lost--or at least misguided--opportunity.

She slung a couple things at us but overall didn't really seem like she fit into the whole theme. I tend to think she might have been one who came from someplace else (a higher end TS restaurant somewhere). She was very soft-spoken and more polished than most Jungle Cruise skipper types. She wasn't into the theme and didn't seem to care about that aspect or something….

 

[karrit2000]

For me it's the menu. I was really looking forward to eating here but once the menu came out it was a lost cause. I don't like spicy, Asian or curry and I definitely don't eat anything that is looking at me so the Shrimp dish is a no go for that reason. The only thing I would consider is the steak but not at that price. I don't care that it isn't ADR since even when we make ADR's we usually end up cancelling most of them. None of the desserts appeal to me either.

 

[MPLsDad]

Personally, I can't wait to try this next week. Despite the bad reviews, as a PP said, it's all subjective.
However, the part I find most funny, is that some people complain about the food, and complain about the price, but then add... that they'd try it again if it were ADR.
THIS MAKES NO SENSE TO ME! You either like it or not, food or price, an ADR is irrelevant.

I'd prefer they did away with ADR everywhere and only have walk-up restaurant service.

Time is money to me, especially at WDW. If I have to wait for a table I could have reserved, then that restaurant has less value than one I could have reserved...

 

[prudence64]

It looks good to me and I'm a vegetarian. Last I looked there were 2 veggie entrees plus the falafel. But, I was hoping it would be more of a dining experience - entertainment. That doesn't sound like the case.

 

[dkrauss]

We visited on the Friday of Marathon week, with a party of 6 when the wait was 45 minutes so we moved on............ My wife and I went back on the Sunday of the Marathon we waited about 10 minutes for a table. I like the atmosphere, thought the concept is interesting...........but they're still working it out. I thought the food was interesting and what I had the Char Siu Pork - which is marinated grilled pork, broccoli and brown or white rice. I enjoyed it............... In walking around the restaurant I also found the "Butterfly booth". Its a semi-circular booth with butterfly's in frames covering the wall of the booth . I think that's really cool!!!

As at least one poster has said............this restaurant screams for alcohol, maybe just beer, and I completely agree........... I also agree that the test of not accepting ADR's is hurting. If its a test...............it gets a big fat F!

In the end give this place some time and it will catch on...............and if you visit ask to sit in the Butterfly Booth!!

Doug

 

[Thumper1066]

I was really excited and we even made room for a try in June. However, after we saw the menu we decided to take a pass. The bland looking chicken and rice, and a fancy version of Cheeseburger Macaroni are the only things that even looked appealing and I'm not shelling out almost 20 dollars for that. I'm with Live4themagic; Jambalaya and Beignets, would have had me screaming for more.
It doesn't have anything to do with ADR or no ADR. Work on that menu! Good food will draw crowds.

 

[KateP85]

She slung a couple things at us but overall didn't really seem like she fit into the whole theme. I tend to think she might have been one who came from someplace else (a higher end TS restaurant somewhere). She was very soft-spoken and more polished than most Jungle Cruise skipper types. She wasn't into the theme and didn't seem to care about that aspect or something….

I think every server there came from another restaurant. My friend told me they went through a lot of detailed training (although I'm 100% sure they weren't required to ride the Jungle Cruise!) but quite a few of those servers originally trained have returned to their previous locations because they weren't making the money they thought they work at Skippers. New servers coming in will have training, obviously, but I don't think it will be what those original servers had.

 

[Disneylover99]

So what if this "push" doesn't work/help. Is there a typical next step?

 

[dkrauss]

It doesn't have anything to do with ADR or no ADR. Work on that menu! Good food will draw crowds.

With all due respect, if you don't at least try it one time..............making a decision based on what you see seems unfair (that's me). You can get a crap meal anywhere even when the photo looks enticing. Price.........is an issue for you..........at WDW? We actually thought it was reasonable.........given what we pay for some restaurants in the MK

Ahhh the beauty is eveyone can make their own choice.....................right! I just think until you try it you're never gonna really know (at least that's what my wife said about having sushi at Cali Grill...........which I didn't like)

Doug

 

[WEDWDW]

Disney is now "advertising" the Canteen on the Times Guide-they're trying everything to increase business.

After all the buildup,it is kind of sad it's not doing good.

 

[AngiTN]

Disney is now "advertising" the Canteen on the Times Guide-they're trying everything to increase business.

After all the buildup,it is kind of sad it's not doing good.

I just has so many strikes against it. One or so it could probably handle but just about everything is working against it right now. I'm really surprised Disney didn't foresee the ADR thing being a huge hurdle to overcome. They have pushed all the pre-planng for so long I don't understand how they thought something you didn't plan would fit in

 

[TheRustyScupper]

How is this even possible that they wouldn't require a few cycles through the attraction to pick up the vibe of the humor?

1) Simple.
2) WDW cares about selling, not pleasing.
3) EXAMPLE:
. . . I was in "Concierge" training class at Disney University (behind Magic Kingdom)
. . . we were taught how to sell tickets
. . . we were shown how to make a ADR
. . . the instructor told us to recommend our favorite eatery when making ADR's
. . . one girl said she had NEVER eaten at a WDW sit-down eatery, so which should she recommend?
. . . the instructor told her to just pick one with an opening and say THAT was her favorite
4) The rest of us in the class looked at each other and shook out heads.
. . . this was just plain deceitful in order to sell a meal
. . . it did not matter to the instructor what we told guests
. . . our job was to sell tickets, repeat SELL TICKETS, not to be a True Concierge (like at other hotel chains) *
5) This might give you an idea how a SERVER at Canteen could get away without riding Jungle Cruise


* This is also why WDW changed the term of Concierge Floor to Club Floor at deluxe resorts. Guests were complaining that we were not Concierge, as we couldn't/wouldn't help with reservations and such for off-property activities and meals. Some of us did violate that rule. (With over 4½-million air-miles, I have had good and bad Concierge service at hotels, and would not let myself short-change a guest by limiting my services to the WDW property or activities.)