So sad....

[Uncleromulus]

I just wanted to add an "aside"--these days at the BD, the staff may be accustomed to more people WANTING to fly thru the meal--anxious to chow down and get to Fantasmic.

I recall one meal at the Derby when a family asked for their check BEFORE the meal was even served--they were in that much of a hurry to get to
Fantasmic.

 

[emmysmommy]

I am so sorry that your meal was such a disappointment. I would have had great expectations as well. I agree with PPs that state this is a Signature restaurant - they should hold themselves to a higher standard.

When I had our apps and entree come out only minutes apart at Sci-Fi this year I said something after the fact and they adjusted my bill to remove the apps. However, I should have refused the main until we were finished with the 1st course.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We always order our apps first and tell them we are still deciding about our entree. That slows them down.

I'd have spoken to the manager sooner about those table crashers much to the embarrassment of my family, I'm sure. Then maybe he would've gotten them out of there?

I've often wondered if the BD should still be considered a signature restaurant. It sure doesn't sound like one to me. I've never eaten there because reading about other's poor experiences makes me want to hold onto my money and save it for a better restaurant.

I'm sorry your anniversary dinner wasn't what you expected.

 

[cruisingkat]

I am sorry that you had a bad experience.
We did the Brown Derby for our anniversary in June and our experience was very different from yours. We ordered drinks and appetizers and then ordered our main course when those were served. We didn't feel rushed at all and had a great meal. In fact they didn't take our dessert order until after we finished the main course.
We do have a rule - always give a restaurant a second chance - we might just have hit it on a bad night.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We always order our apps first and tell them we are still deciding about our entree. That slows them down.

I'd have spoken to the manager sooner about those table crashers much to the embarrassment of my family, I'm sure. Then maybe he would've gotten them out of there?

I've often wondered if the BD should still be considered a signature restaurant. It sure doesn't sound like one to me. I've never eaten there because reading about other's poor experiences makes me want to hold onto my money and save it for a better restaurant.

I'm sorry your anniversary dinner wasn't what you expected.

You should give it a try. The atmosphere can depend on the guests around you, but some of the other signature's are just as loud. We've experienced a little bit of everything at the signatures. It seems FF is the loudest on a more consistent basis than the others. HBD is usually loud also. Although we've been lucky with a quiet meal too. We always ask to sitter in a quieter location, if possible. We feel HBD is the best value at WDW, if you're paying OOP. The food is as good as the other signatures & the OOP price is a little less. For those on the DDP, it may not appear to be as good a value though. Taking value out of the equation, we think it holds up well with the other signatures.

 

[amccu18007]

Ironically, the waitress knew that we were trying to have a slower meal. We spoke about it when she came over to the table. We were sat at the first show so they knew that way that we weren't trying to get into fantastic that way either.

 

[Mikey'swife]

We had the opposite on our last visit. It took forever to get our entrees, and even longer to get dessert. We were doing the F! package with a 4 year old and 6 year old who were eagar to get back to the park after dinner and we had one our longest meals of the whole trip. I found the food to be just okay- too much extra/unusual stuff on entrees to be really great and we did not really like the Cobb or Grapefruit cake which are the signature items- it is not on the top of our do again list- I would rather do F! at Mama Melrose and save the extra credit for Yachtsman!

 

[LBlovesM&WDW]

I'm sorry you didn't have the memorable experience you had hoped for. We have been there several times and feel they are usually really slow, which we prefer most of the time. We honestly didn't know if we would actually make it to Fant. on our HM though.

As for the issue with rude children and parents "on vacation", I don't think I could have kept my mouth shut to the waitstaff/mgr. Normally, my H would not say a word, but once they infringed on our privacy and safety, he would have dealt with it immediately.

There are many wonderful dining choices in WDW, but you may want to give HBD another chance. The food is very good and usually the service is as well. Happy Anniversary!

 

[Pumbaa_]

Came here to post this exact same thing. Especially given that HBD is a "Signature" restaurant, staff needs to be on top of these things!

this exactly - these weren't dining guests acting out, these wre people just popping over the wall for a break.

bsolutely BD manager should have asked them to move their 'wretched bodies'