Space 220 evacuated today 2/22

[JC1984]

This thread reminds me of one of the greatest scenes from The Office ever…IYKYK

 

[gottalovepluto]

Very little dine and dash occurred there. Please. An announcement “the restaurant is closed” doesn’t leave any room in my interpretation for thinking they meant “but we still have a functioning bar, kitchen, and computers and will let you all back in”. It would have seemed like a lucky comp if I was full enough or an unlucky comp if I wasn’t because we would have needed to exit the area quick to find something else that late at night. If all I needed was the check is the only scenario I would have stayed for a minute to ask a cm about paying.

 

[_19disnA]

I thought you pay before being seated at Disney fixed price restaurants.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Personally, I think it should have been 100% comped. Disney can afford it.

The restaurant is operated by Patina Group so probably wasn’t Disney’s call.

 

[rdaky]

The restaurant is operated by Patina Group so probably wasn’t Disney’s call.

Ah yes. I forgot about that ownership. Still they should have comped it. I can't imagine being halfway through my meal, being evacuated, and then coming back to finish a plate that has just been sitting there and then having to pay for it, even at a discount.

 

[bsmcneil]

I wonder what percentage dined and dashed I definitely can see people doing that if they were near done with their meals or just doing drinks and apps at the lounge.

I wouldn’t call it dine and dash. They may have legitimately not known what to do if the restaurant had really closed for the day as the announcement indicated. I may have thought “oh well they know where to find me” and left.

And maybe I’m a karen but I don’t think 30% is enough for that much of a disruption.

Profit margins aren't huge in the restaurant industry (though obviously WDW is different) - but I would imagine 30% takes the total down to something approaching the cost of things (food, staffing, overhead). Why, if you got your meal, would you expect more than that?

 

[_19disnA]

I can't imagine being halfway through my meal, being evacuated, and then coming back to finish a plate that has just been sitting there and then having to pay for it, even at a discount.

I was thinking the same thing. Most restaurant dishes are best when served hot. Something partially eaten and sitting around for awhile is no longer appealing. Clearly this doesn't happen very often but I would expect they offer to replace your dish with hot food once they reopened or at least give you that option.

 

[rdaky]

I was thinking the same thing. Most restaurant dishes are best when served hot. Something partially eaten and sitting around for awhile is no longer appealing. Clearly this doesn't happen very often but I would expect they offer to replace your dish with hot food once they reopened or at least give you that option.

Right. This isn't an every day occurrence. At least I'd hope not. lol. This is a very rare event that should be handled differently than an every day issue that a restaurant might have.

 

[Allison]

I thought you pay before being seated at Disney fixed price restaurants.

You do not.

 

[Beer Me]

Profit margins aren't huge in the restaurant industry (though obviously WDW is different) - but I would imagine 30% takes the total down to something approaching the cost of things (food, staffing, overhead). Why, if you got your meal, would you expect more than that?

I’m not going to go round and round so this is all I will say.

A huge part of the space 220 experience is the theming and idea you are going into space. That was completely ruined by an emergency evacuation. Maybe this doesn’t mean much to everybody but I don't believe the restaurant is as popular as it is for food alone. You are paying for an experience.

But leaving theming aside, let’s say you are only there for the food and service, being forced to get up and go outside in the middle of a meal is an extreme disruption. OP didn’t say how long it lasted which makes a difference I suppose. If it was 5 minutes maybe it wouldn’t be so bad but much longer is ridiculous to expect anyone to be happy or satisfied with their meal. It’s a bad show and yeah, I think it should be completely comped at that point. I would expect as much if it happened at any restaurant and I hold Disney to a high standard given the cost.

 

[kylenne]

You do not.

At most of them you don't, yeah. Cinderella's Royal Table you pay at time of booking because they used to have problems with people hoarding reservations.

 

[porschegrl]

This thread reminds me of one of the greatest scenes from The Office ever…IYKYK
View attachment 741869

I saw that episode just a day or two ago. Save Bandit!

 

[JC1984]

I saw that episode just a day or two ago. Save Bandit!

What would it made this evacuation epic is if the OP threw their chair at the window to space

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My first thought would not be that people dined and dashed intentionally.

What do you think those people are supposed to think when its advised the restaurant is closed for the day after being evacuated?

Are we really at the point of assuming the worst out of people in a situation like that?

No one would know the reason for the evacuation anyhow from fire, chemical/gas, electronic systems down, or some other reason even security reason.

I'm not sure I would even want to go back in and eat the leftover food.

 

[JC1984]

I personally think it would be very hard to dine and dash during a normal circumstance at Disney. If people left after said evacuation I would believe it would not be intentional.

 

[mattburmeister]

Hopefully they didn't make the solo diners stay behind and fight the fire.

 

[JC1984]

Hopefully they didn't make the solo diners stay behind and fight the fire.

Or women and children first and you had the Billy Zane of the group pushing the women and children into the fire

 

[JC1984]

All joking aside we are all making a lot of assumptions here. For the dine and dash conspirators do you know every one’s situation? As someone diagnosed with severe PTSD from combat something as simple as an alarm could trigger a fight or flight mode. I would have probably been clear to AK by the time the “fog of war” was figured out and had no issue not paying. Plus this is Disney if they wanted their money all the info is attached to your ADR.

 

[Marthasor]

you would not want to be on an elevator if there had really been a fire and power went out. just saying not that was what happened

The "elevator" at Space 220 is not, actually, an elevator . . .

Very little dine and dash occurred there. Please. An announcement “the restaurant is closed” doesn’t leave any room in my interpretation for thinking they meant “but we still have a functioning bar, kitchen, and computers and will let you all back in”. It would have seemed like a lucky comp if I was full enough or an unlucky comp if I wasn’t because we would have needed to exit the area quick to find something else that late at night. If all I needed was the check is the only scenario I would have stayed for a minute to ask a cm about paying.

Agreed. We were evacuated in MK on a very, very cold night and the evacuation affected every restaurant in that building - Skippers, Diamond Horseshoe, Liberty Tree. We waited around a little bit to see if they were going to let us back in when a CM told us there was no need to wait, the fire department was on its way and not to worry about the check. I gave the CM a tip since we had been served drinks and I was grateful for the service they had provided up to that point. I have no clue if they ever let anyone else back inside, but we certainly did not "dine and dash". We got super lucky that Crystal Palace let us walk up for dinner - given the number of people who were evacuated that evening from several restaurants, either some people went without dinner or the QS were completely swamped after the evacuation.

 

[RoseGold]

All joking aside we are all making a lot of assumptions here. For the dine and dash conspirators do you know every one’s situation? As someone diagnosed with severe PTSD from combat something as simple as an alarm could trigger a fight or flight mode.

I'm not going back in, and I don't have PTSD. The whole schtick is to see it, and if I already got that, then I'm good. I'll eat somewhere else.

This is a safety thing for me, but also a time thing. I don't want to wait for them to figure it out after the kitchen flooded and the system rebooted or whatever. Nope. I'm out.

And I can't believe people ate food they left unattended like that.