The food situation at DCA is rough

[Gypsybear]

That’s great! As I mentioned in the OP, it is very dependent on crowd levels. A random Wednesday in mid-September isn’t going to be a “busy day” the way that Labor Day weekend was. But on weekends, I’m going to go back to scheduling some mobile orders in the morning!

I would tend to agree....we're there starting Halloween weekend, and we are already anticipating waits for all food....we're there through the first week of November, and have already had issues just making ADRs.

Luckily, Mouse Dining came through for us on one ressie.

 

[Dmto4]

We just got back last night. We found we needed to think about ordering food at least 2 hours in advance. Some places we could get food within 30 min. Others were either already filled up or had a two hour wait. One night they ran out of bread bowls at Pacific Wharf Cafe. I feel like we thought about food a lot more than we ever have before. One note about allergies, we ate at the Blue Bayou. I have a severe allergy to all nuts, can’t even be around them. There are salads on the menu with pecans and hazelnut cakes so I was already pretty doped up to even eat there. My allergy was on the reservation and the waiter knew. I never saw the chef. I was fine until they brought out the crème brûlée with a pecan sandy on top. . That’s is the first time I have had any problems with allergies in park restaurants.

 

[wildekatza]

Wow, while generically poor service is a bummer but not something I'd make a complaint about, the woman who dealt with you at check-in sounds like she was completely out of bounds. I'd consider sending in an email about that kind of treatment so that she does not continue to berate guests who are having tech issues.

I'm sorry your meal was a disappointment!

Awww! Skyegirl1999! Thank you! I don't know if it would really make a difference. From what I saw, they are having a difficult time getting anyone to work out there because the staff at our hotel was minimal. I don't know about parks though. I don't know what normal numbers look like for CM there because I never pay attention. The Uber driver told us that his wife works at DL in a gift shop and she said they are always asking her to do extra shifts because no one came in. That is pretty sad, but I get it. People are afraid to go back to those crowds. The older woman at the Lamplight Lounge though was sooooo crabby. LOL! Just sad. Don't come to work if you don't like your job, right?

So im going in dec with my mom who is in a wheelchair and i dont have a smart phone, dont need one because its just me and my mom and she cant use a smart phone, how hard of a time am i going to have?

Tenneycjt, I would think it would be difficult if you get the nasty woman I got. LOL! I was never asked to use my phone to check in before her. Also, I don't know how you will get food orders. When we were there, the week of September 15, they were not allowing people in certain restaurants (like Pym's) unless you showed them your cell phone that reflected it was YOUR TIME to pick up your food order. I wanted to walk in and look while my husband was picking up the food order and also to help him pick up the ketchup,etc. and they told me no unless I had a return time on my phone. They were allowing a certain number to come in and stand in line, but not even 2 people to help carry a tray of food/drinks/condiments. I know they would if your Mom is in a wheelchair, that is different, but I don't know about the wait for food. I found that QS was actually a heck of a lot better than standing in line waiting for food when the QS times didn't match what we needed them to be. We never ended up getting food that we didn't QS Mobile Order due to the long lines. Maybe someone else on here who doesn't use a smart phone can chime in?

 

[wildekatza]

We recently had reservations at Goofy's Kitchen and Oga's Cantina. Both times I checked in on the app and received a message we were ready to be seated. We then approached the CMs only to have it seem like they had no idea who was being called and having me wait to the side longer before they let us in and seated us.

I am bummed that happened to you, too. I know it is all new to them, too and they are probably getting briefed on changes about the same time we are, if they are briefed at all but man...the testiness of that one woman! MEOW!! I told my husband had we not had a stellar time aside from her and our waitress , I think I would have written the trip off as a total loss. Every other CM we encountered was top notch and just like old times.

 

[tenneycjt]

Awww! Skyegirl1999! Thank you! I don't know if it would really make a difference. From what I saw, they are having a difficult time getting anyone to work out there because the staff at our hotel was minimal. I don't know about parks though. I don't know what normal numbers look like for CM there because I never pay attention. The Uber driver told us that his wife works at DL in a gift shop and she said they are always asking her to do extra shifts because no one came in. That is pretty sad, but I get it. People are afraid to go back to those crowds. The older woman at the Lamplight Lounge though was sooooo crabby. LOL! Just sad. Don't come to work if you don't like your job, right?


Tenneycjt, I would think it would be difficult if you get the nasty woman I got. LOL! I was never asked to use my phone to check in before her. Also, I don't know how you will get food orders. When we were there, the week of September 15, they were not allowing people in certain restaurants (like Pym's) unless you showed them your cell phone that reflected it was YOUR TIME to pick up your food order. I wanted to walk in and look while my husband was picking up the food order and also to help him pick up the ketchup,etc. and they told me no unless I had a return time on my phone. They were allowing a certain number to come in and stand in line, but not even 2 people to help carry a tray of food/drinks/condiments. I know they would if your Mom is in a wheelchair, that is different, but I don't know about the wait for food. I found that QS was actually a heck of a lot better than standing in line waiting for food when the QS times didn't match what we needed them to be. We never ended up getting food that we didn't QS Mobile Order due to the long lines. Maybe someone else on here who doesn't use a smart phone can chime in?

Yeah it would be good to hear, I feel like Disney needs to realize that not everybody has a smart phone, especially elderly people, I just feel like they assume that everyone has one, they need to cater to everyone

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Ok. A bit late getting back on here, but we came home to a lot of mess and have been playing catch up ever since. Anyway, I wanted to let you all know that we had Lamplight Lounge and not only was our food horrible/subpar but the service was even worse! We arrived at the door and the woman at the door told us we needed to check in on the app. Okay. We had so far eaten at 3 other reservations only and had not been required to check in on the app, but I am willing to follow the rules. I go to check in on the app (it is now time for our reservation) and it says that I am not allowed to check in yet. Our reservation was for 11:10 and it was 11:12 by this point. I walk back to her and she barks back at me, "It is there. Keep looking." Eeek! So I close the app, restart it, same thing. It says I can't check in yet. I walk over to another CM and show them and they walk over to the woman with the tablet and ask her to check us in. She says, "I TOLD YOU TO CHECK IN ON YOUR APP FIRST!" and refuses to let the other CM have the tablet to check us in. Wow! So now my husband says, "I guess we are at an impasse here, yes? You refuse to look at the app and see where ..." She puts up her hand as if to shush him and takes the next person. We are not talking a lot of people waiting. 2 families. And they are both waiting for someone to NOT claim their reservation. Finally, the other CM motions behind the woman with the tablet to follow and we did. Once inside, she tells us she is sorry about the mix up and can seat us now. Ok. We are seated facing the ferris wheel at a kind of bar? That is fine. It is just us 2 and we can sit next to each other. We aren't picky. So we order a couple of drinks, the waitress asks if we are celebrating anything and I mention we are celebrating my bday. She wishes me happy birthday and takes our food order and we literally never see her again. Our food was delivered by a different person who was working another table. Then we have to keep going to the bar to ask for someone to bring us utensils, another drink,etc. finally the bar staff gets onto my husband because they don't want people walking around the restaurant. Ok. We get it. One of the things we ordered was the lobster nachos everyone raves about and the potato skins. Delivered cold and the little bit of cheese was like a paste it had sat for so long. More tomatoes on the nachos than anything else. I should have taken a pic. It had hardly any lobster at all and that was in a small mound on top! We left most of it. It was just such a let down. The potato skins came out cold and were burnt to a crisp. Finally, after we were done being ignored, we ask the person who had brought us our food for our waitress and he says, "Oh. She went on lunch. I can get you the check." Really? What a mess. I know everything is goofy because of the pandemic, but that was just awful. We have both waited tables in our past and we know the golden rule is to let your table know you are leaving for your break and "x" will be taking your place. But "x" delivered our food and never came back! Cocktails were ok and that was about all that I could say positive. I am sad that it turned out so poorly but I guess they were having a bad day?

We had a pretty terrible experience at LL that started with a grumpy older woman refusing to accommodate our seating request. I asked if we could please not sit at a bar top table. I was very pregnant at the time and needed to be able to put both of my feet on the ground for support. Sitting at a bar height table caused severe pelvic pain for me, not to mention it was difficult for me to get off and on the chair. But she refused and when we asked the waitress if we could be moved, she “wasn’t sure” and left to ask someone. Came back to take our order and had forgot to ask. And then we didn’t see her again until it was time for the check. I ended up standing for the majority of our meal. It was pretty disappointing, we usually have stellar service at LL. We’re giving it another shot on Sunday but might have to stop going until the staffing issues have been resolved if we have a similar experience.

 

[DLgal]

We had a pretty terrible experience at LL that started with a grumpy older woman refusing to accommodate our seating request. I asked if we could please not sit at a bar top table. I was very pregnant at the time and needed to be able to put both of my feet on the ground for support. Sitting at a bar height table caused severe pelvic pain for me, not to mention it was difficult for me to get off and on the chair. But she refused and when we asked the waitress if we could be moved, she “wasn’t sure” and left to ask someone. Came back to take our order and had forgot to ask. And then we didn’t see her again until it was time for the check. I ended up standing for the majority of our meal. It was pretty disappointing, we usually have stellar service at LL. We’re giving it another shot on Sunday but might have to stop going until the staffing issues have been resolved if we have a similar experience.

Just as a note, we have found the management to be SO accommodating at LL. Sometimes the hostesses or servers are just not great, but we have had amazing encounters with managers and if anything like that happens to you again, just calmly ask for one to speak to. I promise they really want people to have a good experience there and will make things right.

I remember being that pregnant and having that kind of pain. I was at DCA the day before my oldest was born and literally couldn't sit down anywhere all day. I just walked around slowly and we ended up just mostly shopping and stuff because it was so miserable sitting.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Just as a note, we have found the management to be SO accommodating at LL. Sometimes the hostesses or servers are just not great, but we have had amazing encounters with managers and if anything like that happens to you again, just calmly ask for one to speak to. I promise they really want people to have a good experience there and will make things right.

I remember being that pregnant and having that kind of pain. I was at DCA the day before my oldest was born and literally couldn't sit down anywhere all day. I just walked around slowly and we ended up just mostly shopping and stuff because it was so miserable sitting.

I didn’t know pain while sitting was a thing because I didn’t have it with my first. I am 5 weeks post-partum and still dealing with it, although nowhere near as bad. I’ll take your advice and speak to a manager next time. This was a few weeks after they had reopened and prepared ourselves to encounter some CMs that were overwhelmed and lacked training, so we were just trying to go with the flow as much as possible. Plus I was so miserable at that point, I am not sure I could have talked to anyone without crying. Stupid hormones. But it really was a great trip and that ended up being our only negative encounter.

 

[wildekatza]

We had a pretty terrible experience at LL that started with a grumpy older woman refusing to accommodate our seating request.

I am sorry that happened to you! That is hard to hear. We were at a bar top facing the ferris wheel so we were ok with that but it sounds like you had the same woman at check in that we had. Ours was elderly, too. And she was having none of anyone's requests! Makes me kind of sad I didn't get her name and say something now so she was spoken to. I hope you have a better time on your next visit! We won't be back when we return next year since food and service was poor but this place is not bad for everyone apparently so we will just try another spot.