This can't be true - Kids at Separate Table

[Markstudy]

Stupid Restaurant Tricks: Kids at Separate Table...
...in a separate dining room!!

(saw this posted on another web site... Has the world come to this? Yikes!)
We actually experienced that at Citrico's...SG party of adults with 8 kids, none over 12, come in, are brought to a table near us (front diningroom), and get into argument with hostess. Apparently they wanted to leave the kids there and be seated separately in the back diningroom! Worse yet, they actually won out and all of us in the front diningroom had to deal with the little darlings' antics while the adults were far, far away.

-One kid moves two chairs together and proceeds to use them as parallel bars for a gymnastics routine.

-Toddler runs amock, then falls to the floor where she rolls around for a while like a log.

-Rest of the kids run amock.

-Kids get into a literal food fight.

A couple seated closer to them called a manager over. I couldn't hear the conversation, but I think I can guess what it was about. Sadly the kids weren't reined in; probably easier to give a freebie than to try to get the parents to come control the hellions. This was probably the best edition I've seen of Stupid Guest Tricks: Restauarant Edition

 

[TDC Nala]

I posted on the other thread (which was apparently put up by someone who was actually there) and I will post on this one...

That restaurant manager made a foolish decision. A group of unsupervised minors should have never been permitted in the dining room while the parents were eating in a separate room. The liability issues should have precluded this decision. From what the poster who originated the story here said, the seating of the children in the dining room was permitted only after the parents either raised a fuss or threatened to raise one. Considering the potential liability, the fuss shouldn't have influenced the decision.

 

[kat3668]

UGH
Thats just pathetic!
I would have put up a big a stink as the kids parents did!
Some people are just so entitled!

 

[inkkognito]

Yep, it's true...I know 'cause I'm the one who posted it on the other board and I posted about it earlier here too. We eat at Disney a lot so we've seen some real doozies, but that was most definitely our most...er, interesting...experience. Next time we eat at Citricos (we're usually there early when it's not crowded), I am going to ask the manager if there is a policy and mention our previous experience.

 

[TDC Nala]

you should, as I can't think of any restaurant that has a policy of permitting unsupervised children.

Even the kids' clubs and the pirate cruise and that tea party thing to which the parents aren't invited are supervised by cast members.

 

[Evan&Kimberly]

Just down right Selfish, Of the Parents, when we decide to have children it changes our lives, and things are no longer the same, in some ways the change is good and in other ways it is an adjustment. The Children become are little blessings and our respondsibilites , and although we all need breaks from our children because we are individuals and do need some time alone , it can never be at the expense of others. So If they wanted to eat at this restaurant the children should have been seated with the parents, or the parents would have had to sit this one out , also if your children are not well behaved or not restaurant angels and do not do well at restaurants, that require them to be on there best behavior then you may want to practice at home, and before some of you get upset . The parents already knew how the children acted and that is why they wanted to be as far away from them as possible , so that they could enjoy there dinner at someone's expense, just senseless, selfish and down right ignorant and yes I did say it , and for anyone else thinking of doing this please don’t if you don’t want them to sit with you what makes you think I want to be seated near them. I have a 2 year old son and I will brag because he has been eating out forever and if you saw him at restaurant you would think I am having dinner with a grown man he knows that dinner is a serious time, maybe because he is a big eater or it may be that I do not tolerate playing and carrying on during dinner that is what play time is for, dinner is not the time to play it is a time to enjoy each other and our food and I do talk to him during dinner, for it is he and I, So the playing and carrying on at the character dinners, may be the time he wont know how to act . I do understand at WDW there are restaurants that cater to children enjoying themselves and that is wonderful , but for those places that are a little more subdued and are not waving napkins, dancing and parades, let’s respect those that decided to have a meal in a lower key! I often ask myself why people have Children that they don’t even want to be bothered with and there are so many people who want to be bothered with children that can’t have them! I will leave on this note cause I am truly an outspoken Georgia Girl, working on my masters in silence, haven’t got it yet, so if I was or if I am in a restaurant paying my money and a group of unsupervised children are seated by me, I would politely tell the manager that he can do one of three things, his choice, one he needs to move the children with there parents 2.he needs to move the parents with the children or 3 he needs to sit with the children till it is time for them to go, because if any food is thrown my way it is going to be big trouble for him! and I would also tell the parents that they needed to tend to there young'ns! And if you guys knew me, you would know that I am not lying!

 

[Disney_Angel]

Stupid Restaurant Tricks: Kids at Separate Table...
...in a separate dining room!!

(saw this posted on another web site... Has the world come to this? Yikes!)
We actually experienced that at Citrico's...SG party of adults with 8 kids, none over 12, come in, are brought to a table near us (front diningroom), and get into argument with hostess. Apparently they wanted to leave the kids there and be seated separately in the back diningroom! Worse yet, they actually won out and all of us in the front diningroom had to deal with the little darlings' antics while the adults were far, far away.

-One kid moves two chairs together and proceeds to use them as parallel bars for a gymnastics routine.

-Toddler runs amock, then falls to the floor where she rolls around for a while like a log.

-Rest of the kids run amock.

-Kids get into a literal food fight.

A couple seated closer to them called a manager over. I couldn't hear the conversation, but I think I can guess what it was about. Sadly the kids weren't reined in; probably easier to give a freebie than to try to get the parents to come control the hellions. This was probably the best edition I've seen of Stupid Guest Tricks: Restauarant Edition

I can only imagine!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I would have called the restaurant manager, as was done.
2) When you complain, let the manager know
. . . that you understand that kids can be jittery
. . . but, kids don't have the right to run around, throw food, play around, yell
. . . it is his responsibility to police the parents to control their kids
3) If no action, I would have asked for the Resort General Manager (GM).
4) Going that high would get the attention of the restaurant manager.
5) Do not say you will complain tomorrow.
6) They know that most folks do to follow-up.
7) Also, day-later complaints do not carry the weight of immediate complaints.

8) The restaurant manager may say the GM is not available, if so
. . . tell the restaurant manager to call/page the GM
. . . remind that all managers carry Blackberry's
. . . they can be paged, called, or alerted
. . . regardless whether the person is at home or at work
9) As an add-on or alternative to restaurant manager inaction
. . . tell him you want your whole meal comp'd
. . . let him know that your meal was ruined
. . . if he says no, tell him to go ahead and call security
. . . tell him you will be walking out without paying, so he should be prepared

NOTE: When you complain at WDW, always smile and never raise your voice. Also, DO NOT say that you won't come back. If you won't come back, what is the incentive to resolve your problem? Tell him because of this problem, you "are not having the best WDW vacation ever". This is the current mantra, and managers have to do whatever is possible to assure "guests have their best WDW vacation ever".

 

[Mackey Mouse]

TheRustyScupper, I like your style..

There would be no way, I am talking no way, I would have been in that dining room with that going on without saying something. Sorry. And I probably would have not stopped until the children in question behaved themselves or their parents came out and handled their misbehavior and if that did not happen, I would be asking for managers galore as TheRustyScupper said in his post. I am a Grandmother and have taken my grandson to some fine restaurants...if he is tired or maybe a bit noisey.....one of us takes him out, walking, talking but out of the restaurants so there would not be disruptions to others eating.. I am thinking about Mother's Day at the Intercontinental in Boston specifically.. many children were there that day, but all were well behaved including my grandson and everyone had a fine day..

I also would be writing a letter to Disney and I would have gotten the name of the hostess who allowed that situation to happen.. No way.. I am shocked at Citrico's, we eat there almost every time we go and I always recommend this restaurant as one of the finest Disney restaurants on property... Seems like they knuckled to the pressure of the parents and rather than cause a scene, they allowed the children to be seated separately. It is a pure example of entitlement... I am entitled to be seated where I want and my children where I want them and too bad who they annoy...

For shame.

 

[Evan&Kimberly]

Now you know that you have said A mouthful,You have to react to a problem ASAP,It will not only help you at the time, but will help the next person! Blackberry's get messages fast!Also like the moderator said well behaved children at a restaurant equal a pleasant time for the parents and those dinning around them.If we wanted children running and throwing food we would just go and eat at??????

 

[JUJU814]

Wow..that would have *infuriated* me! How irresponsible and selfish.

I'm shocked it was even allowed.

Julie

 

[PatsGirl]

Hard to believe. I started asking on this thread whether DD and her BFF, both almost 12, would be allowed to eat alone at a character meal (Chef Mickeys or Ohanas) and most thought it would be okay but I called WDW two times with the question and was told both times, NO.

Guess it would be okay if I sat at the bar then?

 

[inkkognito]

All excellent advice! The only reason I put off my complaint was that the manager was already getting an earful so there probably wasn't much we could have added. I'm just glad we were farther away from the Zoo Table than that poor couple. I know we will be back soon because we are local, and we usually are there early when it's quiet, so that will give me some time to talk to the manager without out-of-control children running around while other diners are reading her the riot act.

I think the parents had really cowed the poor hostess. The whole story is here: http://celebrationfl.blogspot.com

Citricos just wasn't up to par that night in general...the food was, but the service was bad (which is RARE for Citricos) and DH ended up getting the wrong entree. They volunteered to give him a free glass of wine because of that, which was nice, but it was just an off-night overall.

1) I would have called the restaurant manager, as was done.
2) When you complain, let the manager know
. . . that you understand that kids can be jittery
. . . but, kids don't have the right to run around, throw food, play around, yell
. . . it is his responsibility to police the parents to control their kids
3) If no action, I would have asked for the Resort General Manager (GM).
4) Going that high would get the attention of the restaurant manager.
5) Do not say you will complain tomorrow.
6) They know that most folks do to follow-up.
7) Also, day-later complaints do not carry the weight of immediate complaints.

8) The restaurant manager may say the GM is not available, if so
. . . tell the restaurant manager to call/page the GM
. . . remind that all managers carry Blackberry's
. . . they can be paged, called, or alerted
. . . regardless whether the person is at home or at work
9) As an add-on or alternative to restaurant manager inaction
. . . tell him you want your whole meal comp'd
. . . let him know that your meal was ruined
. . . if he says no, tell him to go ahead and call security
. . . tell him you will be walking out without paying, so he should be prepared

NOTE: When you complain at WDW, always smile and never raise your voice. Also, DO NOT say that you won't come back. If you won't come back, what is the incentive to resolve your problem? Tell him because of this problem, you "are not having the best WDW vacation ever". This is the current mantra, and managers have to do whatever is possible to assure "guests have their best WDW vacation ever".

 

[JUJU814]

Hard to believe. I started asking on this thread whether DD and her BFF, both almost 12, would be allowed to eat alone at a character meal (Chef Mickeys or Ohanas) and most thought it would be okay but I called WDW two times with the question and was told both times, NO.

Guess it would be okay if I sat at the bar then?

CM's are so inconsistent! Might be the age, but I asked them if my dd, 16, could take my 4 year old to 1900 Park Fare Cinderella dinner without us and they said yes, absolutely. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the reservation. Not sure if it's because of 12 v. 16 or not?

Julie

 

[powellrj]

While our experience wasn't as bad as the OP, we had a bad experience at The Concourse. We were seated at a table in the center of the restaurant next to the large booths. About the time we were eating our appetizers, a man came in with 7 young children. I commented to Dh what a brave man that was to take 7 little kids to a nice restaurant for dinner.

How wrong we were. The man dropped the kids off and left them alone. The oldest child was maybe 8 or 9 and the youngest was maybe 3. The kids removed their shoes and were laying across the booths while the oldest girl was ordering and sending back the food as fast as they could bring it. The man came back to see how the kids were doing as we were paying the check and the boys all had their shoes off and a couple were under the booth and the guy just looks and them and said he was glad they were all OK. I couldn't believe a resturant would let that go on, but nobody said a word to him. We left before we could see how it ended.

 

[Dismom55]

My 2 cents worth, the parents of the unruley kids should have been presented with the bill for all the people at all the tables who had a ruined evening/meal. I simpy do not understand why if the adults wanted an adult meal they simply did not get a babysitter to watch the kids.

That being said, I can brag that in all the 35+ yrs of being a mom, I have never allowed my kids to act badly at the dinner table, be it at home or away. My hubby and I do enjoy eating out, many times with the kids when they were younger. I can not tell you how many times hubby and I have almost walked out before even being seated when we see lots of kids in the restaurants. Or, complained that there should be a separation between those with kids and those without in all restaurants because we do not enjoy having our meal ruined with screaming, crying, or misbehaving kids. I wonder how many restaurants would continue to allow disruptive behaviour if they had to comp other patrons dinners. I am sure we would see more restaurants going to all adult rules. I am not saying don't bring your kids, I am saying teach them manners and we will all be happy.

 

[Evan&Kimberly]

Well I think 12 and 16 is a big difference, at the age 16 America looks at that age in many different ways but we can agree that this is the age when responsibilities are bestowed upon them, and when I was 16 I could have taken all 4 of my siblings to wherever and you would have never known that I was 16 and yes I did look 16 ,but I was like the second mother, so I am sure that your younger child respects your 16 year old and I know that they have probably been out for burgers and pizza before where you may even dropped them off while you ran errands,and I am sure that your 16 year old has been your younger child's babysitter for you at some point, so this is a different story, anybody younger than that needs to be accompanied by and adult! If you have a 16 year old or an older teenager that is immature, than they need to be accompanied by an adult to.

 

[Evan&Kimberly]

That's what I am talking about manners, and I am 34 and from the Old School. I was taught that you should be able to take your kids anywhere and be able to enjoy yourself; we all know that kids are going to be kids but manners and good behavior is so very important. So as parents we have to prepare our children for these different settings and occassions,so as a parent we must do everything that we can do before we put them in these situations, that is why as a single parent, of a 2 year old I have taught him at home that we do not get up from the table till we are finished, while eating that we wipe our hands and mouth during dinner, that we do not toss food or play in our plates, and believe it our not when I am finish cooking he gets my plate and his bowel out of the dishwasher, and when we are finished eating he puts his bowl and cup on the counter. We frequent many restaurants sit down dinners, buffets, hibachi style places and etc. I have people who cant believe his behavior and I say to myself what other behavior is expected? But I simply tell them thank you, so this is definitely not the children’s fault! The parents have to teach them before; they just bring them to these types of places. No parent that I know would just throw their child into a swimming pool knowing that can’t swim! They either teach them to swim or take them to swimming classes(there is etiquette classes) and once they learn how to swim they are constantly watching and offering tips on how to become an even better swimmer, special occasions and dinning is the same, you teach and constantly give suggestions to improve their behavior, To be honest this is our first trip to WDW and I honestly do not know how Evan is going to act at the character restaurants, my son has not eaten at places like Chunky Cheese, so he will not know how to act, but I will prepare him, so I better get in some of those places before we go next month, it is always about preparation before any endeavor.

 

[JUJU814]

Well I think 12 and 16 is a big difference, at the age 16 America looks at that age in many different ways but we can agree that this is the age when responsibilities are bestowed upon them, and when I was 16 I could have taken all 4 of my siblings to wherever and you would have never known that I was 16 and yes I did look 16 ,but I was like the second mother, so I am sure that your younger child respects your 16 year old and I know that they have probably been out for burgers and pizza before where you may even dropped them off while you ran errands,and I am sure that your 16 year old has been your younger child's babysitter for you at some point, so this is a different story, anybody younger than that needs to be accompanied by and adult! If you have a 16 year old or an older teenager that is immature, than they need to be accompanied by an adult to.

Exactly....I would completely trust my 16 year old with my children..she is amazing. However, I do not believe in using her for my built in babysitter (something I was at that age!) I trust my 16 year old a whole heck of a lot more than some other relatives twice her age!

Julie

 

[Evan&Kimberly]

I Understand trusting her more than people twice her age , and I commend you, on not allowing her to be your built in babysitter , and I hope that you did not think I was implying that, but I know that she is a big help, being the oldest of 5 I know I was a big help to my parents, and they never made me take on the responsibility of being the third parent, I have seen so many cases where people make their older children become parents to their siblings and this is so unfair! Well it is a blessing to have a great teenager that you can trust.