Thumbs down for Wolfgang Puck express

[laurietg]

Hi. Just got back from an amazing trip at WDW!!!

I will give a full dining report later, but wanted to tell you about our experience at Wolfgang Puck express on Wednesday night. My DH, DD and I were in the restaurant looking up at the menu. We were discussing what we would have, and my DH said he thought the chicken dinner ($9.99) looked good. My DD and I were going to split a personal pizza. As we were walking up, I heard one CM go to the other and say something to her. I didn't get the whole sentence, but I heard, "Oh, just so you know, if people come in on the dining plan, from now on....."

So, we went up and I started to give my order, and the CM said "You can't get the chicken on the dining plan-only pizza or a salad." I asked when this started, and he said, "right now." I was shocked. I thought it was so rude. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but the tone he had with me-I couldn't believe!!! My DH told him, thank-you, but we'll go somewhere else. I know we will never go there again.

Having said that, every other experience we had with a CM was great! It was a wonderful trip.

 

[mcreamer9]

Sorry you had a bad experience. Maybe next trip you can try it again with a different crew of castmembers. We really enjoy the food, the pizza is great!!! Glad to hear the rest of your trip was good.

 

[jann1033]

just curious..was this with the paid or free dining plan?...i'm wondering if they will add stuff back once the dust settles or if the changes will be permanent..

 

[bicker]

I think these dining plans are the worst things that ever happened to restaurants. There's no way that anyone can really be happy with them, since there is inadequate basis for calibrated expectations, and the poor servers are stuck adjudicating the legalities of the program as it changes to respond to customer reaction. Bad idea. It's time to put the idea out of its misery IMHO. It's best, I believe, when people feel full control over what they pay, and pay for each thing they want at the time they want it. That's when it feels most "worth it" to them.

 

[barbeml]

I think these dining plans are the worst things that ever happened to restaurants. There's no way that anyone can really be happy with them, since there is inadequate basis for calibrated expectations, and the poor servers are stuck adjudicating the legalities of the program as it changes to respond to customer reaction. Bad idea. It's time to put the idea out of its misery IMHO. It's best, I believe, when people feel full control over what they pay, and pay for each thing they want at the time they want it. That's when it feels most "worth it" to them.

I agree. I've never done the dining plan, free or paid, but after reading so many posts about confusion, less than knowledgeable CMs, inconsistency, bad feelings and declining service attributed to free dining, it seems like it shouldn't be repeated.

 

[Iluvthemouse]

We ate there and it was our worst dining experience. The cashier was rude. The pizza was soggy and the chocolate cake had this strong liquor taste. Uggh, I cant stand the place. I wish we had eaten at Earl of Sandwich instead.
Sorry to hear about your experience.

 

[DoxaWeKnee]

Are the employees at WG Express Disney CM's ? I know the staff at Earl of Sandwich are not.

 

[DisFlan]

We've eaten at WP Express without a dining plan and were totally underwhelmed by both the food and service. We felt it was overpriced for less than mediocre food that was pratically thrown at us. The chicken was rubbery, and I've had better mashed potatoes out of a box. My DH took a couple of bites of his flatbread/pizza thingie and dumped it. We were amazed that Puck even has his name associated with the place.

As far as "ambience", there is none. It's more like a high school cafeteria line. We won't do it again.

DisFlan

 

[bicker]

Wolfgang Puck's chain restaurants aren't really noted for especially discriminating service. Postrio and his other top-tier restaurants are very expensive, and the service is on par with that, but his chain of restaurants never distinguished themselves on service quality. Puck was perhaps the first really good businessman-chef in the restaurant-chain industry, but part of that was recognizing what drives mid-tier customers, and to our shame, many mid-tier customers have been driven by overly-trendy cuisine, with Hollywood caché, at accessible prices, rather than by superlative service.

 

[eclectics]

I think these dining plans are the worst things that ever happened to restaurants. There's no way that anyone can really be happy with them, since there is inadequate basis for calibrated expectations, and the poor servers are stuck adjudicating the legalities of the program as it changes to respond to customer reaction. Bad idea. It's time to put the idea out of its misery IMHO. It's best, I believe, when people feel full control over what they pay, and pay for each thing they want at the time they want it. That's when it feels most "worth it" to them.

As much as I enjoyed the dining experience (we had absolutely no problem anywhere) and the great food, as I've said before, I would much prefer a room discount next time and I will arrange my own dining. It was fun to do once, but if offered again, I would decline.

 

[jenga1030]

We loved Wolfgang Puck's Express! It was my favorite CS meal. The CM's were really nice and helpful and told my dh if he didn't want dessert (we were going to Ghiradelli's afterwards) he could get an extra side item instead. We loved the little pizzas and my dh loved his chicken sandwich. And I thought the chocolate cake was delicious, I ate every bite!

And as for the dining plan, I've read about the problems people are having on it and I'm not sure I would ever pay for it since I felt we spent way too much of our trip eating, but it sure was nice to eat at restaurants that we would not usually have been able to. We had a positive experience with the dining plan and Wolfgang Puck's.

 

[laurietg]

just curious..was this with the paid or free dining plan?...i'm wondering if they will add stuff back once the dust settles or if the changes will be permanent..

It was the free dining-but they have no way of knowing if you paid or not. I didn't notice ANYONE paying for food, though. It seems as though everyone in WDW was on the dining plan! I'm sure it was frustrating for some CM's. I had no problem with the fact that the chicken was not on the dining plan, though. I just can't believe the way they handled it. It seemed he made the decision as we walked in.

 

[laurietg]

Are the employees at WG Express Disney CM's ? I know the staff at Earl of Sandwich are not.

I was wondering this as well. I'm really not sure. It might explain why the employee was rude.

 

[Pkdcoastrs]

Wow am I surprised! Wolfgang Puck & Wolfgang Puck Express have ALWAYS been the "go-to" meals when we know we want to get great service and great food in WDW! When we did the Dining Plan this past July, our BEST meals were Wolfgang Puck & Express! If only we ate there more during teh trip, but heading to DTD used up time when we were at the parks!

 

[barbeml]

Wow am I surprised! Wolfgang Puck & Wolfgang Puck Express have ALWAYS been the "go-to" meals when we know we want to get great service and great food in WDW! When we did the Dining Plan this past July, our BEST meals were Wolfgang Puck & Express! If only we ate there more during teh trip, but heading to DTD used up time when we were at the parks!

I too am surprised to hear about poor food experiences. We have never been disappointed at WP Express. The soups are fantastic, and they do the Chinois Chicken Salad better than WP Cafe does...for less money.

 

[HoneyPooh]

We ate there last week on the dining plan and had a really good experience. Two of us had the BBQ chicken meal. The gentleman who took our order told us if we did not want desert that we could have an extra side. We particularly enjoyed the mashed potatoes and found them nothing like those "from a box". Very buttery and yummy. Sorry you had a bad experience, they were very nice to us.