Tigerlaw is back from the world - any questions?

[TigerLaw]

Here's my quick take on things:

1. the effects of the free dining plan were very noticable.
2. the love bugs were EVERYWHERE! made it very difficult to enjoy the pool
3. crowds were manageable, but far from lite except for first couple hrs.

happy to answer any questions!

 

[Allison]

Please elaborate on Number 1.

 

[TigerLaw]

I will give you my best example. Had a 10:30 PS at donald's. didn't get in till 10:50. outside waiting was a complete joke, totally disorganized, tons more kids than usual all running around uncontrolled. get in, service was horrible, food choices were diminished and one character came into our section, and that was when we paid our check.

to my wife and I, the plan "effect" was most noticeable at parks restuarants where kids would want to be (donald's, CP, etc).

 

[shyjade]

I agree with that! We felt like we were customers on an assembly line, no magical "dining experiences" for us. Servers seemed rushed, bored, or just plain worn out. They rambled things off mindlessly, almost robotically. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed most of the meals and most of the servers were politely nice, but I sure didn't feel like we were a valued customer.

At Sci-Fi the service was horrendous!! We got our drinks & apps together (nearly 15 minutes after ordering). We didn't see the server again until the end of the meal (someone else delivered the entree and the server never checked back on us). I never had catsup for the fries and my food came out COLD; not lukewarm, but downright disgustingly cold. But because I was on the free dining package, what could I do? I never saw a manager/supervisor otherwise I would've definately complained.

 

[Allison]

That is interesting to know. I have heard about less food choices. As someone who isn't on the dining plan, I would be upset to go during free dining and find out I couldn't get duck firecrackers at Jiko.

 

[TigerLaw]

I doubt the effect would be felt at jiko, just the kid-popular places.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

Here's my quick take on things:

1. the effects of the free dining plan were very noticable.
2. the love bugs were EVERYWHERE! made it very difficult to enjoy the pool
3. crowds were manageable, but far from lite except for first couple hrs.

happy to answer any questions!

We just got back Sat & ITA.

Diminished menu options are bad enough but we felt very rushed. (FWIW, we do not do the DDP). Had no bad experiences with servers themselves just felt that everything was coming out rapid-fire so they could turn the tables over.

 

[COmomof2]

I completely agree with the OP. We returned home late Saturday night. We had a great time and felt the crowd levels were great, too. But, the love bugs are everywhere...I mean they crawl all over you. It's gross! They were all over the pool chairs, and for some reason, they love the Triceratop Spin in the AK!

We were disappointed with our overall dining experience this year. We paid for the DDP last April, and loved it. We found that the menus are greatly diminished, and almost every one of our servers seemed annoyed. Compared with our experience last year, we were not impressed by much except Boma this trip.

 

[Allison]

I doubt the effect would be felt at jiko, just the kid-popular places.

Actually, it has been felt at Jiko as far as menu selection or so I have heard. The duck firecrackers are not on the menu and someone reported they would return after free dining is over.