Wait Staff Disappointment

[adfoster84]

My husband and I just got back from a 10 day 9 night trip to Disney World. I planned out our restaurant visits months in advance. I followed blogs and podcasts and tried to get us reservations at wide variety of restaurants as well as some old favorites. Like most of you, I put in alot of hours just to have several experiences turn out super disappointing because of the wait staff. For example, we went to Boma for breakfast on Saturday, October 26. It took our waitress 15 minutes to even come to the table. She barely took 30 seconds to welcome us in or explain the buffet options and lay out to us before she was gone again. It took us another several minutes to get our drinks and refills were not even an option. It was busy but not over crowded so I am not sure what the issue was. On the same night we went to Paddlefish. The restaurant was not busy, in fact, we were seated in an upstairs room and we were only the second table to be filled in that space. Our waiter came immediately to get our drink order but then disappeared for 20 minutes. We had to call the manager over twice during our meal because of issues with the waiter. My husband needed extra butter to go with his crab legs and the waiter was no where to be found and then it took the waiter 20 minutes to bring us our $70 change. At the Grand Floridian Cafe, the waitress forgot to put in our salad orders so we got our food without our salads. We ended up just cancelling the salad order because we had enough food. All of this complaining to say....is anyone else having this issue? These are decently priced restaurants and the food was good but the service awful. I just don't understand what is going on?

 

[lovin'fl]

My husband and I just got back from a 10 day 9 night trip to Disney World. I planned out our restaurant visits months in advance. I followed blogs and podcasts and tried to get us reservations at wide variety of restaurants as well as some old favorites. Like most of you, I put in alot of hours just to have several experiences turn out super disappointing because of the wait staff. For example, we went to Boma for breakfast on Saturday, October 26. It took our waitress 15 minutes to even come to the table. She barely took 30 seconds to welcome us in or explain the buffet options and lay out to us before she was gone again. It took us another several minutes to get our drinks and refills were not even an option. It was busy but not over crowded so I am not sure what the issue was. On the same night we went to Paddlefish. The restaurant was not busy, in fact, we were seated in an upstairs room and we were only the second table to be filled in that space. Our waiter came immediately to get our drink order but then disappeared for 20 minutes. We had to call the manager over twice during our meal because of issues with the waiter. My husband needed extra butter to go with his crab legs and the waiter was no where to be found and then it took the waiter 20 minutes to bring us our $70 change. At the Grand Floridian Cafe, the waitress forgot to put in our salad orders so we got our food without our salads. We ended up just cancelling the salad order because we had enough food. All of this complaining to say....is anyone else having this issue? These are decently priced restaurants and the food was good but the service awful. I just don't understand what is going on?

Did you have a TIW card per chance? I have a theory that if you tell them you have TIW at beginning they will be less attentive since they know they get the automatic 18% tip no matter what. I now wait to tell them at end.

I notice similar too. It is one of my biggest complaints. I don't think they hire enough staff. The Boma breakfast one is ALWAYS that way. I like ketchup on my eggs and sausage and it takes a couple asks and like 25 mins for them to bring it (wish they'd maybe put a tray of it on buffet, tray of the little ramekins of ketchup since they seem to be too cheap to have bottle on the tables). And takes a year to pay our tab. We only ate at GF Cafe once and had slow forgetful service too.

 

[marikujawa]

We just returned from a 7 day trip and had, overall, excellent service. Dinners were at STK, Narcoossee's, Toledo, Sanaa, Hollywood Brown Derby, Nomad Lounge and Flying Fish. I would say the servers at Narcoossee's, Brown Derby and Flying Fish were outstanding. The only place we had fair service was Toledo, where the server seemed more inexperienced than inattentive. We also had lunch at the Boathouse and Wolfgang Puck's Bar and Grill and had great service at both places. The service at Cali Grill Brunch was a bit slow at times, but we were in no rush so it didn't matter.

I don't think there's any difference in service based on the TIW card. We always add to the tip to bring it up to 20%, but I never got the idea that they would be less attentive if they knew in advance that there were only getting the 18% TIW automatic gratuity. If you think it may be an issue, though, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to tell a server in advance that you have TIW. It's not a dining plan.

 

[lovin'fl]

I've noticed the TIW thing at Ohana in particular.

 

[marikujawa]

We stopped going to 'Ohana because the service and food just aren't very good. I don't think it has anything to do with TIW because they don't know about it until they bring the check. But if anyone has any concerns about service being affected by the TIW card, I would just say again that there is no reason to mention it. The only times we ever mentioned TIW in advance is when we were asking if the restaurant accepted it because some restaurants that are not on the list do take the card. On those occasions, we didn't get poor service.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Honestly I think it’s just luck of the draw. We told the servers about TIW before at all our meals and had some great and some mediocre.

We had a fantastic server at Boma for breakfast (only a few days before your experience, OP), and a great one at the Plaza for lunch. Good enough ones at Le Cellier and Brown Derby. We had a mediocre one at California Grill (but the hosting staff were wonderful and so sweet), and Liberty Tree Tavern. And now I’m hungry.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I’m going to look at it differently

You ate out 3(?) meals per day for 10 days, so 30ish times. And had 2 less than stellar experiences. That’s awesome!

On a more serious note, I’m sorry. Boma is my favorite buffet bar none. This should have been a slam dunk. I’m sorry it wasn’t.

 

[adfoster84]

Did you have a TIW card per chance? I have a theory that if you tell them you have TIW at beginning they will be less attentive since they know they get the automatic 18% tip no matter what. I now wait to tell them at end.

I notice similar too. It is one of my biggest complaints. I don't think they hire enough staff. The Boma breakfast one is ALWAYS that way. I like ketchup on my eggs and sausage and it takes a couple asks and like 25 mins for them to bring it (wish they'd maybe put a tray of it on buffet, tray of the little ramekins of ketchup since they seem to be too cheap to have bottle on the tables). And takes a year to pay our tab. We only ate at GF Cafe once and had slow forgetful service too.

We do not have TIW. No dining plan. Just used cash. We typically are 20 to 25% tippers but there were several times we paid 10 - 12% tip because of the service.

 

[adfoster84]

I’m going to look at it differently

You ate out 3(?) meals per day for 10 days, so 30ish times. And had 2 less than stellar experiences. That’s awesome!

On a more serious note, I’m sorry. Boma is my favorite buffet bar none. This should have been a slam dunk. I’m sorry it wasn’t.

There was more than 2 meals that had bad service...i just listed those as examples. We maybe had an issue at 40% of our meals. The best service we had was at Crystal Palace and Homecoming. At both the staff was attentive but not bothering you every 30 seconds.

 

[TeresaWen]

We use TIW and I have to say we get fantastic service. Most servers we have had the pleasure of meeting in Disney take pride in giving good service and the knowledge that they will get at least an 18% tip actually motivates them.

 

[adfoster84]

We stopped going to 'Ohana because the service and food just aren't very good. I don't think it has anything to do with TIW because they don't know about it until they bring the check. But if anyone has any concerns about service being affected by the TIW card, I would just say again that there is no reason to mention it. The only times we ever mentioned TIW in advance is when we were asking if the restaurant accepted it because some restaurants that are not on the list do take the card. On those occasions, we didn't get poor service.

We had decent service at O'hana. I have a food allergy issue so we had to wait for bread service and such until we could speak with the chef but after that things went very nicely. They were very busy that night (friday). I don't know enough about TIW to know how it could affect anything. We just learned of it right before our trip so I didn't have enough time to research it fully. I would think though that you would get better service knowing that you had at least a guaranteed 18% tip.

 

[adfoster84]

I’m going to look at it differently

You ate out 3(?) meals per day for 10 days, so 30ish times. And had 2 less than stellar experiences. That’s awesome!

On a more serious note, I’m sorry. Boma is my favorite buffet bar none. This should have been a slam dunk. I’m sorry it wasn’t.

The food at Boma was good but the service definitely left a bad taste in our mouth. I definitely enjoyed the bread pudding. it was delicious.

 

[stephk1981]

We have hit and miss service on each trip
Narcoosee was always amazing, then 2 trips ago they were HORRIBLE! Last trip, they were great again. Same with Boma, Ohana, Rainforest Cafe, Le cellier, Flying fish, even yachtsman! The list goes on and on. It just depends on the server/ night. If you go back, don't hesitate to retry the restaurants....next time the service will probably be great!

 

[gharter]

We were there 1 week ago, ate at 9 TS restaurants in all the parks and some resorts. Had great service at all.
We use the TIW card and they all knew at the start of the meal. We noticed no decrease in service at all.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I find Disney waitstaff service to often be slow, especially compared to "real world" restaurants, and I don't understand why. I would think that if I were a waiter, I would want to be attentive so I could have more parties seated in my section but who knows. The best service has usually been at non-Disney owned restaurants for us.

Definitely can be hit and miss, though at those prices shouldn't really ever be a miss... Sorry you had such frustrating experiences!

 

[kiford]

I think it's just luck of the draw and the fact that, even though the restaurant may not be crowded right when you're there, it might have been earlier and servers are either tired or everything got behind in the kitchen or bar. I second what a PP mentioned about trying a restaurant a second time after lackluster or bad service. We didn't go to the Brown Derby for a couple of years after we felt the service was declining. Since the menu was so-so IMO, I didn't feel the urge to go until earlier this year. We had fantastic service! And I really liked the food. Same with California Grill. I wasn't really feeling their menu and we'd had OK, but not great service the previous time. Went earlier this year and both the food and service was outstanding. Recently at La Hacienda while I told the server about an allergen of mine, she didn't check on the tortilla chips and I ended up vomiting part of the night as a result. I should have explicitly asked about that particular item but I didn't and just assumed it was OK because she didn't say anything about it (which is stupid of me - I should know better than that). They were really busy that night and she was handling a large party beside us so I understand why - and it should have been a clue to me to be more specific as it was obvious that she was a bit frazzled - but it definitely colours your perception. I may try it again but this time I'll be more explicit in my queries.

 

[RealBlast3]

Unfortunately, these are things that can happen at Disney and anywhere. I am sorry they happened to you and tainted your dining experiences. I wouldn't necessarily say it is signaling any sort of downward trend in Disney service, it's just bad luck.

These sort of things have happened to me at Disney but not that often. That's true about the ketchup, though LOL. Funny you should mention that. I feel that's always been an issue at most of their buffets over the years in Disney, it's always a struggle to find condiments like that. I love ketchup on my scrambled eggs as well. But I will try something else if they have it. Like I think Boma has some interesting and spicy sauces I always try.

And sometimes I have had to wait a long time for my waiter at buffets, too, even when they don't seem that busy. It's funny because usually the hostess bringing you to tour table tells you to not wait, just go up and get your food, but while you obviously don't need your waiter to get your food, you don't want to miss them when you arrive because you want to get your coffee or juice or drink order in, of course so you have it while you have your food, so I always wait for my waiter before I hit the food.

 

[Jennasis]

That always stinks, regardless of where you are eating. We've had some real doozies waiting on us but luckily never at Disney. On our last trip, in September, I actually commented to DH that every server we had treated us like they had been waiting all day for us to show up!

 

[lovin'fl]

Unfortunately, these are things that can happen at Disney and anywhere. I am sorry they happened to you and tainted your dining experiences. I wouldn't necessarily say it is signaling any sort of downward trend in Disney service, it's just bad luck.

These sort of things have happened to me at Disney but not that often. That's true about the ketchup, though LOL. Funny you should mention that. I feel that's always been an issue at most of their buffets over the years in Disney, it's always a struggle to find condiments like that. I love ketchup on my scrambled eggs as well. But I will try something else if they have it. Like I think Boma has some interesting and spicy sauces I always try.

And sometimes I have had to wait a long time for my waiter at buffets, too, even when they don't seem that busy. It's funny because usually the hostess bringing you to tour table tells you to not wait, just go up and get your food, but while you obviously don't need your waiter to get your food, you don't want to miss them when you arrive because you want to get your coffee or juice or drink order in, of course so you have it while you have your food, so I always wait for my waiter before I hit the food.

This. And where are spicy sauces cause I would so try that on my eggs and sausage? On the buffet? I will have to pay closer attention. But, yes, the buffets and AYCE are so off timing wise. Ohana, Boma, Cape May, Biergarten... you can get food quickly but condiments, bar drinks, drink refills, new silverwear (when you drop one), the check....all that seems to take forever and a day. Not all the time but more times than I'd like.

 

[cruisin5]

There is NO need to mention TiW when placing an order; I learned from these boards!