Waiting to be seated while tables are open?

[nigel-bigel]

Can someone please explain to me why often at WDW I wait to be seated (regardless of ADRs) while I see tables open?

I'm not talking about during off-peak hours, either. I waitressed all through college and understand all about not having a full staff at 3:30 in the afternoon. But why are there empty tables set and waiting at a character breakfast at 10 am?

Any ideas?

 

[Hopefully]

My thought would be exactly what you have already identified. 10 AM is not "Prime" breakfast time, it is late and they are no longer fully staffedl.
Just my opinion.

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

I don't know about buffets but what I have heard is that when you seat numerous tables at relatively the same time(dinner hour) you can overwhelm a kitchen. Then service suffers because they get behind and the flow of your meal can be disrupted. Ex. you may sit too long holding your menu because the server needs to serve hot meals or there may a lag between app. and main course etc.. I don't know if this is true in WDW but this is what I have heard.

 

[gatour]

Also you do not want to "triple seat" a server. That is when the hostess seat three different tables at about the same time in one server's section. The service for all three tables will suffer as everyone will be wanting to order etc at the same time.

 

[puffkin]

Also, at some of the character meals/buffets, they leave whole sections empty and then seat them at roughly the same time in order to ensure the proper flow of characters. I know Donalds' Breakfastsaurus does this.

 

[my3princes]

I am a hostess at a local restaurant and there is more to seating than one would think. You wouldn't know if they are fully staffed or not which will limit the amout of tables that can be seated. I've had nights where I have had tables available, but no waitstaff to handle them. Waitstaff and/or kitchen can get behind when that happens the waitstaff may request you not seat in their section until they have caught up thus giving them the opportunity to give everyone good service. If I know that I have a reservation coming in of a certain size or special need I may hold a table aside for the party. As someone else mentioned you cannot overload a server by seating too many parties at one time. It is all about giving the patron the best service possible within the limits of the restaurant/staff.

Deb

 

[disnut8]

Same thing happened to us at TGI Friday's on, gulp, Friday. Late night, waited twenty minutes and were seated in a section with open tables. But I'll give up the wait because the service was top notch. Figured no one wanted to be overloaded since it was raining, it was Friday, and the place was packed.