We had a California Grill "Situation"

[WEDWDW]

This is very possible about the second ADR, I guess. I will try and find out. We are on haitus with the dance team but I can contact them and see if they had originally made plans elsewhere and when they heard a bunch of us were going to the CG, switched there. I don't think it's possible they JUST made adrs at the wrong place because I know they were concerned that after all that unpleasantness they would appear as a 'no-show' and their CC would be charged.... meaning they gave one at the time they made the adr. Not too many restaurants require that so it would more than likely have been made at the CG and not another restaurant by mistake.

To the poster who supplied the address to write and the information that should be included - I thank you. I will pass it along. I will probably go ahead and write myself also. Being, like I mentioned, the biggest Disney fan in this group, I feel like I personally did this to them because all I ever talked about was how superior everything about WDW is and how impressed everyone would be.

You're welcome and thank you for being willing to pass the info along.

I think you also writing Disney is a good idea-your perspectrive of the situation from a Disney "veteran's" eyes should be something Disney would be interested in knowing.

As for the Family being "double booked"(and having the CG ADR "removed"),I think that is HIGHLY unlikely.

I just can't see second floor giving them a pager without there being an ADR in the system at that point.

I can only guarantee you one thing-Disney WILL respond to the email(most likely a phone call).

Be advised,their response may not happen for several weeks.

Please post their response here-I would really be interested in knowing how they react to your information.

Thanks.

 

[dismichael]

You have to remember, it was July 4th- one of the busiest days of the year for Disney. I really don't think it was racism as much as computer error. Working in customer service industries can be stressful, let alone trying to satisfy thousands upon thousands per day. For example, we went to a local restaurant for my sister's graduation dinner a few weeks ago. The restaurant was empty, but expecting alot of people because other local schools were also graduating that day. I heard my mom make the ressie on the phone, we got a number, and even the girl's name- yet when we got there, no reservation was to be found. They almost couldn't seat us because of the crowd, and we ended up getting a less than attractive table due to the mix-up. I think that sometimes the computer just doesn't register correctly, or someone presses the wrong button, etc. If the family was upset, they should have seen their hotel concierge about the situation, and seen what could be done. Disney being Disney, I think accommodations could be made. Not only is the crowd diverse, but the staff is flown in from all over the world to purposely be diverse. There is no way that everyone working in the Cali Grill happened to be racist, and decided to hurt this family on a busy holiday. I hope their faith in the parks hasn't been shaken, because I think it was a mix-up.

 

[si-am]

Something similar happened to us once at Akershus. We had confirmation # in hand, but they had no record of our reservation and couldn't look it up by the number. They refused to seat us. Needless to say, a bit of a disappointment for the little girls in our party all dressed up in their princess garb ready to meet the princesses! It was an even bigger deal than normal because my aunt was in the final stages of her battle with breast cancer, and this would be the last chance she'd ever have to see her granddaughters at a special princess meal (which had been a tradition since the girls were born). Even with this info, they could/would do nothing for us.

We did contact Disney about it later, and they sent us a princess picture frame as a consolation prize of sorts. Of course, that was a bit ironic as we had no princess pictures to put in the frame.

 

[dansyr2514]

I would definitely write to Disney. No matter what the mistake was, they should've made it work. If the family were standing there and had a buzzer, someone saw their reservations and gave it to them. They should've found a way to accommodate them. However, I don't think race has an issue.
Disney has many, races, religions etc working for them and I think they are probably the most non discrimantory company there is .
Also, every time we've been to Cali Grill, which has been many, doesn't a host or hostess escort you up in the elevator? They still did this last October when we were there.

 

[Hootch]

Terrible response from the manager. He should have just made it work. Even if he sat them at the bar or sushi bar, or in an un-staffed area and made a sever help them, or serve them himself. Totally unacceptable. I would have complained to the greeters on the second floor as well, obviously they sent them up. We were there (cali grill) on the night before at the third, and had a great time.

exactly what I thought while reading the initial post. In no way do I think Disney is racist.

There are mistakes in the restaurant biz (and elsewhere) all of the time. We were in WDW a couple of weeks ago and our meal finally arrived after tables sat after us had already left. In our case we had been seated. The manager had to come and speak with us. He had no choice.

In this case I would have coolly seethed. Well, probably for a minute or two and then went off on the manager. This should have been handled better. There are very few people, but there are some, that would fake an ADR number to get a table.

I received a survey email a week or so after our trip and it covered views on meals. If your friends don't get one, I would send an email. The mistake could have come from a number of reasons. It's important that Disney knows it happened so they can address the issue.

 

[samefay]

Wonder if they had a ressie for Garden Grill? Sounds close. (All except for being able to check-in on the 2nd floor and having a pager!)

 

[vellamint]

Im sorry... I refuse to believe that anyone that works in the food management area of Disneyworld would actually deny a family with 3 hungry CHILDREN a table due to race. I DO think the parents should have firmly demanded the table to which they were obviously intended. They showed a lot of class by not causing a scene.....something I do not think I would have been able to do.....

 

[aubriee]

I would say race played no factor - Disney tries very hard to accomodate everyone.

Disney cares about one color - green. If you have the $$ they will glad serve you (as long as you have a reservation, etc.). California Grill has a "dress policy" and I have seen it broken every time I go there - they would have a hard time sending away a paying customer just because of an outfit, etc.

I also doubt race played a factor. However, even though I agree that we've seen the dress code policy broken at almost every Signature restaurant, twice we have seen people turned away because of their dress. Once at Yachtsman we saw a lady turned away. She was wearing a very nice silky blouse, high heels, and a pair of nice expensive distressed jeans that had a bunch of holes in them. She got very irate, yelling "Do you know how much these jeans cost?" She demanded a manager, but he backed the hostess and told her jeans with holes were not allowed. The only other time we've ever seen anyone turned away was a young couple at Jikos. He was wearing a tshirt with a pair of flowered board swim trunks and she was wearing a very short, sheer white lace swimsuit coverup with a bright colored bikini under it. They both had wet hair and you could see they had just come in from the pool and were still damp. The young lady kept insisting the sheer lacy coverup was a dress.

 

[bluejasmine]

Pls tell your friends to NOT let this go! They need to speak with guest services! I dont know if it was a racial thing but it certainly was not appropriate! They could have seated this family simply b/c they had a pager and had been waiting all that time and had a ADR number!

Im serious guest services will do everything in their power to right this,, WDW is known for their superior customer service! Tell the husband to give as much info as possible about the situation like times, description of manager and hostess checking him in! Pls let us know what happens!

 

[Alexander]

First, I honestly don't think it was a racial issue, but again, I cannot fathom that that is still happening in our country! I understand it is, but WDW as other posters indicated welcomes everyone.

We had a similar problem one 4th of July with our reservation at 'Ohana. We arrived at the podium to check in and were told we didn't have a reservation. (Having had a disruptive and very late check-in to our room, I forgot to bring the number with me.) The CM was very rude and insisted that I must have canceled the reservation because it wasn't in the computer and if I had one it would be there.

I went over to the house phones and called the Disney Dining and got my reservation number. I walked over to the podium, refusing to wait in line and plunked down the number. The CM punched into the computer and tada--I did have a reservation. She was very un-Disney like in her attitude and finally gave us our table. Without that number, she was not going to budge because it was July 4th and extremely busy.

The resorts and restaurants around Magic Kingdom are crazy on July 4th because everybody tries to get close to watch the fireworks. I believe the manager dropped the ball on your friends issue and should have found a table for them. That restaurant is very careful about who they let on the elevator (and geesh, they had a pager) but on July 4th, I think it would be impossible to get up to CG without a reservation.

I have to also disagree with previous posters about empty tables. There are enough servers for those Magic Kindgom close-by restaurants on July 4th to have those restaurants at capacity for dinner. If there were empty tables, it is because they had no one to sit in them. They do not leave empty tables, especially on July 4th.

 

[Hooked On The Mouse]

I agree with others that the family concerned should follow this up with Disney, and that others from your party should write in as well. I hope someone has the manager's name and is able to provide it to Disney. He handled the situation in an appalling way and should not be a manager anywhere. I know it does happen that ressies are lost, but this family was checked in downstairs and escorted upstairs; they were also part of a large party and should have been seated somewhere somehow. A decent manager would have found a way to make it work.