would this have annoyed you?

[ckdsnynt]

No way would I have put up with that. I would have asked to speak with the manager as soon as the seating arrangements became apparent and raised the liability issue of having the childen left at a table with me, their non parent. Then I would have insisted that some of the children be placed at their parents table and some of those adults at our table. I would have been polite but firm in my insistence.

Then when the children became unruly at our table, I again would have asked for the manager and requested a portion of my meal be discounted for the trouble caused by the unruly children. It is my vacation too, not just their parents' vacation! I have had it with rude, inconsiderate people taking over the world. I intend to stick up for myself. I will be polite, but firm. Otherwise, these type of people push further and further! The sad thing is, their children grow up with a lack of manners also, creating future problems for us all.

 

[pigletto]

Definitely would have been annoyed at the parents. I would not have let my kids sit away from me with a group of adults I didn't know..Very odd.

That's just it.. I'm a parent and I wouldn't want my kids sitting with strangers (no offence OP.. I'm sure you're very nice). It seems like this was both a poor staff and parenting decision.
Now I have teenage siblings. They know without question how to behave in all levels of restaurants. I could live with it in that case. But younger children? No way.

 

[centurythree]

That would have annoyed me right out of the restaurant.

 

[BriarRosie]

I don't know if this was my report, but this DID happen to me at Citricos several years ago and it was absolutely infuriating. The restaurant eventually got the parents to corral the kids, but it went on for quite a while before anyone took any action at all. Totally unacceptable in a restaurant like Citricos

It was part of an amusing report by inkkognito. She wasn't amused at the time, I'm sure. But the kids in Citrico's were rolling on the floor at one point. The whole scenario of her experience seemed like a diner's nightmare.

While having teenagers at the table would probably have been acceptable, a crying child who didn't want to be away from Mommy would not have been. The mom should have taken matters into hand at that point.

 

[Tink888]

I guess how annoyed I'd be would depend on the behavior of the kids. I can understand how that might've put a damper on the fun for your DH and his buddies. But......

8 adults and 5 kids aren't going to all fit at one table.

As long as the kids are capable of feeding themselves and behaving appropriately in a restaurant, they're capable of sitting at their own table. Depending on the age, they probably enjoyed being at their own table as much as the parents did.

The bottom line is at restaurants like Teppan and Biergarten where you have group seating, unless you have the exact number in your party as there are seats at the table, you're going to be grouped with strangers.

It's a crapshoot.....you might be seated with pleasant dining partners, or kids, or obnoxious adults, etc. It's the chance you take. If you don't want to take the chance of who you might be seated with, don't make reservations at a group seating restaurant.

 

[ichliebe]

It must be exciting.!

 

[cymbaldiva]

I guess how annoyed I'd be would depend on the behavior of the kids. I can understand how that might've put a damper on the fun for your DH and his buddies. But......

8 adults and 5 kids aren't going to all fit at one table.

As long as the kids are capable of feeding themselves and behaving appropriately in a restaurant, they're capable of sitting at their own table. Depending on the age, they probably enjoyed being at their own table as much as the parents did.

The bottom line is at restaurants like Teppan and Biergarten where you have group seating, unless you have the exact number in your party as there are seats at the table, you're going to be grouped with strangers.

It's a crapshoot.....you might be seated with pleasant dining partners, or kids, or obnoxious adults, etc. It's the chance you take. If you don't want to take the chance of who you might be seated with, don't make reservations at a group seating restaurant.

I really wish the OP would return to clarify the approximate ages of the kids involved.

I do understand group seating and the possible ramifications. However, if these are younger children? I truly believe that the seating should have been arranged so some of the adults from their own party were with them. If they don't want to sit with their own kids, why in the world would I?

 

[aubriee]

That wasn't right... I would have walked out of the restaurant. That was unacceptable no matter what their ages were!

No way would a restaurant manager and the kids' parents do that to me!

I would have found a different restaurant or given up and ordered room service.

It's easy to walk over to the Swan/Dolphin and one can generally get into one of the non-Disney restaurants there even without an ADR.

Me either! I would have demanded a manager and if we or the kids weren't moved, I'd have left, letting the people at the desk and any guests in hearing range know why. Unless the guests complain the policy won't change.

Not quite the same as the OP but twice I almost got stuck babysitting some else's kid at WDW restaurants. The first time was a Konas. I was solo and seated next to a large party. My meal arrived before theirs and suddenly I had a 4 y/o little boy climbing up into the chair across from me. At first I was startled and just looked around to see who he belonged to, but suddenly he pointed to my pot stickers and said, "I'm hungry. I want one of those". In shock I started to give him one, but then thought, what if he is allergic to something. I asked him where his parents were and he pointed to the large party behind him. About that time his mom finally realized the kid was missing and came to get him, apologizing for him. What was funny was that he suddenly lunged and grabbed a piece of my bread. Mom was so embarrassed and started to get it from him, but I told her to let him have it. I also got an unexpected table mate when I was dining solo at Citricos last year. There was a family with two small kids next to me and the little boy finished before everyone else. He came over to my table and just stood there for a minute, so I made the mistake of smiling at him and he climbed into the chair across from me. I glanced over at his parents and the mom just smiled and said he never met a stranger and loved to talk (didn't even offer to come get him). We talked for a few minutes, then I told him he needed to go back to his table. It was really funny at the time, but I couldn't believe his parents didn't have a problem with him just striking up a conversation with a total stranger and then sitting with that stranger for several minutes. I didn't really mind, but at the same time did not want to babysit some other person's kid.

 

[diesel]

sorry I had an appoitment yesterday so I didn't have a chance to get back to this thread. The ages of the kids were maybe a teenager 13-14 and the rest of the kids were around 5-8. The kids were not misbehaving. It was just an annoying situation.

 

[TDC Nala]

I agree the kids may have been capable of sitting at their own table - if indeed it was their own table. It wasn't - other people from a different party were placed at the same table. The four men referenced were not comfortable being seated at the same table with a party consisting of children only. And if one of the little kids was crying for her mother, I'm not sure what the parents were thinking.

Obviously 13 people are not going to fit at a table but they could arrange seating so at least one parent is seated with their young children. A group of young kids in a restaurant needs a parent present, not a big sister or teenage cousin.

 

[TisBit]

sorry I had an appoitment yesterday so I didn't have a chance to get back to this thread. The ages of the kids were maybe a teenager 13-14 and the rest of the kids were around 5-8. The kids were not misbehaving. It was just an annoying situation.

Honestly, in that case I could find a group of adults much more annoying

 

[CathieArms]

sorry I had an appoitment yesterday so I didn't have a chance to get back to this thread. The ages of the kids were maybe a teenager 13-14 and the rest of the kids were around 5-8. The kids were not misbehaving. It was just an annoying situation.

Okay...*this* situation wouldn't have bothered me as much as the imagined situation in my head of four 5-year olds without any supervision. They had a 13/14 year old "babysitting" them at the table. Not ideal, but really not a big deal if they children were mostly well-behaved.

DD is 14 (almost 15). While I can't imagine that I would do it, I really don't see where there would be a problem putting her at a table with her 6 year old brother and 2 of his friends with her "in charge." They'd listen to her and - for all intents and purposes - she'd suffice as the "adult" at the table.

Probably not the best plan ever, but really not as bad as I imagined.

 

[TDC Nala]

As a group of only adults, you would want to be seated at the same table with four six-year-olds being watched over by a 14 year old? I wouldn't - not at the same table.

 

[Tink888]

sorry I had an appoitment yesterday so I didn't have a chance to get back to this thread. The ages of the kids were maybe a teenager 13-14 and the rest of the kids were around 5-8. The kids were not misbehaving. It was just an annoying situation.

That's understandable. Your DH and his friends didn't want to be stuck at the "kiddie" table. But really, given that kids weren't misbehaving, the annoyance was more your DH's issue than anything the parents or kids did wrong.

I agree the kids may have been capable of sitting at their own table - if indeed it was their own table. It wasn't - other people from a different party were placed at the same table. The four men referenced were not comfortable being seated at the same table with a party consisting of children only. And if one of the little kids was crying for her mother, I'm not sure what the parents were thinking.

Obviously 13 people are not going to fit at a table but they could arrange seating so at least one parent is seated with their young children. A group of young kids in a restaurant needs a parent present, not a big sister or teenage cousin.

Exactly, it wasn't their own table. It wasn't the adults own table either, it was communal seating and unfortunately sometimes guests get seated with other guests who might make them uncomfortable for any number of reasons. If the restaurant is at capacity, sometimes moving isn't an option. Disney provides a seat and food, not a guarantee that we'll be seated with strangers we like.

Respectfully I disagree with the second part of your post. I was babysitting kids much younger than that at as a teen, sometimes I even took the kids out in public. It was fine. From the OP's post, it seems that the teenager had everything under control and since her DH knew the kids were with an adult party of 8, I'm guessing that the parents weren't seated to far from the table the kids were at and would've been able to be right there if needed.

Unruly, disruptive kids in a restaurant, whether seated alone, with parents, or running around are ALWAYS annoying. These kids and their parents did nothing wrong other than sit at separate tables. According to the OP they weren't unruly or disruptive, they didn't break policy.

Not bad parenting, not bad kids.

Sure Disney should try to make all guests feel comfortable but there is a limit to what is reasonable for a guest to expect. The age of the people you're seated with pushes it IMHO.

What would the responses to a thread be if I wrote that I was annoyed that as a middle-aged woman I was seated at Teppan with a group of ninety year-olds and it made me uncomfortable? The majority of posters would probably say that that's my problem and to deal with it (as well as a few other nasty things).

 

[dvcdisney]

It is my vacation too, not just their parents' vacation! I have had it with rude, inconsiderate people taking over the world. I intend to stick up for myself. I will be polite, but firm. Otherwise, these type of people push further and further! The sad thing is, their children grow up with a lack of manners also, creating future problems for us all.

I definitely agree (especially the highlighted part)!

 

[imthatgirl]

I think you run this risk if you eat in a place like this. The OP stated that the children weren't misbehaving, so I honestly don't see the big deal. It's not like the men were asked to watch the kids. What would have been the difference if there was one adult seated with the kids? the kids were already behaving.
These kids were obviously able to handle a situation like this, maybe instead of acting as if the parents did something wrong....we should be giving props to the parents who raised well behaved kids.

 

[sjs314]

DH and I are planning on eating at Teppan Edo in September and I would not be happy seating next to all children if they did become bothersome I can assure you I would make my displeasure known. Walking out would be an option and would not be the first time I have up and left a Restaurant.

I really wonder how the parents could enjoy themselves being sat at another table, I myself you have been watching my kids constantly not being able to relax, you just never know what kids will do, no matter how well behaved they are most of the time.

 

[TDC Nala]

There isn't any way to ask the restaurants that have communal seating to disallow it, and it appears that there are parents who will not consider the fact that other people will be seated with the children when they arrange to have the kids sit at a different table, so I guess we can just be notified that this can happen and have an alternative if it does - if we're really uncomfortable sitting with another party's kids and the restaurant won't move us to a different table, we'll need to be prepared to leave the restaurant if necessary.

And everyone is entitled to their opinion, it doesn't make them terrible people if they don't want to sit at a table full of unsupervised minors. Nor does it have anything to do with whether the kids are "bad" or not. It could also be discomforting to the kids to have to sit without their parents at a table with a bunch of strange adults.

 

[mtsarnacki]

I agree. They should have only been split up if there was no inconveinence to another party.

 

[lilandvisma]

That confuses me. I personally might be a tad obsessive and over protective when it comes to strangers and my children. As a parent I would NOT allow my children to sit with people that I did not know. As a person, I wouldn't want to sit with someone else's children or other adults either for that matter. I'd want to sit with my own party. I avoid these type of restaurants because I don't feel comfortable being that close to strangers and have heard that this type of thing can happen here and at some other places in WDW.