Your experience with sharing tables at Biergarten?

[stellablue]

This was one of my favorite dining experiences at WDW. The atmosphere was so fun with the band and the theming. I loved the beer, good food and great service. Only flaw was....

I wasn't too keen on sharing the table with strangers. It was just DBF & me in our party and I get VERY shy around people I don't know. The people we shared our table with were all very lovely and I'm sure I looked like a snob because I wasn't interested really in talking with them, though I was very polite. I paid attention mostly to DBF & the band. I definately would have preferred our own table. I noticed other tables were mixed-some seemed to be chatting away, others were clearly focused on their groups only.

I had a great time at the Biergarten & I definately plan to go here again for our next trip. I just wondered if anyone else felt uncomfortable sharing their table or feeling "forced to mingle" or if it's just me being a baby?

Anyone ever had a negative experience sharing their table?

 

[wallyb]

Never been but -
I saw the name Stella (See my tag) and that
you're from MA - so thought I'd say "Hi".
Hi!

 

[stellablue]

Never been but -
I saw the name Stella (See my tag) and that
you're from MA - so thought I'd say "Hi".
Hi!

Hi Wallyb! We are in Somerville-do you live downtown?
What's a Stellarella??

 

[mom2my3kids]

I have never been but I would feel kinda acward as well sitting with strangers. But then again it may be fun and I would have a blast..

 

[wallyb]

Hi Wallyb! We are in Somerville-do you live downtown?
What's a Stellarella??

The South End.
Stella is my dog. That's her in my avatar.
We add the "rella" part to make her more like Cinderlla -
in keeping with WDW- don't ya know.

 

[stellablue]

The South End.
Stella is my dog. That's her in my avatar.
We add the "rella" part to make her more like Cinderlla -
in keeping with WDW- don't ya know.

Ooh I love the South End
Stella is the name of our cat!!

 

[stellablue]

Well, so far I see that no one's had a terrible experience with sharing the table.

Maybe I'm just too shy...I guess I felt like we were a little pressured to socialize & I really just wanted to hang out with my DBF

 

[mom4graceandlogan]

We love this place and don't mind sharing tables. We have been several times, both before and after having kids. We have met some great people from all over. Initially, the table is kind of quiet then those that want to socialize do. Don't feel strange if you feel like staying to your self, no one is expecting you to talk. But don't be afraid about jumping in on an interesting conversation either. You tend to meet other Disney nuts and are also able to help some Disney newbies. We found out about some interesting places we now want to visit out west from the nice couple we were with last time.

 

[wallyb]

Ooh I love the South End
Stella is the name of our cat!!

This is her. She under my desk as I write this.

 

[tinkandpan]

We've never gone just for that reason. DH and I really don't like sharing tables- we don't even really like it at the Teppen Edo/.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Shy? Did you say shy? Well, what the heck do you think they have those FRIGGIN LITER BEERS FOR??? Tip a few of those puppies back, you'll be coming out of your shell and dancing on your table!!!

Just kidding ... sort of

DH and I just returned from our first trip to Biergarten, and we had no idea it was sitting-with-strangers seating. We're both rather shy (until we have a few liters of Spaten Optimator, anyway).

We were seated in the middle of a table. On one side was a rather large family who didn't even acknowledge us. No problem. We figured that's the way the place is.

Well, then, Mike and John sat down on the other side of us, a nice couple visiting from Canada. (I'm changing names here to protect the innocent.) They sat right down, extended out their hands to shake with ours and started talking. I can't tell you how much fun we had with these two guys. The family on the other side left, and we barely even noticed, lol. Seriously, at the end of, gosh, several hours, I felt like these guys were family. We ended up seeing each other and chatting again throughout the rest of our day at Epcot. We'd all swap cameras and take pictures for each other.

I can only hope on future visits to meet folks like Mike and John. And I hoped I learned enough from them to come out of my shell and make new friends at Biergarten when we return

 

[stellablue]

Plutoluvr: Wow, sounds like you guys had a blast! We are definately going to return here during our next trip, so maybe I'll be braver by then! DBF was much better at making small talk than I was and I wondered if I came off as being a snob to the other guests.

Wallyb: Your Stella is so cute!!! Here is ours:

 

[donaldtutter]

We have eaten there twice. Both times we didn't have much if any interaction with other people sitting at our table. It made it somewhat uncomfortable.

 

[disnut8]

We've been to the Biergarten several times. It's just the two of us and I'm not a conversation starter at all. My husband is but I will rarely join in. I just don't like talking to people I haven't known for longer than five minutes.

However, I will go to the Biergarten any time at all. I love it. The atmosphere is great and even if you don't talk to the person sitting next to you, that's fine. But we've had some of the nicest experiences with total strangers. And we did have a "bad" experience. That one I will share.

It was my husband and me, two older ladies (from Philadelphia we found out later), a single guy (he was stationed in Germany, dumped his family for the meal and came to Germany to enjoy those times again) and a couple from hell (CFH). The CFH were seated in the middle of the tale so we all got a dose of them. Here's how their meal went. They were seated. They ordered drinks. They got up and go tht ebuffet. They sat down and ate. They got up and left. Never said a word to each other or to anyone except the serve and that was to order their drinks. They didn't even tell him they were leaving!

BUT - after they left, the five of us moved together and had a fantastic time. My husband talked to the single guy about Air Force life (my husband was in for 12 years) and I talked to the older ladies about Philly (I was raised near there). The single guy taught us all the drinking songs (we were the only ones with beer). We stayed so long talking to each other that we had to rush out to see Illuminations.

This last time, we met a mother and daughter who were of a segment of the family who were the only ones to come to America. All the rest of the family were back in Germany. The girl goes there every summer and was trying to get her mother convinced to let her go to OctoberFest. The other people at the table were Mom, Dad, and two kids. We didn't talk to them at all until the end when my husband told Mom that if she couldn't finish her beer, she could get a To Go cup. But we all had a great time.

The Biergarten is like 50s or Whispering Canyon Cafe. If you don't want to talk to people, don't.

 

[tjosmith]

We have eaten there MANY times, but this past September it was just a girls trip and only two of us went. I knew that we would be seated with other families and never gave it a second thought because it's always been fine. Well we were seated with a family of 4 adults and two teens. This family was from Italy and did not speak a word of English. They had fourteen plates filled with food at one time and we barely had room to eat. They were mad because we were seated with them. The server told them they had to share the space - we didn't say anything to her, she just saw how we were being treated! They got very angry and threw money down on the table, pushed their plates on the floor, and stormed out!
My friend and I sat there with our mouths open! The manager came over and only charged us half price for our meals. I didn't expect or want anything from them - this was not their fault! They people we were seated with were just RUDE!
My family and I will go back - even with this "bad" experience because it's a fun place and the food is always good. Just to let you know that it's not always a great experience!

 

[Micca]

This sounds like fun. I'm not the best with new people, but if those people happen to love Disney (and maybe we all have a bit of beer) I'm good to go

 

[missminniemouse]

Most times it's been alright. This last time we had a group that was registered as a group of 4 and we were a group of 4. Guess how many people came to table with the other group? 5! Our DS8 had to sit on the end of the table which scrunched us all in quite a bit. We made it work, but the other group was just a bunch of people there to get drunk...not pleasant with a 12 and 8 year old along. Don't think we'll go back there for a while since we were there on our last 2 trips and the food isn't as good as it used to be. There are a number of other places we want to go to on our next trip rather than repeat the Biergarten.

 

[MickeyNicki]

When DH and I go alone it does get a bit uncomfortable because DH is quiet by nature and I can get shy too. If the other couples make the first move then I open up and get super friendly but I am not one to do more than say hello.

 

[NC State]

Can you request your own table? It will be just me and my husband and we are not "drinkers".

 

[TDC Nala]

My one suggestion is that if you don't like sharing tables and you decide to go anyway, please try not to look at the other party as if you're being seated with Charles Manson.

When the tablemates give me that look, I just order more beer.

Can you request your own table? It will be just me and my husband and we are not "drinkers".

As far as I know, Biergarten has only tables for 8 (but the photo earlier in the thread looks like a table for 4). If you go, you'll probably be sharing. You can't expect them to tie up a table for 4 with a party of 2 if their policy is to seat multiple parties at one table.