ADR at Turf Club - makes me laugh

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
This last Friday (June 27) we decided we would eat dinner at the Turf Club. We were looking for a 6:00 PM reservation.

I called at about10:00 AM, and Disney Dining offered me two times. 5:15 and 8:00 - I took 5:15.

At 5:15 we went to check in, and there was a grand total of 6 people (NOT 6 tables, 6 people, a 4 top and a 2 top) in the entire restaruant. We ate slowly and when we left around 7:00, the restaruant was about 1/4 full.

When we checked in, I mentioned to the host that I had tried for a 6:00 PM reservation, but none were available. He was clearly taken aback and then made up a half baked story about sometimes there being tables available at a given time, but WDW-DINE tries to space out arrivals so that the restaruant does get get a rush. It was funny to watch him try and make an excuse up, he just sort of trailed off at the end.


-dave
 

DougK

Well-Known Member
This last Friday (June 27) we decided we would eat dinner at the Turf Club. We were looking for a 6:00 PM reservation.

I called at about10:00 AM, and Disney Dining offered me two times. 5:15 and 8:00 - I took 5:15.

At 5:15 we went to check in, and there was a grand total of 6 people (NOT 6 tables, 6 people, a 4 top and a 2 top) in the entire restaruant. We ate slowly and when we left around 7:00, the restaruant was about 1/4 full.

When we checked in, I mentioned to the host that I had tried for a 6:00 PM reservation, but none were available. He was clearly taken aback and then made up a half baked story about sometimes there being tables available at a given time, but WDW-DINE tries to space out arrivals so that the restaruant does get get a rush. It was funny to watch him try and make an excuse up, he just sort of trailed off at the end.


-dave

This is not the first time I have heard of this type of thing. Disney used to be known for the best customer treatment anywhere, now it seems most of their rules and policies are set up to benefit Disney, not the customer. It is such a shame things have gotten this bad. It's not the 45 minutes it's the principle of the thing. You obviously preferred to dine at 6. I am sure if you had gotten there and seen the place full at 6 o'clock you would have been fine with having to eat at 5:15. But knowing it was mostly empty right at the time you wanted to eat must have been a bit upsetting. After all this was Turf Club, not Le Cellier. By that I mean it is not like they had 100 people cancel or no-show for 6 pm. Somehow having you arrive at 5:15 made Disney happy, though I don't understand why. I guess they made an extra 3 cents by having you dine earlier.

We have already given up eating at most Disney restaurants due to lower quality, higher prices and very limited menu selections. But many people keep coming so Disney just doesn't care what we think.
 

tecowdw

Well-Known Member
That poor restaurant. Is it ever busy? I'm surprised they keep it open to be honest.
The only time I've ever seen it busy was a Thanksgiving night several years ago. It was the only last minute place (about 30 or 40 days out) that I could get. The place was packed but the food was less than stellar compared to other turkey day meals I've experienced at WDW. I can't imagine their regular menu is anything special.
 

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It's not a bad restaruant, and their food is not bad (the fried chicken is in fact quite good). The problem is it is a very limited menu, that I don't think ever changes. There are maybe 5 or 6 items on the menu, and I have eaten them all I think.

We own at SSR and stay there a lot. A lot of times, if we do not have a different ADR, and depending on how our trip is going if we plan on being back at SSR around dinner, we will make an ADR there in the AM.

It is not a bad place, just nothing exciting, and I am starting to get tired of it. I suspect that is why it is never packed. There is nothing to make it stand out, the menu is limited, and if you are not already at SSR, it is really not worth the effort to get there.

It's funny, because it is on a golf course and it reminds me of a lot of other golf course restaruants. Good enough that the people who are already there to golf will eat there, but not so good that anybody makes a special trip to go eat at the golf course.


-dave
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
This type of thing is commonplace, now. Clearly, they are using their restrictive dining policy with fines for canceling to schedule workers. It is foolish to not schedule a couple extra servers for walk ups or day-of resies. Disney is turning away money. Fools.
 

MikeyK72

Well-Known Member
Reminds me of an evening last November during the week before Thanksgiving. I was in Orlando to attend a conference and decided to drive to the Yachtsman Steakhouse for dinner since I absolutely love that place. I arrived around 5:30pm or so and was actually turned away since I didn't have a reservation. I was told "no walkups today."

I totally understand how staffing works and that although roughly half of the tables were empty the restaurant still could have been at capacity based on the staff they had that evening...I totally get that. However, I was a walkup representing a party of one. It's not like I was representing a party of 4 or 6 where we could really overload a server by adding a full table...it was just me.

So really? They couldn't take me? Just doesn't seem to follow the exceptional customer service model that you'd expect from Disney. But I didn't give up on Disney...I drove over to Artist's Point and they were able to seat me.
 

slappy magoo

Well-Known Member
It's not a bad restaruant, and their food is not bad (the fried chicken is in fact quite good). The problem is it is a very limited menu, that I don't think ever changes. There are maybe 5 or 6 items on the menu, and I have eaten them all I think.

We own at SSR and stay there a lot. A lot of times, if we do not have a different ADR, and depending on how our trip is going if we plan on being back at SSR around dinner, we will make an ADR there in the AM.

It is not a bad place, just nothing exciting, and I am starting to get tired of it. I suspect that is why it is never packed. There is nothing to make it stand out, the menu is limited, and if you are not already at SSR, it is really not worth the effort to get there.

It's funny, because it is on a golf course and it reminds me of a lot of other golf course restaruants. Good enough that the people who are already there to golf will eat there, but not so good that anybody makes a special trip to go eat at the golf course.


-dave
Fair enough analysis. I like Turf Club like you do - if I had a last minute trip to WDW and found it impossible to get a reservation at my usual favorites, I wouldn't be angry that I could "only" get Turf Club. But it really is a minimal restaurant that was more or less created for two demos - mostly for people staying at SSR that don't feel like traveling anywhere else for dinner on any given night, and then to a much lesser extent, golfers. I say "to a much lesser extent" because most folks prefer golfing in the morning and Turf Club is only open for dinner. But seriously, there are much more interesting and livelier dining options right across the lake at DtD. But some nights you're not in the mood for lively. You don't want to deal with noise and crowds. You can compromise on a limited menu if it means less of a trip and less of a hassle and as long as the food is better than merely "meh." And turf Club fits that criteria.
 

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Fair enough analysis. I like Turf Club like you do - if I had a last minute trip to WDW and found it impossible to get a reservation at my usual favorites, I wouldn't be angry that I could "only" get Turf Club. But it really is a minimal restaurant that was more or less created for two demos - mostly for people staying at SSR that don't feel like traveling anywhere else for dinner on any given night, and then to a much lesser extent, golfers. I say "to a much lesser extent" because most folks prefer golfing in the morning and Turf Club is only open for dinner. But seriously, there are much more interesting and livelier dining options right across the lake at DtD. But some nights you're not in the mood for lively. You don't want to deal with noise and crowds. You can compromise on a limited menu if it means less of a trip and less of a hassle and as long as the food is better than merely "meh." And turf Club fits that criteria.

This particular trip we also had some "safe" eaters and somone who had limited mobility. It was much easier to stay in SSR. We did go to Rainforest Cafe once, which only served to reinforce my distain for that place. There is a place that deserves to be closed.

-dave
 

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