Cape May has an automated check-in booth

Aries1975

Aries1975

Well-Known Member
nickys said:
There’s some info missing in this story.

OK, so you check in at the screen.

And then what? You waltz in and find a table? Obviously not - otherwise anyone can just walk in! What actually happens next? And how does the CM responsible for taking you to a table know you’ve checked in? Show them the text?

And what happens to guests who don’t have a US phone number? How do they show they’ve checked in at the podium? Are they still using the pagers for them?
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I would have made it work closer to how the system currently does now. There would be a stack of pagers and someone associates the pager number with the reservation number. Only instead of the host doing this job, the guest will.
panera_kiosk.jpg__640x360_q85_crop_subsampling-2.jpg


Panera Bread, a chain of sandwich shops, has a system where you walk in and order at a kiosk and take a pager like device (see photo) which you associate with your order. Of course, this system has the benefit of bringing the food to you similar to Be Our Guest. Fortunately, unlike Be Our Guest or Panera, this system is simply a check-in. Hopefully, the difficulties associated with ordering kiosks will not be present here.

The difficulties would be when one is willing to wait for a window seat, outdoor dining or a particular server as indicated earlier. Other requests like booster seats and high chairs will have to be brought up to the host showing you to the table. It also limits the opportunity to confirm special requests made at the time of the reservation or ensure a cake was delivered.

Depending on the number of kiosks, it might be slight more time efficient. It will obviously more cost efficient as few hosts are required. But it is definitely a substantially less "warm" welcome being greeted by a kiosk.

If I was not staying at Yacht/Beach, or possibly Boardwalk, Cape May is not somewhere I would have gone out of my way to visit. With the Boardwalk Bakery nearby and all of Epcot next door, it would not take very much to convince me to go elsewhere. They chose a good restaurant to run the pilot on. If reservations are not adversely affected here, it will be a good indication they will not be affected elsewhere. A better question is will they wait long enough to see an actual change. As reservations are made six months in advance, I wonder how long it will take for this change to affect reservations, if at all. If they declare the system a success in 3 months, we'll have an answer.
 
Jon81uk

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
nickys said:
There’s some info missing in this story.

OK, so you check in at the screen.

And then what? You waltz in and find a table? Obviously not - otherwise anyone can just walk in! What actually happens next? And how does the CM responsible for taking you to a table know you’ve checked in? Show them the text?

And what happens to guests who don’t have a US phone number? How do they show they’ve checked in at the podium? Are they still using the pagers for them?
Click to expand...
On previous visits we checked in at the podium and then were told to wait. A different CM then came and shouted looking for the XXX family/party as our table was ready. So if there is a self service option on the first check in part it would simply add us to the list of people waiting for a table for two and then the CM comes out and calls to say our table is ready. I don’t think this changes much to the process at all.
 
IanDLBZF

IanDLBZF

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
bubbles1812 said:
I heard this at Beach Club this weekend... at 455 am as I was heading out to DHS for EMH... half awake Bubbles was a mite startled. :bored::hilarious:
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I was at Yacht Club w/ my mom the last weekend of July (she was there for a conference), and never heard it then.
 
bubbles1812

bubbles1812

Well-Known Member
IanDLBZF said:
I was at Yacht Club w/ my mom the last weekend of July (she was there for a conference), and never heard it then.
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I didn’t feel like I heard it consistently through the weekend. I think it’s one of those things that unless it’s quiet, you might not really notice, because I hadn’t noticed it the night prior.
 
T

TrojanUSC

Well-Known Member
I long for the day when Disney just creates a partnership with OpenTable, such a better platform than MDE for dining reservations. No wonder they are losing a ton of business to Disney Springs restaurants - better food and easier booking via OpenTable.
 
Nubs70

Nubs70

Well-Known Member
Aries1975 said:
I would have made it work closer to how the system currently does now. There would be a stack of pagers and someone associates the pager number with the reservation number. Only instead of the host doing this job, the guest will. View attachment 413160

Panera Bread, a chain of sandwich shops, has a system where you walk in and order at a kiosk and take a pager like device (see photo) which you associate with your order. Of course, this system has the benefit of bringing the food to you similar to Be Our Guest. Fortunately, unlike Be Our Guest or Panera, this system is simply a check-in. Hopefully, the difficulties associated with ordering kiosks will not be present here.

The difficulties would be when one is willing to wait for a window seat, outdoor dining or a particular server as indicated earlier. Other requests like booster seats and high chairs will have to be brought up to the host showing you to the table. It also limits the opportunity to confirm special requests made at the time of the reservation or ensure a cake was delivered.

Depending on the number of kiosks, it might be slight more time efficient. It will obviously more cost efficient as few hosts are required. But it is definitely a substantially less "warm" welcome being greeted by a kiosk.

If I was not staying at Yacht/Beach, or possibly Boardwalk, Cape May is not somewhere I would have gone out of my way to visit. With the Boardwalk Bakery nearby and all of Epcot next door, it would not take very much to convince me to go elsewhere. They chose a good restaurant to run the pilot on. If reservations are not adversely affected here, it will be a good indication they will not be affected elsewhere. A better question is will they wait long enough to see an actual change. As reservations are made six months in advance, I wonder how long it will take for this change to affect reservations, if at all. If they declare the system a success in 3 months, we'll have an answer.
Click to expand...
I find that customers do not care for self order kiosks. McDonald's is putting these in all many stores. I rarely see anyone use them and will wait in line to order from a human. The only successful application i experienced was in Central London where it you wanted food, you used the kiosk. There were no order taking staff.
 
T

Thelazer

Well-Known Member
trojanjustin said:
I long for the day when Disney just creates a partnership with OpenTable, such a better platform than MDE for dining reservations. No wonder they are losing a ton of business to Disney Springs restaurants - better food and easier booking via OpenTable.
Click to expand...

You'll never see it, they will throw a TON of money at there own custom software, that won't work right, over and over again.
 
Jon81uk

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
Nubs70 said:
I find that customers do not care for self order kiosks. McDonald's is putting these in all many stores. I rarely see anyone use them and will wait in line to order from a human. The only successful application i experienced was in Central London where it you wanted food, you used the kiosk. There were no order taking staff.
Click to expand...

I've seen the opposite in some places where people actively chose the kiosks in McDonalds, the only people using the counter were those who needed to use cash. I've also been in supermarkets where there has been no wait at all for human cashiers and a queue for the self-checkout. Some people just prefer to keep their headphones on and stay in their own bubble.

My doctors surgery also has an automated check in system, which frees the reception team up to issue new appointments and deal with other queries. Tapping a few buttons on a touchscreen to let them know I've arrived isn't difficult.

For me, tapping a few bottons on a screen to tell the restaurant I've arrived seems like a good change too, again freeing up staff to deal with walk-ups or specialist cases that need more attention.
 

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