Having a party member save a table while others get the food?

[mergatroid]

Is this sort of thing acceptable in your opinion? When my lovely wife and I eat at Disney we try to eat early or late in the parks to save the inevitable fight to find a table to eat at at the fast food eateries such as Cosmic Rays etc. When we do go to eat though we ALWAYS order our food and collect it before finding a table rather than have one of us save a table whilst the other one goes and orders. I'm not sure whether this is foolish on our part or just polite, or what the correct table etiquette is but just 'feels right' to us.

On our last visit I was annoyed by a family hovering around our table with their tray and shouting loudly whilst we finiahed our desert and asking twice "how long we thought we were going to be", but that's another story . I'm not having a go at those who have somebody reserve a table whilst others are ordering but just wondered what the general consensus was on this practice amongst others :shrug:

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Having a party member save a table while others get the food?

Not acceptable.

It means tables are occupied for longer, meaning less capacity. If everybody orders first, then finds a table next, capacity greatly increases and nobody would even have to reserve a table while the others order food. As ever, ill-disiplined crowds are their own worst enemies.

 

[mergatroid]

Not acceptable.

It means tables are occupied for longer, meaning less capacity. If everybody orders first, then finds a table next, capacity greatly increases and nobody would even have to reserve a table while the others order food. As ever, ill-disciplined crowds are their own worst enemies.

Is the very reason we don't do it, however every time we go we see a number of people doing it and it seems to be getting more common.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Is the very reason we don't do it, however every time we go we see a number of people doing it and it seems to be getting more common.

The more people do it, the higher the incentive to also do it. One would be left without a table otherwise.

A silly rat race. We would all end up having to arrive at a fast food place hours in advance, just to have a seat. Whereas if nobody would reserve a seat, nobody would have to reserve a seat. Crowds are dumb.

The best one can hope for is smart crowd-management. Which Disney is actually really good at, apart from Disney often being too reluctant to set and maintain proper rules, for fear of antagonising guests.

 

[Susan Savia]

Thats why we always eat prior to the noon hour or after it. Less folks at that time and more seating places. Never had a problem.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

We don't always do this. We don't actively seek out a table or wait around for other people to finish. We'll order our food, and if in the corner of our eye we notice a table nearby that just opened up, then we send one of us to sit there. If only to save like 20 seconds and prevent people who would take the table before even ordering.

I don't think we'll do that any more though. Once we had an entire family who hadn't ordered yet sit down where I was saving a table and physically shove me out. Power in numbers.

 

[MissM]

This is a tough one. Just because sometimes there's more to it than just table hogging.

For example, I got food while Love sat down when he was having his vertigo problems and then when I was recovering from surgery, the extra time sitting helped me, so he'd go get food while I sat. We're talking about times when there were plenty of open seating though and my sitting wasn't preventing a family with food from getting a table in anyway.

 

[rkelly42]

I usually go get the food while my wife sits down with one of our two children. I do not see a problem with this, as we sit and eat, then leave. We do not stay around really any longer than we need to be there. I would rather have people sit down than having their whole families standing in line and crowding it even more than it already is. There really is not need to have your whole family standing and waiting.

 

[draybook]

I'm trying to figure out how on Earth this would create capacity problems? This statement makes no sense to me. Have you seen the lines that you stand in to get your food at a counter service? There's barely enough room for one person with a tray, and you want me to clog it up with the four of us? This is really just mind boggling to me. When we do counter service, either I or my wife takes our 2 kids(11 &10) and we find a table, while the other goes to get the food. We know what we like to eat so it doesn't take but maybe 5 minutes to get it.


Want proof? I'd bet that the family that was bugging the OP had went in the line as a group and went to find a table as a group.

 

[mergatroid]

I'm trying to figure out how on Earth this would create capacity problems? This statement makes no sense to me. Have you seen the lines that you stand in to get your food at a counter service? There's barely enough room for one person with a tray, and you want me to clog it up with the four of us? This is really just mind boggling to me. When we do counter service, either I or my wife takes our 2 kids(11 &10) and we find a table, while the other goes to get the food. We know what we like to eat so it doesn't take but maybe 5 minutes to get it.


Want proof? I'd bet that the family that was bugging the OP had went in the line as a group and went to find a table as a group.

No unfortunately they were hovering around whilst 'dad' went and got the food because the place was pretty rammed and they saw we were having our desert and he came over with his tray. As it was ice cream though, we weren't going to rush it.

 

[ArtieJim]

We usually do this when it comes to one of us going to a fixins bar. At a place when there are separate bays, like Cosmic Rays, my girlfriend and I order from different bays so one of us ordering for both of us isn't really an option. Although we find it highly acceptable, it's not my fault you didn't have the foresight to tell someone in your group to go hold a table while you order food for him or her.

 

[Rob562]

I'm trying to figure out how on Earth this would create capacity problems? This statement makes no sense to me. Have you seen the lines that you stand in to get your food at a counter service? There's barely enough room for one person with a tray, and you want me to clog it up with the four of us? This is really just mind boggling to me. When we do counter service, either I or my wife takes our 2 kids(11 &10) and we find a table, while the other goes to get the food. We know what we like to eat so it doesn't take but maybe 5 minutes to get it.


Want proof? I'd bet that the family that was bugging the OP had went in the line as a group and went to find a table as a group.

Seating capacity is typically calculated based on a complex formula that takes into account the rate at which people can be served at an establishment, how quickly people eat and a host of other things. So the traffic flow is such that people are served at a constant rate, and the people currently sitting at the tables are in varying stages of eating. The calculations find the sweet-spot (plus a bit of a buffer to account for slow eaters, CMs wiping down tables, etc) where enough people are finishing their meals and leaving, opening up tables for people who are just walking away from the counter with their food. Saving tables throws a wrench into that calculation.

And the way I look at whether it's "right" to do it is to take the issue to the (admittedly highly-unlikely) extreme: Imagine if EVERY table was being held for people who are still in line, leaving zero open tables for people who are walking away from the counter with their food.

Over time, as others have pointed out, it's gotten to the point of self-perpetuating "cascade failure" where people hold tables, making others think that they should also hold a table, leading to too many people hold tables, not allowing those with food to sit down, and you get the fast-food equivalent of gridlock. That's why at some places like Pecos Bills they've started to strictly control traffic flow on the busiest days, not allowing people to proceed to the seating area until they actually have their food.

-Rob

 

[VoiceGuy07]

Like others, our family will typically eat early or later to avoid the rush but we also will save a table (usually among plenty of empty tables). It gives one of us parents a break and a little quiet time!

I would also think that if Disney employs a sophisticated / complicated model to measure throughput, they would factor in the reality that some folks are going to save tables.

That being said, we were at WDW last summer and there were cast members attempting to turn away families without food from the dining area - this happened both at Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bills. Perhaps a crafty manual workaround.

How much standing around is there during "rush hour" currently? And yes, I agree that a family lingering and asking when you're leaving is a little on the annoying side.

 

[duchess1576]

... I'm not sure whether this is foolish on our part ... :shrug:

umm, yup :lookaroun

 

[draybook]

Seating capacity is typically calculated based on a complex formula that takes into account the rate at which people can be served at an establishment, how quickly people eat and a host of other things. So the traffic flow is such that people are served at a constant rate, and the people currently sitting at the tables are in varying stages of eating. The calculations find the sweet-spot (plus a bit of a buffer to account for slow eaters, CMs wiping down tables, etc) where enough people are finishing their meals and leaving, opening up tables for people who are just walking away from the counter with their food. Saving tables throws a wrench into that calculation.

And the way I look at whether it's "right" to do it is to take the issue to the (admittedly highly-unlikely) extreme: Imagine if EVERY table was being held for people who are still in line, leaving zero open tables for people who are walking away from the counter with their food.

Over time, as others have pointed out, it's gotten to the point of self-perpetuating "cascade failure" where people hold tables, making others think that they should also hold a table, leading to too many people hold tables, not allowing those with food to sit down, and you get the fast-food equivalent of gridlock. That's why at some places like Pecos Bills they've started to strictly control traffic flow on the busiest days, not allowing people to proceed to the seating area until they actually have their food.

-Rob

Well, I admit I probably don't have as much time put in as most folks here, especially during peak seasons, but we've never had trouble finding a spot to sit during Free Dining. If every table was held by someone with a group, then imagine how clustered the serving area would be if all of those people were up front in those small waiting lines.

 

[unkadug]

Well, I admit I probably don't have as much time put in as most folks here, especially during peak seasons, but we've never had trouble finding a spot to sit during Free Dining. If every table was held by someone with a group, then imagine how clustered the serving area would be if all of those people were up front in those small waiting lines.

Sure, but the line would move four time faster because each person would be ordering for one person instead of ordering for four people.

 

[trr1]

Is this sort of thing acceptable in your opinion? When my lovely wife and I eat at Disney we try to eat early or late in the parks to save the inevitable fight to find a table to eat at at the fast food eateries such as Cosmic Rays etc. When we do go to eat though we ALWAYS order our food and collect it before finding a table rather than have one of us save a table whilst the other one goes and orders. I'm not sure whether this is foolish on our part or just polite, or what the correct table etiquette is but just 'feels right' to us.

On our last visit I was annoyed by a family hovering around our table with their tray and shouting loudly whilst we finiahed our desert and asking twice "how long we thought we were going to be", but that's another story . I'm not having a go at those who have somebody reserve a table whilst others are ordering but just wondered what the general consensus was on this practice amongst others :shrug:

when my family visits any WDW park or Resort Restaurant we
always eat off peak hours to avoid the large crowds.That way we all order together and then find our seats. As for the vultures hovering
I would told them after in a bit and after the second time I would have told them untill your food is cold.:lol:

 

[Dwarful]

The one thing no one has mention yet is the increase in numbers of people bringing their own food into the parks and taking tables meant for paying customers. We had this happen twice on our last trip June '11. We had 11 people in our group including 3 little ones (18 months, 3 & 6) so half of us were looking for tables while the other half were in line ordering our food. Once at Seasons we encountered two large groups: one was a church group 25 -30 people unpacking picnic style lunches from backpacks..they brought the works and then used Disney's utensils, condiments,napkins as plates and even went up to refill their water bottles with soda from the machines until a CM told them they couldn't do that. The other was at Cosmic Rays a large family group again about 20 people in matching shirts..unpacking their lunches, they had only those orange cheese crackers, apples and raisins, but they were still taking up 6 tables as they spread out with their wheeled cooler bags sitting on chairs. Now that was annoying!

 

[Kobe!!]

As a CM myself, I think it's the best to have the family sit down and have one or two people place the order.

It's extremely annoying when you have 10 people in one party and they change their mind 15 times. Disney keeps track of the keystrokes and every time you go back to the order to edit something. Do it to many times and you will get talked to.. apparently they think you are trying to scam them or something when it's really just the guest(s) fault.

Also, if you child is 2 years old, please don't ask them what they want to eat, they don't know! You should know as their parent what they like and will eat. Asking them if they are hungry 20 times over and over is a waste of my time and yours.

End of rant? lmao

 

[joanna71985]

I don't like people sitting at tables until they have their food, because then there are times where there are no tables available. I like the approach Pecos Bill was taking over the summer (where only people with food were allowed to use the tables).