New Be Our Guest lunch line procedure (Test?)

[seahawk7]

Of all WDW things to get worked up about, this seems to be the dumbest one to date.

30-40 minutes in the sun of "every single member of your party must stay together" was HORRID customer service.

Of all the FP ideas to date, this seems the most ideal implementation of the system.

The strongest argument so far is "I am willing to stand in the sun and suffer for most of an hour to get in. Because that, I deserve higher priority over others because I am paying my duties and suffering."

So -- because more demand can be fulfilled with far less impact on the guest -- and it totally throws a wrench in guest martyrdom -- you guys are getting upset?

WDW can do no right for you people.

They can leave things that are not broken alone, build more attractions, and take care of the attractions they have. If they do those three things, I think most of us would be relatively happy.

 

[landauh]

How many other common quick, casual dining establishments (within or outside of Disney) can you think of which require a reservation? Nobody really likes waiting in lines (a willingness to do so, for the "reward" at the end, is another matter), but how well do you think a similar plan would go over at any McDonald's or Chick Fil-A across the nation? The manager who came up with such a moronic scheme would be ridiculed. Yet in a theme park this is somehow supposed to be acceptable (and you have posters rushing to Disney's defense. Guys, sometimes a dumb idea just needs to be recognized as an ill-advised mistake which may have looked good on paper, but in reality is unworkable and idiotic).

Just for my benefit. How many McDonald's or Chick Fil-A's do you know that need to cater to the needs of 10,000+ customers for lunch? I know not all of the guests (and there are more than 10,000 at the MK per day) will want to eat at BOG, but the number far exceeds anything the other Fast Food establishments cater to for lunch.

 

[Tigger1988]

I don't really care if Disney is doing it for my benefit, their benefit or for the man on the moon's benefit. If it works in my favor (this does) why would I complain?

They're a business, pretty sure most if their decisions are made with company benefit in mind.

 

[xdan0920]

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and they didn't have a table available? Let's not pretend this is anything different than a waiting list. What's stupid is that they're not utilizing the Magic Bands/mobile apps to tell people that they're table is ready. That's what a normal busy restaurant does.

I have. However....

I have not gone to a McDonald's or a Panera Bread and been told to come back in an hour. And during the day, when this is a QSR, isn't it more like a McDs or a Panera then a fine dining establishment?

 

[landauh]

Wife and I hardly to do ADR's anymore. If we can get a TS on MDE or by walk-up, we do it, so this change at BoG does not affect us. That being said, what does upset me is the agenda at hand, especially when people rush to defend it so quickly. IF this were simply Disney trying to make your day go a little smoother I wouldnt mind, but it is not. Not at all. Its simply another drop in the bucket of the endless attempts as of late to get you to spend as much as possible. Its a blitz of moronic decisions trying to separate you from your money but its wrapped up like a present so people think its a good thing. lt is the overall strategy they are using to "get a bigger share of your wallet" and this new BoG system is part of that and that is why it is a bad thing (IMO). The people that defend these decisions and claim Disney is doing this for guest benefit are horribly misguided and theyre enabling Disney to continue making crap instead of magic.

@WDW1974 touched on the same topic in his thread and he was right. People have to wake up and realize that Disney is NOT doing ANY of these things for your benefit, only THEIRS. Stop thinking that TPTB give a damn about your vacation experience. They DONT. The 22 year old CM working the queue at Peter Pan queue might, or the Haunted Mansion CM who actually plays the part of a scary butler and makes the experience better may care also, but the folks making decisions like this BoG return time DONT. They just need you to spend more money so the other moronic decisions they have made look more profitbale. They disguise their lack luster efforts as "enhancements for you and your family" and people eat the crap by the spoonful. If they actually cared about your vacation and what you experience they would offer something new that DOESNT cost money to attend or they would get off their lazy and add attractions in less than 5 years. They could bang out the Poly lobby in 2 months if they really wanted to, but they wont. They will let a Deluxe resort on the monorail sit in shambles for months and still charge insane prices, but dont worry, they will give you a pass to Typhoon Lagoon to pacify you and its accepted as "good enough".

It must be really great to be able to sit in on Executive Planning Meetings all the time like you must. How else would you know what they want you to do when you are not standing in long lines?

 

[AEfx]

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and they didn't have a table available? Let's not pretend this is anything different than a waiting list. What's stupid is that they're not utilizing the Magic Bands/mobile apps to tell people that they're table is ready. That's what a normal busy restaurant does.

While we aren't pretending, let's not pretend this is anything but a fast food place, one which is prominently displayed in almost every TV ad I have seen about WDW in the past year.

 

[dadddio]

Which brings us back to "I am willing to wait an hour (or 30 minutes or whatever) in the sun and that means I should get to eat here...not those people who got here before me and got a "reservation" for their space in line."

More people are probably willing to take a pre-arranged time to eat there than were willing to stand in line, and the people willing to stand in line are now annoyed by the larger pool of willing diners.

At the end of the day, the same number of guests are happy that they got to eat at BOG and the same number of guests are bummed that they didn't. The only difference is that no guests are upset that they waited an hour in BOG's line.

 

[dadddio]

You guys talk like you didn't have a choice to not accept the 'reservation'.

If you don't want to wait two hours to eat at BOG, don't. Eat somewhere else.
If you don't want to give up your SM FP+ to eat at BOG, don't. Eat somewhere else.

What would you have done if BOG was closed for some reason? Go hungry?

 

[AEfx]

At the end of the day, the same number of guests are happy that they got to eat at BOG and the same number of guests are bummed that they didn't. The only difference is that no guests are upset that they waited an hour in BOG's line.

If you are going to go that route, the other difference is that you have guests who are probably already upset about having to deal with being a second class citizen when it comes to boarding attractions, but have waited in far longer lines because of it, who are then not even afforded the chance to stand in line buy a sandwich without being told to come back 2-3 hours later, or being told hours before the restaurant closes for lunch that they are not even allowed to wait in line at a fast food joint.

 

[dadddio]

I think you have forgotten the worst aspect of this system, Wait in line 20-40 minutes and be told tickets are 'sold out' for the day. Now you have a disappointed guest who in all likelihood WILL NOT be back certainly not to BOG and perhaps their NEXT vacation will be a non-Disney one.

This would not be so bad if at some point Disney closed the line, But they don't so it's like the old Soviet Union where people would get in line at the shops and many times return empty handed. So this system is the worst of all possibilities i.e. stand in the hot sun for a substantial fraction of a vacation hour and possibly NOT get what you waited for. Who came up with this BRILLIANT idea!!!!

TDO just seems to double down on stupid.

Where did these peaople wait in line for 20-40 minutes?

 

[dadddio]

Have you ever gone to a restaurant and they didn't have a table available? Let's not pretend this is anything different than a waiting list. What's stupid is that they're not utilizing the Magic Bands/mobile apps to tell people that they're table is ready. That's what a normal busy restaurant does.

How would they use MBs to let you know that your table is ready. MBs don't flash, beep, vibrate, shock you. They don't do anything that would let you know anything.

They exist so that you can let the company know things, not the other way around.

 

[xdan0920]

How would they use MBs to let you know that your table is ready. MBs don't flash, beep, vibrate, shock you. They don't do anything that would let you know anything.

They exist so that you can let the company know things, not the other way around.

A paper ticket doesn't flash, vibrate or shock you either.

 

[dadddio]

Wife and I hardly to do ADR's anymore. If we can get a TS on MDE or by walk-up, we do it, so this change at BoG does not affect us. That being said, what does upset me is the agenda at hand, especially when people rush to defend it so quickly. IF this were simply Disney trying to make your day go a little smoother I wouldnt mind, but it is not. Not at all. Its simply another drop in the bucket of the endless attempts as of late to get you to spend as much as possible. Its a blitz of moronic decisions trying to separate you from your money but its wrapped up like a present so people think its a good thing. lt is the overall strategy they are using to "get a bigger share of your wallet" and this new BoG system is part of that and that is why it is a bad thing (IMO). The people that defend these decisions and claim Disney is doing this for guest benefit are horribly misguided and theyre enabling Disney to continue making crap instead of magic.

@WDW1974 touched on the same topic in his thread and he was right. People have to wake up and realize that Disney is NOT doing ANY of these things for your benefit, only THEIRS. Stop thinking that TPTB give a damn about your vacation experience. They DONT. The 22 year old CM working the queue at Peter Pan queue might, or the Haunted Mansion CM who actually plays the part of a scary butler and makes the experience better may care also, but the folks making decisions like this BoG return time DONT. They just need you to spend more money so the other moronic decisions they have made look more profitbale. They disguise their lack luster efforts as "enhancements for you and your family" and people eat the crap by the spoonful. If they actually cared about your vacation and what you experience they would offer something new that DOESNT cost money to attend or they would get off their lazy and add attractions in less than 5 years. They could bang out the Poly lobby in 2 months if they really wanted to, but they wont. They will let a Deluxe resort on the monorail sit in shambles for months and still charge insane prices, but dont worry, they will give you a pass to Typhoon Lagoon to pacify you and its accepted as "good enough".

It is certainly true that TPTB know that pushing people out of lines gives them more time to spend money. An hour that I'm standing in line is an hour that I can't buy a snack or a t-shirt or a snack, after all. However, giving me that hour gives me an extra hour in my day that I get to choose what to do with. I can go on a ride or see a parade or meet a non-Frozen character, or buy that snack or t-shirt or snack. (Yes, I will buy a snack.) Pushing me out of that line increases my enjoyment of the park because I got to use that hour in ways that I decided benefitted me rather than being stuck in the line.

So, while WDW1974 gives his standard 'Disney stinks' spin on the issue, he's missing the point of it.

 

[RayTheFirefly]

You guys talk like you didn't have achoice to not accept the 'reservation'.

If you don't want to wait two hours to eat at BOG, don't. Eat somewhere else.
If you don't want to give up your SM FP+ to eat at BOG, don't. Eat somewhere else.

What would you have done if BOG was closed for some reason? Go hungry?

My line of thinking is what if this was extended to every attraction and every food venue? A fustercluck is what would result.

And what I said was, I think most people would be upset about being given a return ticket for 2.5 hours later when it would have only been a 1 hour wait in a line otherwise. And this goes for any attraction or food, not just BOG.

 

[BrianV]

Which brings us back to "I am willing to wait an hour (or 30 minutes or whatever) in the sun and that means I should get to eat here...not those people who got here before me and got a "reservation" for their space in line."

More people are probably willing to take a pre-arranged time to eat there than were willing to stand in line, and the people willing to stand in line are now annoyed by the larger pool of willing diners.

Bingo. For me, I would never wait an hour for any ride or restaurant. Ever. If I come by at 11:30 and the line is 60 minutes, I'm not eating there. There are plenty of other fast food places in MK which have little or no wait. On the other hand, if they give me a return pass for 2pm, I might eat there. I'll certainly take a return pass and make a judgement call when 2pm rolls around.

Seems to me, however, that this restaurant just needs to become a regular fast pass location open to everyone 60 days out. I think people would be generally happier.

 

[rael ramone]

Just for my benefit. How many McDonald's or Chick Fil-A's do you know that need to cater to the needs of 10,000+ customers for lunch? I know not all of the guests (and there are more than 10,000 at the MK per day) will want to eat at BOG, but the number far exceeds anything the other Fast Food establishments cater to for lunch.

If a McDonalds or any other restaurant couldn't handle the demand, they wouldn't allow another site in the vacinity to remain mothballed.

 

[xdan0920]

My line of thinking is what if this was extended to every attraction and every food venue? A fustercluck is what would result.

And what I said was, I think most people would be upset about being given a return ticket for 2.5 hours later when it would have only been a 1 hour wait in a line otherwise. And this goes for any attraction or food, not just BOG.

But then Disney wouldn't get the benefit of the mental gymnastics guests now have to engage in, we were gonna leave the park after lunch, but now lunch is 120 minutes away. I guess we will stick around....

 

[dadddio]

A paper ticket doesn't flash, vibrate or shock you either.

Know, but a paper ticket is designed to communicate information to you, unlike the MB. I assume that the previous poster wasn't suggesting that the CM write the return time on the MB with a sharpie, of course.

 

[xdan0920]

Know, but a paper ticket is designed to communicate information to you, unlike the MB. I assume that the preious poster wasn't suggesting that the CM write the return time on the MB with a sharpie, of course.

Right, but, if they integrated it, you would just have to check your MM+ account to see what your return time is. Like everything else they use MM+ for.

 

[dadddio]

My line of thinking is what if this was extended to every attraction and every food venue? A fustercluck is what would result.

Agreed, that being said an unlikely hypothetical scenario doesn't serve as a valid argument against anything.

And what I said was, I think most people would be upset about being given a return ticket for 2.5 hours later when it would have only been a 1 hour wait in a line otherwise. And this goes for any attraction or food, not just BOG.

I think that you are incorrect.

In order for your wait to be an hour with a line against 2.5 hours with the tickets is if 1.5 hours worth of guests would have declined to wait in line. This 1.5 hours worth of people count against your assertion that 'most' people would be upset by this situation. In fact, it would seem to argue that most people would actually prefer the ticket to the line.