New Be Our Guest lunch line procedure (Test?)

[xstech25]

I haven't read this whole thread. Came here hoping to gleen a few pointers, actually.

Next month I'm meeting a group of friends at WDW, staying 1 night with the group at BLT, then we all are heading out on a cruise together the next day. My friends talked a lot about MK the day/night before. I (foolishly) bit and paid the sickening $105 for the 1-day MK admission. And let me tell you, I've been sick with regret over it since. I should never have done it.

I'm quite sure the new system has it's uses if you super plan from day 1. Try to do something last minute or join friends/family who have existing plans? Yeah, good luck. Just to see the inside of BoG was 1 of the few things I wanted to do. I was hoping to get from the airport to MK as quickly as possible to catch lunch. My flight lands at 12:20. I have yet to figure that out. What info I'm getting indicates I'm pretty much SOL. Is the system alienating? To some, yes.

If anyone were to ask me about a WDW vacation I would probably just laugh and wish them luck. Color me unimpressed with any of this crap. At this point I'm disgusted so much I'm considering skipping the park entirely. Just so annoying. I wish beyond all wishes I NEVER bought that stupid ticket. I could be avoiding all this annoyance if I'd just not done it. Ugh.

So you're arriving in Orlando at 12:20, bought a 1 day ticket to MK, and plan on doing Be our Guest for lunch? Not to be rude but you should realize that Walt Disney World is designed to take you away from the real world and just to get through the gate after parking you have to ride a monorail or ferry around a huge lagoon which takes a long time itself, and by the time you actually get in the park it will be several hours after landing. To think that for some reason when you enter the park in the late afternoon with your 1 day ticket, that you will get into one of the most in-demand restaurants on WDW that has a reservation book out of several months, is just ignorant.

The "i'm the customer and the customers always right, now give me what I want" mentality isn't a good way to approach entertainment venues that have 50,000+ people on a daily basis. You should focus on having a great time at the park and not harp over Be Our Guest.

 

[Tuvalu]

I preordered our meals when making our FP+ reservation for this coming weekend. However, based upon someone's suggestion on one of these posts, I took a screen shot of the confirmation page listing all the details. I sure hope we don't have to go through the whole order process again. Based upon your visit and photos, this new "process" defines "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". So BOG for lunch will now become the venue a select group of visitors (resort guests) or those who get a paper return ticket shortly upon park opening. Yes, a VAST improvement.......

Be prepared to order again. We have had to reorder again FOUR times and I have yet to read of anyone who pre-ordered actually having success with their order being in the system. So for our next fastpass in September, I saved myself the frustration and simply chose expedited arrival.

 

[LAKid53]

Be prepared to order again. We have had to reorder again FOUR times and I have yet to read of anyone who pre-ordered actually having success with their order being in the system. So for our next fastpass in September, I saved myself the frustration and simply chose expedited arrival.

If it isn't working, then why bother offering that option? Unless the dark plan is frustrating guests.

 

[Tuvalu]

If it isn't working, then why bother offering that option? Unless the dark plan is frustrating guests.

LOL, I feel exactly the same way!!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

So you're arriving in Orlando at 12:20, bought a 1 day ticket to MK, and plan on doing Be our Guest for lunch? Not to be rude but you should realize this is Walt Disney World, the place is designed to take you away from the real world, just to get through the gate after parking you have to ride a monorail or ferry around a huge lagoon which takes a long time itself and by the time you actually get in the park it will be several hours after landing. To think that for some reason when you enter the park in the late afternoon with your 1 day ticket, that you will get into one of the most in-demand restaurants on WDW that has a reservation book out of several months, is just ignorant. You should focus on having a great time doing other things and not even think about Be or Guest.

First & formost you should prob'ly try checking yourself with the "waltzing" and "ignorant" attitude at the door unless you KNOW me. ((Nice post edit, BTW)) I'm very familiar with WDW in general but YOU don't know me and YOU don't know what my experience level is. I've avoided WDW like the plague in the last 3 years because, frankly, I got bored with it. All the new jumping thru hoops to do anything doesn't help to pique my interest either. I never expected to hop off my plane at 12:20 and "waltz" into anywhere unreasonably. I'm staying at BLT. I won't require a ferry (like I'd waste time on those) or a monorail (not into riding the funk train). You don't even know that I intended to use DME. I may be taking a taxi or private car which is also MUCH faster then DME. I have my California Grill dinner reservations that were made many months ago. I'm not even CLOSE to new to WDW. Aside from all those points, is it REALLY that unreasonable to expect to walk up to an alleged "counter service" lunch (you know, because that's what it was always said to be & remains described as on disneyworld.com) before 2:30 in the afternoon and be able to eat? Really? The point is that joining friends/family after certain booking windows open is where the new system blows. You have no idea the crap we've been thru trying to line up FP+ times. This BoG garbage is the icing on the cake. Is it a quick service lunch or isn't it? I've never needed a FP, card, or reservation for an quick service meal in the 35+ years I've been going to WDW. Have you?

As for the bubble and relaxing/enjoying, don't you worry. I will. Once I'm in the competent hands of the DCL cast & crew....for 14 glorious days.

 

[LAKid53]

So you're arriving in Orlando at 12:20, bought a 1 day ticket to MK, and plan on doing Be our Guest for lunch? Not to be rude but you should realize that Walt Disney World is designed to take you away from the real world and just to get through the gate after parking you have to ride a monorail or ferry around a huge lagoon which takes a long time itself, and by the time you actually get in the park it will be several hours after landing. To think that for some reason when you enter the park in the late afternoon with your 1 day ticket, that you will get into one of the most in-demand restaurants on WDW that has a reservation book out of several months, is just ignorant.

The "i'm the customer and the customers always right, now give me what I want" mentality isn't a good way to approach entertainment venues that have 50,000+ people on a daily basis. You should focus on having a great time at the park and not harp over Be Our Guest.

Sweet Pea is correct, it's a bloody quick service restaurant! No other QS restaurant in all of WDW has this idiotic process. If people want to stand in line for 40 minutes, then let them. We've wandered over at 1:00 or so, asked how long the wait is and then have decided whether or not we want to get in line, knowing that a 40 minute wait is usually much less. I've waited for 15 minutes or so at other popular QS restaurants, especially during the lunchtime period. But it was MY call to wait, not Disney's.

I got my e-mail invitation to make a FP+ for lunch for our trip this weekend 3 weeks ago, so no, you cannot "book out" several months. We are talking about QS lunch at BOG, not ADR for dinner.

My problem with this process is that it takes the choice away from the customer. I know this is the most popular restaurant in the Magic Kingdom and the best for dinner. I plan accordingly, but I get to do the planning.

 

[stevehousse]

So you're arriving in Orlando at 12:20, bought a 1 day ticket to MK, and plan on doing Be our Guest for lunch? Not to be rude but you should realize that Walt Disney World is designed to take you away from the real world and just to get through the gate after parking you have to ride a monorail or ferry around a huge lagoon which takes a long time itself, and by the time you actually get in the park it will be several hours after landing. To think that for some reason when you enter the park in the late afternoon with your 1 day ticket, that you will get into one of the most in-demand restaurants on WDW that has a reservation book out of several months, is just ignorant.

The "i'm the customer and the customers always right, now give me what I want" mentality isn't a good way to approach entertainment venues that have 50,000+ people on a daily basis. You should focus on having a great time at the park and not harp over Be Our Guest.

Um, No...

The fact is that before the whole ticket fiasco, u could easily arrive at the MK at 1pm, get in line for BOG, and be able to eat there!

U have no idea what u r talking about and were super rude! Just, NO...

 

[xstech25]

It's a quick service for lunch and this person clearly isn't getting there in time for lunch.

This happened to me when World of Color was new, I flew from New York and arrived at LAX at about 10AM. I got inside the park about noon and the viewing was all distributed for the show. You know what I did? Had a great day at the park and saw WOC the next day. Sorry sh*t happens, the only alternative that Disney has is to close the park when viewing for the 3 shows is distributed so that way no one gets "left out," and that obviously would have sucked a lot more for me. Not everyone can see everything in the park every day, that's the way it always has been and always will be at all theme parks in order for them to be successful.

 

[stevehousse]

It's a quick service for lunch and this person clearly isn't getting there in time for lunch.

This happened to me when World of Color was new, I flew from New York and arrived at LAX at about 10AM. I got inside the park about noon and the viewing was all distributed for the show. You know what I did? Had a great day at the park and saw WOC the next day. Sorry sh*t happens, the only alternative that Disney has is to close the park when viewing for the 3 shows is distributed so that way no one gets "left out," and that obviously would have sucked a lot more for me. Not everyone can see everything in the park every day, that's the way it always has been and always will be at all theme parks in order for them to be successful.

Lunch at BOG used to stop letting guests enter the que line at 2pm. So if she got there in time she certainly will be able to eat there...

get ur facts straight before spewing hate!

 

[stevehousse]

Also @sweetpee_1993, if u hve a resort reservation u will more than likely get a FP for BOG...

 

[YankeeMouse]

We are arriving Sept 28 and on the Be Our Guest site, we can only reserve a time until Sept 27. Is this a test or due to high volume? Does anyone know if they will be adding on after Sept 27? This was always easy for us to do, arrive at 10:30 to queue up, hoping this has not been ruined by overplanning.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

It's a quick service for lunch and this person clearly isn't getting there in time for lunch.

This happened to me when World of Color was new, I flew from New York and arrived at LAX at about 10AM. I got inside the park about noon and the viewing was all distributed for the show. You know what I did? Had a great day at the park and saw WOC the next day. Sorry sh*t happens, the only alternative that Disney has is to close the park when viewing for the 3 shows is distributed so that way no one gets "left out," and that obviously would have sucked a lot more for me. Not everyone can see everything in the park every day, that's the way it always has been and always will be at all theme parks in order for them to be successful.

Getting to the park an hour before lunch is over isn't enough time to get into a QUICK SERVICE restaurant? Really? I'm still not getting how that's unreasonable. Is it quick service or is it ADRs? You can't have both simultaneously. Doesn't work.

With EMH this one day I (might) be in the MK I had hoped to catch all the things that are newer and I hadn't seen yet. Not like there's such an abundance of things but that's a whole other topic. LOL! BoG is the only missing piece.

Not to worry. I do have options. I'll look at changing flights so I can join my friends at their BoG FP+ time or they'll swoop in to grab me the little paper return time. It's just ridiculous to even have to think about this for a QUICK SERVICE classified meal. Truly.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Also @sweetpee_1993, if u hve a resort reservation u will more than likely get a FP for BOG...

I'm a guest listed on a 2bedroom villa at BLT. I haven't received any emails but another friend also staying on site has received the email invite.

 

[LAKid53]

It's a quick service for lunch and this person clearly isn't getting there in time for lunch.

This happened to me when World of Color was new, I flew from New York and arrived at LAX at about 10AM. I got inside the park about noon and the viewing was all distributed for the show. You know what I did? Had a great day at the park and saw WOC the next day. Sorry sh*t happens, the only alternative that Disney has is to close the park when viewing for the 3 shows is distributed so that way no one gets "left out," and that obviously would have sucked a lot more for me. Not everyone can see everything in the park every day, that's the way it always has been and always will be at all theme parks in order for them to be successful.

What part of "we've gotten in line after 1:00PM" did you miss? If the restaurant closes for lunch at 2:30 or so, they won't let you get in line to wait at 2:29. So if you didn't get a viewing for World of Color, you wouldn't be able to see it at all? Or was the viewing for a special area? That would be like saying if I didn't get a FP+ for the Rose Garden Viewing Area for Wishes, I wouldn't be able to see Wishes at all...... I've not been to DL since the early 1980s. so I am not familiar with that show.

I think you are completely, and somewhat rudely, missing Sweet Pea's and many others points. Which is, if we want to stand in line to wait, as long as we are in line before the cut off time for restaurant closure, then Disney should let us. This whole "come back" thing is fixing a problem that didn't need to be fixed.

 

[LAKid53]

I'm a guest listed on a 2bedroom villa at BLT. I haven't received any emails but another friend also staying on site has received the email invite.

I believe the person getting the e-mail is the guest the reservation was made by. However, I've not always gotten the e-mail invite but always stay on property. So the FP+ for QS lunch at BOG is even more selective.

 

[CDavid]

It's a quick service for lunch and this person clearly isn't getting there in time for lunch.

This happened to me when World of Color was new, I flew from New York and arrived at LAX at about 10AM. I got inside the park about noon and the viewing was all distributed for the show. You know what I did? Had a great day at the park and saw WOC the next day. Sorry sh*t happens, the only alternative that Disney has is to close the park when viewing for the 3 shows is distributed so that way no one gets "left out," and that obviously would have sucked a lot more for me. Not everyone can see everything in the park every day, that's the way it always has been and always will be at all theme parks in order for them to be successful.

World of Color is not a quick-service (fast-food) restaurant; Entering a show (concert, sporting event, movies, etc.) does not in any way resemble the admission procedure for a quick-service dining facility - nor should it. The (obvious) fact that not everyone in the park can experience everything every day has nothing to do with the issue; As you note, it has always been that way, but we've never seen such an idiotic process for getting lunch before. You have always entered a restaurant, waited your turn, and were then served. That works, is self-regulating, and doesn't create more problems than it solves.

The problem of people waiting outside in the sun (imagine that - out in the sun at a theme park!) in a long line just to get in the restaurant does not reflect a problem with the admission procedure (waiting in line), but rather is a problem with a lack of restaurant capacity overall and overwhelming demand at this specific dining facility. That sort of thing happens when you have less dining capacity in the park than previously (with smaller crowds) and open something new and popular.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I believe the person getting the e-mail is the guest the reservation was made by. However, I've not always gotten the e-mail invite but always stay on property. So the FP+ for QS lunch at BOG is even more selective.

Thanks. And thanks to @stevehousse, too. Admittedly, I haven't kept up with all the little nuances with things at WDW. I was loosely aware but not bothering to track all the details with the changes. This has been my first foray into the fire. I cannot even begin to fathom how total newbies would handle this stuff. Insanely complicated.

As for World of Color at DCA, you can get FP via old school machines in park the day of. When WoC was new they sold out quick. Now, not as fast. Also there are WoC dining packages that get you into different reserved viewing areas. All the designated viewing areas are standing only. If you don't have any access to the viewing areas you can still see & hear the show, just not as unobstructed as the viewing areas. The show is done nightly, maybe more in the summer/holiday times. I'm not sure. I believe the reserved viewing areas accommodate 9k people. Or maybe it was they hoped for 9k but fell short in execution of the space. I know I've seen that number tied to the viewing areas, tho. We did see WoC this past spring during our first west coast trip. It is amazing. We did the Carthay Circle dinner package to get our spots. It was lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[LAKid53]

Thanks. And thanks to @stevehousse, too. Admittedly, I haven't kept up with all the little nuances with things at WDW. I was loosely aware but not bothering to track all the details with the changes. This has been my first foray into the fire. I cannot even begin to fathom how total newbies would handle this stuff. Insanely complicated.

As for World of Color at DCA, you can get FP via old school machines in park the day of. When WoC was new they sold out quick. Now, not as fast. Also there are WoC dining packages that get you into different reserved viewing areas. All the designated viewing areas are standing only. If you don't have any access to the viewing areas you can still see & hear the show, just not as unobstructed as the viewing areas. The show is done nightly, maybe more in the summer/holiday times. I'm not sure. I believe the reserved viewing areas accommodate 9k people. Or maybe it was they hoped for 9k but fell short in execution of the space. I know I've seen that number tied to the viewing areas, tho. We did see WoC this past spring during our first west coast trip. It is amazing. We did the Carthay Circle dinner package to get our spots. It was lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks for the info, Sweet Pea. I'm going back home next spring to visit family and see my original park - last time there was no DCA - you parked right in front of Disneyland and just walked in, imagine that! I watched a video and was delighted to see that park hopping at Disneyland Resort (got to get with it, it's no longer called Disneyland) is as simple as walking across the plaza. Sweet!

 

[xdan0920]

Okay, here it goes. Will try to keep this mostly OT, but have to share the overall experience at BoG.

Went there as we got an email 'FastPass' lunch invite. Thanks to all the regular posters here, I knew there was little other chance of getting in by going to try and get one of the special cards with a time to return for lunch, so I figured we'd go for it. Happy we are not on the DDP this year, as there's so much more flexibility when you get to order what you really want. So, I pre-ordered. Thought, well, who knows, maybe we'll actually want to eat what we ordered anyway, even if it was in advance.

Couldn't remember what time the Fast Pass was for...doesn't show up on MDE. So, stopped by the check in desk to find out what time we were supposed to arrive. They had us scheduled for 11:15. At the time we stopped by, which was 10ish, they were passing out cards. Wanted to report that here, as I know many have wondered how long those last. Well, we returned just after 11:15, and the sign was out that there were no more spots available for the day. Yep-11:15.

Was it a busy day? Not really, and I HATE crowds, so for me to feel like it wasn't too bad, it really wasn't too bad. I think the 'E's got to an hour plus reported waits, but most other rides that were reporting 20 minute waits were really walk ons. Only report this info to let you know that if you're coming at a busier time, RUN past Anna & Elsa and go get your card for BoG if you really want to eat there.

So, we checked in, and were sent to go stand in line. Yep, pre-ordered, and we had to go get in line to use an order kiosk to see if they had our order correct. Well, if they had actually KEPT the order I placed, then it would've been fine. But, no big surprise, but the system had no idea what we ordered, we had to start all over.

From there, once we finalized the order and paid...had to go stand in another line. You heard that correctly...now you have to go stand in line so that someone can bring you to a table. Sat in the ballroom before, so I asked for one of the side rooms. Ended up in the beautiful music box room.

On the way in, though, even though it was still early for lunch, I was taken aback at how many empty tables there were. Mind you, even though we go there about 11:20, it was a good 15 minutes to get through the lines and to a table. Was about 11:35 or so when the food arrived. It arrived while I was up and taking pictures. Food was ok. Nothing worth what we paid, IMO.

When we left, the line of folks returning to get in with their time was across the bridge. Yep...hurry up and return so you can stand in the line that you would have had to stand in anyway, but at least we made you work harder for it... and, so I'm sure that the tables would fill in, but they are not IN ANY WAY managing that capacity very well. I know it's new...but sometimes I wonder who the heck comes up with this crap...and why they insist on putting the guests through the angst of having to live through it. And, not to mention the CMs that have to deal with the guests. They literally have a team of blockers at the end of the bridge...traffic cops...whatever you want to call them. I'd bet they need a drink (or three) after working a shift there. I know I would.

So, that brings me all the way to the pictures. Took them between the time we sat and when we left (a bit after noon time). I'll be back shortly and edit this with them. Evidently they're too big to upload, not sure, but would bet it's the wi-fi doing me in.

ETA:
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Great report. Thanks for putting in the effort to document your experience. Nice to have someone there who could actually confirm how obviously flawed this idea was.

A good point I read above by @CDavid. MK is drawing more guests then ever, and there are fewer places for those guests to eat then ever. How does that make sense to anyone? I mean, anyone who isn't managing budgets for Food and Bev at MK.

Efficiency above all?

 

[xstech25]

Getting to the park an hour before lunch is over isn't enough time to get into a QUICK SERVICE restaurant?

No, clearly not, just like getting to a theme park 9 hours before a show starts wasn't enough time to get viewing for the show. If it were they would still be giving out times when you get there...