Now this is a terrific idea - Magic Kingdom eateries take control of seating

[captain marvel1]

my mom had a low blood sugar rush and its worse after you have a tick bite called lime disease look it up. the point is since i knew of cosmic rays i saved her life. Disney needs the restaurants the ones i saw had empty tables but the waitresses kept saying full closed or reservations needed. heck they could have just handed us the food and we would have been happy.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

I'd have to experience this system first hand to see how it works, but it sounds like its not a bad idea. Basically moves the line from inside at the tables and register to the outside of the building. I think it would defintely reduce the congestion inside the restaurant at peak times.

 

[unkadug]

Same here. It's a total PITA to have the whole group waiting at the registers.

However, if it does get you a table and quicker, I'm for it...

Sure, but while people are hogging the tables who don't even have food yet, someone with food has a place to eat.

I'm all for it.

Now if they would just start policing the queues and kick out the line cutters and place savers.

 

[Cindy'sBruno]

"So, there will be 10 moms with 20 limousine sized strollers standing waiting for dads to bring back the burgers and chicken fingers. Sounds like a big congestion to me"


DH, DD(1 in stroller) and I was there that same day when this sherriff was seating people. It is the best idea right now because everyone is table watching...just waiting for someone to get up. This happened to me in AK. Was at a quick service sit down location and I was waiting for a table with my 3 month old in a stroller. The family sitting at the table had not finished but had said that as soon as they were done that i could have the table. well as soon as they got up, some man came around the corner and sat down and said "im sorry this table is taken". I was shocked. I told him that i had been waiting for over 30 min for this table and it was already given to me. the family that had gotten up was listening to this and they all sat back down and told him that they were not finished so he had to move. :lol::sohappy: lets just say we got a dirty look and some choice words directed toward us. This seating arangment will help prevent that imho. as far as the strollers.....i would wait on the sidelines, crowd or no crowd, until my dh was ready with the food and day to be able to prevent stuff like that.:wave:

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Sure, but while people are hogging the tables who don't even have food yet, someone with food has a place to eat.

I'm all for it.

Now if they would just start policing the queues and kick out the line cutters and place savers.

Like I said, if it gets us a table quicker, I'm for it too.:shrug:

But it was always easier to split things up, too....

 

[docnabox]

"So, there will be 10 moms with 20 limousine sized strollers standing waiting for dads to bring back the burgers and chicken fingers. Sounds like a big congestion to me"


DH, DD(1 in stroller) and I was there that same day when this sherriff was seating people. It is the best idea right now because everyone is table watching...just waiting for someone to get up. This happened to me in AK. Was at a quick service sit down location and I was waiting for a table with my 3 month old in a stroller. The family sitting at the table had not finished but had said that as soon as they were done that i could have the table. well as soon as they got up, some man came around the corner and sat down and said "im sorry this table is taken". I was shocked. I told him that i had been waiting for over 30 min for this table and it was already given to me. the family that had gotten up was listening to this and they all sat back down and told him that they were not finished so he had to move. :lol::sohappy: lets just say we got a dirty look and some choice words directed toward us. This seating arangment will help prevent that imho. as far as the strollers.....i would wait on the sidelines, crowd or no crowd, until my dh was ready with the food and day to be able to prevent stuff like that.:wave:

That was very rude of him and obviously very nice of the previous family to stay and help you out. My statements were really meant to paint a comic light on the whole situation and not meant to say that I don't think there is a problem. I'm just not sure if something like this is going to be the best solution. Admittedly, I don't have anything better to propose, so I hope it makes it better for everyone.

 

[Phonedave]

Actually it does say that the greeter steers the entire party to the line...

A greeter hands menus and steers the entire group to cash registers to place their orders. After they get their food, they are guided by another employee to an empty table.

I can see both sides of this, but I am leaning toward it's a good idea, then again I am not hauling kids, strollers and the like with me either.

I can't see them forcing everyone in the party to go along the entire line. I took that statement to mean that they are directed away from the tables.

-dave

 

[Phonedave]

If that's how it works, then I've got no problem with it. On another note, it would seem that they would need multiple CMs to perform this duty, and how exactly do they prevent other people from wandering in and sitting down at a table without being directed there by the CM? Will they have table police asking people to get up and move?

It said somewhere in there that they had to reimagineering some of the entrances.

During high traffic times there is only one point of entry and multiple points of egress. That allows them to controll access to the seating areas.

-dave

 

[Phonedave]

Doesn't matter much to me as I am single without kids and travel with other adults who are in the same boat. But I guess, just to stir the pot, let's say a couple with two strollers goes to Pecos Bill and Dad gets in line while mom stands near the seating CM waiting on him to pick up the food at which point they then approach the CM and are "escorted" to an open table. Now, since this is supposed to be only going on during the peak times, let's magnify that by a factor of say, 10 couples in that situation since it is supposed to be crowded. So, there will be 10 moms with 20 limousine sized strollers standing waiting for dads to bring back the burgers and chicken fingers. Sounds like a big congestion to me and I can only imagine being Dad trying to balance one or two trays of food while tip-toeing through the stroller parking lot to get to the CM, uttering "excuse me" and "pardon me" and "can I squeeze past you." And then mom will probably be stuck against the wall with the other 9 moms in front of her and everyone will have to do the stroller dance to get out of the way so that they can go get a table.

Sounds like a big crowded mess. I have eaten at these places during just those times and I know the frustration that can ensue. But given that the lines themselves can be horrendously long and slow-moving and that adds to the crowd, I can just imagine the hoopla this could create. Makes me glad I eat mostly table service nowadays but I might want to check in on that next week just to see it! LOL! Bon Appetit! :wave:

While it does sound crowded, it's better than the alternative of 10 moms with 20 limos pushing them around the tables trying to claim a spot, while 20 other dads try to tiptoe with trays thought the roller derby stroller approximation of the Tea Cups.

Not to mention the potential altercations concerning claim jumping as was outlined in another post.

-dave


-dave

 

[Phonedave]

my mom had a low blood sugar rush and its worse after you have a tick bite called lime disease look it up. the point is since i knew of cosmic rays i saved her life. Disney needs the restaurants the ones i saw had empty tables but the waitresses kept saying full closed or reservations needed. heck they could have just handed us the food and we would have been happy.

No need to get snippy

1) I have no idea what lime disease is. Is it a citrus affliction? On the other hand I am well aware of what Lyme Disease is. It's not the tick bite that is called Lyme Disease, its the symptomatic response that is caused by the bacteria present in the tick. For the record my currently 8 y/o daughter had lime disease when she was 5. Her doctor had to be convinced to test for it, and was floored when the titer came back positive. So, yeah, I don't think I need to look that up

2) While I have no desire to see anyone suffer, and as I said I feel for your mom (and I still do) the point remains this was a known condition. You and her knew that she had blood sugar problems. Did you explain to the CM's the problem? Did you tell them your mom's blood sugar was dropping? First Aid would have assisted. Just because there are empty tables does not mean there are not reservations.

I am truly sorry if I seem harsh. But with something like blood sugar problems, you have to plan. My ex-wife developed insulin dependent gestational diabetes with each of our children. Whenever we went out we always had some sort of balanced carb snack at hand, and if she ever needed to eat in an emergency we explained to whoever was running a line, or at a hostess desk, and we were taken care of because we explained the situation. People are not mind readers.

I am glad everything turned out OK with your mom.

-dave

 

[captain marvel1]

the Cm's were no where to be found since it was at 10 at night before the firework show luckily i know every square inch of the park.

 

[magicfan]

Put this in the other thread, so I'll post it here too.

I work at Pecos and have participated in putting this stuff in action, so let me clarify a few things.

This 'assigned seating' stuff only happens during peak season. The parks were unusually busy a few days ago which I'm guessing happens to be the day this reporter was in the park, but other than that we haven't used it but maybe two or three times since the end of July. When we aren't busy there are no directions on where to sit or when to grab a table. One of the major points of this process is so there are tables open for people who already have their food and we don't have people with no food holding tables. It allows us to help people find tables faster, which in turn keeps the hallways (which can get very crowded at times) less chaotic.

As far as the whole stroller thing - there is no requirement that everyone must stand in line or anything like that. At least in Pecos, we have a lobby in between the dining room and the ordering/topping bar area where we put out benches during the crazy times. During the summer, that was where most of the families with small kids or strollers went. This keeps the stroller families out of the way and does not block the pathway or cause congestion. BUT during the really busy times, fewer people tried to bring strollers in since there were so many people and so little room so it was really never a big issue. I worked a lot of hours during the past few months and I rarely if ever saw a problem with strollers.

Chaos at the registers - mm.. not so much now. The only cause for chaos is when guests finally make it to the front to order and they haven't decided on what they wanted. Now that we pass out multi-lingual menus with pictures, combined with our 8 self-service terminals (it's basically an extra 8 registers, so transactions can be made with a whole lot more expediency) , the process really runs very smoothly and efficiently.

 

[yankspy]

Put this in the other thread, so I'll post it here too.

I work at Pecos and have participated in putting this stuff in action, so let me clarify a few things.

This 'assigned seating' stuff only happens during peak season. The parks were unusually busy a few days ago which I'm guessing happens to be the day this reporter was in the park, but other than that we haven't used it but maybe two or three times since the end of July. When we aren't busy there are no directions on where to sit or when to grab a table. One of the major points of this process is so there are tables open for people who already have their food and we don't have people with no food holding tables. It allows us to help people find tables faster, which in turn keeps the hallways (which can get very crowded at times) less chaotic.

As far as the whole stroller thing - there is no requirement that everyone must stand in line or anything like that. At least in Pecos, we have a lobby in between the dining room and the ordering/topping bar area where we put out benches during the crazy times. During the summer, that was where most of the families with small kids or strollers went. This keeps the stroller families out of the way and does not block the pathway or cause congestion. BUT during the really busy times, fewer people tried to bring strollers in since there were so many people and so little room so it was really never a big issue. I worked a lot of hours during the past few months and I rarely if ever saw a problem with strollers.

Chaos at the registers - mm.. not so much now. The only cause for chaos is when guests finally make it to the front to order and they haven't decided on what they wanted. Now that we pass out multi-lingual menus with pictures, combined with our 8 self-service terminals (it's basically an extra 8 registers, so transactions can be made with a whole lot more expediency) , the process really runs very smoothly and efficiently.

Sounds good. Thanks for the update. It's nice to see that something is being done to try and alleviate the problems.

 

[unkadug]

the Cm's were no where to be found since it was at 10 at night before the firework show luckily i know every square inch of the park.

That still doesn't excuse your own lack of planning. For someone that knows every square inch of the park, I find it hard to believe that there were NO cast members to be found, especially right before a show.

 

[Phonedave]

the Cm's were no where to be found since it was at 10 at night before the firework show luckily i know every square inch of the park.

You were trying to get seating at 10:00 PM at night without an ADR?

And if there were no CM's then who was telling you that there was no seating ?

It's just all kinds of confusing now.

-dave

 

[slappy magoo]

captain marvel1, let me get this straight: You went into the MK with someone who has low blood sugar, AND you claim to know every square inch of the park, and yet

a: you didn't think to make reservations
b: you didn't think to PACK A SNACK just in case there was an instance of dangerously low blood sugar
c: you didn't go to any of the numerous kiosks where you could pick up a piece of fruit or food that would counteract the low blood sugar. Not a meal per se but certainly would've helped counteract the low blood sugar.
d: you didn't think to LEAVE THE PARK once you realized you weren't going to get into a sit-down restaurant. Food courts at each hotel on the monorail line, and Kona Café was possibly still open (and if it were, at that time, it probably would not have been busy).

You claimed to have "saved" your mother's life by getting her to Cosmic Ray's in the nick o' time. Sounds to me like she survived in spite of you. Doesn't matter, I'm calling shenanigans on your entire subthread. Don't believe it for a nanosecond.

 

[slappy magoo]

back on topic, I think maybe a time has come to expand Animal Kingdom's picnic program to the MK. Set up a way to pre-order sandwiches or Boston Market-type meals to go, sandwiches preferably. Between park benches, the tables at the never-open-when-I'm-there Noodle station, and, for the diehard park commando, eating while in line, having a pick-up window would probably do wonders to alleviate restaurant congestion. And the price would seemingly be 1 or 2 cms at the restaurant where ordered meals are prepped & bagged, and 1 or 2 cms to keep replacing the trash cans throughout the park that will inevitably fill up faster because of the extra to-go trash.

Heck, I'll take it one step further - every picnic meal comes with (probably unnecessary) fastpasses for the riverboat ride (I'm drawing a blank - the Liberty Belle?). This gives people a chance to eat and experience an attraction at the same time. It's a 15-20 minute ride, which would probably be enough time to eat a sandwich and some chips. And hell, plenty of people eat snacks on the boat already, so they have the CMs around to keep the boat clean anyway (at least it usually seems clean when I ride it).

 

[yankspy]

back on topic, I think maybe a time has come to expand Animal Kingdom's picnic program to the MK. Set up a way to pre-order sandwiches or Boston Market-type meals to go, sandwiches preferably. Between park benches, the tables at the never-open-when-I'm-there Noodle station, and, for the diehard park commando, eating while in line, having a pick-up window would probably do wonders to alleviate restaurant congestion. And the price would seemingly be 1 or 2 cms at the restaurant where ordered meals are prepped & bagged, and 1 or 2 cms to keep replacing the trash cans throughout the park that will inevitably fill up faster because of the extra to-go trash.

Heck, I'll take it one step further - every picnic meal comes with (probably unnecessary) fastpasses for the riverboat ride (I'm drawing a blank - the Liberty Belle?). This gives people a chance to eat and experience an attraction at the same time. It's a 15-20 minute ride, which would probably be enough time to eat a sandwich and some chips. And hell, plenty of people eat snacks on the boat already, so they have the CMs around to keep the boat clean anyway (at least it usually seems clean when I ride it).

I forgot about those. Anyone tried the picnic meals yet?

 

[captainkidd]

This is a horrible idea. I do not want my kids to wait in line with me to get food. This is going to create chaos at the registers if everyone has to be there before sitting down.

Ditto.

Not to mention the fact that when it gets crowded, those lines make it impossible to move as is. Add a few strollers and a handful of kids in the mix....

 

[wdwwdeagle]

I forgot about those. Anyone tried the picnic meals yet?

We did the PITP (ooh, did I just make up a new acronym??? Never mind. I'm sure someone else has done it before.) last month at AK, and we thought it was great -- tasty, plenty of food (more than we could eat, in fact), nice and hot, and easy to deal with. I would love to have it at MK. I would take mine over to TSI and eat at the old Aunt Polly's in the shade.

Count me in the "hooray" camp with this new table/seating arrangement. I would love to have someone help me find a table at CS places, and I would have REALLY loved it back in the day, when I had to maneuver a double-stroller around the park and restaurants. What a godsend, IMHO!