PHOTOS - What happens to the 'Be Our Guest Restaurant' outdoor queue now it's summer?

wdwmagic

wdwmagic

Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
Original Poster
devoy1701

devoy1701

Well-Known Member
Scoutn757 said:
I would rather see the Daytona black and white stripes any day than a permanent cover over a bridge for a place that will not always maintain such a line.
Click to expand...

All I'm saying is that the unbearable FL heat isn't anything new, There's a reason why most of the FL attractions have indoor queues (or significant parts of their queues inside anyway). I still don't understand queuing up for a restaurant like that, but foresight would have had the pathway designed to be covered...Don't we walk through a dense forest to get to Beast's castle in the movie? Where's our forest canopy???
 
JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
The Empress Lilly said:
Yes. I too applaude the solution for what it is.

But with the understanding that they messed up the bigger picture. One, if BOG was build right the lines would've been sheltered in the first place. And two, if there were awesome restaurants operating at the Veranda or Tomorrowland Terrace we wouldn't have this problem to begin with.
Click to expand...
I agree. The problem isn't that BOG is awesome - it isn't. The problem is that it is perceived to be disproportionately better than anything else.
Time to build/re-theme a couple of other venues to take the heat off BOG. And you're right about starting with the Veranda and Tomorrowland Terrace.
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
The permanent solution will be this
'Be Our Guest Restaurant' testing new advance online ordering for lunch
Click to expand...
monster1.gif



Seriously?

But I don't want to have to decide right now when, where and what I want for lunch on August 11th. I want to play in a theme park and then grab a bite when we're hungry.
 
Santa Raccoon 77

Santa Raccoon 77

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
Premium Member
The Empress Lilly said:
monster1.gif



Seriously?

But I don't want to have to decide right now when, where and what I want for lunch on August 11th. I want to play in a theme park and then grab a bite when we're hungry.
Click to expand...

I don't want to say where i will be eating 180 days out but everyone is cool with this.Pre-ordering what you are going to eat is the next logical step IMHO..
 
JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
The Empress Lilly said:
monster1.gif



Seriously?

But I don't want to have to decide right now when, where and what I want for lunch on August 11th. I want to play in a theme park and then grab a bite when we're hungry.
Click to expand...
I would "like" this a hundred times if I could.
With the exception of CHH, where I ALWAYS get the Anchors Aweigh sandwich, I seldom know what I feel like eating until I am seated with the menu in front of me.
A lot depends on what kind of day I'm having. Is it blazing sun and 95 degrees, or did the Heavens just open up, and I am soaked to the bone, now freezing in an overly-air conditioned restaurant? Have I already had my Dole Whip float today? Did I share? Do I really want steak (or pasta or fish or whatever) two days in a row?
I actually resent having to place my dessert order at the same time as my beverage and entree ( I'm looking at you Sci Fi), how ever can I be expected to know what I want for an entire meal 60+ days before the fact.
 
Santa Raccoon 77

Santa Raccoon 77

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
Premium Member
JenniferS said:
Just because we do it (because we HAVE to) does NOT mean we are cool with it.
Click to expand...
Good point.I haven't done any ADR's in 11 trips with the exception of Cinderella's castle on our Disneymoon.I have noticed it getting harder to get into some places since we first started going but i think as a party of only 2 adults travelling at a "quiet time" of the year we are pretty lucky.
 
rael ramone

rael ramone

Well-Known Member
But think of it this way....

Based on the reviews that this place has been getting, if you have working taste buds, then this is a win for you. The people waiting for BOG aren't getting on the monorail and lining up for Kona Cafe.

In the time it takes you to get a 'fast' meal at BOG, you could concieveably jump on the monorail and get an appetizer, entre, and dessert (along with alcohol refreshment if you are so inclined) at Kona that's actually edible with actual table service, and you might be back to touring the parks before a family that's getting heatstroke waiting for a crowded dining hall for dumbed down food. (Or you could actually NOT go back to the parks after for the hottest/most crowded part of the day, hang out at the Poly and/or the GF or rent one of those little boats - wasn't this place once called the Vacation Kingdom?).
 
ariel90

ariel90

Active Member
If someone has already said this I'm sorry but I wonder do arguments break out over not sharing the umbrellas equally, sitting too close to my child, or straight out not being from that family?
 
lebeau

lebeau

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
This is a clever and thoughtful way for front-line staff to graciously serve the line of waiting "guests". Bravo to whomever at Magic Kingdom Park thought of this idea!

That said... The climate in Orlando is miserable and fun-killing for several months out of the year. It's always been that way, it always will be that way. So how does WDI and TDO's planning department not think of this stuff years in advance when they plan and design these new park offerings?

You can tell it's people working in cubicles far removed from the theme parks that approve this stuff. And then it's up to the front-line staff working in the theme parks to clean up the mess that WDI creatives and TDO planners made in their cubicles. The troubling thing is that those cubicle drones make a lot more money than the front-line staff and supervisors who have to think up the solutions to the mess.
Click to expand...

Probably the same people cranking down the AC so many buildings are sweltering in November much less summer.
 
Soarin' Over Pgh

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
Wait what? I "tested" this out in May when i went and it was a disaster. I don't see how it's a fix. Here's a recap from my trip report.
At the check-in counter, the girl got our reservations and everything went smooth until I whipped out the BoG card we were given at the DME. The girl had never set up reservations with the new FP+ system and had a bit of difficulty doing it. Her manager had to come over to assist her, and he wasn't quite sure how to set it up either. We had to pick what we wanted for lunch immediately and could not set the reservations without doing so. I got the quinoa salad, my Mom chose the carved turkey sandwich. After a bit more hassle for the check-in girl, we had it set for the following day at 1:15. The check in process took about 5 minutes. The FP+ ressies for BoG took a solid 15 minutes.
Click to expand...


Day Two


Lunchtime at BoG!! What a... cool experience, but nightmare as well. After arriving at the check-in booth (outside, on the left) the CM got our rose.. badges? Gps? block? Whatever you want to call that red thing.... and we were escorted past the gigantic line of miserable looking people to the entrance of the restaraunt. We then merged into line with the miserable looking people- kids who were hungry, impatient and at whits end, parents who were hot, tired, and just wanted to sit down, and older people who, quite frankly, should have been sitting down out of the heat already. From this merge point up to the ever-confusing 'order' lines, it was a good 25 minutes. When we went to the CM and handed him our rose- that should have had our reservations with everything ordered already in place- he scanned it, and THEN had to take our orders again. Something went wrong at this point, and he had to do it again. We ended up with two roses- a yellow and a red- and it seems that half of our order ended up on one 'rose' and the rest on the other. FINALLY, we entered the actual... cafeteria? Eating establishment? Food hall? What do we call this?? Anyhow- it was beautifully detailed but VERY loud. The main dining hall- the Library- was packed and very loud- it seems the sound echoes and bounces all over. The west wing was so dark, I don't know how anyone sitting there was able to see what they were doing. We settled for the third room... the... gallery? And was surprised to see it was almost empty. Considering the huge line outside, this entire 'wing' was almost empty.

The drinks were self-serve, which I was not aware of. The CM standing by the machines literally just stood there the entire time we had lunch. No one bothered to check our reciepts to make sure we paid for beverages. So... ok. Fine, no biggie. Really. Our food arrived- or rather, MY food arrived. The CM couldn't 'find' my Mom's lunch, and had to circle back to the kitchen for a replacement. Ten minutes later, my Mom was served, and our cupcakes arrived as well. My quinoa salad was delicious- I really enjoyed it. Mom loved the carved turkey sandwich, but the fries were just... french fries, nothing special. They didn't get eaten. The cupcakes? I could live the rest of my life eating the chocolate one. Really. They were tasty!

When we were done, and billions of photos later (lol) we were back outside. I asked at the check in booth about the self-service beverage system and the lack of checking reciepts- I mean, this is Disney, why would they give you free drinks? - and was told by the CM that they run on the 'honor system' here. I wonder how long that'll last.
Click to expand...




So if this is their 'fix' I hope they actually fix it and not cause a bigger headache than necessary.
 
TRONorail10

TRONorail10

Active Member
TP2000 said:
This is a clever and thoughtful way for front-line staff to graciously serve the line of waiting "guests". Bravo to whomever at Magic Kingdom Park thought of this idea!

That said... The climate in Orlando is miserable and fun-killing for several months out of the year. It's always been that way, it always will be that way. So how does WDI and TDO's planning department not think of this stuff years in advance when they plan and design these new park offerings?

You can tell it's people working in cubicles far removed from the theme parks that approve this stuff. And then it's up to the front-line staff working in the theme parks to clean up the mess that WDI creatives and TDO planners made in their cubicles. The troubling thing is that those cubicle drones make a lot more money than the front-line staff and supervisors who have to think up the solutions to the mess.
Click to expand...

I just want to say that this quote was one of the best posts in this forum. People want to complain about the umbrellas, fine. But it is the front line cast members that have to deal with all of the guest complaints at their job and try to come up with their own solutions to problems left behind by others involved in designing the restaurant. It was the CM's at BOG that came up with the TEMPORARY SOLUTION to use umbrellas to ease the guest complaints on the bridge as well as the FREE water cart.

Upper management and Imagineering will not put a canopy up. Trust me. The issue has gone straight to the top. So there is no use complaining, everyone is wasting their time on this issue.
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Soarin' Over Pgh said:
...I thought that surely Steve was placing a joke on us to lighten the mood a bit on the boards, but then I saw the pics and they just don't look photoshopped....

Umbrellas? At least they're trying. When I was there (and had a FP courtesy of hotel reservations + DME) we bypassed a huge, miserable looking crowd waiting to get in.

Looks awful, sure. Ridiculous, even. Not sure there's a solid enough "fix" to this issue. Not to mention that no matter WHAT Disney does, people are going to and moan about it here anyhow.

Darned if you do, and also if you don't.
Click to expand...


No, I was there as well. I can vouch for this being an authentic scene.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom