After months of planning all my dining reservations I finally got to WDW. I was really looking forward to Sanaa, but the experience wasn't at all what I expected. We arrived early, went to the bar to get a drink, we had been in Animal Kingdom all day and it was hot! I then went to let the front desk know we had arrived but were early ( I expected to get a pager) the 'cast member' told me to come back in 15 minutes. I thought this very strange, but as we had drinks in the bar wasn't too put out. By now we could see the restaurant was getting very quiet. So again I went to say we were in the bar, this time I got a pager, another 15 minutes and now my usually laid back husband went to see if there was a problem, and told the staff that they could find us in the bar! 10 minutes later we were shown to our table. Now we could see that there were loads of empty tables..so what had the problem been. Obviously the people on the desk were too busy talking amongst themselves to be bothered with their actual job. I did complain to the restaurant manager and she was very apologetic. I didn't want to complain, but I love the usually excellent service in WDW and this had spoiled this dinner for me. Anyway we were given a free dessert....however we were on the dining plan so this didn't really make any difference to us. As I said very disappointed.
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Sanaa...what a disappointment
- Thread starter Barbara McCabe
- Start date
How far after your ressie time were you seated?
The food was great we didnt get a seat by the windows although there were plenty available
We eventually got seated 20 mins after our reservation time and although this isnt a long time there were plenty of free tables available even the restaurant manager couldnt explain why we were nt given a paget when we first arrived
The Incredible Schmulk
Well-Known Member
It's completely possible that you got the cold shoulder upon check-in. Sometimes people just don't do their jobs, or do them correctly. It happens in all walks of life. You have to keep in mind, though, that just because there are empty tables, that doesn't mean that there are available tables. A restaurant, even those in Disney, will only staff enough servers and cooks to cater to their expected load. They don't want to pay a bunch of employees to stand around in the kitchen doing nothing just to make sure that there is zero wait for a table.
There's inattentiveness and then there's effective cost management. Your experience sounds like it's on the iffy side of the latter, but it could have been the situation. Twenty minutes in a quiet restaurant is certainly not what you would expect to be the norm, but they may have been understaffed. You know, call outs and what not.
Not being given a table by the window, though, I see that as a problem. There's no way that they don't know those tables are in the highest demand. If there are seats available, you should be seated there -- the exception being if they are reserved for some special reason, of course. Did you ask if you could sit at one?
There's inattentiveness and then there's effective cost management. Your experience sounds like it's on the iffy side of the latter, but it could have been the situation. Twenty minutes in a quiet restaurant is certainly not what you would expect to be the norm, but they may have been understaffed. You know, call outs and what not.
Not being given a table by the window, though, I see that as a problem. There's no way that they don't know those tables are in the highest demand. If there are seats available, you should be seated there -- the exception being if they are reserved for some special reason, of course. Did you ask if you could sit at one?
Well thanks for taking time to reply but I must say that we were surely part of the expected load... Our reservations had been made well in advance and the restaurant was not busy as I said the manager herself said she could not understand why the wait. The empty tables were still empty when we had finished our meal which was annoying. I do not mind waiting when a restaurant is busy but there were plenty of staff stood around so they did not seem busy. However you wrap this up it did feel like poor service which is definitely not what I expect from Dismey
real mad hatter
Well-Known Member
Sorry you were disappointed. If my memory serves me right,we also had to wait around 30 mins after our ADR time,but to be honest,we were enjoying the whole buzz and ambience of the place,it didn't bother us one bit.But the meal was out of this world.For this kinda gastronomic adventure,I would wait another 30 minutes.
Sorry you were disappointed. If my memory serves me right,we also had to wait around 30 mins after our ADR time,but to be honest,we were enjoying the whole buzz and ambience of the place,it didn't bother us one bit.But the meal was out of this world.For this kinda gastronomic adventure,I would wait another 30 minutes.We too were enjoying the ambience with an excellent bottle of wine and the food was terrific BUT when I went to the desk to say we were there and we had a reservation I was told most curtly to come back in 15 minutes I was nt even asked for my name or what time my reservation was for. I am not disappointed with the food or table service at all it was very good. If the restaurant had been busy I would have quite understood but it was not as I said before the manager herself admitted it was nt busy. Personally I dont care how good the food is at a restaurant if I wanted to eat at 7 i' m not prepared to wait 30 mins then another 30 mins as you would I would be going somewhere, where they wanted to feed meSorry you were disappointed. If my memory serves me right,we also had to wait around 30 mins after our ADR time,but to be honest,we were enjoying the whole buzz and ambience of the place,it didn't bother us one bit.But the meal was out of this world.For this kinda gastronomic adventure,I would wait another 30 minutes.
The meal was excellent and the waiting staff were just great as was the manager when I spoke to her
So it was a great dining experience and a disappointing greeting/seating experience that led you to start a thread that categorically labelled the entire experience disappointing?
DVC4bestvacations
Well-Known Member
Did you ask for a window table as they seated you?
See post #11.
PolynesianPrincess
Well-Known Member
Did you ever stop to think that maybe they were short staffed that day on waitstaff? And maybe they could only handle a few tables at a time? I do know from friends who have worked in the food service industry that each waitstaff is designated a certain section of tables. It's possible they were trying not to use all the tables by the windows? I don't know. That's the only reason I can think of that it took you so long to get seated and why maybe you didn't get a window seat. We had a fabulous time when we were there. The food was great and even though we didn't get a window seat, we still saw some animals from our table.
DVC4bestvacations
Well-Known Member
Sanaa...what a disappointment is the title of your thread yet the food was great?
real mad hatter
Well-Known Member
epcotisbest
Well-Known Member
"we were given a free dessert"
"The food was great"
"We too were enjoying the ambience with an excellent bottle of wine and the food was terrific"
"I am not disappointed with the food or table service at all it was very good"
"The meal was excellent and the waiting staff were just great as was the manager"
Yes...what a disappointment.
Spikerdink
Well-Known Member
I have eaten at Sanaa a few times and enjoyed my meal each time.... like the other posters, I am a bit shocked that you created a thread about what a disappointment your experience was because of the greeting....
Not that I am making excuses, but could it be possible that the reservation system went down and they were trying to get it back on line when you walked up? Doesn't excuse the greeter being curt, but it could explain why they took so long to take care of you.
Heck, if I was sitting at the bar with a bottle of wine, all would have been good until the wine was gone! Then we would have had issues!!
Not that I am making excuses, but could it be possible that the reservation system went down and they were trying to get it back on line when you walked up? Doesn't excuse the greeter being curt, but it could explain why they took so long to take care of you.
Heck, if I was sitting at the bar with a bottle of wine, all would have been good until the wine was gone! Then we would have had issues!!