Some complaints are valid.....some not so much

[daisyduckie]

We have had the same experience at the Kona Cafe. One day we walked up and over half the tables were empty but we were told it would be about 45 mins for a table for breakfast. I said to the hostess that half the tables were empty and she mumbled something about reservations and staffing. I overheard several other people who were waiting complain also. It just seemed ridiculous to us. We haven't been back since.

It could be that they only had as much staffing as they had ADRs, and had no extra staff to accommodate walk ups. So those tables that were empty had no person there to wait on them. That is a fairly typical way to operate.

 

[daisyduckie]

Last time I was at DHS that was the case for every single table service in the park even though many were OBVIOUSLY less than half filled. We could not be served. We left. That was not long after Star Tours II opened and we have not been back. A hundred bucks per person to get in to ride the 3 compelling attractions and denied food service.

My vote is that DHS is by FAR the worst major theme park in the country.

How were they obviously half filled? I'm pretty sure you can't see most of the tables from the doorways at the sit down restaurants. Though I think from reading the rest of your post, you are not a huge fan of DS to start with. And that is ok.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

How were they obviously half filled? I'm pretty sure you can't see most of the tables from the doorways at the sit down restaurants. Though I think from reading the rest of your post, you are not a huge fan of DS to start with. And that is ok.

The only one that you really can't see into is Sci-Fi.

 

[draybook]

We absolutely LOVE San Angel Inn!

 

[BrianV]

The only one that you really can't see into is Sci-Fi.

And the Scifi diner almost always accommodates walkins.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I love the inside of that pavilion. What would take it over the top would be some stars/cloud projections on the ceiling.

It's an overcast night!

 

[NearTheEars]

We absolutely LOVE San Angel Inn!

Sorry to stay off topic (I think?)
But the steak has been fantastic both times we've dined there.

 

[daisyduckie]

And the Scifi diner almost always accommodates walkins.

Not in my experience. I usually hear them turning away walk ups. You also can't see all of the seating at the Prime Time, or at Mama Melrose. Very little of the seating area at the Prime Time is in view at the check in podium. You can see some of the area, but not all.

 

[draybook]

Sorry to stay off topic (I think?)
But the steak has been fantastic both times we've dined there.

Absolutely! My wife and daughter don't normally eat steak but this is the one exception to that rule. Having been in the infantry, I was trained not to taste my food but instead to only chew it into pieces small enough to swallow. Again, this place is the exception to that rule. Not only do I taste it but I roll my eyes in exquisite delight.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Oh, I absolutely agree, 100%. But that is a false choice as those weren't the two options. Some amount was going to be needed to be spent on IT infrastructure. And while no one here can quantify the return, it is something greater than zero for sure. And if this actually results in net profits over the long run, then there will be more money available to spend on Star Wars land and avatar land and whatever.

How are we sure it's greater than 0?

Let's say they are -$2b right now. How long to recoup that in real profits? Remember, it has to be incremental profit to justify the expense. I don't know how they'll measure it, but I assume it will take a while.

 

[BrianV]

How are we sure it's greater than 0?

Let's say they are -$2b right now. How long to recoup that in real profits? Remember, it has to be incremental profit to justify the expense. I don't know how they'll measure it, but I assume it will take a while.

We are sure of nothing. Common sense tells us that the more knowledge they have, the better they will be able to staff (save money) and find other ways to make money. But no, I'm not sure. For that matter, we are not sure of the $2billion. In essence we have a math problem of how long till they turn a profit, but we don't know what they spent or how much they make incrementally.

 

[Goofyernmost]

We are sure of nothing. Common sense tells us that the more knowledge they have, the better they will be able to staff (save money) and find other ways to make money. But no, I'm not sure. For that matter, we are not sure of the $2billion. In essence we have a math problem of how long till they turn a profit, but we don't know what they spent or how much they make incrementally.

Heck, we don't have to know, so why would they tell us? They are a big enough company that I'm fairly sure that they know what they expected from the investment, even if it was just an upgrade of their computer system which, BTW, is an expense of doing business. With this one, I think (I will repeat, I think) that they tried to add things that will, in one form or the other, add to revenue. I don't think that was their primary motivation, just a secondary one. But we all have some unknown ability to know, at all times, what is the best thing to do when running a multi-billion dollar business. We know this because we all have massive experience in running one. I'm pretty sure that must be true. That's why I spend so much time carefully listening to all those people with that much skill and ability and also mysteriously have a whole bunch of free time to spend pontificating of a Discussion board.

 

[Ralphlaw]

I would disagree with that. We've only been going since 2008 but since the implementation of FP- the wait times for Pirates went from 5-10 minutes up to a normal wait time of 30+, and that's during September.

Just got back, and would agree that the Pirates standby lines are ridiculous, as are Peter Pan and other attractions that really don't warrant hours of shuffling between chains. With that being said, the solution is simple: Hand out fewer fastpasses per hour. It seems that about 2 minutes on the master computer screen could reduce the number of Pirate fastpasses from (I don't know) 400 per hour to 300 per hour, thus speeding up the standby line substantially. Truly, I don't think it's a problem with the FP+ system, it's just that too many fastpasses are being handed out per hour, thus paralyzing the standby line ridiculously.