DisBuckMan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2015
I just checked in the comments section on the Disney Parks Blog announcement - this is only for dinner. The other menus will remain the same.
For now...
I just checked in the comments section on the Disney Parks Blog announcement - this is only for dinner. The other menus will remain the same.
I don't disagree with you about catering to everyone, and it's a good point. I would be surprised if the kids menu isn't along the lines of the standard Disney Kids meal with some basic options. I'm just a little surprised they would take their most popular location and make such a drastic change. If this is in fact popular, the lunch and breakfast format are certainly up next to be changed. Getting those reservations just went from hard to get, to impossible.I'm fine with it, really. I think there are plenty of french fries available in the park elsewhere. Every restaurant doesn't have to be for every taste.
For people who are married to the Dining Plan, this is definitely a wrench to plans, and for people who wanted a cupcake and water to meet Beast, well...
To be fair, the current menu is one of the reasons I was disappointed with our experience there. I'm just not overwhelmed by the new one either. Which is odd considering two of my favorites are Jiko and Morimoto which aren't exactly traditional menus. Who knows, maybe someday I will try it. I will wait and see the reviews first though.I'm really excited about the changes. I never liked the previous menu, but this one makes it a must do for me!
Yeah, the more I think about it $55 isn't bad at all for 3 courses. There are some entrees on property that cost that much alone. Add in the environment and the one and only place to meet the Beast. It's actually a pretty good deal. 2 TS Credits is absurd though...We went for dinner a couple years ago to see the castle, even though neither one of us were crazy about any of the menus, and we weren't planning on meeting the beast, and haven't been back since. With this change we are looking to see if we can fit it into our September trip, and if not, definitely the January one. I think $55 for a three course meal is extremely reasonable, and I like a few of the options, I wouldn't use 2 TS credits on it, but we don't do the DDP except for one night of a split stay.
I'm just a little surprised they would take their most popular location and make such a drastic change.
Excellent perspective! Not one your average guest would view it from, but it makes perfect and total sense.I'm not.
With any menu restaurant, you have some element of "some people come for dinner, some for apps and wine, some for dessert." You see quite a bit of this at California Grill, for instance. But it mostly balanced out, and CG has a good revenue-per-seat metric, waitstaff are happy (and compete to work CG).
BOG has balance issues. I don't know how many people are doing the "cupcake and water for 8" but I can guarantee that it creates operational issues. The balance of "actual dinner" vs. "cupcake" is out of whack. This causes problems metering ADRs and "average table turn," either leading to idle servers with low average tabs, or long waits at the bridge because the average turn isn't doing a good job of accounting for the balance of dinner vs. cupcakes, which can be averaged over time but won't be consistent night to night.
I have heard that waitstaff do not want to work BOG because it's just so inconsistent. So you get turnover, which makes some of the management issues worse.
There are a limited number of ways to make a restaurant force a minimum tab. Prix fixe is the easiest, most obvious, and fixes almost all of the management issues around waitstaff, turn time, and revenue per patron.
Hmmm, I've dined at my fair share of "signature" restaurants and I'm not sure I've ever noticed a minimum at any of them. Then again, I'm always there for the total package experience so I guess i wouldn't.I'm happy with the change. We have been going since it opened and spend almost this much per person anyway. I hope they go further and make lunch the same. I am also with people who believe the water and cupcake people ruined it for a lot of people. I am surprised it took Disney this long to do something. I have always been surprised that Disney doesn't have a set price or at least a minimum per person in their signature restaurants. As others have said the turnover for the "water and cupcake/dessert" people doesn't cut it for a lot of restaurants. In the real world a lot of "signature" type restaurants have a minimum per person.
Yeah, the more I think about it $55 isn't bad at all for 3 courses. There are some entrees on property that cost that much alone. Add in the environment and the one and only place to meet the Beast. It's actually a pretty good deal. 2 TS Credits is absurd though...
Hmmm, I've dined at my fair share of "signature" restaurants and I'm not sure I've ever noticed a minimum at any of them. Then again, I'm always there for the total package experience so I guess i wouldn't.
I don't disagree with you about catering to everyone, and it's a good point. I would be surprised if the kids menu isn't along the lines of the standard Disney Kids meal with some basic options. I'm just a little surprised they would take their most popular location and make such a drastic change. If this is in fact popular, the lunch and breakfast format are certainly up next to be changed. Getting those reservations just went from hard to get, to impossible.
I'm sure it will have a pretty big demand still at first, and a lot of first timers may still try to go.