So How Do We Feel About the Changes to Be Our Guest?

[DisBuckMan]

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...

 

[William Ades]

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...

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.

 

[gillep]

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.

 

[William Ades]

I'm really excited about the changes. I never liked the previous menu, but this one makes it a must do for me!

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.

 

[William Ades]

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.

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...

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I'm just a little surprised they would take their most popular location and make such a drastic change.

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.

 

[DisneyMim]

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.

 

[William Ades]

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.

Excellent perspective! Not one your average guest would view it from, but it makes perfect and total sense.

 

[Minnesota!]

I think it looks good, and I understand the movie. The kids prices might be $5-$10 more than I would expect. However, we don't know if there will be added entertainment to justify that - more characters, etc.

My only gripe is that the vibe of BOG, when we dined there, was of a fancy cafeteria. Now, it has been 3 or so years, so might be different now. But, I wouldn't pay $200+ for my family to eat in a cafeteria...

 

[William Ades]

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.

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.

 

[gillep]

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...

Absolutely 100% agree. I also think that the children's menu price sounds high, but as I don't have children I don't know what a comparable children's meal would cost, so it would be difficult for me to say definitively how out of line, or not, the children's menu price is.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

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.

There's not really a minimum, but the overall balance is better. I suspect somewhere like CG, there's a better balance of "early evening apps and drinks" and "late evening dessert and drinks" with full meals through the center that can be balanced better. There's also the bar to be seated at in a pinch if flow control is off for the evening (and some people who are there for the not-a-full-meal don't even make ADRs and use the bar intentionally!).

 

[Disneylover99]

I'm fine with the change. I'm not a fan of dinner at BOG anyways, and cupcakes (in general) are just blech to me.

 

[Moliphino]

The change to 2 credits takes it off our list for dinner (assuming we get free dining again, we may consider it if we don't have free dining if the menu looks good). I don't mind the menu change or the change to a prix fixe meal, though I will miss that truffle mayo that came with the steak.

We will still go for lunch.

 

[HopperFan]

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.

That is exactly why. Imagine you build this beautiful venue, make it large so many can enjoy, ADRs are full three meals a day .... again, it's large, large kitchen, lots of manpower at all meals .............. seats always full ........... but 25-30% order nothing. That is bad business.

You want to generate real revenue (not a cupcake) from each seat in that place to cover and way exceed the costs.

If they only convert Dinner, then lunch and breakfast will be very hard to get.

If they then convert Breakfast, lunch will be impossible, but breakfast will be easier.

If they convert all three, I don't think you'll have too many problems like now. Some will like it better and now book, some will like it less and not book.


HONESTLY, it should have been TS from the beginning for all three meals with Breakfast and Dinner legit Prix Fixe, and lunch could have been ala carte, like LTT.

 

[Jennasis]

I'm all for it. Have already eaten here for dinner twice so there was no need to return. Now we might.

Now if they would just quit with the QS breakfast and lunch! Cheapens the whole place!

 

[CraigInPA]

I liked what I saw in the menu, and don't mind $55 OOP. I'd never use 2 TS credits for it, though.

I'm concerned this will be a re-run of the LeCellier change from one credit to two credits. The only thing changed were the prices. LeCellier still uses college interns and has tables so close together that adjacent tables could share appetizers.

Thankfully, I'm 5 months before being able to make ADR's for my next trip, so I will have the opportunity to hear if they have improved service and how the new menu is working out before committing to going there.

 

[Emmafleur]

I’m in a dilemma really. We’ve only been to WDW in 2013 and had dinner back then at BOG. Back then The Grey Stuff was something they brought out complimentary as a way to celebrate a special occasion (they gave it to my daughter for her 16th birthday). We sat in the ballroom right by the windows with the snow and had a beautiful meal - it all felt very special. Fast forward to this year and August when we go again. We are taking a newbie with us so, if course, we want to take her to BOG for dinner. Our 180 day mark hit us last week and we couldn’t make reservations at all for our trip because they weren’t available so we made a lunchtime reservation just in case. Now that Disney have announced the new menu and 2 TS credits I’m not sure what to do. We managed to get free DDP and won’t really have time to use the extra credits if we pay for BOG dinner OOP but everyone keeps saying it would be such a waste of 2 TS credits. Should I risk it, hoping that Disney will dazzle us with Belle and the Beast circling the tables, dancing in the ballroom or something wonderful like that? Problems, problems...

 

[Airb330]

I'm sure it will have a pretty big demand still at first, and a lot of first timers may still try to go.

Disney has been heavily catering to the first time guest and "once in a lifetime" crowd for a while now. If they can fill BOG with only these customers, turn those tables fast at $55, then management will be very happy. They don't even need us repeat visitors for a lot of things right now.

On a side note, I fully expect the price to be $60-65 in under 12 months.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I'm happy with the change. That said, I've never eaten there for dinner. Only breakfast and lunch.

I am hoping that this is a success and because of that they also change breakfast and lunch.