Wait your turn!! New seating rules for CS restaurants at WDW...

[Laugh O. Grams]

Don't know if this has been covered, but I figured I'd put it out there anyway.

We just got home from a week at WDW this morning. While at Magic Kingdom yesterday afternoon, we had lunch at Pecos Bill's and found that Disney was trying out new seating rules for CS restaurants. In order to sit down at a table, you need to 1) have your entire party together, and 2) have your food in hand. Once the CMs manning the entrances to the seating areas (2 at every door) see that your ready to sit down, they tell you where the available tables are and where's a good place to sit. Let me tell you, it was refreshing to enter the seating area and actually have a choice of about 15 available tables for immediate seating! I spoke with the manager at PB and told him how great the new system was working and how much we appreciated being able to actually find a table to sit down at before our food got cold. He said that he expected Disney to use the new system during busy seasons at the parks from now on.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

Wonderful idea! This should make it a lot easier to find tables...but I can't help but wonder how families who have to juggle diaper bags, toddlers, strollers, and wheelchairs will manage juggling a tray along with all that? Hope they have a contingency plan to cover these.

Do they just have one parent/caregiver stay with the children/other while the other parent tries to handle 3/4/5 meals? Or does the food-fetcher have to make several trips?

 

[scanne]

Well, as long as they will continually have the CM's to staff the locations, I'm all for it. But as soon as it becomes a "good faith" policy and the CM's are gone, it's going to be chaotic once again. We're heading to WDW tomorrow and I will be keeping my eyes open for this.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

Well, as long as they will continually have the CM's to staff the locations, I'm all for it. But as soon as it becomes a "good faith" policy and the CM's are gone, it's going to be chaotic once again. We're heading to WDW tomorrow and I will be keeping my eyes open for this.

I think that's just the thing...during busy seasons, there won't be any "good faith" policy instituted. The manager said that for obvious reasons, they intend to keep the doors well staffed at all times...

 

[BaBeeCee14]

Good to know. Thank you for sharing!

 

[faindrops27]

So, doesnt this make the lines at the order counter horrendous? I am thinking if you have several kids, waiting in the line with the order takers. Would that not cause a problem?? How were the lines OP?? Where does the rest of the party wait?

 

[motofox4]

it sounds like a good idea, but like the previous poster said, i think this would make the lines horrendous with kids getting impatient just standing around waiting for their food and playing on the rails that keep the lines separated. i wonder if it will be like this in December when we go.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

So, doesnt this make the lines at the order counter horrendous? I am thinking if you have several kids, waiting in the line with the order takers. Would that not cause a problem?? How were the lines OP?? Where does the rest of the party wait?

You know...you'd think the back up at the register would be huge, right? Oddly enough, I've never seen the lines managed so well. There were two gals at each of the front doors directing traffic to the registers and a couple on the inside making sure you understood where to go to order and made sure you went to the correct line. The rest of the party not in line had room to wait in various dead areas in the restaurant (near the bathroom, just inside the doors to the left and right, etc.) There were not more that 3 families in each line. We walked right up to the register on the very right and there was only one family in front of us ordering...and mind you, this all happened at about 12:30 pm, one of the busiest times of the day. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised and extremely impressed!

 

[daisyduck123]

Just do what my family does: We skip breakfast and eat a counter-service "brunch" at 11:00 (use our CS credits then). No lines at 11:00!!!!

We never do counter-service at dinner (always TS) so I don't know when a good time to get TS for dinner would be.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . Wonderful idea! This should make it a lot easier to find tables...but I can't help but wonder how families who have to juggle diaper bags, toddlers, strollers, and wheelchairs will manage juggling a tray along with all that? . . .

1) Just leave them parked in the stroller area.
2) Toddlers can walk along or be carried by the other parent.
3) Such shouldn't clutter up the restaurant, anyhow.
4) Just takes up space and makes a trip-hazard.
5) I am personally happy they are doing this.
6) Too many times people try to save seats and end up slowing things down.

 

[Geoff_M]

Wow, is this ironic. A couple of years ago I was on the losing end of a thread and poll about the issue of saving tables. I attempted to argue that the practice of "saving seats" at CS restaurants wasn't fair to people with trays of food looking for a place to sit and that it was counter-productive as it lowered the number of times a table could be "turned" during a busy meal period and thus only made table shortages worse. I was told I was crazy, compared to the "mug police", people had never heard of such a notion, etc. etc. Someone started an opinion poll on the matter any my views were trounced 4 to 1 against. I eventually gave up and we started to save tables too... I decided why should my family be the ones to suffer since I'm so far in the minority and so few people seem to give a rip?

 

[lovethattink]

I'll have to check that out, however, I think it could be very troublesome for my family. I have a very active little boy. It's so much easier to keep him undercontrol in a high chair at the table and entertain him with toys while we wait for dh to get the food. Guess we'll just have to see how it goes. We eat counter service often and visit the parks often.

Wonder how it will work when you have a DIS meet and have some 20 different people paying for their meals separately. You'd be standing there a long time with tray in hand waiting for the rest of the party.

 

[PatsMom]

I love this idea in theory. I can't count the number of times I've wandered around with a tray with 3 meals on it with DD and DH tagging along looking for a table when there were a number of tables occupied by obvious "savers".

 

[darrose]

Darn!!! There goes my extra little sitting break while hubby grabs the food.
However, if they insist we must sit down together at the same time then my kids and I will be at the counter with hubby and not standing in front of the bathrooms. YUCK!!!

 

[LisaNJ25]

Wonderful idea! This should make it a lot easier to find tables...but I can't help but wonder how families who have to juggle diaper bags, toddlers, strollers, and wheelchairs will manage juggling a tray along with all that? Hope they have a contingency plan to cover these.

Do they just have one parent/caregiver stay with the children/other while the other parent tries to handle 3/4/5 meals? Or does the food-fetcher have to make several trips?

I agree.. I dont know if I like this idea... having 4 kids including 2 strollers is going to clog up the line even more.. and make juggling a pain.

 

[maraki527]

I think this is a great idea during busy seasons and i hope that cm do make it work. I will say that it is annoying when you are trying to find a spot to eat and are holding trays of food and there are people not even eating, just resting.

 

[Belle1997]

1) have your entire party together

well I have an issue right there. Having to use a scooter in those crowded areas is not only stupid but dangerous. I go sit down and find a table that does not block others with my scooter.

I am find I know I will not hit anyone. But there are kids who do not look. And I do not what anyone not looking and having them bang into my scooter and spill everything on me.

But I guess I will have to see it to really understand how it works.

 

[DVCMama]

Don't know if this has been covered, but I figured I'd put it out there anyway.

We just got home from a week at WDW this morning. While at Magic Kingdom yesterday afternoon, we had lunch at Pecos Bill's and found that Disney was trying out new seating rules for CS restaurants. In order to sit down at a table, you need to 1) have your entire party together, and 2) have your food in hand. .

I think it's probably a good idea but might be a hurdle for me and my kids. I have gone to the parks alone with my three young kids and no DH (or any other helper). I imagine this would make lunch a bit harder for me since I would be carrying everything lol, but well worth it to reduce the overall chaos factor.

 

[mrp4352]

I couldn't imagine trying to take my family of 7 (when we travel with my brother and his kids) through a counterservice line with 3 under the age of 5). Then corralling everyone through the condiment line to fix burgers. Then moving to seats.

Granted, we don't travel during the busiest times of year, but we've never had issues with finding empty tables to sit at. There always seems to be one or two open.

 

[Geoff_M]

I couldn't imagine trying to take my family of 7 (when we travel with my brother and his kids) through a counterservice line with 3 under the age of 5).

Then you're in luck! It wasn't posted that your whole group had to go through the line. Members of your party that aren't needed to order/carry food merely need to wait for you in the common area behind the registers. Once you have your food in hand, you simply need to alert them to join you and you'll be off to an open table!