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View Full Version : Anyone else feel rushed at Table Service Meals???



g8rgirl29
10-02-2009, 11:38 AM
I was wondering if anyone else was feeling as though you were being pushed out the door from the minute you sat down??
We have done CRT the last 2 years. Last year seemed quick but not bad. This year was horrible. We were rushed through everything! My plate was taken away while I was taking a photo of DD with a princess. I had been asked twice within a 5 minute time frame if I was finished with a no both times and first chance I was distracted they took it!! We had to ask several times over for refills on our drinks. I thought WOW, never again for 2 TS credits!! Or even 1 credit for that matter.
At Akershus, it was again the same thing. This is one of our favorite Princess Dining places. We have gone the past 3 years. We were seated, given our menu and asked for our drink order and believe it or not our meal order. I told them we were not ready as we had just been given our menu and would like to see what is on the menu before ordering. Our waitress kindly told us she would take another order and be back. No kidding, 4 minutes later she was back tapping her foot cuz we had been chatting and weren't quite ready yet. With a 5 yo it can sometimes take 10 minutes of going back and forth about what she wants to eat. Since I am the person that does this negotiating I didn't even get to read all the choices on my menu but had to order for fear of our waitresses wrath!! We just went with the flow though, hey you are at WDW and really how bad can it be. She brought out our meals and I am not joking on my second bite she was back asking if we were ready for our dessert yet!! I just burst out laughing and discreetly tried to look and see if someone had lit a match under her behind. We had to ask her 3 times for the same refill on our drinks, thank goodness we had all asked for water with our soda's or it would have been tough luck. It was unbelievable.
I don't mind attentive waitstaff but come on!!! I like the Dining Plan because that TS meal forces us to sit down and relax but this is not what I would consider relaxing. I understand WDW is hurting and I reluctantly accept all the cutbacks they have made in regards to dining, no plastic Mickey Mouse plates, diminishing dessert & entree menus, and the little extra's you used to receive etc. But how many hits are we supposed to absorb for less quality and service yet higher prices??
Teppan Edo was good but again you were rushed. They handed you your check with your dessert and your service was over, too bad if you want anything else. Now on a positive note, Le Cellier was the best meal we had all around!! We were not rushed at all and had a great meal and great service. Olivia's was great with fantastic servers and was very relaxing. CP was good and you were not rushed at all.
I am just wondering if anyone else had this type of service or was it just a couple of off days??

Disney4us2
10-02-2009, 11:56 AM
Last trip we did CRT for DD Birthday. We never felt rushed. Not at any of our TS choices. We did Teppan Edo, 50's Prime Time, LeCellier(lunch oop), 1900 Park Fair, Chef Mickeys, and didn't feel rushed. That was a few years ago though.

I was just focused on our celebration at CRT and didn't notice if they were trying to rush us.

Maybe it was just as you said and they were just off days. Hope it is better for you the next time.:mickey:

DizneyRox
10-02-2009, 12:02 PM
With a majority of the TS locations booked solid these days, they are under pressure for quick turnover of tables to maximize profits and guests, mostly profits.

It doesn't surprise me, more guests per hour means more tips in their pockets as well.

I blame the DDP!

CU Tiger
10-02-2009, 12:08 PM
I have never felt rushed at any of the table service meals at DW. I have been rushed at other restaurants outside of DW and I do not put up with it. :mad: If they take away a plate that I am not done with, I ask for another one. If the waiter is hovering over us, I purposely go slower just to get under their skin.:thedolls: If anything is said, I go straight to the manager. This is my time and I am the customer paying for this service. If I am not treated right, a lot of people will know. If I am treated right, I tip well and I also tell the manager if I have had exceptional service. :mickey:

green ranger
10-02-2009, 12:09 PM
In August, we did dinner at CRT and we didn't feel rushed. The only problem I could think of was we were there for closing of the park and we were done with dinner and asked our waiter if we could move to the window for a little while to watch the fireworks. He said no problem and took our dessert order. I figured he would bring our dessert out after the fireworks since he knew we weren't going to be at our table, but I saw him bring them out a little while later. By the time we got back to our table, our children's ice cream was a little melted to say the least. They still enjoyed it, but I just couldn't figure out why he told us it was okay to watch the fireworks and then made our desserts sit on the table.

DisneyDoug2
10-02-2009, 12:42 PM
On occasion we have felt rushed or been on the receiving end of poor service, but one of the big advantages to the revised dining plan is that the 18% tip is not included any more and it is up to the individual to decide what is excellent, good or poor service and tip as they see fit. If everyone tipped according to the level of service received verse feeling obligated, then service might improve when the servers realize that excellent service equals greater tips and poor service receives a poor tip.

jmj18
10-02-2009, 12:49 PM
A BIG FAT YES! We ate at CRT in April and the same thing happened to me. I went to take a picture and they took my plate. I don't think we will be eating there again. The year before it ws so nice. No rushing at all.

MNNHFLTX
10-02-2009, 12:59 PM
Yes, we felt rushed a couple of times on our last trip in August--at Yak and Yeti and Restaurant Marakkesh. I'm always glad when the food is delivered quickly and efficiently, but you're right, the minute the dessert was served, so was the check and the last fill-up on beverages.

On the other hand, we had very relaxed (yet attentive) service at Jiko. It was wonderful.

BMan62
10-02-2009, 01:02 PM
Maybe that happens at Character meals, but we don't do them and have never felt rushed at a table service.

Asa matter of fact, we actually asked how long they would allow us to sit at our table, on the waters edge, at Rose & Crown. We got there at 7:15 and were hoping to sit through Illuminations. Our server said that there is a two hour limit, but since that would take us into Illuminations, it would be no bother to sit through the show.

Patricia
10-02-2009, 01:06 PM
I felt very rushed at the TS restaurants (no characters) last December.. We opted to eat most meals out of the parks in order to relax a bit. We found DTD and some DTD resorts to have some very good alternatives. We are hoping visiting in January (next visit) we can avoid the meal rushing at the parks.

bruin1344
10-02-2009, 01:16 PM
The only time ive felt rushed was at Mama Melrose, the food came way too fast.

Teppan Edo tends to be faster than other restaurants, ive been two other hibachi style restaurants that are also fast so it doesnt bug me

SurferStitch
10-02-2009, 01:24 PM
We've never felt rushed at any TS meals, character or not, in parks, at resorts...anywhere.

In fact, we've found that some meals take much longer than anticipated because the wait staff moves at such a relaxed pace with us.

Last October at Cali Grill, our meal took almost 3 hours! We got seated a little late because our pager didn't work. They compensated by not only giving us the window seat we requested, but probably the very best one with the most perfect view of the castle. We got seated around 8pm, and didn't leave until almost 11pm. Our server told us he hoped we weren't in a hurry, because he wanted to make our anniversary celebration extra special, and he sure did.

We actually celebrated our anniversary many times during that trip because I was unaware that the CM who booked our ADR's put an anniversary celebration note on EVERY dinner and breakfast we booked, not just one.

Even at the busiest places like Teppan Edo, Le Cellier, character breakfasts (especially Donald's Safari Breakfast), character dinners, etc...we've never been rushed at all.

TheVBs
10-02-2009, 01:31 PM
First of all, I'm so sorry this happened to you! That is not how you want to feel when having your meals.

We were there in May and did not experience any rushing. In fact, I can't ever remember feeling rushed at a meal, character or not.

Don't be afraid to let your server know you'd like to move at a more leisurely pace!

Seasonscraps
10-02-2009, 01:43 PM
I felt rushed a couple of times - like when we were asked to order our entire meal up front (appetizer, entree, dessert). We weren't on the dining plan but they were clearly looking to turn the table as fast as possible and didn't want to have to "waste" time by bringing menus back or go over the dessert options after we finished eating our entree.

Soccermom12
10-02-2009, 02:14 PM
In August we ate at CRT for lunch and felt rushed from the minute we walked in the door -from our pictures with Cinderella all the way through dessert. The waiter was constantly hovering asking to take plates. The princesses came by so fast, my daughter barely had time to speak with them. The food was delicious, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have....

The other restaurants I didn't notice it as much in fact we had dinner at Boatwrights that was ridiculously slow....

mindyjoh
10-02-2009, 03:03 PM
We just got back from a week in Disney and I felt just the opposite about our table service meals. With so much to see and do...I felt like they took FOREVER!

Don't get me wrong, we seemed to have great service in all but one meal. I guess I was just itching to get back out into the parks.

The one bad night was at Teppan Eddo. The food ended up being AWESOME!! But they had WAY over booked the reservations. Ours were for 7:50 and we ended up being seated an hour later. That kind of stunk!

Belster
10-02-2009, 03:06 PM
I would have to agree...but the only places I ever feel rushed are at character meals. I just feel that between rushing to get your food, making sure you see the character before they pass you to taking a picture...I just can't even enjoy the food. CP is the worse for this type of thing.

Sorry this happened to you!!

DisneyHoneymooners
10-02-2009, 04:38 PM
We were there last week and our experience was complete opposite. They gave us almost too much time! Not that the service was poor-it wasn't-but we had to ask for our check almost every meal. Maybe we were just too excited to sit for long.

jillluvsdisney
10-02-2009, 05:48 PM
I can't come up with any meal where we felt rushed. Getting the check with desert is fine by me. What bothers me is waiting forever for the server to bring your check. Disney isn't really the place to linger after your meal, IMHO. We know all their restaurants are busy and the next in line is waiting for a table.

mousetrapper
10-02-2009, 06:46 PM
I have felt rushed at CRT as well, and at Tony's Town Square Restaurant.

I'm sure it has to do with the number of parties with ADRs that day, the waiter/waitress, and other factors.

fanofdisney
10-03-2009, 09:43 AM
I felt rushed at both CRT (lunch) and at Akershus (breakfast and lunch). I tried not to feel offended as I do understand the servers are probably told to get us through as quickly as possible since they have a schedule to stay on. I not only felt that way with the servers at these two places but with the characters as well, again tried not to feel offended. Even though I felt a little rushed I never felt any of them were rude. I would guess they over book to get as many of us through as they can. I just take what time we need and head out. I know it can feel frustrating since those meals are expensive. But then again I really want to get the experience, eat and get back to the park. My children have always been thrilled with the meal and character interaction and I figure that's what we are there for and if they are happy well then mamma is happy:party2:

But on the other hand if my plate was taken and I wasn't finished eating I would bring it up politely to someone in charge, that is uncalled for and rude. You should be able to finish your meal. I am a slow eater and have been asked several times if I was finished when I wasn't. I don't think they are used to people who take their time not to mention it's difficult to be the one who takes all the pictures. You know the drill, start to eat, character comes by, stop everything, take pictures, talk to character, sit back down take a bite then it starts all over again:laughing:

GrmGrninGost
10-03-2009, 11:19 AM
I can't remember ever feeling rushed. If I had, I'm sure I would have complained. A meal is a relaxing respite from the parks, and I refuse to be hurried to leave.

barbiegirl314
10-03-2009, 02:42 PM
When we were there in May I felt our family was rushed through the whole breakfast experience at CRT.

It started at the pictures when DS 3 didn't even get to talk to Cinderella (who's the LOVE of his life :cloud9:) and all through the breakfast. The princesses spent hardly any time at the tables (a quick picture and they were off, really no interaction w/the kids) and we were never asked if we wanted any refills on any of the breakfast foods. The plates were just whisked away and that was that.

For the money you pay for the breakfast I think the princesses should show a little bit of individual attention to the kids and the servers should pay more attention to the customers they currently are serving and not worrying about getting new ones in.

Giselle
10-03-2009, 02:58 PM
I'm guessing with the year of free dining that they are busier than ever and trying to get people moving. Hope we get good service when we get there in *34* days!! It seems like sometimes you get good service the entire vacation and sometimes you get bad service the entire vacation. I think when they are busy and hot in the summer and holidays, it is worse and when it is slower times, service is better.

SBETigg
10-03-2009, 03:30 PM
When you feel you're being rushed, stand your ground. Don't let yourself be rushed through what is supposed to be a relaxing, enjoyable experience. I realize, of course, that this is sometimes out of your control if the waitstaff insists on trying to rush you even when you resist. But usually if you tell the server that you're not in a rush and you would like to linger a bit, they're pretty nice about it.

Our only bad rush experience was at Le Cellier, actually. The server was completely obnoxious. It's just as bad to have to wait when service is far too slow.

buzznwoodysmom
10-03-2009, 04:00 PM
There were two times we felt rushed at Ohana's. Both times I politely told the waiter to slow down because we were there to enjoy our meal, and we were in absolutely no rush. Once it worked, the other time I had to keep asking them not to take dishes away that we were not done with. It is very frustrating to be rushed through meals that you plan so far in advanced, look forward to for months and spend a good bit of money on. Our family likes to enjoy our meals and take that time to slow down a bit and I always stand my ground.

g8rgirl29
10-04-2009, 12:19 PM
Thanks for the replies!! I don't feel like we were the only ones now!! We didn't let it ruin our experience and believe me the more I am rushed the slower I move!! Also I tip based on the quality of service I receive so you can bet the girl that wisked away my plate got the worst tip given for our trip. I start out with envelopes for each TS meal with at least 25% of our guessitmated dining cost. Depending on the service you could get anywhere from 10-25% so taking my plate and rushing me along will come out of the servers pocket not mine!! I understand that they are trying to get as many people as possible in and I don't want to take away from some family getting in. But I just like a few minutes to cool off, relax and recharge before we head back out to the parks. It is the only reason we get the dining plan, because it forces us to take a breather. I am actually cancelling my bounce back today and am going to book without a dining package at a later date.