Kudos to Pecos Bill Cafe!

[DizneyRox]

Looks like they have implemented the no seating until you get your food program and it's GREAT! Got a seat with my food still hot and the fries weren't soggy!

It works great, even for those with kids/strollers, etc. Get your food and they direct you to the right place with free, clean tables to enjoy your food...

I really hope they keep it up. Would be nice to see it implemented across property.

[Brooklynos]

That's great!!! We look forward to trying this in Nov. It's always too crowded and CM's routing people should help....

[Melanie]

I like this idea too!! :thumbsup:

[Carolanne]

:thumbsup: Woo-hoo, great idea! This sounds awesome! I would love to see this implemented at the resort food courts.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Can't wait to see how this works for us next month. My nephews LOVE Pecos Bills!

[magicofdisney]

They were doing this there a while ago.

I can't say I'm a fan. A couple of months back they had this running full tilt at Cosmic Rays. My two girls, with my son in a stroller, were wondering around with full tray in hand trying to find a seat. I did at least 2 tours of the place before a CM offered any assistance. We were finally seated next to a table that was being "held" by a family that did NOT yet have their food.

[DizneyRox]

Abuse us going to happen, but they had all the entrances "guarded" by a CM, and two check points leading to the dining area. A forceful CM at the final checkpoint was turning folks around and even explaining to people (English was not their first language) the process.

If they keep it up, it should work. I really hate "holding" tables when you don't have food. It throws a wrench in the time people can be eating hot food instead of circling the dining room playing musical chairs with everyone else in the same predicament. Made even worse are the people watching you struggle with trays of liquids ready to crash down.

[princessgirls]

Noticed this at Cosmic Ray's in June!! You had to have your food in order to get into the dining area. LOVED it!!!

Julie:mickey:

[SBETigg]

I'm still skeptical. I never really had trouble grabbing a table before, sure it took some searching sometimes. Isn't part of the joy of quick service dining doing your own grab and go, no assistance necessary? I'm a little put off by this approach, until I see it in action.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Noticed this at Cosmic Ray's in June!! You had to have your food in order to get into the dining area. LOVED it!!!

Julie:mickey:

We experienced this twice this June, and hated it both times. The getting your food first part wasn't as bad as the fact they they created "entry only" and "exit only" sides of the seating area, so you had to walk the long way around to either get to, or back from, your table. We were at a table as far from the entrance as we could get, but 2 feet from the exit. The CM would not allow me to return to our table from the fixins bar through the exit side, even though there was NO traffic at all on the aisles in the two feet between the exit doors and my table. I almost said too bad and did it anyway, but I kept my cool and just walked half-way around the building to travel those last two feet.

I think it made CS more stressful, not less.

[garymacd]

A bit off topic, but last time we were at Pecos Bill's they were trying a self-serve ordering system that was so frustrating, we eventually gave up and ordered the old-fashioned way.

Is this still in place? And is it any better?

[DizneyRox]

A bit off topic, but last time we were at Pecos Bill's they were trying a self-serve ordering system that was so frustrating, we eventually gave up and ordered the old-fashioned way.

Is this still in place? And is it any better?
Still there and we gave up as well...

[r4kids]

This both good and bad. Good because your right who wants to hold a tray full of food while walking around looking for somewhere to sit. However bad because as a family of 6 we struggle to fit in a line all together. I usually take everyones order and then one or two of the kids help carry it back. My DH takes our two little ones and sit down with napkins, ketchup, etc. It's a well balanced system we use. I would prefer they still direct everyone into one area, then as that fills "close it off" then fill another area. A system in which there is one area filled before another can be opened.

[DisneyorBust]

We have never had a problem, utilizing the same system as r4kids mentioned. How many 'checkpoints' do they staff?
Has there been that much of a problem for WDW to implement this? And really, how long are tables being held?, it seems that it should be only long enough for the food to be prepared.

[DizneyRox]

We have never had a problem, utilizing the same system as r4kids mentioned. How many 'checkpoints' do they staff?
Has there been that much of a problem for WDW to implement this? And really, how long are tables being held?, it seems that it should be only long enough for the food to be prepared.

Those that hold a table are not the ones having any trouble, they are the ones making it more difficult for others. They are able to move around the restaurant more easily without fear of dumping over their entire meal, etc.

Checkpoints? Each exit was blocked and manned, and the entrance had a couple of spots with huge signs indicating you need food to enter. Each was manned and they were waving folks through or stopping them. The last one was staffed with someone aware of what was open and directing parties appropriately.


Don't think of it as just a few minutes that the table is being held. There is more than one table per restaurant, and they are probably cycling through maybe three seatings per table per hour. That a lot of people per day NOT able to fing a spot to eat.

[Guya103]

This both good and bad. Good because your right who wants to hold a tray full of food while walking around looking for somewhere to sit. However bad because as a family of 6 we struggle to fit in a line all together. I usually take everyones order and then one or two of the kids help carry it back. My DH takes our two little ones and sit down with napkins, ketchup, etc. It's a well balanced system we use. I would prefer they still direct everyone into one area, then as that fills "close it off" then fill another area. A system in which there is one area filled before another can be opened.

We are a family of six as well and have always done the same thing. To me, this sounds like it could get a bit annoying. Are all of the CS using this seating process? If not, which ones? Thanks!

[MizMissy]

We didn't encounter this issue when trying to dine during our vacation in May, but as I had mentioned in my trip report, we ran into this system at Cosmic Ray's when my DS just wanted to see Sunny Eclipse.
Before our trip, DS requested that we eat at Cosmic Ray's because he wanted to see Sunny. He remembered him from our last trip, but could not remember what he looked like, so he wanted to see him (if I had realized all the trouble that was about to come, I would have showed him a picture on the internet). As it turned out, we ate at Pecos Bills because we were across the park when everyone was ready for lunch. Later, after FP'ing Space, DS wanted to walk into Cosmic Ray's just to see Sunny. Well, we entered on the side near Sunny, but 3 separate CMs formed a line from the entrance door to the door where you order, directing traffic, and insisted that we had to go to where we order food, I tried to explain that we were only going to cut through the dining room and exit out the other door to just see Sunny on our way out (there are paths in the dining area, we would not have been weaving in between tables), we were NOT eating and not sitting, just walking through ... NOPE, not allowed ... they were very insistent on directing us through the next door to the order stations. So, we walked around, through a crowd of people standing around waiting for the one person in their party to order, and went to the other side so that we could exit through the dining room to see Sunny .... where we were blocked by 3 more CMs guarding the door to the dining area ... "Ma'am, I do not see your food tray. You cannot enter the dining room until you have your food." I explained that I was aware of the rules, because they were already explained to me by 3 prior CMs guarding the other door, but that we simply wanted to walk through the clear path to the exit door so that my son could just SEE Sunny, I promised we would not block anyone's way, would not dare to sit, would not stop for more than 5 seconds on our way out the door ... PLEASE??? "You promise you are not going to sit, you are just walking through to see Sunny?" "Yes, I promise."
Wow. The CMs were not EXACTLY rude, just very, very insistent and borderline not exactly happy Disney employees. And, I understand they were doing their jobs and maybe I was asking way too much to see Sunny - or maybe it was such a bizarre request they've never heard it before, but it was a little bit over-the-top.

[DVC2004]

I ,for one, would like if this ends up being successful. CS can be such a hassle at times! We've looked for a table while folks brought in brown bag lunches and took up tables; we've sat next to someone who had thier child hold thier table and didn't show up with the food until we were leaving! In the time it took for them to get thier food and sit, another family could have sate, ate and left. This is why we skip CS most of the time. I just don't want the aggrevation.