Free dining

[smartinez1]

Ok, I just have to say, last year we went down in September and got free dining. We all really thought that the service and food were horrible durning this time. I really think that just didn't plan well and didn't have enough help during it. September is usually an off time of year, it was a little crowded, but not really bad at all. We have gone down in Sept 3 years in a row, and this last year as the popularity of the free dining has grown, it was the worst. Out of 6 TS meals, 4 of them were really bad. Mexico was the worst out of all of them, and I am usually a big fan. I will write my experiences in the next post so everyone can see what happened. Now, I love Disney, but I do think they dropped the ball and didn't have enough food staff during this trip, but it won't stop me from going back, and besides a little disappointment, we also didn't let it ruin our trip. We understand that these things can happen, no place is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. We also didn't complain about it to anyone, other than discuss it between ourselves, because we aren't really a family who complains. Plus I was a waitress, so I felt for the staff at times, and I know how hard their job can be. I can honestly say out of 13 trips to the world, this was the only time I have had any type of complaint. Now I am going to write about my experiences, and I would like to hear about anyone elses. Maybe we can give some advice to this years September's free dining people to possibly pick different restaurnats then what I tried and go with some of the other's that didn't have any problem.

[smartinez1]

Ok, starting off with the worst of the worst. Mexico. Now let me be the first to say that I love Mexico. I love everything about it, and have eaten there basically every trip. With that being said, we arrived with a hungry 3 year old 10 minutes early for ADR only to have to wait 40 minutes for a seat. There was 4 of us all together out of a party of 6. It was me, my nephew, my husband and my dad. My brother and sister in law were getting a free night to go have dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse while we were babysitting. After this experience, I was jealous of them.

When we were finally seated, we were seated right next to a tray stand topped with a loaded tray full of dirty dishes and glasses, which was about 2 inches away from our table. And it remained there during the whole meal. At this time, the restaurant had cleared out and there were numerous empty tables around. There was no reason why the dirty dishes and tray should have been left there. Should I have said something, probably, but I really figured that since it had slowed down, it would have been removed. Nope, never was. For all I know, it's still there. ha ha.

Anyway, after sitting there for about 15 minutes a waiter came over and took our order. My husband ordered for us in Spanish to make it easier for the waiter because after telling the waiter about 4 times that I don't eat cheese or sour cream and to not put any on my nacho's, he didn't seem to understand until hubby explained in Spanish. So speaking in Spanish to him made it easier for him. After ordering our appetizers and meals and drinks he asks if we want my nephew's meal to come out with the appetizers. We said, yes please as he was getting restless. The waiter comes back with our appetizers of Nacho's and our drinks, and no kids meal. Ok, I let it go, I thought it just wasn't done yet and my nephew could wait and was munching on chips. Well 20 minutes later it still wasn't out, and here comes our entree's, minus a kids dinner. So now the three of us have our meal's, but my nephew doesn't have anything. Ok, how long does it take to make chicken fingers? So the waiter comes back and I flag him down and I ask him where my nephew's meal is, and he tells me that we didn't order it. WHAT? We ordered it, and you even asked us if we wanted it to come out as an appetizer so he could eat first instead of having to wait. What? He now looks at me like I have two heads, so my husband tells him again in Spanish what I said, so he kind of shakes his head no then walks away. Ok, so are we not getting my nephew's food? Ten minutes later, it comes out. The waiter gives it to us and then apologizes to my husband about how he was a bus boy, and since they were so busy, he had to wait tables, which he never did before. No big deal, my nephew ate and was fine.

Now what I don't understand is, Disney book's these ressie's way in advance, you mean to tell me they can't schedule enough waiters? Doesn't make sense to me. Anyway, back to the food, we all go the combo plate, same thing I had last year, but this year it was bad. The piece of steak you get was really hard, the enchilada's were very sloppy and not very hot, almost like it had been sitting under a warmer for a long time, and of course there was sour cream on mine that I had to scrape off. The food wasn't as good as I remember it being and I love Mexican food, so I was disappointed. We decided to skip desert, we left half of our entree's untouched, paid the bill and tipped the waiter and left. I know some people are probably wondering why we still tipped him, we actually tipped every waiter extra even though at that time it was included on the plan. Like I said, I was a waitress, so I know how hard the job could be. Plus, the waiter isn't the ones who cook the food, so if you didn't like the food, don't blame the waiter. Always tip the waiter for his service, plus we felt bad, and it wasn't really his fault that he was a bus boy with no waiter experience and they were making him do it. Anyway, that was my experience with Mexico, like I said, this was the first time we ever had a problem here, as the week went on and we continually got bad food and worse service, we realize now looking back that the free dining plan had a lot to do with it, or at least that's what we thought. Anyone have anything to add?

[smartinez1]

Our next problem was in Germany. We went to the Beirgarten for their buffet. Again, we checked in early for our ADR, and again had to wait a good 30 minutes. No big deal, we browsed the shops. So eventually our party of six is seated along with another couple. AFter sitting there again for about 20 minutes with no waiter or waitress coming up to us, my sister in law waves someone down and tells them. Our waitress comes over about 10 minutes later and starts asking us what we wanted to drink. So we put our drink orders in and go up to get our plates. We move through the buffet line, and I really wasn't impressed with the food, it was ok, but a lot of the things on the buffet were gone, and it seemed to take a long time for them to replace them. along with that, the line was extremely long. We got back to the table, and yep, no drinks. Ok, it was like 15 minutes we were up there, and still no drinks? Finally the waitress brought them and all was right with the world. We finished quickly and got out of there. Again, the food was ok, what there was of it, I would have liked to have seen a bigger assortment of food like other buffet's, but hey, it was our first night and we knew it would get better and we would be eating a lot more come the rest of the week. I actually came home 6 pounds lighter. Coincidence? I think not, bad food was more like it!

Ok, I just want to clarify, that I really am not a complainer, I am a big believer that someone is always going to find fault with something, but this was really the only trip that we were alittle bummed by the food and service. sorry, I don't mean to be such a downer, and I really hope it was just us and not everyone else. I mean we are not high class people, we are used to Applebee's and Red Lobsters, so it's not like I was expecting 5 star restaurnats, ya know? Sorry if I seem to be complaining, but I just thought some on here would get a kick out of my review's. I do want to say that I would definately go back and visit most of these restaurants again, I really am just chalking it up to off day's for the restaurants.