A Signature Dining Review/Rant

smokeyblue

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
I had a fantastic meal with top-notch service at the Brown Derby on my recent trip. Despite being able to rave about the food and the service, my experience was almost ruined by the large family seated next to me. There were 4 adults and 6 kids. The majority of the kids were 8-12 and one was maybe 3 or 4. The older kids were AWFUL. They didn't sit down the whole meal, and were loud and obnoxious. They had another portion of the family sitting across the restaurant and the kids were shouting across the restaurant at the other table. The kids were playing with the glow cubes in their drinks, throwing them around and had strewn the activity/coloring pages they had all over the floor.

To add insult to injury, the dad was very loud and complained about everything, including the fact that another family member had ended up on the quick-service only dining plan and that they were going to raise holy hell about it because they were forking out so much money. He never stopped complaining except with filling his gob with the steak he said wasn't worth anywhere near what they were charging him.

The mom finally dragged the kids into the lobby as they were done eating. The two dads still sitting at the table with another family member when the most obnoxious of the kids came running in the restaurant, yelling at the top of his lungs and throwing his glowing ice cube across the restaurant like a baseball.

They had finally left and I got to eat my desert and sip my grapefruit cake martini in peace. If it wasn't for the awesome food, good drinks and my very experienced server this meal would have been the biggest disappointment.

What is the take away here? I don't know. Maybe if it were to happen again, I have asked to move tables. I briefly considered it, but my server stopped by several times and had some very good conversation that did distract me a bit from the chaos.
 
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Welcome to the age of entitlement. This isn't a Disney issue, it's a country/world issue. Gone are the days of manners and consideration for anyone but themselves. If something is a slight inconvenience or doesn't go as planned, everyone else must suffer and adapt. I am only 34 and I don't remember things being like this when I was growing up. I fall right on the border of 2 different generations (gen x and millennials) and both of them sicken me (between the overprotectiveness and sense of entitlement). But, at least your server knew what was going on and tried to help as best they can and that the food itself was still enjoyable, so there is always that.

With that being said, it is expected to come across this, especially at a place like WDW. There isn't much you can do except know it's going to come at some point and judge silently. I like to think that for as miserable as it may make me during a meal, waiting on a line, walking in the parks or waiting for a show, those parents are miserable their entire trip (and probably in their day to day lives). I have to have faith in Karma, if nothing else.
 


Why can’t parents made their children behave. It is crazy that people can’t understand or I guess care about how the behavior effects other diners. I would have asked to be moved! Glad you were still able to enjoy your meal.
 


I'm glad your food and service were good, I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I don't get why parents don't seem to parent anymore. When I was little, if I threw a tantrum at the restaurant one of my parents would take me outside until I calmed down. Now people seem to let their kids do whatever they want.
 
Well, that's when management should have stepped in honestly. A quiet word with the older kids at the table. Asking them not to throw things in the restaurant seems reasonable.
manager probably did not get into because the parents would complain to guest services that manager was mean to their kids and would not let the kids be kids. plus guest is always right
 
I had a fantastic meal with top-notch service at the Brown Derby on my recent trip. Despite being able to rave about the food and the service, my experience was almost ruined by the large family seated next to me. There were 4 adults and 6 kids. The majority of the kids were 8-12 and one was maybe 3 or 4. The older kids were AWFUL. They didn't sit down the whole meal, and were loud and obnoxious. They had another portion of the family sitting across the restaurant and the kids were shouting across the restaurant at the other table. The kids were playing with the glow cubes in their drinks, throwing them around and had strewn the activity/coloring pages they had all over the floor.

To add insult to injury, the dad was very loud and complained about everything, including the fact that another family member had ended up on the quick-service only dining plan and that they were going to raise holy hell about it because they were forking out so much money. He never stopped complaining except with filling his gob with the steak he said wasn't worth anywhere near what they were charging him.

The mom finally dragged the kids into the lobby as they were done eating. The two dads was still sitting at the table with another family member when the most obnoxious of the kids came running in the restaurant, yelling at the top of his lungs and throwing his glowing ice cube across the restaurant like a baseball.

They had finally left and I got to eat my desert and sip my grapefruit cake martini in peace. If it wasn't for the awesome food, good drinks and my very experienced server this meal would have been the biggest disappointment.

What is the take away here? I don't know. Maybe if it were to happen again, I have asked to move tables. I briefly considered it, but my server stopped by several times and had some very good conversation that did distract me a bit from the chaos.
I think we sat next to the same family at Chefs de France :confused3
 
Tooo Weird!!! We had a EERILY similar situation when we ate at the Brown Derby during our April trip!o_O
 
Oh my. That family sounds terrible. I’m sure your server was mortified. I’m glad he/she was able to distract for a while. Brown Derby is one of my favorites!
My server was a pro for sure. Their server was actually the same one I had for my March HBD meal. I'm glad that he was getting an automatic 18% because of the size of the table. I couldn't see these people shelling out $100 plus on a gratuity unless it was required.
 
Welcome to the age of entitlement. This isn't a Disney issue, it's a country/world issue. Gone are the days of manners and consideration for anyone but themselves. If something is a slight inconvenience or doesn't go as planned, everyone else must suffer and adapt. I am only 34 and I don't remember things being like this when I was growing up. I fall right on the border of 2 different generations (gen x and millennials) and both of them sicken me (between the overprotectiveness and sense of entitlement). But, at least your server knew what was going on and tried to help as best they can and that the food itself was still enjoyable, so there is always that.

With that being said, it is expected to come across this, especially at a place like WDW. There isn't much you can do except know it's going to come at some point and judge silently. I like to think that for as miserable as it may make me during a meal, waiting on a line, walking in the parks or waiting for a show, those parents are miserable their entire trip (and probably in their day to day lives). I have to have faith in Karma, if nothing else.

I’m almost 50, and I assure you that this isn’t something new. My first job was at a pizza joint in 1985, and it was the most soul-deadening professional experience of my life. Kids were HELLIONS. It was a rare day when some 9 year old wasn’t standing on a table, or throwing silverware across the dining room, or even one time, crawling up to whack the video projector we had for cartoons with a red pepper shaker. And very rarely did parents do anything. My manager at the time, who had worked there since 1969, laughed at me when I expressed horror at all this, telling me, “this is the business, get used to it.”

(I won’t even go into the time when I delivered a pizza and the customer’s horrid little pre-pubescent shot a bottle rocket at my car, and the dad laughed, “That’s what you get when it’s not here in 30 minutes or less!” Do I even need to point out I was actually way early?)

Anyway, in the service industry, you get to see the worst in families. A friend of mine, she got stabbed in the leg working at a Shoney’s by a young kid with a fork. Some fun never goes out of style.
 
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I’m almost 50, and I assure you that this isn’t something new. My first job was at a pizza joint in 1985, and it was the most soul-deadening professional experience of my life. Kids were HELLIONS. It was a rare day when some 9 year old wasn’t standing on a table, or throwing silverware across the dining room, or even one time, crawling up to whack the video projector we had for cartoons with a red pepper shaker. And very rarely did parents to anything. My manager at the time, who had worked there since 1969, laughed at me when I expressed horror at all this, telling me, “this is the business, get used to it.”

(I won’t even go into the time when I delivered a pizza and the customer’s horrid little pre-pubescent shot a bottle rocket at my car, and the dad laughed, “That’s what you get when it’s not here in 30 minutes or less!” Do I even need to point out I was actually way early?)

Anyway, in the service industry, you get to see the worst in families. A friend of mine, she got stabbed in the leg working at a Shoney’s by a young kid with a fork. Some fun never goes out of style.
This reminds me of a quote I once read complaining about the youth of the day and it was from ancient Rome. Seems people never change.
 
We experienced a similar event a few years ago at the Cali Grill. The group had 2 tables with kids at each table who wouldn't stay seated and were incredibly disturbing to us and other guests. The parents were not only oblivious but at times encouraged the primal behavior. The managers refused to say anything to the parents. It definitely shouldn't be that way.
 
Signature or not, guests aren't held to any different standard. I was at 50's Prime Time, right by a kitchen door with servers coming in and out constantly. That didn't stop 3 kids from running around, and playing catch right by that door. It also didn't stop a ball bouncing directly in front of my face on my table. I was actually a bit surprised it was allowed to continue in this situation because to me, them being in the way of that door was a safety hazard for the servers. The behavior in itself, annoying and awful but typical.
 
Well, that's when management should have stepped in honestly. A quiet word with the older kids at the table. Asking them not to throw things in the restaurant seems reasonable.

I think they were in 'Ohana next to us a few years ago. The manager just leaned on the wall and watched them rais Cain as the adults played on their phones and ignored the chaos. Our server was run ragged and I swear she started hiding until they finally left.

I hold management accountable. I don't care how uncomfortable it may be, a manager should intervene when one group is destroying the evening for the rest of the guests, and is runnign a server into the weeds.

I was a server back when we were still called waitresses, and we had one family like this. Their children were disruptive, loud and obnoxious, and Mom and Dad were oblivious. One busy saterday night the two littl ehellions were out from their booth, crawling all over the floor, after having a lo mein toss. Our manager finally had had enough and tossed them out, after telling them to never return. I had the "pleasure" of serving them that night and I had been ready to roll into a fetal ball.
 
1. Obnoxious, overstimulated kids and checked-out, negligent parents have always been a thing. Especially at Disney.
2. The only way to stop such behavior is to work to ensure that you and your children (if you choose to have them) never behave this way.
 

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