Tutto Gusto - no longer a relaxing adult wine bar

[TeresaWen]

My husband and I were at Tutto Gusto last night. Seated on a comfy sofa sipping very expensive wine and enjoying a platter of Italian snacks.

Unfortunately we were right smack in between two families with screeching children. Not crying, not yelling, screeching. Parents completely ignoring them at best, encouraging the behavior at worst.

Two of the children were using the bar as a playground running back and forth in the path of servers. Again parents happily eating desert.

I did stop and speak to the manager about how unacceptable that behavior is in a bar. The atmosphere in tutto gusto is clearly adult. How anyone could bring children in and let them disrupt everyone else is selfish and entitled.

I have absolutely no issue with kids in any Disney venue. I am ok with crying (as long as the parents make an attempt to address), but this went above and beyond a fussy child.

 

[hopeful4fl]

Thank you for the post. There will be people who say Disney is about kids and kids will be kids and so on. The fact is Disney is about having fun....at any age. That also means being able to relax for some people who have paid a lot of money. To the OP's point, having kids cry or throw a tantrum is part of being a parent. But if the kids are ruining other people's "magic" and it is going unchecked, then this is something I feel Disney should do something about. Would it be too much to ask at least at bars or table dining places to have some rules of proper behavior for all parties involved?
I am not here saying any of us will have the answers, but Disney has highly compensated people who should be able to come up with some rules that would satisfy most people. I do not remember EVER letting my kids get away with a lot of stuff I see today (and not only at Disney).
Sorry for the rant, but I share the same feelings that OP had.

 

[Jess_S]

I have a small child. I have brought him into bars at Disney.

And I absolutely agree with you that the parents you describe were out of line. If it gets to the point where my son's behavior is disruptive (i.e. he gets upset and won't calm down or won't sit still), then I take him outside. Maybe people will think I'm judgmental or preachy, but I think that by allowing your kid to act up in public, you're making it more likely that other families are going to get the side-eye when they bring their kids places.

Having been in the position of a Disney CM, I really think it needs to be on the parents to look after their kids. The few times I attempted to enforce rules, I was met with a torrent of abuse that made it clear to me why most CM's don't attempt to address these types of situations.

 

[marikujawa]

I've seen parents tickle a child until she screamed, teach a little boy to use chopsticks as drumsticks, and engage in a sword fight (this last one was at Jiko). In each case, the parent was making more of a racket than the child. As an old teacher of mine used to say, an empty drum makes the most noise.

 

[AllthingsDisMom]

On behalf of all parents with small children, I'm sorry you experienced this. People like this give us a bad rep!

 

[OKW Lover]

Tutto Gusto is one of our favorite stopping spots when we do the Epcot loop. Most of the time its been a nice, relaxed adult atmosphere. Occasionally though we do see families with young children in there some of which are not well behaved. We just shake our head.

 

[Pumbaa_]

As I like to say...WELL behaved children are welcome everywhere

 

[TeresaWen]

On behalf of all parents with small children, I'm sorry you experienced this. People like this give us a bad rep!

We love seeing young families when we are out. A few months ago in an upscale Italian restaurant near Home there was a couple with a baby and an older couple at the table next to us. The baby was fussing a bit and the mom was trying so hard. At one point she looked over and apologized.

I told her “ your baby is not nearly as loud as you think he is. He is very well behaved and so cute”

An hour later we get our check. Her parents bought our wine. Turned out it was their first time out with a baby and they were so nervous.

Well behaved children, even fussy ones, are a delight.

 

[Belleofthehouse]

Our one and only Jiko experience was not enjoyable due because of the children sitting next to us. The family was done with dinner when we sat down. They stayed for an additional 1 1/2 hours...I assume to visit....while their kids played youtube vidoes (volume HIGH) and played games on the ipads (again volume HIGH). Parents are responsible for the behavior of their children, even on vacation!

I am not one who likes children in bars...don't flame me, I have kids. But a bar is an area for adults to enjoy themselves (yes, I know drunk adults are louder than kids) without watching what they say around children, or having to tolerate noise children. With that said, I have frequented bars in Disney and have never encountered behavior as described by OP. Completely unacceptable.

 

[ArwenMarie]

So many people just have no consideration for others anymore...I don't even know how they could enjoy themselves with their kids acting like that. Did they seem tipsy?

 

[TeresaWen]

So many people just have no consideration for others anymore...I don't even know how they could enjoy themselves with their kids acting like that. Did they seem tipsy?

No. Not at all. Amazes me how people will act at Disney. Never would at home where they could run into someone they know and would be mortified to be caught with their kids acting like that.

No drinking. Just obnoxious parents.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Thank you for the post. There will be people who say Disney is about kids and kids will be kids and so on. The fact is Disney is about having fun....at any age. That also means being able to relax for some people who have paid a lot of money. To the OP's point, having kids cry or throw a tantrum is part of being a parent. But if the kids are ruining other people's "magic" and it is going unchecked, then this is something I feel Disney should do something about. Would it be too much to ask at least at bars or table dining places to have some rules of proper behavior for all parties involved?
I am not here saying any of us will have the answers, but Disney has highly compensated people who should be able to come up with some rules that would satisfy most people. I do not remember EVER letting my kids get away with a lot of stuff I see today (and not only at Disney).
Sorry for the rant, but I share the same feelings that OP had.

No joke, the Disney mantra is, “we can’t control guest behavior,” so you will, most likely, never see a CM reprimanding a child or asking a parent to control their children. Except for the very few WDW bars and lounges at WDW that have age restrictions, you very well might encounter this behavior in a restaurant, bar or lounge and there is pretty much nothing you can do about it. I’m not condoning it at all! I just don’t foresee CM’s getting involved unless it’s a blatant safety issue. I take my DS10 everywhere in WDW (except the places with age restrictions) and he has known from a young age he is expected to act like a gentleman or there will be swift consequences. It’s unfortunate parents feel this behavior is acceptable. It’s irresponsible and selfish.

 

[JerseyJanice]

No. Not at all. Amazes me how people will act at Disney. Never would at home where they could run into someone they know and would be mortified to be caught with their kids acting like that.

No drinking. Just obnoxious parents.

I have a feeling that the parents are the same way at home.

Over the years, I’ve seen (and have known) parents acting completely oblivious to their kids’ wild behavior. I think that when you allow your kids to act up, it’s what they do everywhere they go.

 

[si-am]

Our one and only Jiko experience was not enjoyable due because of the children sitting next to us. The family was done with dinner when we sat down. They stayed for an additional 1 1/2 hours...I assume to visit....while their kids played youtube vidoes (volume HIGH) and played games on the ipads (again volume HIGH). Parents are responsible for the behavior of their children, even on vacation!

I am not one who likes children in bars...don't flame me, I have kids. But a bar is an area for adults to enjoy themselves (yes, I know drunk adults are louder than kids) without watching what they say around children, or having to tolerate noise children. With that said, I have frequented bars in Disney and have never encountered behavior as described by OP. Completely unacceptable.

Ugh, we had an experience like this last time we were at Boma. A girl, maybe 8-9, at the table next to us was watching YouTube videos on an iPad with the volume on high the entire meal while her parents ignored her. This was a table with a shared long "bench" on one side so she was really close and the noise was really distracting. At least bring headphones, geez!

I'm actually encountering this more and more even at restaurants at home.

 

[Colleen27]

I agree with @Jess_S and I make no apologies if I sound judgmental and preachy - parents like this make it so much harder on those of us who want our kids to enjoy the things we enjoy and who do plan around our kids' limits and enforce appropriate behaviour to make that happen. When someone gives me the stink-eye for bringing my kid into a nice restaurant or stop by a lounge for a light meal (or, in the real world, take her out to a show), I know it is almost certainly because that person has been seated next to an obnoxious or out of control kid in the past. And while I hope they'll remember being seated near a kid who did behave, because we've always enforced "restaurant behaviour", I know that it is only human nature for negatives to make a stronger impression than positives. So yeah, I'm pretty judgmental about that mom who ignores her kid's screeching or allows electronics at the table but doesn't bring headphones, because I know that those moms shape how every mom who takes her kids into more 'adult' situations is viewed.

 

[AngiTN]

I would be highly annoyed too, no matter if it was a bar or Chef Mickey's.
But to suggest Disney in any official manner, is going to step in and say something or in any way interfere with a parent and a child, short of a child being harmed physically, is just never going to happen.
Unfortunately, nothing is going to ever be done about bad or inconsiderate parents. Thankfully there aren't as many of those as there are considerate parents.

 

[gharter]

Unfortunately this is becoming more common at many restaurants. I have no issue with parents bringing kids to the nice restaurants. When our kids were younger, we took them to many nice restaurants. They always had something to keep themselves busy and we interacted with them instead of ignoring them. Unfortunately, I've seen that behavior at California Grill, Flying Fish, Artist Point, Narcoossees, BoG, and many others. And at the same restaurant will be another table with kids the same age that are well behaved. Kids will not always be well behaved, it happens, but letting the kids scream and run around the restaurant, with the parents ignoring their behavior is not really acceptable.

 

[charmed59]

“Except for the very few WDW bars and lounges at WDW that have age restrictions....

Is there a list somewhere of the bars and lounges with age restrictions?

 

[AngiTN]

Is there a list somewhere of the bars and lounges with age restrictions?

I'm not aware of a formal list, though I'm sure some blogger or travel writer has one out there somewhere. It's not many at all

I know of
Trader Sam's after a certain hour, 8:00 PM I think
Jelly Rolls
Atlantic Dance Hall

If you want to include restaurants then it would also be Victoria and Albert's

ETA - removed incorrect location

 

[loves to dive]

I agree with others, there is nothing Disney can do about it, it's up to the parents to discipline their kids. I'm of the age where disciplining a kid was not saying to them "now Johnny let's talk about why you are misbehaving" and more of "you know how to behave don't make me take you to the bathroom". My kid once got up in a restaurant and put himself in the corner. I was with my Mama at the time and we both just looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders since neither one of us had seen him do anything wrong. Turns out he was thinking of doing something wrong and was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to resist so he just went ahead and punished himself. He was about 3 years old. Of course, I did not leave him in the corner, as soon as he got up and walked over and stood I went and got him. Evidently whatever he was thinking about doing wasn't bathroom worthy since he didn't take himself there.