Artist Point Character Meal

[Zazu]

No, I'm not talking about the character breakfast they used to serve long ago with Winnie the Pooh and his Forest Friends. I mean tonight's dinner!

For those unfamiliar, Artist Point is "Signature Dining", which is Disneyspeak for "even more not cheap than usual". The price for dinner and wine can easily reach $100 here, but especially right now when the Copper River Salmon is in, it can be worth it!

So there we were, SWMBO and I, at a nice table by the window, enjoying the view and our first course when the Family From Hell is seated at the next table.

Their first offense was in bringing a loud 2-year-old to a nice restaurant. (Do they not know about Cubs Den?) But I could accept that; this is Disney after all, and one must accept children most places.

Their second offense was carrying the tot over to the window to show her the view she didn't care to look at ... and slamming her widdle feet into SWMBO's head as they squeezed past her. Bad, but clearly unintentional.

What tore it was what they did once they enthroned her in the booster seat. Dad took out a portable DVD player, and started up a disc of cartoons. Excuse me, but I have to listen to a 54-minute cartoon loop at work. I do *not* consider that an enhancement to my day off!

Did he hook up ear buds for the kid? :mad: He did not.

Did he try to hang a set of headphones on the kid? He did not.

Did he crank up the audio until it drowned out the BGM for everyone in the dining room? Right, that's what he did.

SWMBO tried some of her best glares on them, but as you might expect by now, the parents were not in charge of this family, and all they could do is shrug and apologize.

I took a short walk to the podium.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, we were wondering if you have a table available in the 'No Cartoons' section?"

"The... huh what?"

Once the cast saw what was happening, they did quickly move us to another table, one *almost* far enough away from the noise, but not far enough that SWMBO could think of much else the rest of the meal.

Shortly thereafter the kid's server came over and said that they wanted to buy us a drink as an apology -- while the player was still running. I turned them down saying, "We don't particularly want an apology. Tell them to use that money to buy some ear buds." Yeah, I know, free booze, but it was the principle of the thing!

The duty manager? Walked past our table three times without saying a word. Boy is it clear that Vicki and Kevin aren't running that shop any more!

SWMBO and I are agreed on one thing though. If ever again we hear Donald Duck's theme song in a signature restaurant, we're outta there. I figure if you want to get Mickey's attention, best to kick him in the wallet.

[Syndrome]

Dang, that's almost as good as the floor show we got at Citricos! (For anyone who missed that fiasco, here's the link: http://celebrationfl.blogspot.com/2008/ ... -show.html
It details what happens when the parents insist on sitting not just at a separate table but in a SEPARATE DINING ROOM from the kids). Sounds like the AP manager was just as impotent as the one at Citrcos.

[DisneyMom]

Ugh.
Hubby and I were at a local Asian Buffet today....
ADORABLE 5 year old was having a great time running down the aisles and crushing and flinging all of the leftover food on the table to the floor. Party of 7 left 6 whole bucks on the table for the server :mad:
I did hear a couple of weak, "stop that honeys" but no follow-thru of course.
They say by the age of 5, a kid's personality is already set.....no hope of that one improving.

I agree with walking out- maybe it will inspire new restaurant policy!

[Big Wallaby]

I have decided that if I have a group of three for the front cab and a family asks if their kid (below a certain age) can join (meaning their parent can't be present), the answer is going to be no.

Driving one of the last trips from Epcot to TTC of the night, I had a mom and her two kids waiting to ride up front. As I was about to close the doors, a dad saw the space for one more guest up front and asked if his (about seven year old) son could go up front. I allowed him into the cab.

My mistake.

At first, he seemed like he would be okay.

I shut the service doors.

So far, so good.

Then I entered the cab and shut the door behind me.

The questions started flowing.

Flowing doesn't quite paint the right word picture. Let's try this again.

The thunderous waterfall of questions and comments began, and did not let up until I opened the door at the other end.

This kid covered everything from asking about the top speed, to explaining the speed of his bike, to asking what happens when monorails crash, to whatever his brain could think up. Oh, and he did it with great gusto, vigor and volume.

Neither the other guests in the cab, nor I, got a word in edgewise.

Honestly, this kid had to have a teleporter where his lungs should be, teleporting a constant supply of air to his mouth. Either that, or he's a professional musician and understands circular breathing. Kenny G's endless E Flat has nothing on this kid. I honestly don't remember him inhaling once.

I felt so bad for the other group, that had it been earlier I would have taken them on a round trip back to Epcot and back.

I can't help but think this kid's mom and dad knew exactly what would happen. I think they just wanted a ten-minute break, and I was as good a babysitter as any.

Good thing I didn't need to be on the radio that trip. There's no way they would have heard me. They would have heard graphic descriptions, while the mother and I tried (in vain) to shut him up, of monorails crashing into each other at very high speeds.

I almost wished I could have walked out. I watched wishfully as Rectifier 3 passed under my train and into the night. At one point, it was almost worth jumping out and seeing how close the train could get to Concourse with a Deadman Penalty Stop.

I needed an empty cab to recover. And it is so very rarely that I need that.

[Main Streeter]

The thunderous waterfall of questions and comments began, and did not let up until I opened the door at the other end.

This kid covered everything from asking about the top speed, to explaining the speed of his bike, to asking what happens when monorails crash, to whatever his brain could think up. Oh, and he did it with great gusto, vigor and volume.

Honestly, this kid had to have a teleporter where his lungs should be, teleporting a constant supply of air to his mouth. Either that, or he's a professional musician and understands circular breathing. Kenny G's endless E Flat has nothing on this kid. I honestly don't remember him inhaling once.

Sorry abt the vocal waterfall BW. Maybe the kid is simply a concrete sign for birth control. :) :D: C'mon, if I hadn't posted this, hobie would have. ;)

[TdcOgre]

No, I'm not talking about the character breakfast they used to serve long ago with Winnie the Pooh and his Forest Friends. I mean tonight's dinner!

For those unfamiliar, Artist Point is "Signature Dining", which is Disneyspeak for "even more not cheap than usual". The price for dinner and wine can easily reach $100 here, but especially right now when the Copper River Salmon is in, it can be worth it!

So there we were, SWMBO and I, at a nice table by the window, enjoying the view and our first course when the Family From Hell is seated at the next table.

Their first offense was in bringing a loud 2-year-old to a nice restaurant. (Do they not know about Cubs Den?) But I could accept that; this is Disney after all, and one must accept children most places.

Their second offense was carrying the tot over to the window to show her the view she didn't care to look at ... and slamming her widdle feet into SWMBO's head as they squeezed past her. Bad, but clearly unintentional.

What tore it was what they did once they enthroned her in the booster seat. Dad took out a portable DVD player, and started up a disc of cartoons. Excuse me, but I have to listen to a 54-minute cartoon loop at work. I do *not* consider that an enhancement to my day off!

For backseat entertainment on long trips- yes. At Artist Point- NO!

Did he hook up ear buds for the kid? :mad: He did not.

Did he try to hang a set of headphones on the kid? He did not.

Did he crank up the audio until it drowned out the BGM for everyone in the dining room? Right, that's what he did.

SWMBO tried some of her best glares on them, but as you might expect by now, the parents were not in charge of this family, and all they could do is shrug and apologize.

Knowing SWMBO as I do and having seen in person her withering glare, I can't believe that the entire family didn't leave in body bags

I took a short walk to the podium.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, we were wondering if you have a table available in the 'No Cartoons' section?"

"The... huh what?"

Once the cast saw what was happening, they did quickly move us to another table, one *almost* far enough away from the noise, but not far enough that SWMBO could think of much else the rest of the meal.

Shortly thereafter the kid's server came over and said that they wanted to buy us a drink as an apology -- while the player was still running. I turned them down saying, "We don't particularly want an apology. Tell them to use that money to buy some ear buds." Yeah, I know, free booze, but it was the principle of the thing!

The duty manager? Walked past our table three times without saying a word. Boy is it clear that Vicki and Kevin aren't running that shop any more!

SWMBO and I are agreed on one thing though. If ever again we hear Donald Duck's theme song in a signature restaurant, we're outta there. I figure if you want to get Mickey's attention, best to kick him in the wallet.

This has become way too frequent an occurrence not just at WDW but in the world. Management's attitude is" "Well, if I don't ask they won't tell me."

[BRWombat]

...Knowing SWMBO as I do and having seen in person her withering glare, I can't believe that the entire family didn't leave in body bags...

Or Zazu "accidentally" spilling a beverage on the DVD player. Oh, no, it shorted out? Oops! :twisted:

[kurtisnelson]

Picture someone who looks like a long time professor walking up to the podium and requesting the no cartoons section and you will realize how even more ridiculously bad the management was.
And as for waterfall kid, was anything preventing you from sitting him in the very very front of the cab and putting the brakes at true 100%?

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

With the waterfall kid, you could try the tatic that I learned many years ago with that kind of person.

The trick is to lower your voice, and speak slower (think sothern drawl) it forces the person to lower their voice and listen for long and longer periods of time. I also use the old, "I am going to tell you some important information" trick. That consists of several long statements that have little or no information, simply telling the person that you are about to tell them something that will be of interest and in they really need to focus on what you are saying.

I think the music artist needed to e told, with a glass of wine in hand, that the noise is unnacceptable, and darn these slippery floors...or sorry, did I spill that all over your kid with the radio? sorrry.

Return to table, accept next glass from management, if not shut off, return to table with glass in hand.....

(make sure it is a cheap wine!)

[Syndrome]

The thunderous waterfall of questions and comments began, and did not let up until I opened the door at the other end.

I think I encountered this kid, or some close blood relative, in the singles line on Test Track once. First he decided he should direct all of the other guests on how to line up in the pre-show room. They all of course ignored him and he was getting really frustrated. Then I had the misfortune to wind up in the same car with him, where he proceeded to narrate the entire ride in a way that prevented anyone from getting the actual concept. He was in the row in front of me, and I don't think he ever breathed. The worst was in the crash test room when he kept demanding that everyone in the car get into crash position and kept trying to convince us all that we were going to crash into the wall...keep repeating it over and over and getting really frustrated that no one was paying any attention. Ugh! Worst. Test Track ride. Ever.