I used this system the first year Coronado Springs opened. I had been accustomed to using the foods courts at Dixie, Port Orleans and Carribean Beach for many years. I liked the fact that a visit to these food courts was always quick and easy and relatively hassle free. In my experience I found that the new system at Coronado Springs took away a little bit of everything that i enjoyed about the experience.
For those who haven't been there, the dining area in Coronado is closed in. There is a narrow entrance where you meet a CM, who then escorts you to your table. The exit is in the dining area just behind the cash registers, sort of like a toll booth. One way in and one way out(nothing at all like a typical restaurant). You then wait for your server who'll take your beverage order. After giving each member in your group a card you're then free to go off and order your meals.
Let me say that the extra time spent waiting at our table to meet our server was a waste of time. In the time it took for that to happen I could have had my food in place at the table and we would have been eating. Basically, you're paying an extra 10% gratuity just for the server to bring you your drinks and give you your cards, even though you still have to carry your own orders back to the table.
The other thing that bugged me related to the card system itself. At first glance it seems very convenient to be able to give out the cards to each member in your party and let everyone get what they wanted. But after trying it I quickly noticed that it kind of got in the way. You cannot place an order without showing the server your card. If you have a couple of items in hand and all of a sudden have to dig out the card, there is an adjustment to be made. And if you're ordering something for someone else in your party, you need to make sure he/she is there with you to show their card, otherwise the order cannot be placed. And then you need to check the cards to make sure the correct item(s) was punched. Who is going to supervise the kids when they wander off on their own. What if they lose their card(I'll get to that later)?
Once we were all seated I needed to collect all of the cards to make sure everything was in order, and I also wanted to try and figure out what everything was going to cost( In the old system you'd basically know because you were ordering for everyone all at once and paying for it before you're seated). One thing that we were warned about from the start was that we were accountable for each card in our party. If we were to lose one we would have to pay a "standard meal fee"(whatever the heck that is).
At the conclusion of our meal I took our cards and waited on line at one of the registers stationed at the exit of the dining area. When it was all said and done I ended up spending 10% more on gratuity than I normally would have, and noticed that the items on the menu were more expensive than the the food court fare that i had been accustomed to before. And I suppose that amidst the confusion and new-found freedom that everyone enjoyed with their cards, everyone seemed to order more than we normally would have. And the typical 30 minute quick bite approach to our food court visits suddenly became an hour-long ordeal.
We had just arrived from the airport and had just check in.........I DID NOT NEED THIS KIND OF PRESSURE. I was tired and hungry and wanted a quick bite, yet everything that i loved about the Food Courts seemed to have dissappeared. If I wanted a sit-down experience I would have eaten at one of the full service restaurants. You do not have that choice at CSs, and apparantly, if the rumor is true, Port Orleans too.
These moves are quite simply profit oriented, no question about it. The system was not broken. They simply decided to squeeze a little more $$ out of it. I sincerely hope that Disney does not overhaul the Food Courts at the rest of the moderates. It really left little to be desired in my experience.
