Can someone please explain why the food courts are the way they are? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Old 01-11-2012, 10:26 AM   #1
DizneyCommando
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Can someone please explain why the food courts are the way they are?

I can't understand why the food courts at POFQ and Pop Century, for example, are set up the way they are, with separate stations (and separate lines) for different foods. If one kid wants a hamburger, that is one line, chicken is another, hot dogs another, or whatever. Then there is another line to pay for everything. I just can't figure out how this makes things more efficient. In contrast, at the counter service at Cosmic Ray's or Columbia Harbor House, for example, the guest orders and pays at the register, then moves forward to pick up the food. That seems like a much more efficient system.

The food court system really irks me and I was wondering if someone can shed some light on the reason for the set up. Maybe if I understand the method to the madness, I can relax a bit.

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Old 01-11-2012, 10:44 AM   #2
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My guess is because of different cooking methods, ease of service & that's the way they decided to do it..
Paying at one location is easier, cooks don't have to deal with cashiering.
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Old 01-11-2012, 10:55 AM   #3
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I think it moves lines along faster. If you want a burger, you are only behind the ppl in line wanting a burger, instead of behind everyone trying to eat at the food court.
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Old 01-11-2012, 12:27 PM   #4
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Thanks for your responses. I guess it does move the individual lines faster. I think the system breaks down when mom or dad has to stand on ALL of them in order to feed the whole family, then line up again to pay. Some years back, I spent half an hour ordering and and paying at POFQ's Floatworks while Mrs. Commando herded the little commandos. I never went back.

Maybe its just my perception, but the system in use at Columbia Harbor house seems much less burdensome. One stop ordering, then pick up. Three Broomsticks in Universal also uses that system, as do other WDW eateries. It seems to work well in those places, why not use it in the food courts?

Cosmic Ray's bay system is also a bit of a pain, now that I think about it.
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Old 01-11-2012, 12:34 PM   #5
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Well, one way to get around it, is to only order from one bay. OK, everyone....today we're eating anything that comes from the Italian food side....make a choice.

Sunshine Seasons in Epcot is set up this way too.

It gets easier as the kids are old enough to stand in line by themselves and order. Then everyone gets in the line they want, order, meet up, and pay.
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Old 01-11-2012, 12:36 PM   #6
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The food court system works well enough that they have used it for one of the buffets on the Disney Dream.

When the kids were younger, you're right, I remember it being a problem. But as mine have gotten older, it is nice to let them each go to the line they want and meet up at the payment counter.
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Old 01-11-2012, 12:54 PM   #7
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the college i work for just went to a system like POFQ from the old fashion 'everyone stands in the same line" system
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Old 01-11-2012, 12:58 PM   #8
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This is difficult for us also but I can see the benefit for people without children or with older independent children. This will always be a problem for us. It is no different than trying to eat in a mall food court though. Everyone wants something from a different place and we end up standing in multiple lines or we as the parents will choose from a place that the kids want to eat at.
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Old 01-11-2012, 01:07 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by HiddenMickey View Post
Well, one way to get around it, is to only order from one bay. OK, everyone....today we're eating anything that comes from the Italian food side....make a choice.

Sunshine Seasons in Epcot is set up this way too.

It gets easier as the kids are old enough to stand in line by themselves and order. Then everyone gets in the line they want, order, meet up, and pay.
My crew is way too picky. They would revolt if forced to eat something they didn't like. And mine are too young to manage the process themselves.
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Old 01-11-2012, 06:22 PM   #10
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The reason it works at CS places like Columbia Harbour House is that they have relatively few items compared to all the choices at POR or POFQ. But, you're right it can be a pain sometimes, especially when you want to go through the check out all together and one person is waiting around for the others to get their order.
I liked the suggestion of choosing one station for the entire family. But I suppose that's not always practical.
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Old 01-11-2012, 07:06 PM   #11
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The reason it works at CS places like Columbia Harbour House is that they have relatively few items compared to all the choices at POR or POFQ. But, you're right it can be a pain sometimes, especially when you want to go through the check out all together and one person is waiting around for the others to get their order.
I liked the suggestion of choosing one station for the entire family. But I suppose that's not always practical.
So the larger menus necessitate dispersing the service and customers among various stations and queues. I guess that makes sense. It will still bug me, but at least there is a valid explaination.

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Old 01-12-2012, 10:29 AM   #12
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Hmm, I've always found the food court system to be quicker and have less back-ups than the systems at Pecos Bill's or Cosmic Ray's. But I agree with others that the food court system is a pain if you have small children.
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Old 01-12-2012, 10:55 AM   #13
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I like the food court at the Poly, you place your order at a Kiosk, it prints a receipt that you take to the cashier, you pay and are handed a pager. When the pager goes off you go up to the counter and pick up all your food.
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Old 01-12-2012, 11:26 AM   #14
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When the kids were too young to stand in their own line, we would get their food first and then go to my foodline.. I am not a fan of the Pizza that they seem to enjoy. once they were old enough to stand in their own line it was even better and we could just meet at the register.
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Old 01-12-2012, 03:24 PM   #15
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There are a couple of more factors. The big one is merchandising. When folks can see the food before they order they're more likely to make an impulse decision (and impulse decisions generally go in the direction of higher spending, rather than lower). Inside the parks they need to move people in and out as fast as possible - the more time people spend deciding (and eating), the bigger the restaurant has to be. So in the parks, the balance tips in favor of pay first.

One of the big advantage of pay-first is that the kitchen has more time to prepare the order - another reason why they use it in the high volume parks environment.

I agree, the number of menu items is also a significant factor. Different kind of food need different prep station layouts (and space). If that prep space is close to the serving space, much time and labor can be saved. If, say, the same items were sold at every station in a food court, some of that food would have to travel a long distance to be put on someone's tray. This is one of the reasons Cosmic Ray's at MK and Sunshine Seasons at Epcot are food court-style. While Cosmic Rays is a pay-first establishment, in that case you have to pay separately at each station you visit, which I think is the worst of all worlds.
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