WDW restaurant bans children

[Thomas Henderson]

Not that I was planning on dining there anytime, but the irony here is
interesting. Maybe they can employ the sinister child-catcher from "Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang"? Oh no! Now Michael Jackson will have to eat alone!

I'm with Norman (see below) on this one. How many times have you been at a
park and wanted to smack some lax parents upside the head?
-Tom

Walt Disney World's swankiest restaurant bans kids
Full article at:
http://tinyurl.com/2amatq


"Walt Disney World has banned young children from its swankiest restaurant,
Victoria & Albert's (snip) Children younger than 10 are no longer welcome."

"Virtually nothing about Victoria & Albert's, which opened in 1988, is
designed to appeal to children."

"Norman Van Aken, owner of another top Ritz-Carlton restaurant, Norman's in
Orlando, said banning children is not something he would consider. "I'd
rather kick out the parents that can't control their children than kick out
the kids," Van Aken said from Key West, where he is opening another
restaurant."

"...longtime Disney observer, Mike Scopa, (snip) noted that company founder
Walt Disney developed his theme parks around his dream to create a place
where parents and children could have fun together, without having to split
up and pursue separate activities. "Now we find that Disney has come full
circle," he said."

[Shawn Mamros]

Post by Thomas Henderson
"...longtime Disney observer, Mike Scopa, (snip) noted that company founder
Walt Disney developed his theme parks around his dream to create a place
where parents and children could have fun together, without having to split
up and pursue separate activities. "Now we find that Disney has come full
circle," he said."

Has this Scopa guy been sitting under a rock at the Magic Kingdom for
20 or so years? The Disney compound in Orlando has a lot more than
just the theme parks nowadays, and not everything there is geared
to kids. Do they let the little ones play on the golf courses
there? Or drive on the race track? Quibble all you want over
whether any of that is "what Walt would've wanted", but the place
is just so much bigger now than anything Walt could ever have dreamed
possible, and from everything I've ever read, the guy wasn't above
making a buck. And having things like golf courses and race tracks
and Downtown Disney and V&A's brings in dollars from the millions of
convention-goers in Orlando who probably wouldn't set foot on Disney
property if the Magic Kingdom were all there was there.

Granted, it may seem heavy-handed to have an outright ban on the
tykes at V&A's, but let's get real here. Any parent who would
take their kids there is either completely clueless or just plain
irresponsible. We're talking about a place where jacket and tie
are an absolute must for men, where the womenfolk are held up to
an equivalent level of of dress, where the menu changes daily,
doesn't have a lot of choices on any given day (max. of two
choices per course, if I remember right from the one time I was
there about ten years ago (my then-girlfriend's treat)), and sure
as heck doesn't have anything even remotely considered edible from
the typical ten year old's point of view. (Wonder if I still have
the menu from that day - I saved it for a while, but it might not
have survived my last move. If I can find it, I'll be glad to
share its contents here.) My ten-year-old self would've had an
absolutely miserable time there, and I don't think I've ever
encountered anyone that age who would enjoy it.

Having V&A's there provides a five-star restaurant option for
folks in the area who are into that sort of thing and would have
to go elsewhere to find it if it weren't there. Those people
don't want to see the place dumbed down into Vickie & Al's Family
Fare, and Disney would lose out on their money if it did. It's
not as if the families don't have literally hundreds of other
places to eat on Disney property. One small restaurant (and it
is small) that doesn't allow little ones is hardly going to rock
the foundations of the Kingdom.

-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros -at- mit dot edu

[ChrisCoaster]

Post by Shawn Mamros

Post by Thomas Henderson
"...longtime Disney observer, Mike Scopa, (snip) noted that company founder
Walt Disney developed his theme parks around his dream to create a place
where parents and children could have fun together, without having to split
up and pursue separate activities. "Now we find that Disney has come full
circle," he said."

Has this Scopa guy been sitting under a rock at the Magic Kingdom for
20 or so years?  The Disney compound in Orlando has a lot more than
just the theme parks nowadays, and not everything there is geared
to kids.  Do they let the little ones play on the golf courses
there?  Or drive on the race track?  Quibble all you want over
whether any of that is "what Walt would've wanted", but the place
is just so much bigger now than anything Walt could ever have dreamed
possible, and from everything I've ever read, the guy wasn't above
making a buck.  And having things like golf courses and race tracks
and Downtown Disney and V&A's brings in dollars from the millions of
convention-goers in Orlando who probably wouldn't set foot on Disney
property if the Magic Kingdom were all there was there.
Granted, it may seem heavy-handed to have an outright ban on the
tykes at V&A's, but let's get real here.  Any parent who would
take their kids there is either completely clueless or just plain
irresponsible.  We're talking about a place where jacket and tie
are an absolute must for men, where the womenfolk are held up to
an equivalent level of of dress, where the menu changes daily,
doesn't have a lot of choices on any given day (max. of two
choices per course, if I remember right from the one time I was
there about ten years ago (my then-girlfriend's treat)), and sure
as heck doesn't have anything even remotely considered edible from
the typical ten year old's point of view.  (Wonder if I still have
the menu from that day - I saved it for a while, but it might not
have survived my last move.  If I can find it, I'll be glad to
share its contents here.)  My ten-year-old self would've had an
absolutely miserable time there, and I don't think I've ever
encountered anyone that age who would enjoy it.
Having V&A's there provides a five-star restaurant option for
folks in the area who are into that sort of thing and would have
to go elsewhere to find it if it weren't there.  Those people
don't want to see the place dumbed down into Vickie & Al's Family
Fare, and Disney would lose out on their money if it did.  It's
not as if the families don't have literally hundreds of other
places to eat on Disney property.  One small restaurant (and it
is small) that doesn't allow little ones is hardly going to rock
the foundations of the Kingdom.
-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros -at- mit dot edu

_____________________

Y'know, it's all about those funny little "S"s, with vertical lines
running through them? Ever seen one before?

-CC

[Dana Schwartz]

On 05 Jan 2008 20:47:31 GMT, ***@mit.edu (Shawn Mamros) wrote, in
part about his experience at Victoria & Albert's at WDW's Grand
Floridian Resort and Spa, and why most kids wouldn't choose to eat

(Wonder if I still have the menu from that day - I saved it for a while,
but it might not have survived my last move. If I can find it, I'll be glad to
share its contents here.) My ten-year-old self would've had an
absolutely miserable time there, and I don't think I've ever
encountered anyone that age who would enjoy it.

No need to go digging through the boxes in storage, Shawn. This site
has fairly recent menu offerings for V&A's, noting that what is shown
is a sampling of fare and explains that the menu changes daily, as you
said.

http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/menu_va.htm

A relatively recent notation appears on the page, re pricing:

"As of September 2007, Victoria & Albert's REGULAR fixed price menu
will cost $125/person, and $60/person for the wine pairings."

Not exactly the type of restaurant where parents should be shocked to
discover that there is no kiddy menu featuring chicken nuggets, paired
with grape juice in a sippy box.

That said, I imagine that in this day and age there probably *is* at
least one prematurely pseudo-sophisticated rug rat out there who'd
whine, "But, Mommy, I really would prefer the Pondichery Peppered
Quail over the Pink Princess Pizza Platter. Besides, I'd rather not
have an eight foot tall mouse looming over me while I dine. And,
pul-eeeeze ask Mr. Concierge to reserve a table in the corner with a
cushy banquette in case dinner runs past my bedtime, 'kay? Now, let's
do lunch poolside for a change..."

Dana Schwartz (been around east coast kids for too long)

[BaSSiStiSt]

Post by Dana Schwartz
That said, I imagine that in this day and age there probably *is* at
least one prematurely pseudo-sophisticated rug rat out there who'd
whine, "But, Mommy, I really would prefer the Pondichery Peppered
Quail over the Pink Princess Pizza Platter. Besides, I'd rather not
have an eight foot tall mouse looming over me while I dine. And,
pul-eeeeze ask Mr. Concierge to reserve a table in the corner with a
cushy banquette in case dinner runs past my bedtime, 'kay? Now, let's
do lunch poolside for a change..."

OK, first of all, LOFrickinL!

And second, I know of at least one kid JUST like that...my girlfriend's son,
Jake. Lisa and I like to go to fine dining establishments, and he's up for
trying just about anything. Although, if there's a "filet anything" on the
menu that's probably what he's getting.

And then there's my kids, who will eat anything as long as it's chicken
nuggets (for Zoe) and grilled cheese (for Alex)...LOL!

[Rob Vaccaro]

Post by Dana Schwartz
part about his experience at Victoria & Albert's at WDW's Grand
Floridian Resort and Spa, and why most kids wouldn't choose to eat

(Wonder if I still have the menu from that day - I saved it for a while,
but it might not have survived my last move.  If I can find it, I'll be glad to
share its contents here.)  My ten-year-old self would've had an
absolutely miserable time there, and I don't think I've ever
encountered anyone that age who would enjoy it.

No need to go digging through the boxes in storage, Shawn.  This site
has fairly recent menu offerings for V&A's, noting that what is shown
is a sampling of fare and explains that the menu changes daily, as you
said.
That said, I imagine that in this day and age there probably *is* at
least one prematurely pseudo-sophisticated rug rat out there who'd
whine, "But, Mommy, I really would prefer the Pondichery Peppered
Quail over the Pink Princess Pizza Platter.  Besides, I'd rather not
have an eight foot tall mouse looming over me while I dine.  And,
pul-eeeeze ask Mr. Concierge to reserve a table in the corner with a
cushy banquette in case dinner runs past my bedtime, 'kay?  Now, let's
do lunch poolside for a change..."
Dana Schwartz (been around east coast kids for too long)

Haha! Good one! I think this rule should be expanded to include
Artist
Point, Citrico's, California Grille, and The Flying Fish; but that's
just
me...

Rob "I was a kid once too..." Vaccaro

[G***@gmail.com]

Post by Shawn Mamros
Granted, it may seem heavy-handed to have an outright ban on the
tykes at V&A's, but let's get real here.  Any parent who would
take their kids there is either completely clueless or just plain
irresponsible.  

In fact, it should have happened a long time ago. The astonishingly
casual atmosphere at the once "business casual only" California Grill
left a horrible taste in my mouth, so much so I could never even
concieve of suggesting the place to anyone. Kids are great, but they
don't belong in certain places, and I don't give a shit about seeing
your stupid rugrat at a 5 star restaurant just as I don't want to see/
hear/smell it at a R movie (if a kid starts crying when I go see There
Will Be Blood I plan on belting the parent), a casino, a nightclub,
etc. They don't fucking belong.

(On that note, I should send a mighty thanks to Bellagio for refusing
entry to anyone under the age of 18. That may be the greatest rule
ever.)