Originally Posted By juicer Where was the location of the former full service restaurant Bonfamilies at the Port Orleans Resort French Quarter? And if it sits empty...Any way it could reopen?
Originally Posted By jmuboy It closed after 9-11 when WDW shut down the entire French Quarter section for 1 plus years. It's location was immediately to the left as you enter the main building where the food court is located. The wooden doors to the restaurant are still there. A neat "Blue Bayou" style restaurant exported from DL would be great here.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 It's still sitting there ... used for cast meetings and the like. And why would they ever reopen it? (See other locales around property like Ariel's at BC, Tangaroa Terrace at Poly, Adventureland Veranada at MK, Odyssey at EPCOT etc ...)
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<And why would they ever reopen it? (See other locales around property like Ariel's at BC, Tangaroa Terrace at Poly, Adventureland Veranada at MK, Odyssey at EPCOT etc ...)>> Why? Because the dreaded DDP (which I'm proud to have NEVER used) is putting so much pressure on Disney dining that they need the additional capacity.
Originally Posted By sjhym33 I get the feeling that the sit down restuarants at Port Orleans and Dixie Landing dont get the business that Disney would like. Boatwrights recently went to dinner only. I think its a shame though. You would think with the thousands of hotel rooms in the 2 complexes they could fill 2 sit down restaurants.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 I've never been at either Bonfamile's or Boatwright's where there wasn't a wait, often LONG to enter ... even with PS. Closing one and dropping breakfast at the other were just cost-cutting measures because they know they have a captive audience that will still dine with Mickey ... just elsewhere. BTW, anyone remember the ALL-YOU-CAN EAT salad bowl at Boatwright's with cajun ranch dressing that was INCLUDED with all dinner entrees for years?
Originally Posted By hopemax I miss Bonfamille's. It was the place where you get Mickey Mouse pancakes. Not a big deal for most people, but that was always a DL tradition, so I wanted them at WDW too. And most of the WDW restaurants serve Mickey waffles. Nice, but I can get those at home, thanks to Villaware. And they gave you a sample of beignets. Us north westerners weren't familiar with them, and I don't know if we would ever had ordered them on our own at the food court. But now they are a tradition. I think my Dad gets them once a week or so now that they live there. All thanks to a Bonfamille's freebie. Boatwrights... we ate there twice and both times it was only average food, and one time we had bad service. We WANTED to enjoy the restaurant at the hotel, but we couldn't.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 We only had breakfast at Boatwrights, and it was great, although way too much food. We were never around the hotel at supper time.
Originally Posted By juicer That's interesting that Bonfamile's still there. Is it still intact and ready to open if need be? I kind of thought that with the DDP that there would be a need to have it open again. But with Boatwrights just open for limited hours...I guess Bonfamile's is just a addition to Yesterland
Originally Posted By jmuboy Are Ariels at the BC and Tangaroa Terrace at the Polynesdian still there? I thought those locations had been repurposed. I didn't relaize they were just closed and sit empty. I agree that I think Bonfamile's could support at least a dinner-only operation based on the resort's size!
Originally Posted By tonyanton I believe they use Ariel's for wedding receptions...I saw that once on one of those cable channel shows on weddings.
Originally Posted By sjhym33 Tangaroa Terrace sits empty and is used for special events, though the place is in terrible shape. I wrote about it in my blog at: <a href="http://www.iworkedforthemouse.com/home/pg/blog/SoarinStephen/read/105/10-things-i-will-never-see-again-at-disney-in-my-lifetime" target="_blank">http://www.iworkedforthemouse....lifetime</a>
Originally Posted By sjhym33 Oops. wrong blog. That one is a fun read but this is the one with Tanagroa Terrace in it: <a href="http://www.iworkedforthemouse.com/home/pg/blog/SoarinStephen/read/149/10-more-things-i-will-never-see-again" target="_blank">http://www.iworkedforthemouse....ee-again</a>
Originally Posted By MPierce Bonfamilie's had more of a luxurious feel to me. Something you would not expect at a moderate priced resort. The food as well as the service for breakfast, lunch, and dinner were always very good. This is just another move that you want to shout out,"What were those Boneheads thinking when they closed it?". I sometimes wonder if WDW's goal is to reduce the number of restaurants, reduce the menu, raise the price on food to make the DDP seem like a bargain. With limited selection of places to eat you maximize the crowd for each restaurant while eliminating the cost of labor, and overall maintainence of the places you closed. They could easily open up the large number of eateries that are closed now across WDW. You now have two of the favorite moderate resorts, Dixie Landing, and French Quarter. functioning like value resorts. cramming everyone into a food court.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 <<I sometimes wonder if WDW's goal is to reduce the number of restaurants, reduce the menu, raise the price on food to make the DDP seem like a bargain. With limited selection of places to eat you maximize the crowd for each restaurant while eliminating the cost of labor, and overall maintainence of the places you closed.>> By Jove, MP I think you've got it.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^Yeah. Pierce must have taken his meds today because that is dead on accurate. The menus just get simpler and dumber and more homogenized, while the price points keep going up making people think DDP is a deal. Just ate at an excellent local place (Village Tavern ... small national chain with an outlet in O-Town, about 20 minutes up I-4 from Da Mouse) and got a wonderful 10 oz filet with huge salad, side item and bread for $27.95 ... at Disney ... well, you can't get a filet that's larger than six ounces to begin with, no matter where you are, and would have been priced in the mid-upper 30s ...and the salad I got would have added at least $9-14 to the cost of the meal. ... People need to get smart, but they usually don't ... until it's too late!
Originally Posted By -em >><<I sometimes wonder if WDW's goal is to reduce the number of restaurants, reduce the menu, raise the price on food to make the DDP seem like a bargain. With limited selection of places to eat you maximize the crowd for each restaurant while eliminating the cost of labor, and overall maintainence of the places you closed.>><< Agreed!
Originally Posted By jmuboy It's all another reason to head west to DL. It's got its own problems, but by 2012 the DL Resort really will be amazing. And it already kicks the pants off WDW in many, many ways!
Originally Posted By juicer With over 800 rooms at POFQ - one would think that there would be enough guests to maintain a full service restaurant? Any chance it could reopen?
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs Bonfamille's? Did they have Marie walking around and greeting Guests?
