Woodcutters was fine yesterday. Staff seemed to be slow as we were stood at the entrance for over 5 minutes and not one of the staff spoke to us. Even a "with you soon" would be better than nothing.
Much like with the lack of rides there's a distinct lack of eateries unless you want burgers or hot dogs. CBeebies is about the only other sit down restaurant that isn't traditional fast food in the entire park.
The price there was daft too.
Another part of the park that desperately needs looking at. Far beyond the Aramark quality situation.
Completely agree, people queuing 30 mins for a coffee is farcical. I waited at woodcutters 30 mins for a seat and the food was meh and expensive for what for was. The hotels were no better either.
The “standard” the “bar” just isn’t high enough I’m afraid. And what’s even more worrying is I don’t see they know how to fix it. In the past 10-15 years the operators of these places seem to have forgotten what a quality theme park is all about, and stood still as others have moved past.
One of the glaring omissions for me is the “teachers lounge” that place was built as restaurant and has just been neglected. I would think it could easily be re-used but it just isn’t.
Most of the food/coffee establishments feel cramped, dingy and a bit sticky. And the location of the coffee place in FV was always wrong. It was the first time I was in there the last Sunday and I wasn’t impressed.
Every area should have access to grab and go, sit down quick service and sit down table service. With snack areas supporting. It’s not difficult. It’s a tried and tested method at this point. Granted different budgets and scales but look at what was done with Satuli canteen and Pandora and Ronto Roasters at Galaxys Edge.
There’s nowhere on park as good as the white horse at Efteling for quick service or any hotel restaurant at Europa for table service. Instead they’ve gone down generic fast food establishment and messed that up.
I worry the whole principles are too marketing/focus led. People might of said they just want burger and chips coming to a theme park, but offer them something better and see what happens.
People/families can eat in “bang average” fast food establishments any day of the week, that’s not what they come to theme parks for. And it’s certainly not what they can come back for.
Merlin as a group need to remember it’s great having IP, hotel rooms, cut and paste events, upcharge attractions and midway shoe horned in. But what gets people walking through the door is the overall theme park experience. Attractions, shows, food & experiences. That’s what pays the bills and gets people through the door. Everything else is a bonus.
Hopefully our friends down the road in Bedford remind them of that
www.pizzahut.co.uk
