Well Disney is finally doing something about this issue with the introduction of new ‘rules’ at the Counter Service places in the park. Inside four quick-service restaurants in the Magic Kingdom, Disney has begun restricting access — but guaranteeing seating — during particularly busy lunch rushes.

The usual practice is for guests to split up as they enter the restaurant – with one party heading to the order point while the other members of the group find a table. Apparently this can clog up one third of a restaurant’s capacity at any time!

The new method prevents you from splitting up – but guarantees you a seat, which sounds like a much better option to me!

“This has been very helpful for us from an efficiency standpoint, because everything’s so well-organized,” said Liz Clark, general manager of food and beverage in the Magic Kingdom. “It wasn’t really a good way to decompress or relax. So we’ve been really focusing on how we can enhance the whole dining experience.”

Under the new controlled access and seating programme, guests in certain Magic Kingdom counter-service restaurants are steered through a single entrance so workers can keep tabs on how many people are inside.

A greeter hands menus and steers the entire group to cash registers to place their orders. After they get their food, they are guided by another employee to an empty table.

Clark said the program has already evolved based on feedback from guests. The menus that greeters hand out were initially only available in English and were done entirely in text; they have since been changed to include multiple languages, pictures of the menu selections, and information about using a pre-purchased dining plan that Disney sells to resort guests.

Disney began testing the concept in the Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Café. But it has since been rolled out to three other busy counter-service restaurants: Columbia Harbour House, Pinocchio Village Haus and Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. Those restaurants range in size from about 400 seats to more than 1,000 at Pecos Bill and Cosmic Ray’s.

The controlled access is used only on days when the park is busy.

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