Post #741841 by kkocka on Sun, Apr 26, 2015 10:39 PM

On 2015-04-26 14:31, Tiki Toli wrote:
This was my first opportunity to experience a Trader Sam's and my expectations were high. I was inside 3 nights and on the Terrace 5. First and foremost, the place is too small. I think Occupancy is 51 when 30 would be comfortable. Bar was too small and every time I was there half the people at the bar there were sipping on water. One of the things that makes a tiki bar great to me are the customers and the staff which were my biggest disappointment there.

I don't think you're wrong to have had high expectations - with all the hype building up to it, how could you not? I disagree with the size remark, given that I'm used to a much smaller Trader Sam's in California, but you bring up a good point about the bar: half the people at the bar were sipping on water. So CA has a smaller room, but many more seats at the bar whereas FL has vastly larger room yet half the amount of seats at the bar. That is a big problem to me, because not only do the few seats fill with lookyloos downing water, but there's no reserve of barflys to at least do the bartenders justice. Hopefully that changes in time as you mentioned, though from what I hear from my FL residents that may very well be the returning customer (college program kids, lifestylers, etc) and numerous venues are the WDW properties follow that similarity. But I agree wholeheartedly about your sentiment that the bar staff and customer relationship/interaction is key. I think about here in LA, how Tiki Ti has a handful of guys who have shown up at 4pm daily for decades straight.