Went today after church (~10:45) to check out the brunch since people were saying it was open. Checked the website and facebook page to see if hours were posted, but didn't see anything definitive. We went anyway because we thought we could always keep driving if it looked closed, but it was open. We walked up with two other groups, and the host had to turn us all away because they were only seating people in the outdoor area and were "at capacity," and said that eating there was by reservation only. It looked like 20 people were out there, if that. There were so few people seated and eating, that I first I thought the host was joking when he said they were at capacity. The other groups were more upset and left in a huff (I don't totally blame them). I stayed for a minute to speak with the host, and ask him about the setup. He explained they were still working things out, and said they changed their opening time for brunch three times just this weekend. In fact, he still couldn't really give a straight answer as to when they'd open for brunch in the future, but apparently they opened at 9:00 today. He also recommended always having a reservation to ensure getting seated, and not just for brunch. He didn't have a lot of information, but I blame ownership/management; it can't be fun to turn people away at the door with no real information to offer.
I'm still confused about what they're trying to do there. The bar area looked very impressive; in fact the whole place looked very, very nice. But the lack of information is an issue. I get that they opened earlier than expected and are working issues out, but I think they ought to update their facebook page and website to explain what is going on, offer business hours, and warn people in advance if reservations are necessary. Also, we went to the market area to see about getting some picnic food (we were headed to the rose garden after brunch, so we figured this wasn't a terrible backup option). Two coffees, two waters, two premade sandwiches, a container of mixed fruit, a container of hummus, and a single serving sized bag of pretzel chips was $50. That's Disney World prices! If it wasn't for the fact that we had a fussy baby and needed to get on with our day, we would have walked out. Upside, the hummus was good.
I'm not impressed so far, and while I can be reasonable that we went to check them out before all the kinks were worked out, for as much as they want people to spend there, our first experience was very disappointing. We're going to wait a good while before they get things together to give it a second chance.
