Totally Weird ADRs/Disney Dining

[DVC~OKW~96]

OK, so this isn't the first time I've complained here about the problems with getting an ADR for a given restaurant.

Recently, when staying at OKW during Gay Days weekend, we tried going through the concierge there for an ADR for Saturday evening at Cape May.

We stopped by around 6:00 pm. The concierge a very nice man, told us that he could only make an ADR for two or more hours "out" REGARDLESS of whether there was an earlier time to be served or NOT! The new system forces them into a two hour delay. His explanation was that the new system requires that to give people time to use Disney transport to get to where they are going. We explained we had our own car...no matter. We thanked him and left without an ADR, intending to head to Raglan Road.

We decided to stop by Cape May just to see if by any wild chance for the first time in over two years we might be able to walk up. We went in and the place was DEAD.

Yeah. That new system is working reallllly well. :sad2: We were able to be seated, of course and the place didn't pick up until about 8:00. That makes a bit of sense if you look at some simple social behaviors, eh? People who start to think about dinner may be doing so around 5:00 pm or so. They want to eat between 5:00 and 7:00 (for the most part). If they have to wait for an ADR for two hours minimum, they are going to do something else for dinner. Not an entire answer but a partial one, I'll bet.

Fast forward to this weekend. One of "our boys" is visiting with his little guy. He's here to do SWW so I call Disney Dining hoping to get an ADR so that we can have dinner at DHS, something we've never done! :eek: I was told by the reservationist that there was nothing available at all in any full service or buffet at DHS except for two places (Hollywood and Vine and 50's Prime time) with times of 4:10 and 4:55. No thanks. (By the way, that dude was seriously nasty...totally unprofessional and NOT Disney, never happened before, but sheesh he needs a new job).

Anyway. We walk up to Hollywood and Vine around 6:00 pm. SURE! Come on IN!!! The place is DEAD. :confused::confused:

We ended up not going in as "our boy" loves Cape May and yep, you guessed it we went over there and were seated on a walk in AGAIN!

So, not sure what the heck is going on with the new reservation system, but for us local, spur of the moment walk up diners, it's great!!! LOL.

Oh, and Wednesday evening (June 10) we were at YSH for the wife's Mother's birthday dinner... yep, you guessed it, between the hours of 6-8 very slow...

So, now we are going to try and walk in to California Grill for the wife's birthday. I'm hoping that whatever is "wrong" with the new system lasts until August! LOL!

[ConcKahuna]

The new dining system doesnt allow you to book reservations at all if it's less than an hour away (they had origionally told us 2 hours, and I guess that CM hadn't read his e-mail yet).

They are also having a lot of issues with table availability uploading. Some places arent uploading at all, then places like Ohana (which is always full) got double availability loaded and became overbooked.

[Jaxpiper]

Some places arent uploading at all, then places like Ohana (which is always full) got double availability loaded and became overbooked.

and let me guess...the concierge at the Poly had to hear about it all night...:goodvibes

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

The new system is weird.

I called IPO to book one more ADR for August. Got my itinerary and the girl booked it for September. :headache: So I called Dining and fixed it, which went much better than I though it might. When I was on the phone with IPO yesterday I mentioned it, and the guy was shocked that the system allowed her to book and ADR against a hotel ressie that ended almost a month BEFORE that ADR!

We have an ADR for a HUGE group one night. Now 10 of those people (2 different families of 5) have bailed. :rolleyes: I called to take those 10 off, then one group of 5 said they MIGHT not be changing so I had to add them back on. That ended up shifting our ADR by 15 minutes earlier, which is a pain. Since I already had the poor IPO guy on the phone I asked about availability for yet another night. Depending on what search terms he put in, different things would come up. Instead of offering us whatever was available, it would offer tables here and there. If we changed the search terms, other things would pop up. It is big on surprising people. :sad2:

I am glad my family has our ADRs set the way we want them. The 2 or 3 nights that are subject to change are not going to bother me no matter WHERE we end up. We can meet a group for TS, or we can go get CS by ourselves. The really important stuff is done. :)

[soulmates]

I must have the Midas Touch! I called at noon (BUSY TIME) and got right in. Asked the lovely lady if I could cancel Jiko and add The Wave. NO prob. Not only got The Wave, I got the TIME I wanted!! We're just 48 days out too. :rolleyes1

[DVC~OKW~96]

ConcK, we stood right there as he tried to get us a time prior to two hours out and he couldn't. :confused::confused: The system really wouldn't let him.

Hopefully, it will all work out well in the end. Not sure why anything had to change? Was something wrong with the old system? :confused3

[Chuck S]

Sounds like a typical Disney IT "enhancement." DVC seems to suffer through a lot of them, too.

[soulmates]

I work for Duke and we have those glitches ALL the time, with our "Upgrades" :rotfl2:

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Prior to now, the only "crash and burn" ADR request I have had was when we wanted to change something SUPER last minute. Like I called from my cell while we were AT WDW and tried to change something for that same day.

I they ever do go live with online ADRs I expect it to be a huge cluster, um, a huge mess. :rolleyes1

[Sphyrna]

When I was there for Gay Days I called to make an ADR for Chefs de France but it wouldn't let her since it was within an hour. We just went over there and did a walk up. They said they would seat us shortly. As soon as my butt hit the bench they called our party. I was surprised that at 6:00 it wasn't more busy.

[jenn&nelsonrego]

I expect it to be a huge cluster, um, a huge mess. :rolleyes1

:lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:

[ConcKahuna]

I they ever do go live with online ADRs I expect it to be a huge cluster, um, a huge mess. :rolleyes1

Expect it VERY soon. They've already allowed CM's to book online through the CM website.

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Expect it VERY soon. They've already allowed CM's to book online through the CM website.

And I bet it doesn't work properly, but I bet it will go live anyway. Yippee. :rolleyes:

[Sphyrna]

Of course it won't work properly and it will go live anyway. Not that it matters. It'll end up bringing the site down and you won't be able to use it anyway. :lmao:

[Jaxpiper]

Of course it won't work properly and it will go live anyway. Not that it matters. It'll end up bringing the site down and you won't be able to use it anyway. :lmao:

At which point the only option will be.....to walk up to the restaurant! :lmao:

[mum24grlz]

To the original poster - why didn't the concierge call the rest directly to see if they had any seats avail? I mean if ADR can't get you a res w/i 2 hrs why can't you or the concierge in this situation call direct and see if they have any availability? It truly does not make sense.

[ConcKahuna]

To the original poster - why didn't the concierge call the rest directly to see if they had any seats avail? I mean if ADR can't get you a res w/i 2 hrs why can't you or the concierge in this situation call direct and see if they have any availability? It truly does not make sense.

As someone who has to call restaurants almost constantly, I can tell you they almost never answer the podium phones. The only exceptions tend to be the non-Disney restaurants, since many of them don't allow same-day bookings anyways.

[DVC~OKW~96]

I wouldn't know how to call a restaurant directly? :confused3 I never thought to ask the concierge to do that, either.

[ConcKahuna]

I wouldn't know how to call a restaurant directly? :confused3 I never thought to ask the concierge to do that, either.

I dont think any other than Rainforest, Bongo's, HOB, T-Rex, etc actually post their numbers.

You can always call the WDW operator and ask them to connect you to those restaurants, although in most cases they'll connect you to WDW-Dine. The operator number is 407-824-2222.

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

AND.....

Online ADRs are LIVE!!
First glitch: DVC reservation numbers don't work in the system! :scared1:
And apparently Member Services and IT spent the day yesterday chasing their tails and trying to come up with some sort of answer. Surprise, surprise. :rolleyes1

Can I just say how happy I am that my ADRs are done?

[DVC~OKW~96]

Thanks for the number ConcK! ::yes:: :hug:

[DVC~OKW~96]

OH MY FREAKING GAWWWDDD!!!!
I have just spent an HOUR from hell on the phone trying to confirm ADRs made for September.

I won't bore you all senseless with the details, but will tell you that the new system is horrible, rotten, awful and hateful.

They could not pull up the TEN ADRs I made this morning by name, OR CONFIRMATION NUMBER!!!! Finally, they found six of them and then tried to tell me the remaining four weren't going to be found as they were "too far out" (linked to a reservation for a stay) which ultimately ended up not being true as the did find them.

I had to insist on a supervisor to a reservationist who insisted there was none. Finally, when he couldn't find the remaining four USING THE CONFIRMATION NUMBERS, he gave in and suddenly a supervisor was contacted.

Shoot me if I ever, ever decide to go back to recheck anything, ok? Just shoot me stone cold dead.

[rosiep]

OH MY FREAKING GAWWWDDD!!!!
I have just spent an HOUR from hell on the phone trying to confirm ADRs made for September.

I won't bore you all senseless with the details, but will tell you that the new system is horrible, rotten, awful and hateful.

They could not pull up the TEN ADRs I made this morning by name, OR CONFIRMATION NUMBER!!!! Finally, they found six of them and then tried to tell me the remaining four weren't going to be found as they were "too far out" (linked to a reservation for a stay) which ultimately ended up not being true as the did find them.

I had to insist on a supervisor to a reservationist who insisted there was none. Finally, when he couldn't find the remaining four USING THE CONFIRMATION NUMBERS, he gave in and suddenly a supervisor was contacted.

Shoot me if I ever, ever decide to go back to recheck anything, ok? Just shoot me stone cold dead.


I am soooooo sorry. I am dreading making my ADR's for our September trip....I just know it's going to give me a headache. :headache:

[rpmdfw]

Interestingly enough, I went onto the Disneyworld website, pulled up their new online restaurant reservations system, found the Epcot restaurant I wanted for dinner at 7pm on an August Wednesday night and booked it. No muss, no fuss.

Now, I'm not going to pretend that I'm not worried that the restaurant won't be double booked, or that the system will lose my reservation, but it really wasn't so bad. If it works, so much the better.

On the other hand, if we get there on my birthday and don't have a place to eat, there will be HELL to pay! :thumbsup2

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Rob, I don't have my planning notebook at work with me today, but it is a safe bet that I have an ADR somewhere on your birthday. So if push came to shove you could join us. Just can't say at the moment WHERE you would be joining us because I can't remember! :rotfl2:

[rpmdfw]

Rob, I don't have my planning notebook at work with me today, but it is a safe bet that I have an ADR somewhere on your birthday. So if push came to shove you could join us. Just can't say at the moment WHERE you would be joining us because I can't remember! :rotfl2:

Oh, I've printed out the confirmation number. They WILL seat us, whether they like it or not! :rotfl2:

[DVC~OKW~96]

How did you do that Rob? I went to disney.go and couldn't find the place to make our own ADRs? :confused3

[rpmdfw]

How did you do that Rob? I went to disney.go and couldn't find the place to make our own ADRs? :confused3

On the Disney World site, I clicked on "Discover" and that brought up a "Dining" option. I found the listing for the restaurant I wanted and there was a "Book Reservation" link (perhaps worded differently). It was quite easy.