More Rules=My Broken Disney Heart

[freshmanjs]

This is a food/drink related issue. How many signs regarding the "rules" for food and beverages need to be put in place here?

Why would it be obvious? Every establishment in Disney, including the signature restaurants do not care if people share. Whether it be a meal, an appetizer or an ice cream. It is only the buffets that clearly state that there is no sharing.

When you buy a package or they have a dining promotion, yes, of course they're going to give one mug per person and yes, some families with older kids or teens who drink soda all day long may want to purchase individual mugs for their kids. But I think it's ridiculous how people are getting into an uproar that someone buys one mug for their two toddlers to share, when there's not even a "rule" that says you can't.

why do you think it is that the buffets don't allow sharing? could it be because it is an unlimited offering that is priced for 1 person? do you really not see the analog to the refillable mugs?

 

[Tomader]

Disney has found a solution to the refillable mug problem. It's not 100% but it's put a stop to old cups or whatever people used. Time to let the mug thing go. At this point if people share a mug and wait the 2 minutes, who cares!!! Disney will find a way to control that. I'm not going to sit around and worry about it or tell someone they are stealing or they should not share. Let Disney police that one. Along with all the foreigners I saw on the last trip filling up bags with sugar, napkins, silverware, ect... Basically anything they could get in the bag. The creamer ran out because the children were filling their paper cups up. They better find a way to stop the creamer abuse. I'm sure that costs more than soda??

 

[freshmanjs]

Disney has found a solution to the refillable mug problem. It's not 100% but it's put a stop to old cups or whatever people used. Time to let the mug thing go. At this point if people share a mug and wait the 2 minutes, who cares!!! Disney will find a way to control that. I'm not going to sit around and worry about it or tell someone they are stealing or they should not share. Let Disney police that one. Along with all the foreigners I saw on the last trip filling up bags with sugar, napkins, silverware, ect... Basically anything they could get in the bag. The creamer ran out because the children were filling their paper cups up. They better find a way to stop the creamer abuse. I'm sure that costs more than soda??

foreigners? interesting.

 

[maxiesmom]

why do you think it is that the buffets don't allow sharing? could it be because it is an unlimited offering that is priced for 1 person? do you really not see the analog to the refillable mugs?

Exactly. Buy a single pop, and Disney won't care if you share it. Buy a mug that gives you unlimited refills, and Disney will care. Comparing it to a buffet explains it perfectly. I'm not going to sit around worrying about it either, but people shouldn't kid themselves. Disney's intention is a mug per person.

 

[Tomader]

foreigners? interesting.

I say that because not one of them spoke English. Watching them fill those bags was very INTERESTING! Come to think of it not many people I was around spoke English. Maybe it was their backpacks that said Argentina alerted me to the fact they were FOREIGNERS.

 

[freshmanjs]

I say that because not one of them spoke English. Watching them fill those bags was very INTERESTING! Come to think of it not many people I was around spoke English. Maybe it was their backpacks that said Argentina alerted me to the fact they were FOREIGNERS.

yeah you're missing the point. i am not questioning that the people you saw were from another country. i'm questioning why it's relevant / why you pointed it out in your post.

and again you do it in this post.

xenophobia is treatable.

 

[disneywalkers]

I am a big planner so I always know what parks we will be at and where we will eat 180 plus days out.

So for people like me, none of this affects me.

This is the first time I've heard of the fast pass booking so I guess I need to read up on that.

I will say, we have 6 kids. There are 10 of us that go yearly in September because we take my parents.

So I do understand from an illness point of view, especially kids. We always manage to have either a puker on the trip or a cold.

This year we fortunately didn't have a puker, but did have kids that picked up a cold and my oldest son had an infected ingrown toenail spike up and we had to make our first ER trip on a vacation, LOL

BUT, we made ALL our ressies in spite of all that. And we had them daily.

I don't think it will be as bad as those who are against it thinks it will be. I think if you RSVP for anything, it's just common courtesy to be sure to cancel with some notice.

I wouldn't worry about the what if's....

I know that worse case if one of our kids get sick we will have one of us stay with that kid and send the rest to eat

Also, my oldest has Asperger's and sometimes after a day in the parks he's overwhelmed. So I really do understand.... but on the other hand... you may not have a problem with these issues your entire vacation so you can't plan around a what if...

I'm still going to book. I wish I could book for next September today LOL


As far as the mugs go, we stay off site, it's WAY cheaper! So if money is an issue, check into that.

But if we didn't, we would drink ICE WATER instead of pop. It's not good for you in the first place, but it's also not worth the extra cost.

We do drink pop while there, but we only do so either at the rental house or at the meals that it is included in the meal.

Otherwise it's water.

If money is the issue, there are plenty of ways to cut back on the cost and really you will see it won't make your vacation any less magical

This is what I don't get and I agree with you on
- booking meals months in advance - I'm not sure what I want to eat for breakfast this morning let along a few months from now
- booking rides a month in advance - ridiculous - I have no idea what park I will be in and what the weather will be like
- can't change you mind the day of without a penalty - If i'm having a good time in one park or the kids are burnt out I can't cancel my reservation without a penalty - as long as I cancel they will probably have a walk-up that will be thrilled to take my table. Oh and BTW if I am a no show and they charge the penalty they will still use that table for a walk-up - total profit



I suspect the big issue for Disdney with no-shows is dinner and a handful of the character breakfasts.
Have breakfast and lunch be the day before and dinner a 4 hour window - IMO too many people will be in the parks all day and decide that they don;t want dinner or just can't make it for some reason and now that flexibility to cancel is gone

 

[Tomader]

yeah you're missing the point. i am not questioning that the people you saw were from another country. i'm questioning why it's relevant / why you pointed it out in your post.

and again you do it in this post.

xenophobia is treatable.

Is there something wrong with pointing out someone is from a different country?? Are you putting more relevance into the post than necessary? I'm married to a foreigner for thirty years. The treatment is not working!

 

[aaarcher86]

yeah you're missing the point. i am not questioning that the people you saw were from another country. i'm questioning why it's relevant / why you pointed it out in your post. and again you do it in this post. xenophobia is treatable.

Eh, I just took it as something pointed out to show that it was a cultural difference. Nothing malicious meant by it. Plenty of things that foreign visitors do at Disney that either raise eyebrows or draw attention.

 

[mcd2745]

Excellent point! I would happily give a $10 deposit per ADR to eliminate the hoarding problems, but I suspect I'd be in the minimum on that.

I think all the rationalizations given here by people regarding the mugs is a great illustration of why we are seeing all procedures tightened up more. I constantly read posts on this board that complain about a new process, yet several posters in the thread will make a case for why their abuse of the system should be overlooked because of their special circumstances (whether it be a sick family member not making an ADR, two family members sharing a refillable mug that is clearly meant for individual use, a special needs child or adult in the family, or anything else). When a majority feels entitled to break the rules to suit their own purposes and feel that it's justified because they shouldn't be inconvenienced in any way, the abuse becomes detrimental to WDW and they, of course, are going to put extra rules in place to try to stop it.

It's not just WDW, but society as a whole, that has fostered these generations with huge entitlement complexes while focus on good manners and simply doing what is right is no longer expected. Too many people have an "every man for themselves" mentality.

Couldn't have said it better myself. And for the record, I'd also be all for a $10 deposit at the time of booking an ADR.

 

[WillAustin]

That's basically what's being said. If you don't like the rules, just bend them until they work for you.

When we were there a couple of months ago, we saw a woman filling her mug here at the Comtempo Cafe:

When a CM walked up and asked what she was doing, the woman started an argument about it. During our stay, they had placed the sign showing the prices and stating you can't fill your mugs here down in front blocking the dispenser, obviously to draw attention to the sign. This woman had moved the sign to fill her mug. Based on the argument I heard, she could read and understand the sign, but was choosing to ignore it.

 

[disneywalkers]

I totally agree that it's a great idea.

My husband and I run a technical conference every October. We just got back in town for it.

We had over 650 register for this FREE event and only had 450 show up. We provide free lunch, training, a free t shirt and a free attendee gift bag. So we count on people to pre-register AND show up. We plan everything around those people who sign up and buy these things for them. It is very frustrating they say they are coming and then don't. It's much like making a ressie.

We have thought many times about charging in the way Disney does with their no show program. I think far more people wouldshow up and we wouldn't be investing in all that we do for a bunch of no show's.

I think the day before cancelation policy is great.

If airlines can do this, you bet your sweet bippy Disney is. Disney seems to LOVE to collect data, so while I don't know that they double book, they absolutely know their no show factor.

When I was working, a lot of Libraries began to charge nominal fees for programs. It wasn't about the money, but paying even a dollar or two encouraged people to show up for events they'd signed up for. It's very frustrating tincture away patrons from "sold out" events, only to have a large no show factor. I'm sure this is similar. It isn't about Disney taking your $10/per person but knowing that most people are going to be more responsible about their reservation if they think they have money at stake.

I suspect, strongly, that if you call Disney with a sick child or exhausted aged parent, you won't be charged in most circumstances. But, like an airline or a library, Disney benefits from a full capacity.

 

[disneywalkers]

There are a few places in our city that do allow this, but maybe they just do for us cause we go there often. A couple of Chinese buffets where we go often do allow our children to share drinks because they know they don't drink much.

We don't do the mugs, we don't stay on-site.

So like I asked, when you go into your local restaurants, you all share one drink also? And that is allowed?

 

[disneywalkers]

I'm probably one of the few that think $17 per person for length of stay is a good deal.

Lol. Really? So it's ok to pay $3 per person for a drink for ONE meal...but $17 per person is not ok for a weeks worth?



That's basically what's being said. If you don't like the rules, just bend them until they work for you.

 

[disney2014plan]

I totally agree that it's a great idea.

My husband and I run a technical conference every October. We just got back in town for it.

We had over 650 register for this FREE event and only had 450 show up. We provide free lunch, training, a free t shirt and a free attendee gift bag. So we count on people to pre-register AND show up. We plan everything around those people who sign up and buy these things for them. It is very frustrating they say they are coming and then don't. It's much like making a ressie.

We have thought many times about charging in the way Disney does with their no show program. I think far more people wouldshow up and we wouldn't be investing in all that we do for a bunch of no show's.

I think the day before cancelation policy is great.

I work in an industry where manufacturers often create events. Especially for those events that are held at large hotels in the middle of cities, it's common to be asked to send a cheque (check for Americans!) for, say £50, which is then returned to you, uncashed, at the end of the day. Research proves that even making a nominal charge for something means that it is perceived as more valued.

 

[mcd2745]

I totally agree that it's a great idea.

My husband and I run a technical conference every October. We just got back in town for it.

We had over 650 register for this FREE event and only had 450 show up. We provide free lunch, training, a free t shirt and a free attendee gift bag. So we count on people to pre-register AND show up. We plan everything around those people who sign up and buy these things for them. It is very frustrating they say they are coming and then don't. It's much like making a ressie.

We have thought many times about charging in the way Disney does with their no show program. I think far more people wouldshow up and we wouldn't be investing in all that we do for a bunch of no show's.

I think the day before cancelation policy is great.

Great comparison. Here's what I find interesting. I had read somewhere a while back (I believe when the initial CC guarantees went into effect 2 or 3 years ago), that many of the popular WDW restaurants had no-show rates in the neighborhood of 30% prior to the CC guarantees. At this PP's event, they had 450 people show up out of 650 who signed up for your event - roughly 70%, meaning a no-show rate of approximately 30%. Seems we've stumbled upon what percentage of people have no problem blowing things off if there is no penalty.

If the PP added a charge for their event, my guess is registrations would decrease - possibly significantly - from 650 to something around, maybe, 350-400 people. However, probably close to 90% of those registered will show up.

I believe this is what Disney is trying to accomplish with this policy. They're not trying to get more/less people to make ADRs per se, or trying to accomodate walk ups, or anything like that. That's all secondary. Mainly, what they want to accomplish is to have those who do make ADRs show up. Just like the PP with their event, otherwise you're wasting, or at the very least, not efficiently utilizing your money and/or resources.

 

[BenbowInn]

There is a huge difference between not showing up for a reservation versus calling a few hours ahead of time to cancel.

If Disney wants to punish no-shows then fine, but to punish all those who have the decency to call and cancel, even just an hour or two ahead of time, is poor customer service.

 

[Princess Steph]

I agree, I would never no show a reservation but have had to cancel. We often travel in a large group with other families and guess who does all the planning? Me! Last trip, my cousins wife got ticked off about something stupid and bagged out on dinner. Her loss because we had a wonderful dinner. With this new policy, I would be penalized for her behavior. I refuse to make a reservation for anyone other than my immediate family from now on so that really means no ressies at all. I guess we will just try for walk ups or eat QS.

 

[MouseMomx2]

I agree, I would never no show a reservation but have had to cancel. We often travel in a large group with other families and guess who does all the planning? Me! Last trip, my cousins wife got ticked off about something stupid and bagged out on dinner. Her loss because we had a wonderful dinner. With this new policy, I would be penalized for her behavior. I refuse to make a reservation for anyone other than my immediate family from now on so that really means no ressies at all. I guess we will just try for walk ups or eat QS.

You wouldn't be penalized. You are only charged if your entire party is a no show. As long as any portion of your group shows up there is no penalty.

 

[Princess Steph]

You wouldn't be penalized. You are only charged if your entire party is a no show. As long as any portion of your group shows up there is no penalty.

I think I have read of situations where one member of a party did not attend and they were still charged for that person. It says $10 per person.