New credit card guarantees. Restaurant list, policy & common questions in 1st post

[ccgirl]

Well if we are delayed by transportation, illness etc, they better seat us after our ADR time or waive the fee.

They have a policy that they will seat you 15 minutes after your reservation time. For most places, your reservation will then be auto cancelled. WDW also recommends you give yourself 1 hr using WDW bus transportation to get to a dining reservation.

If something comes up...call. Don't simply show up late and demand they seat you regardless. I have found WDW to be most accommodating when you give them as much advance notification as possible.

They even instituted another number simply for cancellations.

 

[eliza61]

Has this question been asked before.

I'm "winging Wanda", I never can figure out where I want to eat 6 months out. I read this policy and think. OK, no problem, I still make 2 TS ADR's a night to have a choice and Now I simply set my Iphone to alarm me say 2 days before the charge kicks in.

So in reality "Planner Pauline" is still stuck. She still can't get the easy adr and now since a lot of planners, plan their entire day around 1 adr, it's not like she's going to change up when Winger calls 24 hours ahead.

Result: people still making 3 adrs a night.

Am I missing some thing?

 

[nancytoby]

"Planner Pauline" is still stuck. She still can't get the easy adr and now since a lot of planners, plan their entire day around 1 adr, it's not like she's going to change up when Winger calls 24 hours ahead.
Am I missing some thing?

Presumably Pauline would have a better chance of getting a desirable reservation within 24 hours of her meal when they open up from cancellations. So if there's a particular restaurant you want that you were unable to reserve, try calling up Dining Reservations about 23.5 hours before you want to eat.

 

[mcd2745]

Has this question been asked before.

I'm "winging Wanda", I never can figure out where I want to eat 6 months out. I read this policy and think. OK, no problem, I still make 2 TS ADR's a night to have a choice and Now I simply set my Iphone to alarm me say 2 days before the charge kicks in.

So in reality "Planner Pauline" is still stuck. She still can't get the easy adr and now since a lot of planners, plan their entire day around 1 adr, it's not like she's going to change up when Winger calls 24 hours ahead.

Result: people still making 3 adrs a night.

Am I missing some thing?

There will still be some who do this - but I think it will be a lot less than the number who currently do it.

In addition, I bet there will be some people who will do it, but forget to cancel, and then when they get hit with the fee, hopefully it will be the last time they do it. Or maybe others will do it successfully, but then decide for the future that it wasn't worth the hassle. It's not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction.

 

[TDC Nala]

Has this question been asked before.

I'm "winging Wanda", I never can figure out where I want to eat 6 months out. I read this policy and think. OK, no problem, I still make 2 TS ADR's a night to have a choice and Now I simply set my Iphone to alarm me say 2 days before the charge kicks in.

So in reality "Planner Pauline" is still stuck. She still can't get the easy adr and now since a lot of planners, plan their entire day around 1 adr, it's not like she's going to change up when Winger calls 24 hours ahead.

Result: people still making 3 adrs a night.

Am I missing some thing?

Some will probably still do this. But it now requires the effort necessary to call and cancel, whereas before it was easy just to hang onto the second reservation, which went unused - but as far as the restaurant was concerned, they were still planning to show up. If they don't want to get charged, then they MUST cancel.

 

[maxiesmom]

They have a policy that they will seat you 15 minutes after your reservation time. For most places, your reservation will then be auto cancelled. WDW also recommends you give yourself 1 hr using WDW bus transportation to get to a dining reservation.

If something comes up...call. Don't simply show up late and demand they seat you regardless. I have found WDW to be most accommodating when you give them as much advance notification as possible.

They even instituted another number simply for cancellations.

Now they actually tell you to give yourself and hour and a half to make your ADRs. That is what all of mine say for my trip next week.

I'm very glad they are going to some kind of guarantee. It is rather disheartening to show up for your ADR and see the restaurant half empty, and think about how many people just couldn't be bothered to show up.

 

[maxiesmom]

double post

 

[mcd2745]

They even instituted another number simply for cancellations.

This is kind of an overlooked aspect of all this. If it allows you to quickly and painlessly cancel an ADR, then this alone would have resulted (albiet to a lesser extent) in more people cancelling unused ADRs and therefore, less no-shows.

When someone was already in WDW, and wanted to cancel and ADR...I'm sure many didn't bother because they didn't want to spend 20 minutes telling Disney their name, address, that they're currently in WDW, their phone number, their blood type, which resort they're staying at, their favorite color, the name of their first pet, their political party affiliation, their mother's maiden name, the time of their last bowel movement, etc. before finally being able to simply cancel and ADR.

 

[Colleen27]

I hope they take a firm stance and not waive the fees for everyone who claims "junior just got sick" or "the bus never came", etc. If it becomes common knowlede that you can just give a lame excuse and they will waive the fee, then nothing will change.

But if they take a firm stance they're alienating all the families who genuinely DO have a sick kid, and what's worse they're pushing those families to keep their ADRs when they should be staying in their room which means the rest of us are more likely to end up with sick kid issues too.

 

[Colleen27]

It's possible that they would not accept pre-paid cards (I'm pretty sure such cards can easily be identified by the number). Or that the "hold" they place, freezes up that amount on the card and as such you would not be able to spend the amount of the hold until the hold is released. Also, I wonder if they would accept cards whose expiration date is prior to the ADR date.

I would like to think Disney thought of all the ways the "cheaters" would try to get around this policy and put safeguards in place to prevent them.

Right now, yes they accept cards with an expiration date prior to travel (learned that one first hand when my new card didn't come until after my 180 date for the last trip - it expired 11/10 and I was able to use it to make ADRs for our 3/11 trip).

Those of us who use debit cards would certainly balk at them actually placing a hold on the funds. We do the DxDDP. A $10pp hold times 5 people in our family (7 in our total travel party) times the 16 ADRs we have (and will keep, barring illness or something else outside our control) would be one heck of a lot of money for them to hold for 6 months!

There's no such thing as a system without loopholes and the harder Disney tries the more they'll discourage people who really want to make the dining reservations and eat at the restaurants they reserve. If it gets too ridiculous, they drive people to make other dining arrangements rather than jump through the requisite hoops to enjoy Disney's dining options.

 

[veraletta]

Well with Disney going to credit card hold for ADR's, all that means to me is, I will just start making one ADR's a trip, as I never know how I'm going to feel. Last trip I made it to only one ADR's.
While the rest of my family was able to go, I was too sick the whole week.

What I find is Disney's is not losing money right now, as the plan stands because they always have people waiting to see if someone cancels or is a no show. all Disney needs to do is stick by the plan if your not there in 30 minutes you lose your ADR's.

I wouldn't mind it so much if I would be able to get a free meal from them, if I had to wait more than 30 minutes, as a ADR's works both ways. I'm so sick of big companies looking for another way to make another dollar.

I wished they would go to no ADR's or you have to make them the day you want to eat. The reason they have ADR's is so they can be sure that their restaurants that are full, have enough staff. The only thing I see is, I will make ADR's to eat on the day I want to eat. If they have a place for me then I will go, if not I will eat off the park.

I think most people that make ADR's with good intentions I hate making ADR's ahead of time as it sits right now. I know over the last 30 times of going to Disney, I've missed about 4 or 5 ADR's and all was because I was sick.

 

[grandmadebby2]

I am glad they are going to the new policy. Some people do get sick kids or a car breaks down but the majority of people not showing up for reservations are just thinking of themselves and not other guest. Once it is implemented everyone will get much more comfortable with it.

 

[Colleen27]

Well if we are delayed by transportation, illness etc, they better seat us after our ADR time or waive the fee.

And when I show up on time for my ADR and am told to come back in 45min because they're running so far behind that they ran out of pagers, they'd better not even think about charging me when I go elsewhere! (Le Cellier, that means you! )

 

[TriSeb°o°]

When booking the ADR, the system put a $1.00 pending charge which is listed as 'WDW_CRO_REF' to verify that your credit card is valid.

The pending hold charge is released based on the credit card policy for not receiving an actual sales draft. Anywhere from 2 days to 10 days.

 

[nancytoby]

Of course, if they wouldn't charge for wifi in the rooms, I'd be quite happy to make my ADRs for that day every morning from the resort room.... just sayin'. I just don't want to sit on hold or have to navigate a telephone tree or discuss 4 different restaurant options first thing in the morning while my kids are still trying to sleep!

 

[mello]

Overall, the policy is a step in the right direction in my opinion, however, the 24 hour window could be perceived as too restrictive. A 2 or 3 hour window is more realistic and wouldnt have a negative effect on walk-ins. A 2-3 hour vs a 24 hour window wouldnt materially effect people who proactively plan. The shorter window would also lend more flexibility for some who have illnesses, weather-related, or park-preference decisions. .

Agreed.

We've only canceled a couple ADR's, but they've been on the day-of, because somebody got sick.

 

[ScoJo15]

I feel the policy has been put into place as a deterrent. There are always loopholes around everything and those that wish to buy prepaid cards, use old credit cards, create fake e-mail addresses, etc. will continue to do so regardless of policy/procedure/consideration of others...

...but hopefully what this will do is stress the importance of not making multiple ADR's for the same time period, and in turn free up some slots from those who don't want to take the extra time to find loopholes or try and trick the system.

At least they are trying to do something to help out with the nightmare they created with the free dining and dining plans.

It's just food. And there are always other options on Disney property.

 

[arthuruscg]

It is just an attempt to band aid the biggest PIA. The lack of dining during peak hours.

 

[CandleontheWater]

As a frequent last minute vacationer, part of me thinks that this might help with getting ADRs, but as someone who also travels with extended family, I can see this as a potential nightmare.

I travel with my two brothers, who can be less than responsible on Disney trips (but they are on vacation after all, so that is excusable). They don't always like to follow my touring plans and sometimes decide to *gasp* visit a different park or even *double gasp* sleep in!

So does this mean I can call and cancel them off a reservation, but still keep the seating for the rest of us (the other 6 people on our vacation), or do I have to scrap dinner altogether?

I guess I'll just be avoiding those restaurants, or I'll have to really read them the riot act about showing up on time. This stresses me out!

 

[maxiesmom]

And when I show up on time for my ADR and am told to come back in 45min because they're running so far behind that they ran out of pagers, they'd better not even think about charging me when I go elsewhere! (Le Cellier, that means you! )

But you need to remember an ADR is not a guarantee of that time, per se. It is for the next table that opens up for your party size. So if you have an ADR for Le Ceiller at 8, that doesn't mean you will get seated at 8. You will get seated at the next table available for your size party.

In that way, Disney is never late. Only the guests are.