Rumor on Restaurant board: ADR priority for DVC members?

[mouse]

Say, for instance, I make ADR's 90 days out for an upcoming trip. I don't have a TIW card when I make the ADR's. When I arrive at WDW, I decide to purchase the TIW card. Will I be told before or after I fork over my $75 that I will not be able to use the card for my already made ADR's, even though those restaurants are on the TIW list.

 

[crisi]

I agree with you that we do have discounted rooms with DVC, and they might not make as much off us in souviner dollars, or even ticket dollars-but they obviously do make more money off us than it costs - otherwise they wouldn't be advertising DVC all over, and it truly would be "the best kept secret".

That's because DVC is HIGHLY profitable for them at your initial purchase. Its a LOT of money in their pockets right now - and the commitment for you to continue to come - albeit with a far lower margin - for the long term future. To a big company, a lot of money today and a small amount committed in the future is a way better deal than a moderate amount of money each year that is uncertain.

But once they have you, they've made many of the dollars they are going to make off you. And then, how interested are they really in keeping you delighted? Content, sure, delighted - they'll save that for people paying $500 a night at the Yacht Club.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

Disney should hire YOU to do their stuff, maybe then it would make sense!

There's not a knowledgeable/experienced large-project corporate programmer in the world who would make a statement like that without a thorough review of the business requirements. The fact that he would say that tells you he's the last person Disney should hire.

 

[Starr W.]

Say, for instance, I make ADR's 90 days out for an upcoming trip. I don't have a TIW card when I make the ADR's. When I arrive at WDW, I decide to purchase the TIW card. Will I be told before or after I fork over my $75 that I will not be able to use the card for my already made ADR's, even though those restaurants are on the TIW list.

Unless they want to kill the TIW program.

 

[Donald is #1]

I never mention I have the Tables in Wonderland (TIW nee DDE) card when I check in at a restaurant, and I'm sure not going to mention it when I make a reservation.

I'll just hand it to them along with my credit card when I pay the bill.

Mike, I do the same thing. Basically, I tell the server about my TIW when they are getting my bill.

 

[Cyndibear]

Mike, I do the same thing. Basically, I tell the server about my TIW when they are getting my bill.

I would of done the same thing for this September trip and I would have made my own ADR's but I thought hey, I'm staying Concierge, why not let them do the work for me. I guess I will learn at Le Cellier when I present the TIW card and they deny it. I'll then try the DVC card and if that is denied, I'll most likely ask to speak to a manager.

Cyndi

 

[Donald is #1]

I would of done the same thing for this September trip and I would have made my own ADR's but I thought hey, I'm staying Concierge, why not let them do the work for me. I guess I will learn at Le Cellier when I present the TIW card and they deny it. I'll then try the DVC card and if that is denied, I'll most likely ask to speak to a manager.

Cyndi

I'll be very interested to hear how your September trip goes. My next trip where I will be at the parks & eating on site isn't until December when I had intended to buy a new TIW card to cover that trip and my planned '10 trip.

 

[Sammie]

I would of done the same thing for this September trip and I would have made my own ADR's but I thought hey, I'm staying Concierge, why not let them do the work for me. I guess I will learn at Le Cellier when I present the TIW card and they deny it. I'll then try the DVC card and if that is denied, I'll most likely ask to speak to a manager.

Cyndi

Does DVC get a discount at LeCellier?

I am sure with all things Disney it will be a mess at first, then either they will work it out or give it up completely.

 

[Sammie]

That's because DVC is HIGHLY profitable for them at your initial purchase. Its a LOT of money in their pockets right now - and the commitment for you to continue to come - albeit with a far lower margin - for the long term future. To a big company, a lot of money today and a small amount committed in the future is a way better deal than a moderate amount of money each year that is uncertain.

But once they have you, they've made many of the dollars they are going to make off you. And then, how interested are they really in keeping you delighted? Content, sure, delighted - they'll save that for people paying $500 a night at the Yacht Club.

Sadly Crisi, I think you are correct. As long as sales is where they want it, I am not sure they are concerned about less than pleased exisiting members, they listen but do they really make any changes that only benefit the members.

 

[gkrykewy]

I would of done the same thing for this September trip and I would have made my own ADR's but I thought hey, I'm staying Concierge, why not let them do the work for me. I guess I will learn at Le Cellier when I present the TIW card and they deny it. I'll then try the DVC card and if that is denied, I'll most likely ask to speak to a manager.

Cyndi

There is zero chance that they will deny your TIW card in the restaurant.

 

[pilferk]

There's not a knowledgeable/experienced large-project corporate programmer in the world who would make a statement like that without a thorough review of the business requirements. The fact that he would say that tells you he's the last person Disney should hire.

I was speaking in theory of the proposed changes, not in how they necessarily fit into Disney's business model. There's a vast difference between the two.

Saying something is easy to do (and what has been outlined here WOULD be easy to do, strictly from a programming standpoint) doesn't mean it's the best thing to do within the confines of the business requirements. But given the two scenarios offered by the poster I was responding to....it's certainly not a question of TECHNICAL "ease" in implementing one or the other, which is what they supposed. It could be some OTHER reason...that's certainly the case. It might not be the BEST option...that's also certainly the case. But I highly doubt it would be the technical limitation or difficulty that would exclude it from consideration.

And, FYI, I resemble some of your remarks. I've worked in the industry for going on 15 years, in a corporate environment, on large projects. And while I obviously don't know DISNEY'S systems, I feel confident enough in my experience with similar things to make the assertions I did. Now, it's certainly POSSIBLE that Disney's systems are designed so incredibly poorly, or are so rats nest infested with previous poor code, or that their programmers are so incompetent as to make those modifications more difficult. My supposition is that would not be the case. The worst you can accuse me of, in this case, is being an optimist in that respect.

 

[Brian Noble]

Sammie: I would be very very surprised if the TIW was not honored even if it was not coded in the reservation---as I said, it would violate the "never say no" principle, and that's pretty deeply ingrained in the corporate culture. The only way I could imagine it is if Disney puts it in the published materials, and even then, it would be phased in over a few months until word got out.

Even if it is "official policy" not to accept it, I'm guessing the cast members on the ground will still do it to make their own lives simpler unless and until it rises to a terminable offense (much as some of the DDP shenanigans have.)

Instead, I suspect that the "enforcement" will depend on strong words and peoples' inclination to follow directions. But, I've been wrong before.

 

[gkrykewy]

Sammie: I would be very very surprised if the TIW was not honored even if it was not coded in the reservation---as I said, it would violate the "never say no" principle, and that's pretty deeply ingrained in the corporate culture. The only way I could imagine it is if Disney puts it in the published materials, and even then, it would be phased in over a few months until word got out.

Even if it is "official policy" not to accept it, I'm guessing the cast members on the ground will still do it to make their own lives simpler unless and until it rises to a terminable offense (much as some of the DDP shenanigans have.)

Instead, I suspect that the "enforcement" will depend on strong words and peoples' inclination to follow directions. But, I've been wrong before.

I can't even imagine that it would be actual policy at any level to restrict TIW in the restaurants. There are lots of locals who use TIW for walkups, so ADRs aren't even an issue. Really, that's an absurd thought.

 

[crisi]

Sadly Crisi, I think you are correct. As long as sales is where they want it, I am not sure they are concerned about less than pleased exisiting members, they listen but do they really make any changes that only benefit the members.

I don't even think its a "sadly" - but I tend to be pragmatic about these things.

 

[Brian Noble]

I can't even imagine that it would be actual policy at any level to restrict TIW in the restaurants. There are lots of locals who use TIW for walkups, so ADRs aren't even an issue. Really, that's an absurd thought.

It's not that absurd, for reasons that have already been discussed. If Sammie is right, the restrictions are per-restaurant. The restaurants at which one could walk up are presumably not the ones that would feel the need to impose this restriction, because they can't replace discount guests with full-freight guests.

But, Disney being Disney, they have a hard time actually pulling the trigger on things that tick guests off. That doesn't mean they never do it. They've been pretty firm about not sharing DDP meals with extra people not on your pacakge. You can have more people at the table than on the package, but generally, you can't use DDP entitlements to pay for more than the number of people on the package in a single transaction.

 

[gkrykewy]

It's not that absurd, for reasons that have already been discussed. If Sammie is right, the restrictions are per-restaurant. The restaurants at which one could walk up are presumably not the ones that would feel the need to impose this restriction, because they can't replace discount guests with full-freight guests.

But, Disney being Disney, they have a hard time actually pulling the trigger on things that tick guests off. That doesn't mean they never do it. They've been pretty firm about not sharing DDP meals with extra people not on your pacakge. You can have more people at the table than on the package, but generally, you can't use DDP entitlements to pay for more than the number of people on the package in a single transaction.

I disagree. It is patently absurd. They're not going to change the TIW rules that dramatically on-the-fly. Every restaurant is a walk-up restaurant for some seasons and times of day.

If that happens to anyone, I will eat my DDE/TIW card and post photos.

 

[Brian Noble]

Perhaps. But, absurd is in the eye of the beholder, and it's always important to remember that Mickey's interests are not necessarily in alignment with ours.

However, I agree with you that it won't actually happen---where we disagree is that I believe it is possible. If it does, I'll be almost as surprised as you would be. I let my TIW expire, though, so I can't join you for dinner.

Every restaurant is a walk-up restaurant for some seasons and times of day.

Sure, but again Sammie reports (suggests?) that the restuarants may be able to vary based on season, etc. If you go as far as tiering the tables in the reservation matrix, it's not hard at all to make that time/day dependent.

 

[Tara]

Sure, but again Sammie reports (suggests?) that the restuarants may be able to vary based on season, etc. If you go as far as tiering the tables in the reservation matrix, it's not hard at all to make that time/day dependent.

This is what I'm thinking. Funny that this is loosely linked to the new reservations system but didn't come up until free dining started. It makes me wonder if it's a tiered scheme for free dining and possibly other busy times only?

 

[JimMIA]

This is what I'm thinking. Funny that this is loosely linked to the new reservations system but didn't come up until free dining started. It makes me wonder if it's a tiered scheme for free dining and possibly other busy times only?

Only time will tell, I guess.

One thing about Free Dining...if they make any adjustments, they may wait until after Free Dining is over. I don't think they want thousands of free dining folks running around complaining about Disney changing the rules in the middle of the game on them. Don't forget, most of these folks pre-pay for their packages quite a while before their ADR window opens.

A few years ago when they started to tighten up on some of the DDP abuses, they came up with plans, but didn't implement them until after Free DDP. They actually did a CM-based tightening in October and then started the computer based accounting January 1st. I would not be surprised to see a similar strategy with this change...whatever it is.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

And, FYI, I resemble some of your remarks. I've worked in the industry for going on 15 years, in a corporate environment, on large projects.

If I came to you at work and told you I wanted you to make changes to one or more systems - it's unclear how many are involved). I don't know how big the systems are, don't know what platform they are written in. Don't know how many users there are or how they interface with the system(s). I don't know either the peek, or sustained volume of transaction. Don't know what upstream systems systems feed these, nor what downstream systems need to be fed. Don't know what kind of information must be captured and tracked. Don't know what testing environments are used, what standards the company requires for change. No idea of the resources or budget available either.

Would you say such changes are

- Easy?
- Hard?
- Impossible to say without more information?

How would you feel if you boss, not knowing all the things outlined above, promised that such a project would be easy and that you'd take care of it with no problem?