Should Disney get rid of Reservations or find ways to improve them?

[old lady]

What do you think? Should they go back to first come and then serve or improve the system or try out call ahead.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

Getting rid of reservations now would be an absolute mess.

While the system isn't great, it works. I think changing it would make more issues than needed.

 

[Tozzie]

I wish they would go back to the days when you would make the reservation on the day you wanted to dine in the park at a Kiosk like they used to do in Epcot

 

[wilkeliza]

I would like them to go the Disneyland route snd have them open closer to the date. I think a lot of reservations get eaten up by people who are just thinking about a vacation and not fully commited to one. At least with DL at 60 days out you are pretty sure that you'll be going at that point. 180 is so hard because you are making plans based on an opperating schedule that may change.

 

[jwfla422]

I would like them to go the Disneyland route snd have them open closer to the date. I think a lot of reservations get eaten up by people who are just thinking about a vacation and not fully commited to one. At least with DL at 60 days out you are pretty sure that you'll be going at that point. 180 is so hard because you are making plans based on an opperating schedule that may change.

I agree, we live close to WDW and while that is wonderful and great we plan our trips much closer to the time we go. We always wait until there is some type of FL resident resort promotion before booking our trip, which most definitely never comes more than 6 mths out so it can be frustrating that we can never get those tough to get ADRs.

 

[jon18uk]

Both.
I would like them to hold some capacity for walk ups so you don't have to plan everything. You could book a few special meals and then take pot luck at Epcot for example.
Then reduce the booking window for most reservations to 90 or 60 days. Maybe keep some of the big character meals (like CRT) a longer booking window.
If booking is reduced to 60 days they could also make it so restaurants inside parks can only be booked with a ticket for that day, same as FP+. Obviously resort restaurants can't do this but maybe guests of that resort could get priority such as an extra 30 days (for example Poly guests can book 'Ohana at 90 days, other guests at 60 days).
Some of those things would just tidy up the reservations so everyone has some chance.

 

[Minniesgal]

If they got rid of reservations it would be the end of us eating TS. I refuse to go to a restaurant without a reserved table.

I don't really see anything wrong with the current system. everyone has a fair crack at getting what they want.

 

[Nancyg56]

If they got rid of reservations it would be the end of us eating TS. I refuse to go to a restaurant without a reserved table.

I don't really see anything wrong with the current system. everyone has a fair crack at getting what they want.

I agree. I know that it is not perfect but it works. If I had to scramble for meals during a vacation, I would not go.

 

[sharonmickey]

If they got rid of reservations it would be the end of us eating TS. I refuse to go to a restaurant without a reserved table.

I don't really see anything wrong with the current system. everyone has a fair crack at getting what they want.

Not everyone has the advantage of planning a trip more than 6 months in advance. So those who can't plan that far in advance have a slim chance of getting reservations. Fortunately this time we were able to plan almost five months ahead but still most of the dining reservations we wanted were gone. I'm still hoping to get a few reservations and check almost daily. My son-in-law is in the military and he still doesn't know if he will be able to join us so having to know 6 + months ahead is not feasible for him.

Many years ago you couldn't make reservations so far ahead. You made them when you checked in at the Disney hotel or at the kiosk in the park that day. You could still have a reservation just not make it six months ahead.

 

[Nancyg56]

Not everyone has the advantage of planning a trip more than 6 months in advance. So those who can't plan that far in advance have a slim chance of getting reservations. Fortunately this time we were able to plan almost five months ahead but still most of the dining reservations we wanted were gone. I'm still hoping to get a few reservations and check almost daily. My son-in-law is in the military and he still doesn't know if he will be able to join us so having to know 6 + months ahead is not feasible for him.

Many years ago you couldn't make reservations so far ahead. You made them when you checked in at the Disney hotel or at the kiosk in the park that day. You could still have a reservation just not make it six months ahead.

Boy was that a long time ago! I remember checking in and making reservations for meals and the shows.

 

[CodeGoddess]

After having done a lot of trips without reservations I am finding myself liking the new system much better. There are things that need to be improved though:

• FP and ADRs should book closer together so people are not holding on to secondary ADRs until they know what their schedule is going to be.
• App/website updates are needed to make search for and booking ADRs more user friendly. Ability to see a wider view of ADRs available is needed.
• Proper alerting when openings are available should be added. I wouldn't have to pay for a third party app if the site was at all user friendly.
• And while I am on a tangent - FP bookings via app or website need an improvement. I should not have to book three FPs only to have to edit each one to get the FP times I originally wanted. Ability to search

 

[OKW Lover]

I'd like to see them significantly shorten the ADR period from 6-months to something more like 1 month, or even just 2-weeks.

Of course that would give people problems with FP+ and the possibility of not getting an ADR in the park they have FP+ that day. Perhaps they should both be shortened to the same period.

 

[jon18uk]

Perhaps they should both be shortened to the same period.

This is exactly what I think. Have everything at 60 days so you just do all the planning at once.

 

[ldymcbth]

60 days would be a great change. If it went to no reservations at all, we would stop eating TS - not interested in hopping restaurant to restaurant hoping for an opening.

 

[SouthJersey]

What is the issue with the system?
The restaurants are being filled by Disney customers, it's that simple. People paying Disney for their services, are securing tables and paying Disney or their vendors for their food.

1.) The, "but I can't book a trip that far so we never get the places we want " idea is purely entitlement. What rights do you have to the ADR you can't find anymore than the person who was able to book it further out?

2.) I don't get the mission impossible outlook toward ADR's to begin with. I don't know one family who was unable to find the ADR's they wanted if they were actively seeking them up until the day of the reservation. Sure, Cinderella's Royal Table or Be Our Guest and Victoria and Alberts' most likely won't open, but is that really ruining your trip? On trips of multiple trips of 2, 4, 6 and 10 guests, we have found everything with daily checking online, months, weeks and even days before the day we wanted to dine, for every single trip and so has virtually every single family I know that's done the same. We're going in December and last week we found Chef Mickey's breakfast for 6, Boathouse for 8, Cinderella's Royal Table for 4 and two Be Our Guest 4 seats throughout the day. Not sitting glued to a computer, but on my iPhone throughout the day.

3.) Shortening the booking window...27 weeks of searching/booking condensed into 4 weeks or less. Hello server crashes, flooded phone lines and no time to check/hope for cancellations.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

I would like them to hold some capacity for walk ups so you don't have to plan everything.

1) Sound reasonable from the guest point-of-view.
2) But, for any eatery, what if there are no walkups?
. . . the empty tables remain empty
. . . there is no way to make up for lost capacity
3) So, for an eatery, advanced ressies are a must.

 

[SouthJersey]

Not everyone has the advantage of planning a trip more than 6 months in advance. So those who can't plan that far in advance have a slim chance of getting reservations....

But, countless Disney guests, more than could be accommodating in the dining locations anyway, ARE able to book reservations. So why uproot the system and create a free-for-all? The websites certainly won't be handling the volume of bookings that would be occurring and there surely won't be enough staff to man the phones of a 27 week system condensed into 2 or 4 weeks, so it'll become a free-for-all for who can camp out their phone the minutes before the lines open and hope their call connects to a CM to book virtually the first minute of the morning.

Also, that statement just isn't true.
They won't have the luxury of finding everything they want at every specific time they want, all at once and easily at the screen. But, slim chance of getting reservations is just inaccurate and they'd likely find EVERYTHING they're looking for if they were open to checking up until their trip.

There's literally a Chef Mickey's opening for 4 for dinner tomorrow at 6:45pm at the time of this. One of those coveted impossible to get character dinners that someone booking a few weeks ago "would have had a slim chance of getting"

 

[CodeGoddess]

1.) The, "but I can't book a trip that far so we never get the places we want " idea is purely entitlement. What rights do you have to the ADR you can't find anymore than the person who was able to book it further out?

I don't think that's it at all. It's more of people are holding on to extra ADRs until they know what their FP options are. With everything so planned now by Disney the process for booking ADRs and FPs should be a streamlined experience. You shouldn't feel the need to hold on to something you may or may not want for four months to plan the next step of your trip. I am a software developer who spends a lot of time refining processes and create software to help streamline them. Even just a similar time frame for ADRs and FPs would improve the current process immensely. I would split the time difference down the middle and book FPs first with ADRs a day or two later.

 

[SouthJersey]

I don't think that's it at all. It's more of people are holding on to extra ADRs until they know what their FP options are. With everything so planned now by Disney the process for booking ADRs and FPs should be a streamlined experience. You shouldn't feel the need to hold on to something you may or may not want for four months to plan the next step of your trip. I am a software developer who spends a lot of time refining processes and create software to help streamline them. Even just a similar time frame for ADRs and FPs would improve the current process immensely. I would split the time difference down the middle and book FPs first with ADRs a day or two later.

I don't agree with hoarding at all, but due to the newer credit card policy, those hoarding are dropping as the trip gets close which is why I'm confused as how people "never find" things.

I agree it's costing people the luxury to EASILY book their ADR's, but if you're checking even a handful of times a day, everything should be attainable.

As for holding out, people secure it because of the hype and then attempt to build around it, I don't see an issue with holding ONE adr that you know you might drop. I have an issue with holding 6 for different times and days.

 

[CodeGoddess]

I agree it's costing people the luxury to EASILY book their ADR's, but if you're checking even a handful of times a day, everything should be attainable.

Haha handful of times a day. During the day thing get very busy and there may only be a short window of downtime where I can look. Time is the most precious thing you have and Disney should be helping you to reduce the time it takes to book your vacation.