ADR Screw Up! HELP!

[danajune]

ahhh..
Okay, so I signed on the boards today and was lurking like always when I noticed that online ADR booking had become available!
So of course I signed in and double checked to see if my ADR's were exactly what I wanted.. And of course, they weren't

Everything was perfect except one. One VERY important one!

My DH and I are going Aug. 18-26 which gives us 8 TS, 8 QS & 8 Snack credits each.
Here's our plan:

Aug. 18 -> Arriving.. paying OOP at the resort
Aug. 19 -> 8:35pm 50's Primetime (1TS each)
Aug. 20 -> 3:35pm Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Package (1TS each)
Aug. 21 -> 7:00pm San Angel Inn (1TS each)
Aug. 22 -> 5:45pm Boma (1TS each)
Aug. 23 -> 5:00pm Hoop-Dee-Doo (2TS each)
Aug. 24 -> 5:10pm Tusker House (DH's B-DAY!) (1TS each)
Aug. 25 -> 7:00pm Whispering Canyon (1TS each)
Aug. 26 -> Leaving

So that is what I THOUGHT we had anyways.. But turns out the CM misunderstood me the day I made our ADR's and on Aug. 20 she gave me the Brown Derby Fantasmic Package which is 2 TS which means I have gone OVER my TS limit!!
I didn't want Brown Derby because I don't want to spend a lifetime in the restaurant. I like buffets because we go in, grab our food, eat, and we're out again.. ahhh!!

So what should I do??
Tomorrow I'm going to call to see if the Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Package is available for Aug. 20 but I'm assuming it won't be..

So assuming it isn't available, should I:

A) switch to a different TS that night and just wait in line with everyone else for regular Fantasmic seating?! I thought since it was just DH and I, and it's his first time to WDW, waiting in line for 2 hours would not be fun. First of all he can't sit still, and second of all he won't even know what he's waiting for

B) just keep Brown Derby and drop another TS from another night? We can't drop Boma or Tusker since DH is from Africa and I want him to experience those two, and I also wanted him to experience 50's, Whispering Canyon, and Hoop-Dee-Doo because of the fun atmosphere. So that leaves San Angel, the only one I'm willing to drop and just have QS that night..

Any suggestions?

 

[crabbygal902]

A. From what I'm hearing on the boards, the Fantasmic package is not always helpful anymore anyway and you must arrive earlier than the recommended time to get a seat even in the 'reserved' section. Dropping it in order to do a different TS might not be a bad thing. When we used the package in Jan 2008 it worked great for us, but that was before the changes they made to the reserved seating entrance and the limit on the number of shows. Maybe someone who has had the package recently can speak about their experience.

B. If you decide to keep Brown Derby and drop a TS another night...I think that dropping San Angel is a good bet! Friends of ours returned from a trip just this week, and they said that it was absolutely the worst food they had ever had while at the World. They also said that the Brown Derby was awesome! Maybe that Brown Derby mistake won't be so bad after all! If you're looking for great QS, Tangierine Cafe in Morocco is my all-time favorite anywhere on property.

Good luck whatever you decide!

 

[Justsyd2]

If when you call tomorrow there is no availability for Hollywood and Vine, and you do not want to wait for 2 hours for Fantasmic, then I would certainly keep The Brown Derby, and either pay out of pocket, (which would probably be less than using 4 TS credits), or if you choose not to, then yes, I would drop San Angel Inn.

Paying out of pocket at the Brown Derby will open up 4 TS credits to use on your arrival and departure days, so you can figure whether paying for 2 meals will be less than paying for 4.

 

[BriarRosie]

I think you could drop Tusker House if you keep Boma.

 

[Colleen27]

I'd go with B over A. With the reduced showings of Fantasmic, the only way I'd brave the crowds would be with the dinner package, and any extra time you spend eating at Brown Derby would be more than saved by not waiting in the general seating line for F!. San Angel Inn isn't exactly can't-miss Disney dining and Epcot has plenty of good counter service options, so changing that evening wouldn't be too bad.

Even better, though would be option C, if it is in the budget - pay OOP for Brown Derby and change Boma to Jiko for some really good African-inspired food. We thought Boma and Tusker House were similar enough that we wouldn't book them both for the same trip, but Jiko is also African influenced and gets excellent reviews.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We have done the Fantasmic package many times when it was a different entrance. We still sat down when the main gates were open and always moved to the general area.

Now that there is no package entrance I see little advantage to the package at all. I think anyone needs to get their insanely early, because of the new schedule. I've seen many people on the boards complain that they didn't even get in WITH the package.

I would just plan to go VERY EARLY to the show. That will give you the option of going to any restaurant in HS. 50s Prime and Sci Fi are 1TS option. I wouldn't recommend H and V to my worst enemy, but your experience could be different. I wouldn't waste 2TS credits on the Brown Derby...we weren't impressed and we paid OP.

Having a CS might even be better if time is an issue. Then use that credit another day at a better place. HS isn't one of our favorites for TS.

Wanted to add....

Buffets aren't always the fastest option. We have been delayed many times at buffets. Usually because of bad service. When you have to wait FOREVER to even put in a drink order, there is no advantage. I would rather have family style or entree order.

I also think TH and Boma are very alike. I would change Tusker to Yak and Yeti or many a resort TS.

 

[DisneyWisher]

We love Disney, have probably been 40 times in the past 10 yrs and I don't care for Fantasmic. When they first came out with FDP we tried it. It started with a horrible meal at H & V. Everything tasted like they put wine in it to give it flavor. Well I don't care for wine so that didn't work for us. We got rained out. Even though it was a downpour beginning at 7 they didn't cancel Fantasmic until 9 (start time) we were able to get rainchecks for our next visit a month later. To us the show was ok nothing special. It was very crowded, leaving took about 30 mins. Don't sit at the bottom. Its not something I will ever do again. So my suggestion is that since its his first trip, skip it.

 

[DCDisney]

You could always use the DDP for one person and pay OOP for the other person at BD to keep your credits. The package costs $47 which isn't a super use of 2 credits anyway so this is meal people often would pay OOP for. I think that would be a nice balance and we really like the reserved seating section because it is very easy to get out at the end.

 

[2manypets]

How can you check your ADR's online?

 

[Tricia1972]

You could always use the DDP for one person and pay OOP for the other person at BD to keep your credits. The package costs $47 which isn't a super use of 2 credits anyway so this is meal people often would pay OOP for. I think that would be a nice balance and we really like the reserved seating section because it is very easy to get out at the end.

This is just what I was going to suggest.

 

[AJA]

If you can't get H&V I would keep Brown Derby and just pay OOP at 50's Prime Time (or just skip it and eat CS).

 

[danajune]

Wow! Thanks for all the great suggestions! I'm still thinking about what I should do..

Has anyone been to Fantasmic since they cut back on the shows? I want to hear from someone first hand who got turned away from the show while using the dinner package. If this is common then I will just wait in line with everyone else and not use the package.
And how long have people had to wait in line without the package since they've changed to 3 shows a week?

I've heard bad things about Hollywood & Vine but as long as I have food to eat I'm really not picky, anything to fill my belly is good enough. I don't want to use 2TS each on Brown Derby so paying OOP is an option if the F! Package is worth it.
If people are saying it's not worth getting the package then I'll just cancel BD all together and eat QS or a different TS and wait in line for F! with everyone else.

 

[gregokdisney]

I've read every thread that I can find about the Fantasmic dinner package because we are doing it for the first time this year, too. I have not read any first hand accounts about anyone who was turned away despite having the package.

My understanding is that the package used to give you entrance through a different, separate door or gate to a reserved area. You could come in much later because the reserved area was kept for those with the dinner package.

Now, there is no separate entrance. I think the problem is that people are getting there 45 minutes before the show, and the main entrance is a huge conglomeration of people who've been there from 30-60 minutes already, and they can't get past the people to turn in their voucher to get to the reserved area.

My plan is to go to the Fantasmic entrance one hour before the show, and go past the people in the standby line to present our vouchers. Of course, I plan to keep reading every thread about Fantasmic to see what really happens over the next few weeks, and if it appears that people are getting turned away with their vouchers, I will cancel the dinner package and likely skip Fantasmic, because there is no way my son is going to wait in line for more than an hour with crowds like that without making me wish I'd left him at home.

 

[mom2aandj]

I have not read that many reports of people turned away from F! with the package. The one or two I read were right when the reduced showings began, back in Jan, when they did not have a good handle on the crowd situation.

We used the package the last week in March. It was a pretty busy Spring Break week. We were told by our waiter to arrive 1 hour before the show began. We got to the main gate at 7:30 for the 8:30 show. There was no waiting or stopping, we merely walked up the path on the far right hand side. When we reached the top, we showed our ticket to the CM and were led to the reserved section, which had barely anyone in it. Many more people came at around 7:45ish and by 8 it was almost filled. The CMs seemed to be doing a great job keeping it strictly for dinner package guests. At 8 they did open it to the standbys and they announced the whole place was filled to capacity about 10 mins later.

 

[catne]

Not sure if Brown Derby would be worth it - in general I don't think any of the 2 TS restaurants are worth 2 TS, but we definitely thought our Mama Melrose package in May 2009 was well worth it. We much prefer showing up an hour before the show & having our choice of seats in the reserved area (the general seating area was mostly full 60 minutes before show.) 45 minutes before the show, people with dinner package tickets were still finding seats in the reserved area but the rest of the theater was completely full -- CMs were sending people without tickets to the standing room only areas. At 30 minutes before, they did drop the ropes on the reserved area so I guess anyone who showed up with a ticket less than a 1/2 hour before the show didn't get a seat...but they do tell you to show up at the theater at least an hour before so if you're late, you're out of luck.

As far as the stories about people getting shut out of their seats...the original report I saw was that the people showed up late - because they went to the wrong (old) entrance: by the time they figured this out, and then had to walk all the way around to the regular entrance, it was less than 1/2 hour to show time...by which time, the CMs had dropped the ropes on the reserved area. What's seems to be happening is that this original story gets repeated & exaggerated & details are left out as it goes...and instead of it being one party this happened to, it gets repeated as "people" - multiples, instead of one family. Haven't actually seen more than one original report where that happened -- all the rest I have seen have been of the "I've heard" or "I read" or "so & so said"...not original reports. The majority of original reports I've read said the package worked just as it was supposed to...and that was our personal experience, too.

I've also noticed that most people claiming the package is not worth it have not gone to Fantasmic this year, since the major cutbacks on showings. In previous years, when they did the show every single night, some showings were 1/2 empty, and if you weren't picky about where you sat, you could often wander in and find a seat 15-30 minutes before the show...those days are GONE.

 

[danajune]

How can you check your ADR's online?

At waltdisneyworld.com in the top right hand corner there is a little suitcase with a mickey head on it and to the right of that it says: "My Disney Vacation"
Put your cursor on that and a drop down menu will show.
Then click on "Dining Reservations"

Then just type in your ADR confirmation number and your telephone number, you can do more than one at a time, which is what i did. I just entered all of mine in order so it was easy to see if everything was correct, all on one page. Then you can also add in details, like if you're celebrating a birthday or anything else.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

At waltdisneyworld.com in the top right hand corner there is a little suitcase with a mickey head on it and to the right of that it says: "My Disney Vacation"
Put your cursor on that and a drop down menu will show.
Then click on "Dining Reservations"

Then just type in your ADR confirmation number and your telephone number, you can do more than one at a time, which is what i did. I just entered all of mine in order so it was easy to see if everything was correct, all on one page. Then you can also add in details, like if you're celebrating a birthday or anything else.

I JUST DID THAT AN HAD A PANIC ATTACK! None of my ress came up when I went on Disney .com. I called right away by this time my temp was about 200. She confirmed THANK GOD every one of my ress. And she didn't no why they didn't show up. So don't panic if u don't see yours.

 

[2manypets]

At waltdisneyworld.com in the top right hand corner there is a little suitcase with a mickey head on it and to the right of that it says: "My Disney Vacation"
Put your cursor on that and a drop down menu will show.
Then click on "Dining Reservations"

Then just type in your ADR confirmation number and your telephone number, you can do more than one at a time, which is what i did. I just entered all of mine in order so it was easy to see if everything was correct, all on one page. Then you can also add in details, like if you're celebrating a birthday or anything else.

Thank you! I tried it and it doesn't recognize my ressie # or phone #. Of course I can get into the resort reservation section. I ended up just calling them.

 

[willowsnn3]

Wow! Thanks for all the great suggestions! I'm still thinking about what I should do..

Has anyone been to Fantasmic since they cut back on the shows? I want to hear from someone first hand who got turned away from the show while using the dinner package. If this is common then I will just wait in line with everyone else and not use the package.
And how long have people had to wait in line without the package since they've changed to 3 shows a week?

I've heard bad things about Hollywood & Vine but as long as I have food to eat I'm really not picky, anything to fill my belly is good enough. I don't want to use 2TS each on Brown Derby so paying OOP is an option if the F! Package is worth it.
If people are saying it's not worth getting the package then I'll just cancel BD all together and eat QS or a different TS and wait in line for F! with everyone else.

Ok, we went 1st wk of May had the H&V pkg. Musta been a good day cause I thought the meal was great, lol. Our ressie was @3pm so we had a while before the show but had no trouble getting in. It was raining off and on so there were a few delays as to whether it would be canceled but then it did go on. As for San Angel Inn, the steak we had there put the one I had at LeCellier to shame.