ADRs always this hard???

[DisneyBunny15]

I booked our trips in 06 & 07 and I never had a problem with wait times, or ressie times! Now I'm so freaked out by reading everyone's posts that I won't get anything I want and I'll have to take off work just to make our reservations..

 

[cogero]

for our trip Easter Week I got everything I wanted


Akerhaus for Dinner
Tutto Italia
Crystal Palace
Play and Dine.

 

[tink2]

I am wondering this too. I've never had a problem making ADRs before. We went Jan of last year and had no problems. What is the difference? Is it the confusion of some restaurants that took ADRs 180 days out and now it is changed to 90- will it get better once those are phased out (the ones who already had ADRs 180 days early)?

 

[JLC5266]

I booked our trips in 06 & 07 and I never had a problem with wait times, or ressie times! Now I'm so freaked out by reading everyone's posts that I won't get anything I want and I'll have to take off work just to make our reservations..

I know what you mean..I made ressies in 05 and got everything I wanted with no problems....although I did have 3 phones dialing til I got the music!

I have already put in a time off request at work figuring that I am going to be on hold (with all that I've been reading) for a long time. I probably will be late getting into work! I didn't give a reason on my time off request...because no one at work would believe me and my reason....

 

[monkeybug]

I don't know what the "norm" is, this is our first trip. When I called for our ADR's I got everything I wanted, and all but one at the time I wanted (including CRT and CM's which I happened to get a little after the 180 day mark by accident, thanks to a very sweet CM) Maybe I just got really lucky? Even last night when my husband called to switch one of ours we got the very first thing on our list, and in the time frame we requested. (5:10 at Chefs de France). We are only about 5 weeks from our trip, and I expected it to be more difficult than it was!

 

[jm106]

I called to day for 2 months away and had no issues getting my plaes(which I just decided on today). I couldnt get Ohanas but I kind of figured I wouldnt.

 

[catne]

It's not the "90 days" booking window slowing things down, it's the new system that is being phased in at Disney reservations. Anyone who booked reservations for meals before 5/26 booked on the old system, and did not have the wait times - that's why people who booked for Easter week had no hold-time issues. What's happening now is that some CM's are still on the old system (to continue helping people with reservations needs through 5/25 because all those dates are on the old system.) Those CMs cannot help anyone with reservations after 5/25 - their computers are not on the new reservation system. Then there are other CMs that are only on the new system, and some of them are still getting familiar with it, so are not all that fast on it yet. If you call and get a CM on the old system, then you have to be transferred, and that's where the hold time really starts...have to wait for the next available CM that is on the new system. Once they get passed 5/25, they will no longer need the old system & all CMs will be on the new system. Hold times should go back to "normal" for everyone at that point.

 

[EEyorelover22]

I've read CM has been hard to get, but I believe those dates through about mid June could have been booked at 180 days out. Also, CRT could.

I've read that Fantasmic dinner packages are selling out fast too, but Fantasmic is only showing 1-2 times per week which would explain that as well.

I think the wait times are long though...that seems to be consistent.

 

[jimmiej]

My ADR date is Wednesday. Luckily, I'm off work this week, so if I'm on hold for a while, I won't be freaking out.

 

[smiths02]

I got Chef Mickey 180 days out (when you could still do that up to June 19th)

On my 90 day I called at 7 am, I got ADRs (all after May 26th) for:
Tusker House Breakfast
H&V (Playhouse Breakfast)
Sci Fi (latest lunch possible)
Boma dinner
Crystal Palace dinner

These were all the EXACT dates and times that I wanted (within 15 minutes)...

The entire call took 33 minutes (and she lost my ressies at first and had to redo them, still took 33 minutes)...my 90 day was a Saturday though

We are not buying parkhoppers, so it was important to get the exact days, and I did

Now, I think CM, CRT, Fantasmic and LeCell will be hard, but you can be flexible with those (time/date...plan those later in your trip)

I also called last week (about 2 weeks into my 90 day window) and got Ohanas for dinner...it was a little early at 5pm, but will work for my family as we have a brunch and no lunch scheduled that day...

 

[catne]

CM's and CRT can be booked at the 180 mark up until June 19, but when it gets to be 90 days from June 19 they will also join the "90 days booking window."

One thing I found making my ADRs for dinner reservations after 5/26 -- if you can possibly do it, call from 11 a.m.-3:00 p.m. EST, during the week. Best of all, if you can call then, is mid-week (Tues-Thurs) and you may find your wait times much shorter. My first set of ADRs I called on a Friday afternoon, about 2 p.m. and only waited about 30 minutes on hold (for the new system) Then I called back last week to change one of our reservations, and this time I called on Thursday around 1:00 p.m. - actually didn't wait at all.

So many people call at 7 EST, that clogs the lines up. And weekends are even worse because so many people have to call on the weekends. That mid-day "lull" seems to be much easier. Course, if you're trying for the ultra-popular like Le Cellier or the Fantasmic Dinner packages then you're probably stuck calling at the earliest.

 

[EEyorelover22]

I got Chef Mickey 180 days out (when you could still do that up to June 19th)

On my 90 day I called at 7 am, I got ADRs (all after May 26th) for:
Tusker House Breakfast
H&V (Playhouse Breakfast)
Sci Fi (latest lunch possible)
Boma dinner
Crystal Palace dinner

These were all the EXACT dates and times that I wanted (within 15 minutes)...

The entire call took 33 minutes (and she lost my ressies at first and had to redo them, still took 33 minutes)...my 90 day was a Saturday though

We are not buying parkhoppers, so it was important to get the exact days, and I did

Now, I think CM, CRT, Fantasmic and LeCell will be hard, but you can be flexible with those (time/date...plan those later in your trip)

I also called last week (about 2 weeks into my 90 day window) and got Ohanas for dinner...it was a little early at 5pm, but will work for my family as we have a brunch and no lunch scheduled that day...

Thanks for the report!! You booked many of the same places we are. I am worried about Fantasmic! but we shall see and perhaps the summer will offer more dates, but June sure didn't.

Did you have to give her your reservation #?

 

[dobtia]

I have had to do two in the last few days. We stay off-site. I called for Tusker House Breakfast the other day. Got 8:25 after being on phone for less than 15 minutes total time. My wife had always done them before, so I did not know what to expect. The process was smooth.

We are on Spring Break, so I called today on the road to the Houston Zoo. Got the Beirgarten for supper. I was on the phone for about 12 minutes total. Everything was smooth.

 

[kerry1140]

Made our ressies for June 14-21 this morning, and yes I did have to give our hotel confirmation number for anything over 90 days (15th-21st). Everything went well except for Fantasmic and Hoop-Di-Doo, we had to change days around on those, but we do have park hopper so it wasn't that big of deal. Wait time this morning was around 1 hr at 7:00am.

 

[v_gan]

I didn't have any trouble making our ADRs at all. I called at 90 days, but not until about 9:30 (10:30 eastern). I got everything I wanted, within 30 minutes of the times I wanted. I even called back at 60 days and got dinner reservations for 'Ohana.

If you can't call at 7:00 in the morning, at least make sure you call sometime early on your 90-day mark.

 

[summermac]

I had no troubles getting what I wanted - had to do a couple meal shuffles but still got the restaurant. I have nothing to compare my experience to as I've never made ADRs before but the worst part was the wait. Once the CM answered, it was pretty painless!

 

[msce2]

I think alot has to do with how many people are in your party, where you want to eat, and how many days out you are calling.

We have a party of 9, and at exactly 90 days out at 7am ET I was able to get everything I wanted although not a single ADR is at 1 table. We had to split into 2 tables, and some of the timing was not great. Like the Fantasmic Pkg is 335pm. It's an odd time to eat dinner.

That being said, I decided to make a few changes at 72 days out, and haven't been successful. Still trying to get Ohana's or Chef Mickey's.