ADRs easy to get now?

[voleball]

The last time I was at WDW was 2009 when ADR opened 90 days prior. Now it's 180 days, I was wondering if it's easier to get ADRs for harder to get places. Any experiences to share? We are planning a Dec. 2012 trip!

 

[Cin]

I am traveling in Jan 2012 and I booked most of my ADR's at the 180 window, I had no trouble getting any of my desired times or restaurants. I found Cinderella's Royal Table had many openings during our travel time. I think though that my January trip and it being low season has a lot to do with the availability. There was only 1 ADR I could not get, but I was able to snag California Grill, 'OHana, and Le Cellier all of which are reputed to be hard to get. During my last trip, Sept/Oct 2010 I tried several times to get us into Le Cellier and there was no way. Booked solid. My advice, book at the 180 day mark and may you get lots of Pixie dust to help your dreams come true!

 

[starry_solo]

I am trying to make the reservations today at 180 day + 10 window but because I'm booked through DVC, I apparently need them to override the system and call DVC directly to do so

GRRR....I am booked with 3 different reservations/resorts with 3 different owners...another GRRR....wonder if I call DVC directly, if I can get them to do so, or if I need the member to contact them and make the reservations. In which case, can the member provide their credit card information and then I call back at the 180 day mark (which means I have to call 3 different days) to change credit card numbers with the WDW-DINE

 

[Sweetpeamd]

I am in the midst of planning what I consider to be a last minute trip for mid-March. I went online to make dining reservations (about 4 months out from our dates) and was able to get my first choice of times for every dinner I requested. We got Whispering Canyon, Ohana, Via Napoli, La Hacienda, Biergarten, even Le Cellier. I was in shock. I have heard that Le Cellier dinner reservations have still been hard to come by even since they changed to a 2 credit meal. I could not believe that I was able to get a 7 pm dinner there at 4 months out! What is going on? Did the requirement of a credit card to hold the reservation cause that much of a decrease in demand? The 180 day mark for our trip occurred well before the new system was put into place. Hmmmm.

 

[Hopefully]

I am trying to make the reservations today at 180 day + 10 window but because I'm booked through DVC, I apparently need them to override the system and call DVC directly to do so

GRRR....I am booked with 3 different reservations/resorts with 3 different owners...another GRRR....wonder if I call DVC directly, if I can get them to do so, or if I need the member to contact them and make the reservations. In which case, can the member provide their credit card information and then I call back at the 180 day mark (which means I have to call 3 different days) to change credit card numbers with the WDW-DINE

Even if you are booked through DVC you can make online ADR's. There is no system override required. You do not need to call DVC directly.
I think your problem is, as you state, you have 3 different reservations.
Each one of those reservations can only be booked + 10 from the first day of the individual reservation. That would be true even if you booked a hotel room with Disney. It doesn't matter to the system that you are staying consecutive nights, you have reservations that begin and end.
And no, you can not call DVC. Only Members can call Member Services. But as I explained, the member does not need to provide their credit card number. You just need to call on the first day of each reservation.

 

[n2mm]

I am trying to make the reservations today at 180 day + 10 window but because I'm booked through DVC, I apparently need them to override the system and call DVC directly to do so

GRRR....I am booked with 3 different reservations/resorts with 3 different owners...another GRRR....wonder if I call DVC directly, if I can get them to do so, or if I need the member to contact them and make the reservations. In which case, can the member provide their credit card information and then I call back at the 180 day mark (which means I have to call 3 different days) to change credit card numbers with the WDW-DINE

Just wanted to mentined that 180 + 10 has not been working on DVC reservations since the last upgrade on 10/26. I had no problem using it prior, but ever since then I can't make any 180 + 10 online reservations. Yes, you can do it via phone, but the online does not seem to be recognizing the DVC reservations. I've written several times and have called and there has been no help at all. I asked them to send my concerns in my last email to their IT folks. Even last night I tried again, and online will not recognize my reservations. As of today, it doesn't matter anymore because it's 180 days from my last day of vacation. I'm not happy that I could not use this perk online for my April/May 2012 trip. I've used the 180+10 many times. I even tried the old "dumping my cookies", logging off, and a host of other "cleaning" methods via my tools. I guess the thing I don't like is that when I called or emailed, MS just didn't seem like it was such a big deal, but to me it was. Esp. planning a 3 weeks trip with dining parties of a variety of sizes, from 2 to 10. I did get everything I wanted, but that was by doing it every few days when it was available to everyone.

 

[Hopefully]

Just wanted to mentined that 180 + 10 has not been working on DVC reservations since the last upgrade on 10/26. I had no problem using it prior, but ever since then I can't make any 180 + 10 online reservations. Yes, you can do it via phone, but the online does not seem to be recognizing the DVC reservations. I've written several times and have called and there has been no help at all. I asked them to send my concerns in my last email to their IT folks. Even last night I tried again, and online will not recognize my reservations. As of today, it doesn't matter anymore because it's 180 days from my last day of vacation. I'm not happy that I could not use this perk online for my April/May 2012 trip. I've used the 180+10 many times. I even tried the old "dumping my cookies", logging off, and a host of other "cleaning" methods via my tools. I guess the thing I don't like is that when I called or emailed, MS just didn't seem like it was such a big deal, but to me it was. Esp. planning a 3 weeks trip with dining parties of a variety of sizes, from 2 to 10. I did get everything I wanted, but that was by doing it every few days when it was available to everyone.

Not Good!!!
I did not know that

 

[summermac]

I had a much easier time this time (thanks to online I think) than I did in 2009. But so much of that depends more on the WHEN of your trip, not how many days you can book in advance IMO>

 

[starry_solo]

Not Good!!!
I did not know that

Wow!

This is what happened (after calling Disney Dining again and getting a separate operator).

Initials:
DS - sis
DF - friend
ME - me

According to Disney Dining, even though they see all 3 names for the DVC reservations, the dining part shows this:

5/12 - 5/15 - DS
5/15 - 5/22 - ME
5/22 - 5/26 - DF

So, it shows us checking in and out on different dates. So, I could only book 3 of the 4 ADRs on DS' "reservation #" but 1 of those 3 that we booked, we want to do it separately (3 separate reservations so we can each get our own photo package), so I have to call back at the end of the week, make a new reservation for ME, then have ME taken off DS' reservation (Akershus). Then, on Thanksgiving Day, do the same thing, and make the 4th ADR (so we can pay separately on different CCs and we will be within the 180 day window).

The saga continues...

 

[budafam]

I booked exactly at 180 and had no problems getting the exact times that I wanted.

We went on a last minute trip on October 30th and I booked all of our ADR's on October 1st... I got some great times, even before park opening. One week later there was an opening for CRT before park opening and I scooped that up.

 

[bjakmom]

I had the same problem with my May DVC reservation - the online booking wouldn't recognize my DVC res #. It was a really busy week and I had no time to deal with MS on the phone, so I just waited a few days and made the ADRs after the 180 + 10 and got the exact times I needed. We decided to make far fewer ADRs that now require the CC deposit than we usually do. We will be traveling with a 1 year old and need more flexibility than the 24 hour cancellation window allows - we will stop at the grocery store and eat more counter service this trip.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

We booked our next trip at 90 days out and got all the reservations we wanted, exact times and all. It helps that we're going in low season, though, and we don't really go for the coveted venues (no buffets or character meals for us).

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

I just booked my March trip over the weekend. We were about 117 days out when I started making ADRs and so far I have been able to get everything I wanted ... CRT before park open, Akershus before park open, Tusker House before park open, Le Cellier for lunch...

 

[Hopefully]

I had the same problem with my May DVC reservation - the online booking wouldn't recognize my DVC res #. It was a really busy week and I had no time to deal with MS on the phone, so I just waited a few days and made the ADRs after the 180 + 10 and got the exact times I needed. We decided to make far fewer ADRs that now require the CC deposit than we usually do. We will be traveling with a 1 year old and need more flexibility than the 24 hour cancellation window allows - we will stop at the grocery store and eat more counter service this trip.

This is exactly why they were forced to implement the Credit Card policy.
Many people were making ADR's for times and places and then not showing up. If you realize you need more flexibility, you are doing the right thing in not booking ADR's that another family is trying to get

 

[voleball]

Sounds like people are getting what they want even past the 180 day mark, but it can depend on busy/slow seasons. Thanks all!

 

[bedogged]

I had the same problem with my May DVC reservation - the online booking wouldn't recognize my DVC res #. It was a really busy week and I had no time to deal with MS on the phone, so I just waited a few days and made the ADRs after the 180 + 10 and got the exact times I needed. We decided to make far fewer ADRs that now require the CC deposit than we usually do. We will be traveling with a 1 year old and need more flexibility than the 24 hour cancellation window allows - we will stop at the grocery store and eat more counter service this trip.

You do realize that it is not a 24 hour cancellation? It is more like a one day cancellation. If you are booked on Wednesday, you need to call on Monday to cancel.