Annoyed with double booking rule!

[fla4fun]

I am reading through this, and wondering how the new Dining Plan with three TS meals will factor into this. If you do a buffet for breakfast, you may want a late lunch. Depending on your choice of restaurant, that restaurant may be on a lunch schedule, or may be on a dinner schedule (since the schedules of the individual restaurants vary). If they are on a dinner schedule, then you won't be able to book your actual dinner later in the evening. That doesn't seem right. How do the restaurants that don't really have a lunch or dinner time factor in? I like the Plaza in MK, but it doesn't have different menus for lunch and dinner, and doesn't close in between, so if I eat there at 3pm, is it lunch or dinner? I like the suggestion that there should be a minimum time span enforced. For example, no one I know could eat a full table service meal and then turn around an hour or two later and do it again. But it's not unreasonable to think that after walking around the parks for four or five hours that you could. Instead of Disney looking at it as having two lunches or two dinners, it would just be two TS meals xx hours apart.

But there's really no way to completely stop the double bookings until there is a standardized way for both on property and off property/local diners to make their ADR's. Disney is doing their best to police the situation and take what action they can. Until they can get rid of the ability to book under several different phone numbers, or find some way to cross reference the reservations both on site and off property, there will be problems with double booking. I would hope (and I know from the many threads on this topic) that most of us here at the DIS are responsible diners, making only those ADR's we are sure we will use, and cancelling immediately when we find out we can't. For now, that's all we can do.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Personally, I don't see how anyone could possibly book a ressie 180 days in advance. I mean I am a big planner when it comes to vacations, but 180 DAYS OUT? Boy, we make ours when we arrive at the park that day....and that is pushing it to plan our day around our food ressie....more power to you all

I have always made my ADRs 180 days out.

 

[bdklein]

I made two reservations to hold both spots until my husband and I decide what to do. It's more that 4 months away! In the next few weeks we will decide and relinquish a spot. Someone else can have the ADR at that point.

It's not a big deal to me. I'm not trying to cheat anyone and truly resent the inference.

It's only a spot in line and someone can have one of those spots in the next two or three weeks. If you're desperate to eat at the California Grill at 5:30 pm on some night the last week or January or the Kona Resort at 5:00 pm same night I'll even post here and tell you when the spot come open.

I'm not an evil person but feel free to tar and feather me if you feel so inclined. Fill yer boots.

I 100% agree. But I waited until a day or two before the ADR's before I cancelled one. I am sure someone then called or walked up and got a table. And I do not feel gulity one bit, and will do the same thing next time. I have 2 young kids, and there's no way I am going to know where I am going to be at WDW 180 days from now, and what kind of food we want, and our appetites (depending on weather, crowds, kids demeanor, etc.). Even without the kids I still wouldn't know.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, you know from reading this and similar threads that most likely nobody who walks up will get that table. While, yes, it's possible that some Guest who calls between when you cancel and the actual time will get it instead, do you consider that to be more reasonable than making the reservation available in advance for some other Guest who tried to plan as far ahead as you did, but couldn't get that reservation because you double-booked so you can decide at relatively the last minute?

 

[goofy4tink]

So, I'm sitting here today, making tentative plans for dining in early May..yep, you heard me, early May. I like to eat at certain restaurants and know that if I don't call way ahead of time, I am not going to be eating there. So, I plan, albeit a bit excessively, ahead of time.
I do not have a car, so eating offsite is not an option for me. Nor, do I wish it to be. I like what Disney has to offer me. I also do not stay at a concierge level..it's something that just doesn't interest me. So, again...need to plan ahead.
Well, as I was saying....sitting here, planning ahead for May. I am taking my 31 y/o dd for her first trip to WDW (can you imagine such a thing!!). She loves to eat out and try different places, so I'll be booking two meals a day on a lot of our days. Sometimes it will be breakfast and dinner, sometimes lunch and dinner. I sure as heck hope I don't run into any issues doing that. I really don't feel that I should have to call back and make my ADR's under a false name/phone number. What a pain.
So....since I'm booking meals in two different time frames, hopefully it won't be an issue. But, I have to say...I really think that booking two meals, at about the same time, so that you can have your choice, is not a friendly thing to do. Can you imagine if there were a lot of people doing that? So, I come along, want to eat at one of the spots people have double booked at, can't get a seating, so have to eat elsewhere. Sure, it's wonderful that you 'let one go back' when you finally decide, but now I've lost out, unless I keep calling back. I'm sorry, but if you can't make up your mind where you want to book, then don't call. That's just common courtesy. I'm sure it isn't an issue at some spots but others it is.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I am sure that everyone who wanted the ADR that the OP will take appreciates your advice on how to cheat the system.

You could look at it as the OP cheating the system or you could look at it as the system cheating the OP. OP just wants to have a lunch and a dinner.

If I couldn't make a lunch and dinner reservation, I'd call back with another name and number, too. And everyone who wanted to eat dinner that didn't beat me to it would lose out. First come, first served.

 

[kaytieeldr]

If you do a buffet for breakfast, you may want a late lunch. Depending on your choice of restaurant, that restaurant may be on a lunch schedule, or may be on a dinner schedule (since the schedules of the individual restaurants vary). If they are on a dinner schedule, then you won't be able to book your actual dinner later in the evening. That doesn't seem right. How do the restaurants that don't really have a lunch or dinner time factor in? I like the Plaza in MK, but it doesn't have different menus for lunch and dinner, and doesn't close in between, so if I eat there at 3pm, is it lunch or dinner?

Okay, let's see,,, first, if I were to do the DDDP (and that's looking possible I'd be more likely to do a buffet breakfast and a Signature dinner each day, but that's not what you asked. Okay, I don't see how people can eat meals closer than a certain indeterminate interval that varies for each person. I mean, I can't eat breakfast at 10 AM and lunch at 1 PM. I'd have to space my meals out, five or six hours apart, or more.

I would think that restaurants which don't close between meals and don't change the menu, still have a cut-off time. It doesn't have to be made public, because after all the prices and choices don't change, but whether for tracking or accounting or staffing or whatever, there's probably a 'break' point of, say, 4 PM - or whatever time most other restaurants onsite open for dinner.

So, yeah, theoretically you could have a reservation for 1900 Park Fare for 11:15 and one for Grand Floridian Cafe for 12:05, but not one for GFC for noon and one for Concourse Steakhouse at 3:15.

You could look at it as the OP cheating the system

TheRustyScupper wasn't criticizing the OP or accusing him/her of cheating/beating any system. He was merely rebuking the poster/s who provided suggestions on HOW to go about doing so.

 

[Kata]

Everyone here has made really valid points but no matter what way I look at it I don't feel that it is fair for WDW dining to refuse to give me a 9:30 dinner at Boma just because I have a Fantasmic dinner package at 3:30 at Brown Derby. I don't see how they can consider 2 meals 6 hours apart double booking. I am only eating at BD for the Fantasmic package and I don't think people are really fighting for a 9:30 dinner reservation. WDW dining really needs to find a better way to define double booking so that it makes more sense like 2 meals booked less than 5 hours apart not 2 meal
listed in the same meal category like "dinner" by WDW standards are double booking. What's next you can only eat 1 TS a day? Sometimes policies like this forces even the most honest of people to have to call and use a different name and number to secure a late dinner ADR they truly want and intend to keep!!!!!

 

[bytheblood]

I am personally very glad that they have put this rule in place, but if you want to eat lunch at 3 and then have dinner at 9, that is none of their business and should not be their decision as to how closely you and your family can eat your meals together. That is dumb!!

If they want to put a time span together, they should say no two reservations for the same person on the same day within maybe 4 hours, but 6....come on!!

If you are truly double-booking, then you deserve to be told "no!", but if you truly want to eat again 6 hours later, you should be able to.

 

[ksumn1]

I agree with the OP that she should be alowed to book 2 ADR's due to the length of time between meals. We're tenatively planning to go in Oct 2008 and there are a couple of restaurants we've never tried, and planned on going for appatizers and to check it out. And then head over to a dinner somewher we KNOW we like. This policy makes it impossible to do that. Our only option is to try to do one as a walk up, and make an ADR at one. I see why Disney's doing it...to try to insure the maximum # of guests can be served and not allowing anyone to "hold" an ADR that another guest could book.

And I know I'll probably be flames but I kinda double booked on our 1st trip. I booked the Crystal Palace for breakfast with Pooh, as well CRT. I wasn't sure I would get CRT, and I was so excited that I forgot to cancel CP. I called back about a week before our trip to double check everything and the CM asked me about it, and advised me that he had to cancel one, and which did I want. CRT, of course. He said it actually happened alot with CRT. People booked a backup and then managed to get CRT and often forgot all about CP. He called it CRT memory loss.

 

[traveladdiction]

Wow, I come back and this thread is 4 pages long!

Just thought I'd let everyone know that I called back and got someone to allow me to book the 3:30pm lunch (dinner actually) and 9pm at Whispering Canyon. I told them that was it unusual to have lunch at 12:30pm and have dinner at 6pm? That's the same distance in time between my ressies. Anyway, I was just saying it to make a point... because this dining CM has no problem with it!

 

[fumipappa]

I 100% agree. But I waited until a day or two before the ADR's before I cancelled one. I am sure someone then called or walked up and got a table. And I do not feel gulity one bit, and will do the same thing next time. I have 2 young kids, and there's no way I am going to know where I am going to be at WDW 180 days from now, and what kind of food we want, and our appetites (depending on weather, crowds, kids demeanor, etc.). Even without the kids I still wouldn't know.

I remember the story on DCL board.. a lot of families sent one member of them to reserve 20 seats for 5 people to get better view at theatre and keeping them until last minutes so that nobody else could "steal THEIR seats"...

yes you don't know what you want to eat 180days from now but other people may know what they want 180days from now. with kids, without kids it does not matter. I have 3 small kids and made ADR 180days before and no plan to change because we know what we want.

We should remember that by taking advantage the system, some people including small kids are being disappointed....
We also should remember that "coutesy" starts from realizing there is another idea/people...

(I don't say this as "cheating the system" because it is nothing wrong TECHNICALLY. I call the availablity of double booking as "taking advantage" because it is the problem of "logic hole" on Disney's reservation system, just like utilizing combination of fastpass/child swap)

 

[apirateslife4evr]

Wow, I come back and this thread is 4 pages long!

Just thought I'd let everyone know that I called back and got someone to allow me to book the 3:30pm lunch (dinner actually) and 9pm at Whispering Canyon. I told them that was it unusual to have lunch at 12:30pm and have dinner at 6pm? That's the same distance in time between my ressies. Anyway, I was just saying it to make a point... because this dining CM has no problem with it!

I'm glad everything worked out for you in the end.

I just wanted to add my 2cents, as a former CRO-GS cast-member. Please just remember that these CM's are human......there is a margin for "error" there, especially since the "Disney rules" are open for interpretation. That's why it's important to take concerns (like this) to the NEXT level......Guest Services. I would also encourage EVERYONE to write into WDW to address issues, like lunch/dinner classifications.......the more they get complaints, the quicker you MAY see a change made.

JMO,

 

[Aliceacc]

A question on double booking:

As of today, my kids are AFRAID of characters in costume. Santa at the mall (even though they know the "real one" is at the north pole and it's just a guy in a costume), Chuck E Cheese... you name it, they're afraid.

That said, if they can get past this fear, I'm sure my daughters would LOVE a princess meal next August when we get to Disney.

Soooo... what do I do? I was thinking of double booking-- a princess meal and something far less popular without characters-- when I hit the 180 day mark in February. Then, come the start of summer, re-evaluating and cancelling one of the two. (I'm a BIG believer in being fair to others. One of the 2 reservations would be cancelled 2 months before our trip)

If I don't book the princess meal in Feb, my daughter will miss out and may very well out-grow her fear (or feel differently since they can see the actor's face). If I do book the princess meal exclusively, we may lose a night of a restaurant meal.

Ideas? Suggestions? Reactions?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Um, well, two things.

First, the character issue. Is there anywhere you can go where they can see something similar to Disney's "face" characters, i.e. people in costumes but with real people faces? I mean really, all the Princesses are (nobody else read this!!!!) is attractive young women in fancy dresses (and, okay, wigs) -okay, the rest of you can open your eyes now! Is there someplace you can take them that they can see people dressed like that? If you were in Massachusetts, I'd suggest Plimoth Plantation or Old Sturbridge Village.

Two, if your alternative is to book someplace 'far less popular', you really should have no trouble doing that if/when you call back to cancel the princess meal.

 

[Lesley]

I can see the reasons they want to prevent double booking when people are booking up "options" and not showing for half (or more) of their reservations. But its very restrictive for people who have valid double reservations- like those of you with the late lunch and late dinner that both count as dinner, or as I've had problems with- valid reservations for 2 different sets of people within a travelling party.

We had trouble with this before the double booking rule was ever made. We had reservations at both Chef Mickey's and California Grill- my parents and kids were to be dining at Chef Mickey's while dh and I went for a date at the California Grill. We wanted to be close because at the time my baby had never been apart from me- we figured she'd probably do fine, but if she needed me, we could just trade her off. Well, the CG reservation was shortly before the Chef Mickey's so we headed in. We were just seated at our table when my parents called to tell me the hosts at Chef Mickey's couldn't find their reservation. When I gave them the reservation number (the only time I've ever needed to use one!) they told me that the reservation had been cancelled. Apparently even before there was a policy on this, they had started cancelling double reservations. My thought was that any fool could see that all of our other reservations were for a party of 7- these 2 were for a party of 5 and a party of 2- obviously we were eating seperately that night! Anyway, Chef Mickey's did honor the reservation and apologized to my parents and me (as I spoke to them over the phone) for the mix up.

So I guess at least you're not finding out at the podium! Had I known they were going to do this I would have made the reservation under a different phone # (as it was I had given them my step-dad's name, but since it was still listed under my phone number it must have been targeted).

I would warn the person who was finally able to make the 2 reservations that it may be best to put one of them under a different name/phone #- just in case they come through with the auto cancel like they did with us.

 

[Aliceacc]

Two, if your alternative is to book someplace 'far less popular', you really should have no trouble doing that if/when you call back to cancel the princess meal.

OK, that makes sense. Reading some of the posts here, it sounded as though there would be NO alternatives to having ADR's before you go. As long as we can find somewhere to use those full service credits, it sounds like a plan.

Thanks for your input!

 

[kaytieeldr]

No, it really does make sense. I may not be able to call today and get a reservation for tonight, or even two weeks from now, for Le Cellier. But I would be genuinely surprised if I could not get a reservation SOMEWHERE for dinner tonight - Olivia's, Turf Club, Shutter's, something. In fact, I'll be back in a few minutes...

 

[Aliceacc]

No! Wait!

We're not going till next August!

I'm new to this whole ADR thing; the last time we were in Disney was 1990, and things have changed drastically since then.

Of course, it would be SO MUCH simpler if my kids could just realize that these are High School kids in costumes, but I get the feeling that it's not going to happen anytime soon. Of course, we DID get my 2 older kids to pose with Frankenstein at the House of Frankenstein Wax Museum (in Lake George NY) a few weeks ago... my daughter even went in for 5 minutes. (That was until a "ghost" scared the wits out of her and my husband had to find an exit!! ) So we are making progress

 

[kaytieeldr]

LOL! Yes, I know you're not going for a while. I wasn't just running a "test" for you, I really DID need to make a reservation for myself!!!!! Anyway, with just over three weeks to go, I was able to get a reservation at the restaurant and time I want.

A few notes:
- It's not a restaurant in a park
- It's not a "peak" dining time
- When asked, the CM told me that I could get from the park I'd be in to Downtown Disney by taking the bus marked Downtown Disney
- I realized after I hung up that she did NOT mention my existing reservation - which I will cancel later today