Any Dining CMs out there? Disney holding back ADRs?

[Mom2darlingboys]

I'm curious about why ADRs seem harder to get than ever? The 24 hour cancellation policy should have made more available but I am finding that there is less open. The hot tickets - 'Ohana, Chef Mickey's, BOG, CRT, Wishes Dessert Party - are impossible, and even some of the easily-had ressies are not available. I've seen people looking for Yak&Yeti, 1900 Park Fare, and even Tony's with little luck.

I get the parks are busier. I hear magnets are being sent to visitors with dates when things need to be done. I suspect the online system is glitching. But, that doesn't seem to account for the general unavailability we seem to be experiencing, for many at 6 a.m. At 180+10. In the very first moment of availability, they are finding nothing, or reservations much later or earlier than most would expect to eat.

If there is a CM or Disney insider who is willing to share... Is Disney holding more ressies back for walk ups, in an effort to even the playing field like they have with FP+? Call me a "conspiracy theorist" but I get the distinct impression that somehow, we're being played. Feels like those posts a while back when people were saying they were padding attraction lines... except I can't quite justify what Disney would have to gain from creating a false sense of demand for ADRs (other than driving those on the boards nuts, because let's face it, there's not many non-fanatics, including travel agents, who would be well versed or dedicated enough to get up at the crack of dawn to book an ADR).

 

[gawrsh2008]

WDW does not hold back reservations for walk ups. Once the venue is booked, there are no more reservations.

I suspect the magnets have caused many more guests to begin booking on their 180 day mark than last year.

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

WDW does not hold back reservations for walk ups. Once the venue is booked, there are no more reservations. I suspect the magnets have caused many more guests to begin booking on their 180 day mark than last year.

Maybe it's the magnets. But that doesn't explain the 180+10 folks who are finding little to no options at 6 am. I would hazard a guess that "newbies" wouldn't be that efficient.

Seems like there is more going on here any other guesses?

 

[chocovrdmicears]

I don't know if I agree - Just for fun I signed into WDW.com and searched for dinner reservations for 4 on Saturday, May 24th. That is a Saturday night on a holiday weekend. I have 89 options to choose from. 27 are unavailable (obviously this includes the hard to get places) - but still 89 still seems like a good amount available for about 30 days out on a very busy weekend.

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

I think the fact that 27 are not available supports my point even further. Assuming they are the top 27 at WDW, that means that those who are thinking about where they want to eat a month away are rewarded with Yakitori House, or Pizza Planet? Those are walk-up choices at the busiest of times. I have been trying daily for over a month to get four ADRs, which I would usually have found a cancellation for by now on previous trips... nothing.

The bottom line is that the top choices aren't even really available to people 180+10days+5minutes. And, this isn't even free dining. Something here just doesn't feel right.

 

[stacy~**]

I haven't had an ADR heavy trip in awhile (DL last year, year before we did almost all counter service) so the online reservation system is new to me and I wonder if it is "encouraging" people to hoard reservations. Back in the old fashioned days of having to call in I think this wasn't the case where now I think many people snag reservations when they see them and then drop them as the date gets closer.

 

[jimandami]

Honestly, I have seen more availability than usual since the new system has been in place. We went in March on a last minute trip and I was shocked at how much dining was available at just 45 days out...Cali Grill, O'hana, and even BOG. We had our 180+10 yesterday and everything was available, including BOG for a party of 9 on a MNSSHP night.

 

[gawrsh2008]

stacy, that happens often as well. I cancel at least 15 reservations a day. Most of the cancellations occur on the day of the reservation.

Mom2 - remember the 180+10 rule you mentioned? You need to allow for the fact that there are thousands who have already been booking ADRs up to 10 days before your 180+10 day mark. Venues do not have unlimited seating. This is why BOG, CRT, and 'Ohana typically are already fully booked a few days into your trip.

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

I have to agree with the OP. Sunday was my 180+10 day and we couldn't get BOG for a party night for a table of three. Most of my other ressies we got within a 1/2 hour of our selected time, which is fine but the last four years our times were right on the time we wanted. Last year I had no problem getting BOG on my first try at 180+10.

 

[wdw4rfam]

I was just saying on another board, the +10 seems to be killing it. We are staying 10 days, and at our 180+10, I couldn't get BOG at ALL until the 10th day. I did get the time I wanted though. Ohana I couldn't get at all the first 3 days, and then just late (after 8:00), until the 6th day, I finally got 5:00. Had no other problems with any others. But now, I am at 150 days, and I tried to add Garden grill to our Epcot day and NOTHING. There are 8 of us, so maybe that's why, but still I remember adding that one the day a few years back. Credit card isn't really helping. People still book more than they will use from what I have seen, because they have up until the day before to cancel.

 

[aaarcher86]

I booked a few weeks ago for Sept/Oct and had zero availability issues.

I was actually pretty pleased with the availability, so I guess I've had the opposite experience/opinion as the OP. I think the hard to get places are still hard to get, but I wouldn't really expect anything different.

The only real availability issue I've seen is for BOG and it seems the further out you go in your +10 days the more opens up, which means everyone is booking farther out in their reservation which keeps people from getting them on their 180 mark.

Makes sense.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Sometimes the system just doesn't work. Sometimes they don't have everything loaded to book right at the 180 days. Sometimes it takes hours or even days to get some reservations loaded. And you call, and you ask, and the reservation agents don't have any idea why they aren't loaded, or even that they didn't load, so they just say sorry, it's sold out.

Right now the only thing that there SHOULD be problems booking immediately (barring Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving or NYE) is Be Our Guest dinner and 'Ohana before 8. It is definitely not unusual at this time to have that kind of issue with Be Our Guest because the plus 10's who got in before you could be booking it up - it's that popular. Anything else and it's probably a system problem. Larger parties will possibly have more difficulty.

 

[mommyrosa2]

I booked a few weeks ago for Sept/Oct and had zero availability issues.

I was actually pretty pleased with the availability, so I guess I've had the opposite experience/opinion as the OP. I think the hard to get places are still hard to get, but I wouldn't really expect anything different.

The only real availability issue I've seen is for BOG and it seems the further out you go in your +10 days the more opens up, which means everyone is booking farther out in their reservation which keeps people from getting them on their 180 mark.

Makes sense.

Makes perfect sense and this was my experience as well when I booked our August ADR's. Had no issues with availability but noticed that I wasn't able to book BOG & O'hana until mid week of our stay.

 

[isabellea]

Weird because I had the opposite experience when I booked my ADRs for our August 3-6 trip. The day of my 180+10 (or 180+4 in my case) I even forgot when I woke up and when I signed into MDE at 11am EST everything I wanted was available. I booked CRT at 8:05am and BOG at 5:20pm the day I wanted. Then a couple of weeks later after reading about Ohana I checked and they had availabilities for the day I wanted and many hour options were available before 7pm. I even booked TTFDP a few weeks ago after reading about it on my first try and long past my 180 days window. Maybe I'm just lucky?!?

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

Mom2 - remember the 180+10 rule you mentioned? You need to allow for the fact that there are thousands who have already been booking ADRs up to 10 days before your 180+10 day mark. Venues do not have unlimited seating. This is why BOG, CRT, and 'Ohana typically are already fully booked a few days into your trip.

I didn't think about this Gawrsh. Makes total sense for the ressies people have been unable to get at 180+10. Thanks!

 

[Mom2darlingboys]

I haven't had an ADR heavy trip in awhile (DL last year, year before we did almost all counter service) so the online reservation system is new to me and I wonder if it is "encouraging" people to hoard reservations. Back in the old fashioned days of having to call in I think this wasn't the case where now I think many people snag reservations when they see them and then drop them as the date gets closer.

This makes total sense too. They've made it easier to get the ressies by putting the system online, and allowing cancellations so close to the date without penalty. I think this is why it is tough to find anything good 1-2 months out, but it sure is better than having to reserve by phone, so us last minute bookers (making sure spell check didn't have its way on this one!) will just have to suck it up! Guess I will have to hound the site closer to the date, or in the evenings once we are there.

Thanks guys, conspiracy theory averted! You DISsers are so SMART! ; )

 

[Wendy31]

I made our ADRs on our 180+10 day in March. (Our arrival date is 9/8.)

I was able to get 'Ohana for our arrival night for 6:35 pm - I wanted closer to 6:00 pm.

I also made a CRT dinner ADR for our 2nd night for the time I wanted.

I got a Be our Guest ADR for our last night (the 7th night). I made this ADR FIRST - right at 6:00 am. There were a few different times available. I was trying for somewhere around 5:00 or 5:30 pm, but I kept getting a "server busy" message. By the time, I was actually able to make & reserve the ADR, the only time available was 4:30 pm, which is early for dinner, but I took it.

Anyway, I made the Be our Guest ADR first, then 'Ohana, then CRT, then our other character meals (Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, & Garden Grill) in the order of the day I was wanting, then our other restaurants (Liberty Tree Tavern, Sci-Fi, & Yak & Yeti) in the order of the day I was wanting.

For everything except Be our Guest & 'Ohana, I was able to get the times (or close to the times) I wanted.

The next day, I decided to switch around some of our days - I changed our CRT from dinner to lunch, switched Garden Grill & Yak & Yeti, & put Crystal Palace on another day & was still able to get the times I wanted.

 

[asc]

what seems odd is that at around 2pm Eastern, I checked for Oct. 19, lots of choices for a party of 6....

now, at 9am today, I see nothing.

my theory, Disney backs out availability for telephone call ins....then puts them back. don't know why. perhaps they figure having telephone only for the first few hours makes it more fair.

I don't know since I find it hard to believe there is not a single lunch reservation in the entire park for 2 people on Oct. 20...or at any hotels.

This is just my theory....

 

[buggy2727]

I haven't had an ADR heavy trip in awhile (DL last year, year before we did almost all counter service) so the online reservation system is new to me and I wonder if it is "encouraging" people to hoard reservations. Back in the old fashioned days of having to call in I think this wasn't the case where now I think many people snag reservations when they see them and then drop them as the date gets closer.

I'm going with this - hoarding. I would think the amount of people that actually have their entire trip planned down to this detail 180 days out is minimal (I know some do but would have to think most don't. So at 180 days, you go out and secure as many ressies as you can knowing you have up until the day before to cancel. Then you can drop whichever one you don't need as it gets closer. And yes, more often than not, the system will let you have multiple ressies for the same day - even if close in time. I never drop a ressie until I've got a replacement and MOST of the times, it would let me keep both.

 

[jcemom]

I've noticed the problem too. My SIL's +10 opened up yesterday. She couldn't get anything at the time she wanted. Examples:

Sci Fi -- we were looking for something right around the 11:00 opening, which has never been a problem for me in the past, even when I wasn't making ADRs right at 180 days out. The earliest time she could get was 12:20.

Tutto Italia -- another one that shouldn't have given any problems. She wanted something right around the 12:00 opening, and the closest she could get was 12:45.

CRT -- she wanted dinner. There was absolutely nothing available (on the 5th day into her trip). The latest time she could get was 1:30. Now I know this is a popular restaurant, but dinner should not be completely sold out at 185 days out. In recent years I've had no problem getting ADRs here only 90 or 120 days out, and at the times I wanted, let alone the MEAL I wanted.