Can you book ADR's online and if not - WHY not?

[moopdog]

I don't think you can, since I've not heard it mentioned. But it just occured to me how strange it is that it's not an option. Actually - I'm shocked. Sorry - I guess my question is really an observation!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

I sure wish we could!!! But then I guess it is nice (usually) to have the personal touch by speaking with a cast member. I'm surprised they havent gotten it worked out yet!

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

There are lots of people that work for Disney that are glad that they don't offer dining ressies online, because it means they have a job! I just keep telling myself when I run through my cell phone minutes, someone can feed their cat tonight because I talked to a human being to book breakfast at Kona. lol

 

[DisneyDine]

There are lots of people that work for Disney that are glad that they don't offer dining ressies online, because it means they have a job! I just keep telling myself when I run through my cell phone minutes, someone can feed their cat tonight because I talked to a human being to book breakfast at Kona. lol

Yea, thank you!! I don't want to be out of my job. Your helping to feed both my cats, my dog and my daughter! Well, I guess DH is helping too...LOL!

 

[DisDine]

Unless they required a credit card to book, the abuse would be crazy.

 

[simonkodousek]

People would double-book, not allowing many options for people who are honest about their ADR's. I also think it is nicer to talk to a CM than to get a headache from a computer.

 

[Eeyore2003]

I think it would be a logistical nightmare. Can you imagine how many people would be making the same reservation for the same time at 7:00AM on any given morning for CRT 180 days out!!! And I agree with the abuse issue. It would just be too easy to make a whole bunch and not care about the next guy.

 

[oybolshoi]

I've said it before and I'll say it again ...

it would be a nightmare. Have any of you tried booking excursions or spa treatments or special dining events on Disney Cruise Line's website? The stupid thing crashes more than a St. Louis driver at the sight of a snowflake.

Could you imagine how overloaded an online dining reservation system for WDW would be on a daily basis?

The current system isn't perfect but I've not experienced many problems with it all things considererd.

 

[swift]

I'm sure there are people who would take advantage of the situation by making lots of ADRs and selling them on ebay. It is fairer for everyone if Disney keeps control of it.

 

[ElizabethB]

I think we'll see on-line ADR booking at some point. Everything else is bookable on-line. Why not ADR's? One can book reservations on line now at NYC's hottest restaurants. There is already a couple of services here in NY that allow people to sell their reservations. I assume WDW doesn't want to have reservations sold on E-bay. But, they are no doubt working on that problem as we speak. As for double-booking, it's already rampant.

Ultimately, WDW I predict will conclude that keeping a huge workforce on salary to make ADRs is not cost efficient.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I think if it were possible to book ADRs online, the abuse of the system would be crazy. What would they require? An e-mail address? How many e-mails does everyone have? I know I have four that I use regulary. Plus it's nice in this over digital age to actual talk to a human being rather then a machine.

 

[Tink10]

I can see it now, People sitting up all night to book all the good ones & selling them on Ebay......Crazy!

 

[disnut8]

I agree to a certain degree with "abuse". But in a different way. Say you can book online and you do. How many on these boards change their minds a dozen times? Wouldn't that get confusing for us? "Let's see, I have nine dinners booked but I'm not sure about that one at the Magic Kingdom, let me look again. OK, I want to change that one, what is that confirmation number again? OK, I just canceled that one (I would imagine Disney online would NOT allow double booking) and want this one. What? I just looked and that restaurant had a booking for me! OK, I'll go back to the original one. What? That's full now?! @&*$^&$(^&"

So now you don't have the original booking and you don't have a replacement. And you are mad at the computer.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

There are lots of people that work for Disney that are glad that they don't offer dining ressies online, because it means they have a job! I just keep telling myself when I run through my cell phone minutes, someone can feed their cat tonight because I talked to a human being to book breakfast at Kona. lol

My thoughts exactly! It would be more convenient to book online, but saving jobs is more important to me at the moment.

 

[tiger4me2]

I think it would be a nightmare at most and even horrible. Think of the times the web site is not working? Or giving wrong information. Which has happen. Better talking a "live" person & hoping they know what they are doing which most do while some don't . Just my two cents.

 

[stopher1]

If they could get a system together that worked well, had very high speed processing despite the high volume of users, and monitored for abuse - that would be cool and I would enjoy being able to use it - BUT, the reality is, we have to call.

Plus it's nice to actually speak with a live person now and again...too many parts of life have gone techno-saavy - and we've lost a lot of the personal interaction. I had a very pleasant conversation last week with the gal that answered the phone to make my ADR's - and I was happy she was there working too. Disney has oustsourced a lot and gotten rid of a lot of personal interaction all to save the corporation some money - hopefully they won't get rid of live operators, too.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I like talking with the dining CMs. I've only had one that was less than friendly. Otherwise, my experiences have been excellent. I've gotten great advice and suggestions. It just wouldn't be as pleasant an experience booking online.

 

[FireDancer]

I am surprised there isn’t an online option for booking yet. You can use the computer to police the multiple bookings.

I am an I.T. project manager and this is exactly the kind of stuff I do (unfortunately not for Disney though). You could require a Disney reservation number to book and keep people from double booking. You would have to determine time thresholds but for example, if you already have a reservation for O’hana at 7:00pm on July 5th you would be blocked from booking any TS reservations from 5:00pm until 9:00pm for that day unless first canceling the O’hana reservation. This would actually help with the double booking.

If you don’t have a reservation number there of course would be other options. For one, you could enter your AP number or maybe the number on a park ticket that has at least one day left on it.

I would actually implement this first for Travel Agents and let them basically beta test the system and give us feed back before rolling it out to the general public.

There would still be ways to beat the checks and balances but people will always find a way around them. In these projects you usually go about trying to stop the 99% of people who will not spend the time getting around the checks and balances and living with the 1% that do.

Of course you would still have the phone so it isn’t like this would be the only option.

 

[las3888]

Honestly, if we can fly people in a little tube to the moon, I think online Disney ADRs are something that this civilization can tackle. I think all the concerns and issues mentioned can be figured out. Really, it shouldn't be this difficult!

They should still allow callers who want the personal experience to call their ADRs in as well (if that's what you prefer).

As far as keeping people employed just for the sake of keeping them employed, Disney is a business, not a charity. If technology is in place for things to be streamlined, yet they have to pay people to do the same thing, the cost of all that gets passed onto you and me, increasing our already incredibly expensive Disney vacation. If Disney hired or contracted out some great IT people to build a system, wouldn't they be feeding people's families as well?

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I would love it if we could book online. It would be great.....It would be better if when you booked, you couldn't double book for another bfst, lunch or dinner though so that it can be fair.

This would be a great idea. Hopefully, disney is reading and will do this for us.