Changes to Dining Including Several DVC Locations

[Sammie]

I know many of you read only the DVC forums and felt since some of the restaurants listed are located at DVC resorts, this is worthy of mentioning.

New changes to table service dining cancellation policy

"To provide consistent Guest service, adjustments will be made to the Walt Disney World Resort cancellation policy beginning October 26, 2011. At that time, additional table-service locations will begin using the cancellation policy already in place at select restaurants on property. When booking a reservation at these restaurants, Guests will be required to provide a credit card to hold a reservation and will be charged $10 per person if the cancellation isn’t made at least one day in advance.

Pre-paid locations will continue to retain the full, pre-paid amount if Guests are unable to honor the reservation and are unable to cancel the reservation one day in advance. Special dining events and packages such as Fantasmic! packages, New Year’s Eve dinners, Victoria & Albert’s reservations may have different cancellation requirements.

Dining locations participating in the credit card guarantee policy will be as follows:

Pre-Paid Locations

• Cinderella’s Royal Table
• Disney’s Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue
• Mickey’s Backyard BBQ

Credit Card Guarantee Locations

• 1900 Park Fare
• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
• Artist Point
• California Grill
• Cape May Café
• Chef Mickey’s
• Cítricos
• The Crystal Palace
• Flying Fish Café
• The Garden Grill
• Hollywood & Vine
• Jiko – The Cooking Place
• Le Cellier Steakhouse
• Narcoossee’s
• ‘Ohana
• Tusker House Restaurant
• The Hollywood Brown Derby
• Victoria & Albert’s (cancellation policy is $25/per person)
• Yachtsman Steakhouse

A special phone line that only handles dining cancellations is available for Guest convenience: 407-WDW-CNCL. Dining reservations may be booked or canceled by visiting any table-service restaurant podium, Walt Disney World Resort Hotel front desk, concierge or Guest Relations, or by calling 407-WDW-DINE. Guests may also make and cancel reservations by visiting www.DisneyWorld.com/Dining.

Guests with questions about a cancellation policy for a dining reservation are encouraged to visit any table-service restaurant podium, Walt Disney World Resort Hotel front desk, Concierge or Guest Relations, or by call 407-WDW-DINE."

Note that it is all "signature" restaurants and all with Character Dining. With the exception of Akershus (with Characters) and Le Cellier it does not include any Epcot restaurants.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Thanks for the update!

 

[bobbiwoz]

The "Signature" designation has me confused. Does it now cost 2 dining credits to eat at all of those restaurants? Cape May cafe, for instance only required 1 TS.

 

[dianeschlicht]

The "Signature" designation has me confused. Does it now cost 2 dining credits to eat at all of those restaurants? Cape May cafe, for instance only required 1 TS.

I was wondering that too, Bobbi.

 

[Brian Noble]

This is reported by WDW Magic, not a Disney press release AFAIK. I suspect that's just a sloppy bit of phrasing.

 

[sweetdana]

THIS IS AWESOME. I know some will be angry, but it always bugged me that I couldn't make Cape Mae ressies or Capt Grill, but often walk over and get seated. Coming from another resort was not worth checking would dine somewhere else, in case they said no. I think this is fantastic, and for those that "break" the rule once in a blue moon, or show up late, I am certain Disney will assist them. For those that break it all the time... they will not make ressies! Maybe there will even be walk up eating like at Universal!

 

[BUDDYBEAR]

THANKS FOR THE INFO

 

[snwwht]

This policy is YEARS overdue!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Last week I was standing at the opening to AL. There was a woman behind me "teaching" a family "how to do Disney" One statement

"We make three or four reservations for all meals so we can decide at the last minute where to eat"

With "abuse" like this Disney has to do something...

 

[twinklebug]

I agree, the policy is long overdue - I'm beyond tired from fighting with the computer system trying to make one or two meals reservations, only to find out when we're seated that the family next to ours was joking about having to choose which of the 4 reservations they decided to use, tallying up the ones they had intentionally missed so far in their stay. Heard this same conversation from two different families on different trips.

I'm curious if we can 'hold' the reservation with anything other than a major credit card. Gift Cards won't work since balances can be drained. Instead, I'm thinking the room reservation itself could negate the need.

This change still won't stop people from booking 3 different locations at the same time and then canceling just before they're charged.

... this thread reminds me, need to change up a Chef Mickeys to include my sister and her sons Not counting on finding anything and not looking forward to awkwardly modifying times and plans because if there are any time slots open, you can bet they won't be where/when I had hoped we be at that time.

 

[twinklebug]

With this change, if we need to cancel our single, legitimate reservations in the morning, (say if one, or all of us are sick) we'll be clobbered the $10 per person fee. I was always good about canceling as early in the day as possible if I thought we wouldn't make dinner, and would cancel fairly early the night before if it looks like someone was not going to make breakfast.

Since one of my kids tends to catch every germ at the airport on every third trip, this is a good reason NOT to book a signature meal within the first 48 hours of arriving.

 

[Brian Noble]

if we need to cancel our single, legitimate reservations in the morning, (say if one, or all of us are sick) we'll be clobbered the $10 per person fee.

I would guess that The Powers That Be will be reasonable about this sort of thing after a visit to Guest Services to explain things.

Of course, that also means that unscrupulous folks will know that the right sob story will get them out of the penalty, but at least they will have to spend time at GS dealing with it, so it should still cut down a little bit.

 

[DVCconvert]

....Of course, that also means that unscrupulous folks will know that the right sob story will get them out of the penalty.....

Thank goodness none of those sorts visit WDW!!!


............

 

[BEASLYBOO]

"We make three or four reservations for all meals so we can decide at the last minute where to eat"

The system let's you make multiple reservations for the same time under the same name?

If this rumor became fact, I don't think I would mind.

 

[SamSam]

I am very happy with this policy. California Grill has had it for a couple of years and it works there!

 

[wildernessDad]

I am glad that they are installing this policy.

 

[kid-at-heart]

I think it is a good policy.

 

[TDC Nala]

The "Signature" designation has me confused. Does it now cost 2 dining credits to eat at all of those restaurants? Cape May cafe, for instance only required 1 TS.

It's all Disney-operated signatures (signature does NOT mean it's 2 credits on the dining plan. There are signature restaurants like Bluezoo, Wolfgang Puck Dining Room, Fultons and Bistro de Paris that are not operated by Disney and don't take the dining plan at all. If a signature restaurant takes the dining plan it's 2 credits, but "signature" is not specifically a dining plan designation.)

PLUS any Disney-operated location that features character dining.

Instead of signature dining the release should have read "signature and character dining." However, it appears it will also include other meals at the same restaurants, like Le Cellier lunch (which isn't signature) and 'Ohana dinner (which doesn't have characters).

 

[ascardino]

Very interesting change. I am very curious to see how much easier it is to get a ressie at a popular place that in the past required a lot of work with multiple calls until you got "lucky" or gave up.

 

[twinklebug]

The system let's you make multiple reservations for the same time under the same name?

Yes, there could be more than one Jane Smith in the world so it allows it. However, the astute CM will catch the phone numbers matching and call the person out. Before Disney would email us our reservations, I called to book one on a day, around a time I already had another place booked. The CM told me what I had as well as confirmation number and there was no need to book the other I had called for.

The system works, but for every person who uses it properly, there will be one abusing it, hooking up alternate phone numbers and email addresses.

Wasn't there an issue in the past where someone was selling their ADRs on ebay?