Cinderella's Royal Table reservation using dining plan

[anngold]

Just booked all our dining reservations for our Feb 2012 trip to WDW. We have the dining plan with table service. When I made the reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table why was my credit card already charged? I wanted to use the dining plan credits for that. Did I do something wrong when I made the reservation?

Thanks!

 

[3pletprincesses]

When making you reservation onlin,e you had to link your dining plan to the reservation. The best you can do is either try to call and rebook with them but you run the chance of loosing your reservation. the other option is to secure another meals there and use your dining plan and only give your CC for guarantee purposes(it will say guarantee hold) and then cancel your initial reservation.

 

[anngold]

I linked my reservation before making the dining reservation. I thought that was all I had to do. I'm so confused.

 

[disneymom443]

You shouldn't be charged on your CC. It is aked only for the hold. If you don't show they may charge a fee.

 

[disneyobsessed2011]

I forgot to link some of my reservations online (non-credit card ressies) to my dining plan. Will I have problems when I show up at the restaurant to use my dining plan?

 

[anngold]

I agree that I shouldn't be charged, but I was charged. I already got an email from my bank saying my card was charged. I even went to my credit card account online and verified that the full amount has already posted to my account.

I linked my reservation by clicking the 'I want to use my dining plan to book reservations' link and entering my reservation information. So, it should not have charged my credit card.

Is there any way to fix this without losing the reservation?

Thanks.

 

[kamik86]

I agree that I shouldn't be charged, but I was charged. I already got an email from my bank saying my card was charged. I even went to my credit card account online and verified that the full amount has already posted to my account.

I linked my reservation by clicking the 'I want to use my dining plan to book reservations' link and entering my reservation information. So, it should not have charged my credit card.

Is there any way to fix this without losing the reservation?

Thanks.

I don't know if there is a way to reverse the charge now. I would call disney to ask though.

I do know that you can get it refunded at the restaurant. I went in January last year and had to book the reservation before the dining plan was available to purchase, so they charged my credit card. Then at the restaurant they used my credits and refunded my credit card. So the worst case scenario is that you have to pay for it now and be refunded on your trip.


To the other poster that asked about issues not linking to the dining plan at places without a CC hold. Nope when you get to almost any restaurant they will ask if your on the dining plan. Just give them your card and they will take care of it. They don't need to know in advance. For non-CC resteraunts the only reasons to link is to be able to book 180+10 (as opposed to just 180) and then to be able to log in and call up all your reservations at once.

 

[Mamasmurf227]

I linked my reservation before making the dining reservation. I thought that was all I had to do. I'm so confused.

I had the same issue this morning when I booked CRT. I linked it, but it still charged my card.

 

[anngold]

I called the dining reservation number and waited on hold for an hour. The Disney representative was able to make a new reservation using my dining plan on the same day and only five minutes earlier than my online reservation. Once that was confirmed, she cancelled my online reservation.

I asked her why it charged my card when I had successfully linked my reservation before I made the dining reservation and she said it shouldn't have.

So, if anyone else has the same issue, I recommend that you call right away and get it switched before they get booked up.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Cafeen]

With CRT and the dinner shows, the online system is VERY flaky. Sometimes it recognizes the dining plans attached to the resort reservation, sometimes it does not. Lately it's been pretty bad about seeing the dining plans.

When booking these reservations, there should be a dollar amount shown with something along the lines of "Amount due today". If this number is anything but $0, there are two things you can do.

1. Stop there and call Disney Dining. Make the reservation over the phone. Their system is much better at recognizing this (and I think they can override).
2. Move forward with the prepayment and let your card be charged.

After the reservation is made and the card is charged, and you want to apply DDP to it, there are a few options there as well:

• Call Disney Dining to alter. Most of the time this will mean that they will cancel and rebook. If you really need that money freed up before the trip, it's worthwhile, but you do risk missing out on the reservation.
• Wait until you're there and have the server apply DDP instead of the CC payment. This will refund your payment at that time.

There have been a few cases and reports of the CM on the phone being able to modify and refund without cancelling, but these are not the norm. If they can do it, great, but don't be surprised if they can't.

For now, due to the issues with the online system above, I would suggest that those who do not with to tie the money up until it's time to eat call to make the reservations.

 

[havoc315]

There have been a few cases and reports of the CM on the phone being able to modify and refund without cancelling, but these are not the norm. If they can do it, great, but don't be surprised if they can't.

Correct, I had this issue with 2 CMs. As the restaurant was booked up, they couldn't just cancel my reservation and re-book. I was told to simply get the refund on the date of the meal.
But then 2 weeks later, another CM fixed it without any difficulty.

There is a way they can fix it in their system, but apparently most CMs don't know how to do it.

 

[Cafeen]

Correct, I had this issue with 2 CMs. As the restaurant was booked up, they couldn't just cancel my reservation and re-book. I was told to simply get the refund on the date of the meal.
But then 2 weeks later, another CM fixed it without any difficulty.

There is a way they can fix it in their system, but apparently most CMs don't know how to do it.

I'm thinking that it's either a different tier of CM (e.g. Tier 3 Support knowing more and having more ability than tier 2) or even potentially someone in Guest Relations catching the call on busy times (they do ship these calls off to other departments during high volume!)

Or, it's the one consistent thing with Disney phone CMs... that they are stupidly inconsistent

 

[tinamariec]

Same thing happened to me, I called after I saw it posted on my CC and explained that I was on the dining plan. The CM transferred me to someone else and they issued a refund back to my card.

 

[Saratoga Springs Tom]

I was under the impression that the card was needed to cover the reservation if you failed to show. If you show as planned... then use the plan, you would'nt be charged.....I just booked the Royal Breakfast myself and will look to see if my card was charged....

 

[Cafeen]

I was under the impression that the card was needed to cover the reservation if you failed to show. If you show as planned... then use the plan, you would'nt be charged.....I just booked the Royal Breakfast myself and will look to see if my card was charged....

This is how it "should"* work (based on past experiences). Currently, at least on the online ADR system, it's not working correctly. (And has been flaky since at least 2009 when the online system came up).

*When I say should, I mean that is how it was originally designed (I did not have to pay in 2009 even though I booked it online!) If it's changed since then without announcement, I don't know.

 

[havoc315]

I literally just made by CRT reservation for Feb 2012. Knowing the issues with online reservations, I did it over the phone. Credit card not charged, just for the hold.

And to answer other recent issues about CRT -- I had no problem making a reservation for a party of 10. 7 people are on the plan, and 3 aren't. But as it was all put under my name, no pre-payment was required for anyone. The non-plan guests will simply have to pay, on the day of.

 

[chip007]

I did the same thing this morning.

I called Disney, and they said that I should tell the hotel when I check in and they would move it to the dining plan and credit back the charge.

He said that they sometimes do it over the phone but it can take a while to complete and since I will be at WDW next week (yes, I made a reservation at the Castle 9 days before we leave) it would be easier to fix at check-in.