BigBahamaDada
Hoop Dee Doo of You
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2005
- Messages
- 44
Just returned from WDW and had an interesting experience regarding DDP and walk-up reservations.
Family and I have APs and use DDE. We didn't have advance reservations at Liberty Tavern, but were in the neighborhood, hungry and ready for some AC. Despite the rather large line, I thought I'd at least get an estimate on the wait for a walk-up.
Now, at Liberty Tavern, the reservation computer is right inside the door and is sunk down into the cabinet, facing upward though a glass top. It is very easy to watch the screen as information is entered. I gave the hostess my name and party size of 6 and inquired about the wait time. As the hostess entered the information, the bottom of her screen showed an estimated waiting range. After she entered our party size, the screne showed the estimated wait to be 1:30 to 1:45 minutes. The final question she asked me was if I was on the DDP. When I told her I wasn't, she checked a field box and the estimated wait time dropped to "less than 15 minutes."
Now - there are a several innocent things that could have explained this, obviously -- a existing reservation for a party my size may have just timed out as a no-show or was cancelled by a courteous visitor. But it was packed to the gills in there with people and I can't help but thinking that as cash walk-up, I was getting perfential treatment over the DDP legion.
And, more to the point, if you think about it, Dis has a lot of incentives to do just this.
Upon hearing of a 1.5 hour waitlist, a cash paying walk-up is likely to decline and go elsewhere. (I certainly wasn't going to sit there for 90 minutes to eat that quality of food - no matter how good the air conditioning). Indeed, such a cash-paying customer might just grab a much less substantial (and less expensive) snack to tide them over until they, gasp, eat off property.
In contrast, if you're DDP they've already got your money. If the wait time causes you to bolt to another establishment, odds are very good you aren't leaving the property to eat. And, indeed, Dis may want to redirect such people from sitdown, slow turnover meals, to snacks on the go. For that matter, they'd likely be even more pleased if a DDP did choose to leave property, leaving unused credits behind.
I should have asked the hostess if the immediate availablity was a direct result of being non-DDP, but I didn't. I didn't really want to reveal that I was watching her type in the info. And, more to the point, in case the nearly immediate availability was a mistake, I didn't want her correcting it before I got some grub and some AC.
But the entire meal, I couldn't help but think about how steamed I'd be if I were a DDP and the above preference system were true.
I've always thought DDP was a brilliant little marketing ploy. For every person who maximizes it and actually comes out ahead, there are many, many others who eat food they otherwise would not have, eat more than they otherwise would have, or -- ideally for Dis -- purchase credits that go unused - pure mouse profit, baby. But if the Dis is implementing reservation policies that make the non-conversion of DDP credits more likely, that's a bit more than devious. Then the economist in me has to give another tip of the hat for ingenious market-making wizards that Disney has on staff. They are always coming up with clever ways to create preference classes among their guests, take more of your money and make you feel good about. Really good stuff.
Has anybody else had similar experience with reservations? Any DDPer's out there willing to do so test case type leg work by calling to request a reservation under DDP, declining, and then calling back immediately to check the availablity of the same kind of reservation on a cash basis?
Family and I have APs and use DDE. We didn't have advance reservations at Liberty Tavern, but were in the neighborhood, hungry and ready for some AC. Despite the rather large line, I thought I'd at least get an estimate on the wait for a walk-up.
Now, at Liberty Tavern, the reservation computer is right inside the door and is sunk down into the cabinet, facing upward though a glass top. It is very easy to watch the screen as information is entered. I gave the hostess my name and party size of 6 and inquired about the wait time. As the hostess entered the information, the bottom of her screen showed an estimated waiting range. After she entered our party size, the screne showed the estimated wait to be 1:30 to 1:45 minutes. The final question she asked me was if I was on the DDP. When I told her I wasn't, she checked a field box and the estimated wait time dropped to "less than 15 minutes."
Now - there are a several innocent things that could have explained this, obviously -- a existing reservation for a party my size may have just timed out as a no-show or was cancelled by a courteous visitor. But it was packed to the gills in there with people and I can't help but thinking that as cash walk-up, I was getting perfential treatment over the DDP legion.
And, more to the point, if you think about it, Dis has a lot of incentives to do just this.
Upon hearing of a 1.5 hour waitlist, a cash paying walk-up is likely to decline and go elsewhere. (I certainly wasn't going to sit there for 90 minutes to eat that quality of food - no matter how good the air conditioning). Indeed, such a cash-paying customer might just grab a much less substantial (and less expensive) snack to tide them over until they, gasp, eat off property.
In contrast, if you're DDP they've already got your money. If the wait time causes you to bolt to another establishment, odds are very good you aren't leaving the property to eat. And, indeed, Dis may want to redirect such people from sitdown, slow turnover meals, to snacks on the go. For that matter, they'd likely be even more pleased if a DDP did choose to leave property, leaving unused credits behind.
I should have asked the hostess if the immediate availablity was a direct result of being non-DDP, but I didn't. I didn't really want to reveal that I was watching her type in the info. And, more to the point, in case the nearly immediate availability was a mistake, I didn't want her correcting it before I got some grub and some AC.
But the entire meal, I couldn't help but think about how steamed I'd be if I were a DDP and the above preference system were true.
I've always thought DDP was a brilliant little marketing ploy. For every person who maximizes it and actually comes out ahead, there are many, many others who eat food they otherwise would not have, eat more than they otherwise would have, or -- ideally for Dis -- purchase credits that go unused - pure mouse profit, baby. But if the Dis is implementing reservation policies that make the non-conversion of DDP credits more likely, that's a bit more than devious. Then the economist in me has to give another tip of the hat for ingenious market-making wizards that Disney has on staff. They are always coming up with clever ways to create preference classes among their guests, take more of your money and make you feel good about. Really good stuff.
Has anybody else had similar experience with reservations? Any DDPer's out there willing to do so test case type leg work by calling to request a reservation under DDP, declining, and then calling back immediately to check the availablity of the same kind of reservation on a cash basis?
I think you better run this one by your sons that are all in the Boy Scouts and see what they say.
