Dining Plan & 60 Days

[dreamer17555]

Am I the only one that’s a little bit worried about how this is going to play out when the dining plan returns and they are still doing reservations only 60+ days in advance with the increased demand for TS?

I know 180 days was really far but wouldn’t 90 be a good compromise?

 

[TexasJedi]

I doubt there'd be much of a change in demand at 90 vs. 60 days. I would presume that most groups plan their Disney trips more than 90 days out when you consider families from around the world, DVC owners who've booked at 11 months, DVC renters, etc.

It was 60 days when the Dining Plan was available in early 2020 and before, and I don't think availability was noticeably different then. I took my family a couple of times during "Free dining" promos, which you think would really stretch the availability, but we always seemed to get most of what we wanted outside of a few exceptions here and there.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

I think the real drain on availability during any booking window is guests who book several reservations and hold onto them until closer to the day-of. No matter the booking window I don't see a good way to eliminate that. Moving the booking window really doesn't change the demand or the behavior. The reservations that were hard to get in 2018/2019 (with dining plans and 180 day booking windows) are largely the same ones that are hard to get current day (give or take a few newcomers or places that have changed format and aren't as popular or hard to get as a result).

 

[vinotinto]

I think the real drain on availability during any booking window is guests who book several reservations and hold onto them until closer to the day-of. No matter the booking window I don't see a good way to eliminate that. Moving the booking window really doesn't change the demand or the behavior. The reservations that were hard to get in 2018/2019 (with dining plans and 180 day booking windows) are largely the same ones that are hard to get current day (give or take a few newcomers or places that have changed format and aren't as popular or hard to get as a result).

I was in a FB group where it was clear people were grabbing reservations and it was clear they were SELLING them (the same people would post about a huge amount of reservations for the most popular restaurants for all different dates with messages, such as "message me if interested").

I think 60 days is plenty of time. I would love to see them open a limited number at 30 days and leave the rest for walk-ups that you can sign up online once you are nearby. That would lessen the hogging and selling of reservations and increase flexibility and spontaneity.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

I was in a FB group where it was clear people were grabbing reservations and it was clear they were SELLING them (the same people would post about a huge amount of reservations for the most popular restaurants for all different dates with messages, such as "message me if interested").

I think 60 days is plenty of time. I would love to see them open a limited number at 30 days and leave the rest for walk-ups that you can sign up online once you are nearby. That would lessen the hogging and selling of reservations and increase flexibility and spontaneity.

The selling of reservations always floors me. Right along with the number of services one can pay for to stalk dining reservations for them. I understand the value of not having to spend my own time doing the same. On the flip side, I'm skeptical enough to wonder if some (or all) of these services snatch up reservations themselves so they can do just what those in these FB groups are doing. Also, I've often wondered how long it will take before Disney gets the bright idea that if everyone else is making money off of this, then they should figure out how to do so on their own and keep that cash flow in-house.

Agreed- 60 day is plenty. I'm a planner, I have always liked to plan ahead for any trip well ahead of said trip. When booking was at 180 days I found it annoying to try to decide which parks to go to 180 days ahead of the trip (often meaning planning before park hours or extra magic hours were settled, or before party dates were announced). 60 days is a much more realistic timeline for people to have an idea of where they'd like to visit and eat each day.

 

[Marthasor]

I really hope they don't change it. 180 days was extreme, IMHO. It just means guests who aren't really going to go to their reservations are going to hoard them even longer. They also don't release the park calendars, special event calendars, festival concert schedules, etc. that far out, so it's just too hard to coordinate, IMHO, especially when some dining reservations are, sometimes, not even loaded into the system at 60 days. I'm sitting here waiting for the F&W concert schedule to come out so I can plan a trip for the fall - I'm really glad I will know the schedule prior to my dining window opening - it just means I'm more likely to actually go to the reservations I book and I won't have to scramble to try to move things around, if need be. I think the less time you give people to make these reservations the less the likelihood for hoarding because guests plans solidify the closer they get to their trips.

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

I think the bigger concern is that there are a number of restaurants that are still not open seven days a week and are at reduced hours when they are open. Hopefully, in seven months that changes or it will be a real battle at the 60 day mark.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I was there from the days of wake up at the crack of dawn. dial. beep beep beep redial beep beep beep, redial ring.... Computer greeting Quick hit 1, 1, 2, 1, for the survey. Please hold for the next available...Cue music. ..Hello this is...CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE BREAKFAST!!!
HEHE yeah, for those of you that aren't old timers, that is what it took back then to even have a chance at that reservation. And that's all it was was a chance. They even had a recording come on telling you that Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast was likely gone by now and you can hang up if that's all you were calling for. HAHAHAHA. And you had to do that for every day of your trip as each day came into the window. And if you didn't get Cinderella's your first day, you get to try try again.... and again. A lot of people were so unlucky they just didn't get it. Although the change to opening up all of the days of your trip when the first day came into the window had its own issues.

120, 90, 60. It's really the same. There's always going to be a rush the very first day available for high demand stuff no matter how far ahead of time you get to do it. For most other things, you have more time to decide.

 

[focusondisney]

It was 60 days when the Dining Plan was available in early 2020 and before,

It was 180 days before 2020 closing, with the dining plan or without.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

I was there from the days of wake up at the crack of dawn. dial. beep beep beep redial beep beep beep, redial ring.... Computer greeting Quick hit 1, 1, 2, 1, for the survey. Please hold for the next available...Cue music. ..Hello this is...CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE BREAKFAST!!!
HEHE yeah, for those of you that aren't old timers, that is what it took back then to even have a chance at that reservation. And that's all it was was a chance. They even had a recording come on telling you that Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast was likely gone by now and you can hang up if that's all you were calling for. HAHAHAHA. And you had to do that for every day of your trip as each day came into the window. And if you didn't get Cinderella's your first day, you get to try try again.... and again. A lot of people were so unlucky they just didn't get it. Although the change to opening up all of the days of your trip when the first day came into the window had its own issues.

120, 90, 60. It's really the same. There's always going to be a rush the very first day available for high demand stuff no matter how far ahead of time you get to do it. For most other things, you have more time to decide.

I remember those days!!!!!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I remember those days!!!!!

Yep. We're all old.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

Am I the only one that’s a little bit worried about how this is going to play out when the dining plan returns and they are still doing reservations only 60+ days in advance with the increased demand for TS?

I know 180 days was really far but wouldn’t 90 be a good compromise?

Yes, I've been thinking about this since the announcement. I could barely get what I wanted at 60 days, so if I had bought the dining plan, I'd be pretty upset. I really wonder if they'll switch it back. I never had issues getting all my reservations when booking at 180 days.

 

[MillauFr]

They need to start charging for dining reservations. The current system where scalpers hog them and then resell them is ludicrous. If people are going to have to pay I would rather Disney gets the money. Or you get a dining credit based off of the amount of your reservation deposit. That would eliminate the scalpers.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I was there from the days of wake up at the crack of dawn. dial. beep beep beep redial beep beep beep, redial ring.... Computer greeting Quick hit 1, 1, 2, 1, for the survey. Please hold for the next available...Cue music. ..Hello this is...CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE BREAKFAST!!!
HEHE yeah, for those of you that aren't old timers, that is what it took back then to even have a chance at that reservation. And that's all it was was a chance. They even had a recording come on telling you that Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast was likely gone by now and you can hang up if that's all you were calling for. HAHAHAHA. And you had to do that for every day of your trip as each day came into the window. And if you didn't get Cinderella's your first day, you get to try try again.... and again. A lot of people were so unlucky they just didn't get it. Although the change to opening up all of the days of your trip when the first day came into the window had its own issues.

120, 90, 60. It's really the same. There's always going to be a rush the very first day available for high demand stuff no matter how far ahead of time you get to do it. For most other things, you have more time to decide.

I was there from the days of getting up early and into a long line at EPCOT before opening - so we could enter, get in line at those amazing state-of-the-art video terminals, where we could speak with a live person to make dining reservations day-of at one the the World Showcase dining experiences!!

 

[dreamer17555]

They need to start charging for dining reservations. The current system where scalpers hog them and then resell them is ludicrous. If people are going to have to pay I would rather Disney gets the money. Or you get a dining credit based off of the amount of your reservation deposit. That would eliminate the scalpers.

I would be completely fine with instead of them charging you $10 per person if you don’t show up, you pay $10 per person for the reservation and that goes as a dining credit once you arrive there.

It would cut down on that your Facebook resell market for reservations that’s currently happening.

If you cancel more than 24 hours beforehand, you get your $10 back per person.

 

[Beer Me]

I was there from the days of wake up at the crack of dawn. dial. beep beep beep redial beep beep beep, redial ring.... Computer greeting Quick hit 1, 1, 2, 1, for the survey. Please hold for the next available...Cue music. ..Hello this is...CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE BREAKFAST!!!
HEHE yeah, for those of you that aren't old timers, that is what it took back then to even have a chance at that reservation. And that's all it was was a chance. They even had a recording come on telling you that Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast was likely gone by now and you can hang up if that's all you were calling for. HAHAHAHA. And you had to do that for every day of your trip as each day came into the window. And if you didn't get Cinderella's your first day, you get to try try again.... and again. A lot of people were so unlucky they just didn't get it. Although the change to opening up all of the days of your trip when the first day came into the window had its own issues.

120, 90, 60. It's really the same. There's always going to be a rush the very first day available for high demand stuff no matter how far ahead of time you get to do it. For most other things, you have more time to decide.

I never tried for CRT but I remember not making any reservations until you got there - using the in-room phone to make reservations for the next day or two. Simpler times for sure.

 

[chicagodisneyguy]

I would be completely fine with instead of them charging you $10 per person if you don’t show up, you pay $10 per person for the reservation and that goes as a dining credit once you arrive there.

It would cut down on that your Facebook resell market for reservations that’s currently happening.

If you cancel more than 24 hours beforehand, you get your $10 back per person.

This was pretty common in Chicago during the pandemic. Pretty much any restaurants that had outdoor seating were charging a deposit to make sure people who grabbed a reservation really wanted it. I think as the pp said this would cut down on the hoarding.

It wouldn't even have to be property wide.... just at the high demand places.