Dining Reservations -- Why make them?

[KELLY]

That is the reason why I'm weird and perfer the CS plan. I have little ones with no patience for that what so ever. I rather spend my time in the parks doing the rides than waiting for a meal. We are still thinking of staying at AKL but will do a room only and pay for meal out of pocket. Also when we do t-rex or rainforest we go at 1100 am. We never eat breakfest just early lunch eaters.

 

[Sweety_tweety]

Just returned from Disney trip when they offered free dining. Got up at 7 am, 90 days before trip date and dialed long distance to make these ressies. Got the places I wanted -- but had to wait . . . not 20 minutes but 1 1/2 hours for Crystal Palace to be seated (travelling with three infants, not a good thing) and 40 minutes for Sci Fi Dine In. Why am I making reservations again?Disney standard excuse is "Overbooked, computer glitch . . " Yeah, right. As a PAYING Dining Plan person, because I have a Vacation Club Membership, I am not happy. I shouldn't have to wait that long for anything. And they tried to tack the gratuity on to Crystal Palace . . . even with the wait. Well, that didn't happen. We did get Fast Passes out of some of the trouble with waiting but only after complaining -- alot. Again, I question the reservation system. I don't like the fact that anyone can make them and from what cast members say, no one can "see" the spots open or not open anymore on the system like they used to. So NO ONE knows where ANYONE is sitting. Hmmmm. . . .

Sorry you had such bad timing with the restaurants.

Just curious . . . When you got to the restaurant, did they tell you that you were going to have to wait 1 1/2 hours or did they just keep putting you off? Sounds like they really need to work on the ADR system.

 

[mkleinbe]

Just curious . . . When you got to the restaurant, did they tell you that you were going to have to wait 1 1/2 hours or did they just keep putting you off? Sounds like they really need to work on the ADR system.

I know that when we (and the rest of the people in the lobby it seemed) had our experience at Sci Fi they just ignored us. Checked us in and never mentioned a wait time. Finally DH asked when we'd be seated, of course they said we were next in line. We were not.... I think we ended up waiting an hour.

 

[jcemom]

Wow. Waits upwards of 45 minutes really stinks. That would be enough to make me never get the DDP again. I hope we don't have the same experience. We are paying for the DDP this trip (staying on DVC points) but even those who get it for 'free' are paying something, in some way, by not getting any other available discount in lieu of the free DDP.

I seem to recall a lot of speculation when the online dining reservation system came up that this would be happening. I can't recall exactly what it was that was going on, but something gave me the impression that overbooking was a problem, especially when all of a sudden it seemed like everyone who was told there was no availability over the phone suddenly found the ADRs they wanted online. Bringing up that new system at the same time ADRs opened for free dining was a real bonehead move, but hopefully the problems will resolve in a couple-few weeks when we get to 90 days out from when Disney got the online system working right.

Hmm... I remember the same thing. I wonder if this is the problem -- extremely overbooked restaurants? I just read another thread where people are posting that disney dining called and cancelled their Teppan Edo reservations, citing overbooking as the reason.

Ok everyone....you realize that an ADR does NOT mean that they hold a table for you with your name on it, right?!

From what I understand, an ADR is just like a 'call ahead' at any of the chain restaurants. When you check in and tell them you have arrived, they make sure you actually have an ADR and THEN they add your name to the list of guests that are already waiting for a table. When they get to your name, THEN you can sit down and eat.

If the kitchen is running behind, you're out of luck. If it's pouring out and guests refuse to leave their table, you're out of luck.

Don't think you're entitled to a table at the VERY minute your ADR is scheduled for. And do NOT take it out on the server. It's not their fault at all.

And who cares that you're a DVC member? OR that you're a PAYING Dining plan member. I think I missed the part in the Disney rules that says those two categories of guests should be bowed down to.

Does it suck? Of course it does. I've had to wait ungodly amounts of time as well, and NOT just at Disney. But things happen. It could have been anything. A grill went down, a fryer went down, two cooks in the back could have gotten sick or not shown up, who knows.

I'm sorry for the rant...I worked at restaurants with this same policy and have gotten burned one too many times by guests who take everything out on the servers. We just take your order and bring you the food. We don't control how long it takes for you to sit or for your food to be prepared.

*ok...stepping off the soapbox now*

Very well said.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

The hour and a half waits for 5:00 dinner ADR's make no sense to me. Most of these restaurants don't start seating for dinner until 4:00 or 4:30. How on earth did they get that backed up that early? I wonder what kind of waits the people with 8 or 9:00 ADRs had.

Did anyone have long waits for breakfasts? Or did it seem to be a problem mostly with dinners?

 

[jcemom]

The hour and a half waits for 5:00 dinner ADR's make no sense to me. Most of these restaurants don't start seating for dinner until 4:00 or 4:30. How on earth did they get that backed up that early? I wonder what kind of waits the people with 8 or 9:00 ADRs had.

Did anyone have long waits for breakfasts? Or did it seem to be a problem mostly with dinners?

That is a very good point!

 

[skater]

Ok everyone....you realize that an ADR does NOT mean that they hold a table for you with your name on it, right?!

From what I understand, an ADR is just like a 'call ahead' at any of the chain restaurants. When you check in and tell them you have arrived, they make sure you actually have an ADR and THEN they add your name to the list of guests that are already waiting for a table. When they get to your name, THEN you can sit down and eat.

If the kitchen is running behind, you're out of luck. If it's pouring out and guests refuse to leave their table, you're out of luck.

Don't think you're entitled to a table at the VERY minute your ADR is scheduled for. And do NOT take it out on the server. It's not their fault at all.

And who cares that you're a DVC member? OR that you're a PAYING Dining plan member. I think I missed the part in the Disney rules that says those two categories of guests should be bowed down to.

Does it suck? Of course it does. I've had to wait ungodly amounts of time as well, and NOT just at Disney. But things happen. It could have been anything. A grill went down, a fryer went down, two cooks in the back could have gotten sick or not shown up, who knows.

I'm sorry for the rant...I worked at restaurants with this same policy and have gotten burned one too many times by guests who take everything out on the servers. We just take your order and bring you the food. We don't control how long it takes for you to sit or for your food to be prepared.

*ok...stepping off the soapbox now*

I understand exactly what an adr is. And I don't expect to be seated right away. But I sure don't expect to wait 1 1/2 hour either. There is a minimum level of expectation for service. Disney gives us that expectation in their marketing.

 

[stitch34]

We had long waits for EVERYTHING. Breakfasts were probably the worst waits. Worst was over 40 minutes for Hollywood & Vine breakfast, which we always NEVER wait at. Was horrible.
I think breakfasts were our worst waits. Ended up skipping our Ohana's ressie towards end of trip - just couldn't take the heat waiting forever for poor running buses to head over there to wait. Shame, as it's our favorite breakfast of them all.

Dinners - Sci Fi was a forever wait. WCC - not bad - but we did have first seating. Garden Grill was tolerable the wait - meaning eh, 25 minutes. Prime Time lunch another 40 minute wait.
Park Fare - did breakfast and lunch - amazing how full the GF lobby was with people waiting for their ADRs! Have never seen anything like it. Chef Mickey's lunch - not a bad wait at all - maybe 15 minutes? And we were only a party of 4.

 

[ktlm]

It's not all related to the online reservation system. When we were there in May, before online reservations kicked in, we got to 1900 Park Fare at 5:45 p.m. for our 6:15 p.m. reservation and didn't get a table until around 7:15. That was our worst wait ever for an ADR.

 

[Justsyd2]

I'm sorry that your family had to wait so long. It's really difficult when any restaurant allots say, 45 minutes for a meal, and some people take longer. I can see how that would incur a backup for waiting diners. I wouldn't be quite so quick to blame Disney. Character meals are quite popular, and while some people eat, get autographs, and go, others do not. Disney can't very well ask people to leave their tables because others are waiting, but I do understand how frustrating it can be to wait for a meal.

We always try to be observant where ever we're dining. If a restaurant is full, with people waiting we don't linger, but if there's no backup we'll often ask if it's ok to linger for a bit.

 

[eeyoregon]

Just returned from Disney trip when they offered free dining. Got up at 7 am, 90 days before trip date and dialed long distance to make these ressies. Got the places I wanted -- but had to wait . . . not 20 minutes but 1 1/2 hours for Crystal Palace to be seated (travelling with three infants, not a good thing) and 40 minutes for Sci Fi Dine In. Why am I making reservations again?Disney standard excuse is "Overbooked, computer glitch . . " Yeah, right. As a PAYING Dining Plan person, because I have a Vacation Club Membership, I am not happy. I shouldn't have to wait that long for anything. And they tried to tack the gratuity on to Crystal Palace . . . even with the wait. Well, that didn't happen. We did get Fast Passes out of some of the trouble with waiting but only after complaining -- alot. Again, I question the reservation system. I don't like the fact that anyone can make them and from what cast members say, no one can "see" the spots open or not open anymore on the system like they used to. So NO ONE knows where ANYONE is sitting. Hmmmm. . . .

I am so sorry about your experience...that is certainly frustrating!! Last year during free dining we arrived at Crystal Palace and had the 1st time slot of the day and we still sat and waited for 25 minutes! Not sure how they got THAT behind considering we were the 1st reservation? Poor management period!!

I am anxious about what will happen for our Le Cellier ressie in October. I missed my 90 day mark due to emergency surgery. I spent 2 weeks trying to get a Le Cellier ressie with no luck. Then all of the sudden one day, a zillion Le Cellier ressies opened up for my 9 day length of stay for both dinner and lunch. I am seriously worried it was a MAJOR computer glitch and we are going to me one of a thousand people with confirmed reservations!!

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Ok everyone....you realize that an ADR does NOT mean that they hold a table for you with your name on it, right?!

From what I understand, an ADR is just like a 'call ahead' at any of the chain restaurants. When you check in and tell them you have arrived, they make sure you actually have an ADR and THEN they add your name to the list of guests that are already waiting for a table. When they get to your name, THEN you can sit down and eat.

If the kitchen is running behind, you're out of luck. If it's pouring out and guests refuse to leave their table, you're out of luck.

Don't think you're entitled to a table at the VERY minute your ADR is scheduled for. And do NOT take it out on the server. It's not their fault at all.

And who cares that you're a DVC member? OR that you're a PAYING Dining plan member. I think I missed the part in the Disney rules that says those two categories of guests should be bowed down to.

Does it suck? Of course it does. I've had to wait ungodly amounts of time as well, and NOT just at Disney. But things happen. It could have been anything. A grill went down, a fryer went down, two cooks in the back could have gotten sick or not shown up, who knows.

I'm sorry for the rant...I worked at restaurants with this same policy and have gotten burned one too many times by guests who take everything out on the servers. We just take your order and bring you the food. We don't control how long it takes for you to sit or for your food to be prepared.

*ok...stepping off the soapbox now*

 

[eeyoregon]

Now I am worried. I convinced my family to do the dining plan when we go Labor day week and our first TS reservations is for the CP for 6:15pm. If we have to wait 90 minutes, my family will kill me. I hope this was a glitch for the CP and not the standard during free dining!!!

If you are there after Labor Day, you should be fine. The OP happened to be there during an EXTREMELY BUSY week which was also the 1st week of Free Dining for 2009 so some disorganization is to be expected not to mention the fact that most of middle management at Disney was FIRED in the spring and staffing is a big issue right now.

 

[cruisin'Mike]

First off, to the OP, I'm sorry that you had such a long wait. That was definitely unacceptable.

Our family was just at WDW last week. Because of allergies, we ate TS for both lunch and dinner most days. We rarely had a long wait, even at Le Cellier, which is notorious for being behind. The only two restaurants we had a longer wait for were 'Ohana and the 50's Prime Time Cafe, and both times it was because we met up with friends who were also there and had large groups. Otherwise, it was a 5-15 minute wait.

 

[Silver Queen]

I'm really sorry about your bad experience. On our recent trip (just before free dining) we were taken exactly on time for all of our reservations. We're going down again in October and I've got my fingers crossed now.

 

[Mickeyfollowers]

Well we were one of "those" that got upgraded to SSR from a value and this is the kind of attitude that we were expecting from the DVC owners. You knew when you bought into DVC the things that you would not be able to get right? One of the reasons we decided not to buy DVC is the perks we wouldn't be able to get. Why would you be mad because others recieved a little pixie dust

Yes I knew as I said I don't mind that I don't get some of the perks as cash guest get because I also get some good perks and I save more money being a DVC member then being a cash guest. I am not mad at the people that are getting the extra pixie dust, I am upset at DVC. I have to pay dues for the upkeep of SSR. I understand cash guest pay to stay there, but they are paying full price Vs paying half the cost of what Dining guest are upgraded to. I also look at it as I know there is always rooms available at SSR because of the size of the resort and if I want to call at the last moment and get ressies I can. But now they have upgrade people I sure there is not much left. I happy that you and everyone else got the upgrade and I hope you have a great time and more pixie dust is thrown your way. SSR is very nice place.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Just returned from Disney trip when they offered free dining. Got up at 7 am, 90 days before trip date and dialed long distance to make these ressies. Got the places I wanted -- but had to wait . . . not 20 minutes but 1 1/2 hours for Crystal Palace to be seated (travelling with three infants, not a good thing) and 40 minutes for Sci Fi Dine In. Why am I making reservations again?Disney standard excuse is "Overbooked, computer glitch . . " Yeah, right. As a PAYING Dining Plan person, because I have a Vacation Club Membership, I am not happy. I shouldn't have to wait that long for anything. And they tried to tack the gratuity on to Crystal Palace . . . even with the wait. Well, that didn't happen. We did get Fast Passes out of some of the trouble with waiting but only after complaining -- alot. Again, I question the reservation system. I don't like the fact that anyone can make them and from what cast members say, no one can "see" the spots open or not open anymore on the system like they used to. So NO ONE knows where ANYONE is sitting. Hmmmm. . . .

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience. You say you complained a lot, did you speak to management? At what point? At a half hour? An hour? Did you ask the hostess if any other MK restaurant could accommodate you? Did you consider leaving and attempting a walk-up at a monorail resort restaurant? Was EVERYONE waiting that long?

What I'm trying to say between my questions is that there WERE options open to you. The other issue with "complaining-a lot!" is that the seating is sometimes out of the hostesses control. Are they supposed to kick out guests that are already in CP to find a place for you and the other 50 guests waiting? Getting angry with a CM won't solve your problem, but escalating the issue to management might have been more successful and saved you a lot of angst.

As another poster stated quite eloquently, an ADR is not a guarantee and they ask that you arrive 15 mins early for a reason. We waited 40 minutes for our Tokyo Dining ADR in August, prior to Free Dining. It was irritating, but there was nothing the hostesses could do. Additionally, the wait is not the fault of your server and they should not be penalized.

Also, it does not matter if you are a Free Dining, DDP, DxDDP, TWI, DVC etc guest. All recieve the same treatment.

I can tell you that it isn't the fault of the online system, as it has been in place for months.

 

[skater]

If you are there after Labor Day, you should be fine. The OP happened to be there during an EXTREMELY BUSY week which was also the 1st week of Free Dining for 2009 so some disorganization is to be expected not to mention the fact that most of middle management at Disney was FIRED in the spring and staffing is a big issue right now.

I'm hoping its better after labor day. We've never had any trouble in the past (maybe 20 minutes or so at Boma). As I said before though, I do expect a minimum level of service at Disney - I don't expect perfection, just a minimum.

Why was most of middle management fired in the spring?

 

[wdwmom0f3]

If you are there after Labor Day, you should be fine. The OP happened to be there during an EXTREMELY BUSY week which was also the 1st week of Free Dining for 2009 so some disorganization is to be expected not to mention the fact that most of middle management at Disney was FIRED in the spring and staffing is a big issue right now.

I sure hope that you are right because we are going the week after. Can you imagine what those who had the deluxe dining went through? If the waits were really like that, I wonder if they even saw the parks at all.

 

[flyerwife]

Sorry for the OP's issues.

I just returned from 8 days at WDW (Aug 17-25) and had no issues with my dining ressies being honored in a timely manner. The longest wait was 20 mins at Le Cellier.

We ate at:
Chef Mickeys (breakfast)
Crystal Palace (breakfast, lunch)
Biergarten (dinner)
Le Cellier (dinner)
Chefs de France (dinner)
Mama Melrose (dinner)
Yak and Yeti (dinner)

I felt awful for anyone who had not made advanced dining reservations on this trip.