Disney Dining Buddy done?

[jdocter7]

This just in from Facebook:

Dear Loyal Customers,

Disney has requested that we discontinue our services as currently provided, and we have honored that request. We understand this may be disappointing to those of you who have found through us a solution to the stresses of dining planning. We share your disappointment.

We appreciate the grateful and positive comments we have received from you. Please know that we have truly enjoyed serving you.

If you have an active request for services from us, you will be receiving an email within the next week that contains information and instructions concerning refunds.

 

[jdocter7]

I searched and didn't see that anyone had posted here about this yet, and nothing here or on Facebook about Scout yet. I hope it's okay to post this. If not, please feel free to yank it.

 

[jknicholas]

Just saw that one myself. I guess the rest will fall like dominoes i suppose!

 

[jwolfpack]

Well, if Disney Dining Buddy (who IMO was doing nothing wrong) is out of business, I hope the sites that were actually booking, selling, & scalping reservations are too.

 

[coletteh]

From the (admittedly very little) I have seen about it, it sounds like cease & desist letters were sent out to a lot of those types of apps/sites. I feel sort of bad now, because we totally used DDB to get difficult reservations on TWO separate occasions.

 

[NJlauren]

I just saw this too! Wondering about the others as I have some alerts on another site!

 

[Pumbaa_]

good

 

[smhwalker2011]

As much as I enjoyed their services, I am kind of okay with this. Reservations went way too fast with these services.. you and however many other people got the same notification...which is not fair to those (like myself) who do spend a good amount of time checking for reservations. It was a cool service, but some traditions just need to stay the same.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I didn't have a problem with buddy or scout since they just sent alert and it was your responsibility to get on and book. I am waiting to see what happens to the websites that actually sold reservations though, as those were IMO very wrong. I imagine in a few months the whole ADR industry will be dead, and we will be back to just the threads here.

 

[Minniesgal]

Good

 

[Missyrose]

I reached out to WDW Tools (another sniper site, NOT the scalper site) and they had not been contacted by Disney. Someone on FB wondered if DDB and DDS could be getting dinged for using "Disney" in their name.

 

[Bellabully]

Great news!

 

[FunTimeMom]

I didn't have a problem with buddy or scout since they just sent alert and it was your responsibility to get on and book. I am waiting to see what happens to the websites that actually sold reservations though, as those were IMO very wrong. I imagine in a few months the whole ADR industry will be dead, and we will be back to just the threads here.

I agree. Making reservations was such a nightmare this year. I would have never paid for a subscription to look for ADRs if Disney's website worked the way it was supposed to when it was supposed to. The websites who held and sold reservations are very different from a site that just does the searching, IMO.

 

[Boardwalk Gal]

I actually agree with this. it getting so out of hand...

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I agree. Making reservations was such a nightmare this year. I would have never paid for a subscription to look for ADRs if Disney's website worked the way it was supposed to when it was supposed to. The websites who held and sold reservations are very different from a site that just does the searching, IMO.

I agree. Two different beasts entirely. I see Disney's logic in ending everything though (which is what I imagine they are doing) before it gets taken out of hand again somehow. I just hope they make their system less glitchy after doing this. People wouldn't mind using it if it didn't misbehave so often.

 

[jknicholas]

I didn't have a problem with buddy or scout since they just sent alert and it was your responsibility to get on and book. I am waiting to see what happens to the websites that actually sold reservations though, as those were IMO very wrong. I imagine in a few months the whole ADR industry will be dead, and we will be back to just the threads here.

I am in 100% agreement with you! I see no issues with these types of websites (DDB or Scout,) I do however have an issue with the websites that Sell the reservations. It's complete B/S how theyre booking them and how theyre making a re-sale off of these bookings. the ADR Sniper-type website is making a buck, but its only for their time to continuously search for us.

I get why theyre going, and it is what it is.

 

[mcd2745]

I am in 100% agreement with you! I see no issues with these types of websites (DDB or Scout,) I do however have an issue with the websites that Sell the reservations. It's complete B/S how theyre booking them and how theyre making a re-sale off of these bookings. the ADR Sniper-type website is making a buck, but its only for their time to continuously search for us.

I get why theyre going, and it is what it is.

But how do you think these sites were finding out when the ADR you wanted was available? They had to be using "bots" which were no doubt having an impact on the WDW site's servers/infrastructure. So all too often, when so many legitimate, actual human users would go in to search for a reservation, they would constantly time out, or get other error messages.

 

[jknicholas]

But how do you think these sites were finding out when the ADR you wanted was available? They had to be using "bots" which were no doubt having an impact on the WDW site's servers/infrastructure. So all too often, when so many legitimate, actual human users would go in to search for a reservation, they would constantly time out, or get other error messages.

i wont disagree with you there. me personally, have never had an error or time out issue booking my ADRs but that is just me. I will say, however, when I have given up hope trying to get my ADR, i have used one of the bot-typed websites. Made my life a whole lot easier, and family members and friends a whole lot easier and I looked like a trip savior LOL.

I personally am not talking about the servers. Disney has the money to spend to adjust accordingly if they need to fix the servers. I'm talking about the companies that are making a dime off of making fake reservations! Those are the companies that have to go more so than the bot sites.

 

[G.Goof]

I used them for 2 of my ADR coming up in Dec. Having to constantly re-check the website to see if something comes open isn't very practical, or fair. If change is needed, then maybe Disney could create a 'standby ADR' option. If you can't get the ADR you want when your window opens, then you could opt to be placed on a stand-by list instead. Still 1st come 1st served, and people who can't just monitor the website non-stop would still have a chance at getting what they want.

 

[Franzks]

Are these sites why this year dining reservations are a nightmare? We traveled to WDW in November 2012 and 2013 with free dining plans and had ZERO problem getting reservations when we booked 100-130 days out. The really popular ones were hard (BOG, CRT) but everything else (Chef Mickeys, Crystal Palace, Tusker House, etc) were easily booked 100 days out. We were floored back in June when we booked and there were ZERO character dining to be had. Nada. Nothing. I've slowly got all but one day filled with what we want and am keeping my fingers crossed I can get Crystal Palace when we want it. I am using Scout, as I felt I had to because I cannot stay on my phone that much checking. Scout is the only reason I have gotten my reservations so far. I understand why sites like this are under fire. I disagree with booking and charging clients but alerting seems fine, but it creates an unfair playing field. If they go, so be it. But I'm curious now if these sites are why dining is a nightmare this year.