Disney Reservations vs Call ahead

[old lady]

Would you prefer reservations or Call ahead to put your party on the waiting list?

 

[NYCgrrl]

The Disney eating establishments will want that those on the waiting list be at the restaurants so that the table turnover has manageable turnover. The only way I can see this working is if they increase the per person cancellation fee. I suppose I prefer reservations.

 

[sharonabe]

Sorry, but I had a little smirky chuckle at the call ahead suggestion. The Disney phone lines would not be able to handle that.

 

[Nancyg56]

Sorry, but I had a little smirky chuckle at the call ahead suggestion. The Disney phone lines would not be able to handle that.

LOL! I know! I am not a fan of call ahead on a good day, so I would positively lose it trying to call ahead for a meal at any Disney restaurant only to have the circuits go nuts.

 

[mom2rtk]

Doesn't sound like a very magical way to start a Disney day.

 

[rdaky]

Call ahead seems like a nightmare with so many restaurants and time wasted on the phone. This is a whole different scale than your local Applebees when maybe a few hundred people attend per night. I can only imagine "call ahead" at Disney turning into people waiting for hours for a seat.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Sorry, but I had a little smirky chuckle at the call ahead suggestion. The Disney phone lines would not be able to handle that.

Not to mention, all the calls to Disney Dining go to a call center in who knows where. Certainly not at Disney and probably not in Florida.

 

[sharonabe]

Not to mention, all the calls to Disney Dining go to a call center in who knows where. Certainly not at Disney and probably not in Florida.

I don't think they even go to a call center. I have a cousin who is a Disney dining rep and she lives in NC and works from home.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I have to say that I didn't even realise that call ahead was an option known to so many. Where I live it means you call in an order for takeout and then you pick it up. I did know that wasn't what the OP meant but had no idea it's a option in other parts of the country.

What if any are the consequences if you don't show up? How long does the eatery hold the reservation if you aren't there when you say you will be? Do they charge your credit card a preagreed amount if you don't show up?

 

[bigbabyblues]

I have to say that I didn't even realise that call ahead was an option known to so many. Where I live it means you call in an order for takeout and then you pick it up. I did know that wasn't what the OP meant but had no idea it's a option in other parts of the country.

What if any are the consequences if you don't show up? How long does the eatery hold the reservation if you aren't there when you say you will be? Do they charge your credit card a preagreed amount if you don't show up?

We rarely eat out at home, but when we go with DH's family, his mom always does call ahead seating. We live 45-60 minutes from any decent restaurants (Bob Evans is as good as it gets here, which is why we don't eat out) and she calls while we are on the way. From what I can tell, they put your name on the list as if you walked in at that time. I don't know what happens if you aren't there when they get to you, we always have been. We live in the sticks, I don't know if it is an option in bigger areas or not.

 

[sharonabe]

What if any are the consequences if you don't show up? How long does the eatery hold the reservation if you aren't there when you say you will be? Do they charge your credit card a preagreed amount if you don't show up?

Not 100% sure, but fairly certain that the way call ahead works is that when you do show up, you are then next in line behind anyone else who may have called ahead before you and may be waiting. So if you never show up, you're never really in line.

 

[Micharlotte]

How would that work for the numerous international visitors who don’t have cell service in the US? I know it was would end up costing me a lot more money to be able to use my phone. I can’t even use mobile order because the wifi is so bad.

 

[gharter]

Most of the restaurants are so busy that they seem to discourage walk ups already. This would seem to make that worse.
As a person who plans ahead, I like having the reservations made.

 

[MomOTwins]

Just trying to stress to OP for clarify that this is not a thing: you cannot call ahead at Disney restaurants and be put on a waiting list.

 

[cmwade77]

I would prefer to eliminate reservations and instead allow me to get essentially a same day FP as it were from within the MDE app. So, let's say it is 11 AM and I am getting hungry, I can open the app and see what return times each restaurant has and choose one based on the return time, I then return within the specified window and have a short, 5-10 minute wait for my table.

Of course, I want FP+ to return to this as well, would make things much, much easier.

 

[sharonabe]

I would prefer to eliminate reservations and instead allow me to get essentially a same day FP as it were from within the MDE app. So, let's say it is 11 AM and I am getting hungry, I can open the app and see what return times each restaurant has and choose one based on the return time, I then return within the specified window and have a short, 5-10 minute wait for my table.

Of course, I want FP+ to return to this as well, would make things much, much easier.

In theory, this would be nice, but in practice, not really reliable.

With a ride, the time it takes to ride is a fixed point (baring any breakdowns of course), so is the time it takes to get through the queue.

For a meal, there's no way of knowing how long any given family is going to take to eat their meal. One family may order just the entree and some water and be out of there in 30 min. Another family may order an alcoholic beverage and an app, linger over those, then order their entrees, and OH WAIT, they have this delicious dessert we must have. So their time to eat is more along the lines of an hour and a half. This is why even though we have ADRs, we all sometimes wait long past that ADR time.

 

[cmwade77]

ADRs work essentially the exact same way as I describe, just way in advance. The other option is you check in through the app when you are within a certain distance of the restaurant and they message you when a table is ready. Really if they are going to rely on the app, might as well go all the way with it.

 

[MomOTwins]

I would prefer to eliminate reservations and instead allow me to get essentially a same day FP as it were from within the MDE app. So, let's say it is 11 AM and I am getting hungry, I can open the app and see what return times each restaurant has and choose one based on the return time, I then return within the specified window and have a short, 5-10 minute wait for my table.

Of course, I want FP+ to return to this as well, would make things much, much easier.

You mean like checking restaurant availability in the app and making a same-day reservation? Because you can do that now. We’ve done so plenty of times.

 

[cmwade77]

You mean like checking restaurant availability in the app and making a same-day reservation? Because you can do that now. We’ve done so plenty of times.

Yep, but completely eliminate ADRs, making it same day only and you don't pick the time window, you go based on what is available when you are hungry. Picking a return window could work as well, but would be problematic for those that don't get there when the park first opens.

 

[MomOTwins]

Yep, but completely eliminate ADRs, making it same day only and you don't pick the time window, you go based on what is available when you are hungry. Picking a return window could work as well, but would be problematic for those that don't get there when the park first opens.

Oh I see. That sounds like it would be pretty hard on larger families since it is hard to get tables for big groups without advance planning. Also inefficient because if people waited until they are hungry nobody would take the dinner times like 4pm so the restaurant would be empty when people could be eating there and full when everyone gets hungry later in the evening.