Disney to launch online dining reservations

[kimberh]

if you dont own a computer you cant eat at disney, no i dont think so. it just sounds to that they are adding another way to make your ADRs. whats wrong with options?

I was thinkng this same thing. Everyone doesn't have internet or computers. I know it is 2008, but this is still the situation for some households.

 

[blondinkaya]

I, for one, really like the concept. As for the statement that every day will be a 180-day mark for someone, isn't that already true? The difference would be that online booking could take place 24/7, whereas phone booking is much more restricted, time-wise. I do think that the phone system should remain in existence, though, because some people prefer speaking to a live person, and some have internet issues.

We're planning a November 09 trip, and I sure hope all the kinks are worked out by the time I make our ADRs. I feel bad for those who may get caught in the transition. I'm sure it's not going to be pleasant ...

 

[fey_spirit]

I think that 5 bucks is a drop in the bucket when planning a Disney Trip and many would just consider this another fee they had to pay to get things booked the way they want them.

ok, just a thought, so don't shoot me, please

What if they treated the dining reservations like regular hotel reservations. You have until a week or two weeks before your dining date to make any changes or cancelations before you are incurred a small penalty fee to your credit card IF you don't show up. Nothing horrible, of course, but enough to keep someone from thinking twice before double booking like maybe $5???

So what do you think? There is a lot of room for ideas around this one...

 

[fey_spirit]

Don't you think that might have been the point? Yet another way for Disney to cut costs while maximizing profit?

I would prefer to talk to a real person to varify my ADRs, and just think of all the jobs that could be lost.

 

[fey_spirit]

I have one major problem with your scenario. Instead of only allotting the number of TS credits available to those who take the pkg deal, I think it should be the same across the board (3 TS a day). That way if I want to pay OOP for a meal or two outside of the DP then I am still free to do so.

Why would Disney want to keep me from spending even more money? Heck I have the DXDP and I'm still paying oop for a meal or two.

In a way, I think that if they want to do this to the advantage of the onsite guests, it's pretty simple.

First, and I hate to say it, but first you reward the guests that book a package and stay on property & DVC, even if without a package booking. With everything tied together, it shouldn't be hard to allocate the TS credits to the reservation number. Give these folks the 180 day booking window. For the package bookings,regular and DVC, have a system in place that has the set number of TS credits as the ONLY bookable options at 180 days out. So, for a family of 3 with 1 adult and 2 children staying for 5 nights with the basic dining plan, there would be 5 potential TS blocks open. Of course the 2 credit establishments would block access to one of the preset blocks, once it was booked. The kids would also get 5 potential TS blocks and again, if a 2 credit ADR was made, the access to the 5th block would be locked out. For the DVC, non-package bookings, have their options open like what is suggested below for the non-DVC folks going without a package.

For the folks, like me, who usually just book a room without a package would get the next round of booking that would be made available at 120 days. We would have more flexibility in booking, because we would automatically be given TS bookable blocks for each meal. Only one TS restaurant would be bookable for any meal's timeframe block. There would be no allowance for anything more than 3 TS meals a day. Those meals would have to be scheduled at the very least 4 hours apart or else the system would block the desired bookings for that day.

The final round of bookings would be made available at 90 days out for all offsite guests. The same type of rules apply that were offered to the guests who booked at 120 days.

With this system, the onsite package guests are rewarded first, which I honestly think is fitting, if they want to promote package purchases. The system still rewards onsite guests in general by offering the next round of bookings to them a month prior to the general public. This in my mind would make for a more fair distribution of the ADR's and the potential for fraud would be greatly reduced. By the time that the 90 day window opened up, the majority of the onsite guests will have made their plans and should not be shut out of the dining opportunities that they desire.

Now, do I think that Disney's IT team can make this happen, technically speaking yes. Will they make it work flawlessly.....um, I just don't have any great faith that they can or will.

I would prefer to have the option of online booking, but I want to be able to call and talk to a dining CM. I know that the internet is an amazing tool, but the human connection factor is a must!

 

[Wendy31]

Ay yi yi!

I can't imagine how this will work very well. Yes, I'd love to be able to book our ADRs on-line, but, when I think about Disney's current website, I shudder in fear & trepidation.

I just see sitting in front of my computer, waiting for the site to fully load each time after I've clicked on the numerous little prompts until I finally get to confirm that, yes, I do want a reservation for 4 at Le Cellier for 6/20/09 at 6:00 pm... at which I time I sit and wait and wait and wait some more... meanwhile there are thousands of other people doing the exact same thing... who's gonna get the Le Cellier reservation... who's gonna get the CRT one? It's ADR Lottery - the computer version!

I can just say "I need a reservation for 4 at Le Cellier for dinner on 6/20" a whole lot faster to a CM than I go through all the prompts & site loading on the computer.

Surely, Disney has thought of this, &, in the down-time, they will upgrade or fine tune their current computer system. Surely.

And, speaking of double-booking... For our trip in June, I booked all our ADRs using my cell phone. However, for two of our ADRs, I used my DH's cell phone. When we checked into the WL, I asked for a printout of our ADRs. Two of the ADRs weren't listed - the two which I had booked w/ DH's phone. The CM gave me a printout for those 2 ADRs. I remember thinking, "So this is how you can double-book ADRs!" I could be wrong, but I think that the potential for double-booking ADRs on-line would be even easier - as others have mentioned, many people have access to more than 1 computer (& IP address) and have more than 1 e-mail address - in addition to varied phone numbers and credit cards.

 

[shyjade]

I just see sitting in front of my computer, waiting for the site to fully load each time after I've clicked on the numerous little prompts until I finally get to confirm that, yes, I do want a reservation for 4 at Le Cellier for 6/20/09 at 6:00 pm... at which I time I sit and wait and wait and wait some more... meanwhile there are thousands of other people doing the exact same thing... who's gonna get the Le Cellier reservation... who's gonna get the CRT one? It's ADR Lottery - the computer version!

Flashbacks of trying to get Hannah Montana concert tickets late last year....

 

[MelanieC]

I think everyone is getting a little crazy to think Disney is going to start making ppl use a CC for every booking. I mean come on - I go for 17 days to Disney at a time. How fair is that to make it that complicated when I'm spending so much in food at Disney. I don't think they would do that.

Plus the whole purpose of Disney getting the online system is to save money by needing less employees to answer calls. Can you imagine the additional staff they would need to employee, just to take care of all the billing issues that would come from taking credit cards for EVERY dining ADR? I just don't see it happening.

Also - If your so inclined, you can easily book more than one reservation now. What would stop anyone for booking one under your home phone number, your work phone number, cell phone numbers etc. This is no different except your not talking to a human..........No different than hanging up and calling back.

As long as this new system works well, (as in doesn't take longer than calling, doesn't cancel things on you without you knowing it, etc) I am happy for this change. I have always wanted to go do it myself instead of waiting on hold at early hours to do it myself. Plus calling back to change things is ANNOYING! Plus - how many times have I arrived at Disney to have ONE reservation not in the system despite the fact that I called to reconfirm before leaving and confirmed all ADR's, times etc. for my entire stay (checked more than once too). Last year our ADR for Cape May wasn't there in their system when we showed up. I have all my ADR's on a sheet of paper by day with confirmation #'s. They were also confirmated more than once. Might be nice to be able to pull up your confirmations to check and not rely that a person on the other end is reading it right or not accidently hitting the cancel button by mistake on the wrong reservation. I've also called up and gone over my reservations to find they didn't cancel ones I had called prior to cancel.

 

[ahecht]

Trust me, Disney will NEVER, EVER get rid of telephone ADRs. Too many people don't have internet access for them to do this.

Think of it this way: You have been able to reserve WDW hotels via the internet for a while now, but have they shut down 407-WDW-7675 or 407-WDW-7429? You can buy WDW tickets online, but have they shut down 407-WDW-1289? So why would online ADRs cause them to shut down 407-WDW-DINE?

Disney would also never make a dining reservation system that required you to log in with your reservation number, since not everyone who wants to eat at WDW stays on property. For the DTD and Resort restaurants, people eating there don't even have to have park tickets!

 

[kimberh]

This is exactly how it is done, many are doing it, it is a problem. It shuts out many families. It is a problem. It needs solved. I have never double booked. One of the problems, I have read...right here on the dis, where double bookers don't mind posting that they do just that. I don't want to wait a eternity on a web page while the computer is searching for a available ADR, but...

 

[BigGreen73]

This is a great idea. I would much rather spend my time online booking an ADR than on the phone. Plus it would be much easier to keep track of it all!! Of course it may have bugs at first, but I thinks it will be an improvement.

When is this being implemented? Pretty soon isn't from what I hear?

 

[Joy2theWorld]

Although I like the concept, after having to deal with the Disney website to make reservations for Palo and excursions for upcoming cruise and all the problems we had (and not just us- this is a regular occurence), it would be a nightmare. There are at least a limited amount of people on each cruise. The number checking into a resort on any given date would be ten fold. If they can't make it work for the cruise, how can they make it work for all their other guests?

 

[disneypolybride2008]

Why not just have it where you can view your ADR's online, that you made by phone?

The phone company or whomever gets the money when we call Disney's long distance number will feel the blow.

It's not fair for everyone who doesnt have a computer or who cant always access the internet.

 

[tavettava]

That should be fun, NOT. It is a pain to get your room packages this would be a disaster. I like that someone can look the whole time I'm going to see if I can get in somewhere.

 

[Tricia1972]

I had another thought, about double booking, tonight.

If Disney finds a way to abolish the evil double bookings, there will be no more ADR's available than what are now.

Disney does not have an issue with double booking, we do. Disney handles double booking by overbooking. If everyone with an ADR shows up on any given night the restaurants get backed up. If this consistently happens, then Disney answers this problem by allowing fewer bookings on an evening.

 

[kimberh]

I had another thought, about double booking, tonight.

If Disney finds a way to abolish the evil double bookings, there will be no more ADR's available than what are now.

Disney does not have an issue with double booking, we do. Disney handles double booking by overbooking. If everyone with an ADR shows up on any given night the restaurants get backed up. If this consistently happens, then Disney answers this problem by allowing fewer bookings on an evening.

I have walked by Disney restaurants that had rooms full of empty tables that were turning people away saying they were full. This was during Free Dining 2006. I don't think it took Disney long to figure out that people were double booking, especially when they come on the internet and post it. I do think it bothers Disney. I have never Double Booked. I think it is a Selfish action on the part of the person doing the booking. They are taking a table away from another family that needs it...times that by how many hundred per night. Servers not getting paid, Disney restaurants not getting meals served, that doesn't bother Disney?

 

[Condorman]

I agree with the above statement completely... which is why they will have to start imposing a penalty for those who continue to double-book. Whether this is taking a CC# and charging you for a no-show, or canceling within 72 hours prior to the rez time, whatever. I have no problem with that because I would not be guilty of violating it. And considering an online approach, most users would have to be registered first, and in doing so put down a CC#, so the entire process would be seamless. I don't know what Disney will end up doing but these are things that they should be considering/doing.

 

[Ginamarie]

I may be pessimistic, but I really think that this is going to be an utter disaster.

Disney's website is unstable and slow at best right now. Add thousands of Disney freaks desperately trying to get reservations at midnight and it's a recipe for utter disaster.

I too think that double booking could be a huge issue.
-Email logins don't work well because how many of us really have just one email account.
-Resort confirmation numbers work for those staying on site, how about those staying off site?
-CC Holds help, but I think that many would gladly give their cc's at 180 days out and then cancel at 90-45 days when plans are more finalized.
-Cancellation fees would work, but how many people who don't double book legitimately change their plans and move reservations around? This would be bad for all of them.
-IP addresses identify you, if you have a static address AND if you aren't logging on from work. Can you imagine the frustration when your coworker claims your works IP address as their own and you can get nothing because the system thinks your double booking.

Let's just say, it's safe to say that I am THRILLED that I am not going until 2010 now. I feel sorry for everyone going in the first half of 2009.

I'm with you Trish. Unless there's some kind of GIANT overhaul of the current system, this is going to be a huge problem. They set up online booking for DCL years ago, and it still crashes out when too many people are on there at once. WDW had a MUCH larger demand than the cruise line, which only has a couple of thousand people onboard each week.

You would think that Disney has thought of all these things. I'm sure their planners know the bugs that could potentially exist. I doubt that they will send something out there that is not going to work-especially for something as big as dining.
Yes, I'm not all that impressed by their current site either, but reservation systems are really coming a long way nowadays and I think this COULD be a really good thing for the nerds like me that do everything on the computer. They'll be missing out if they don't try to tap into the market of the younger generation that doesn't really care to make phone calls.

Don't get me wrong, I'd prefer to make reservations on the computer too, but if Disney wants to do this correctly, it's going to take a huge investment. They haven't sunk enough money into the website to date. There are parts of the website now that are very slow and tend not to work properly. Also, if you do start the reservation process, you get bumped into an even OLDER platform than the website itself is running on.

Is it time for Disney to upgrade that system- Yes! I don't have a lot of confidence in them to do it though. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic, but I think this is going to cause a lot of problems upon implementation (ie the first couple of weeks, maybe months, being a MESS).

This is how I see it:

1.) When this goes into action (presumably in October) they will keep the online and phone-in ability for at least six months. At some point a message will tell you when you call in, perhaps as soon as late 2009, that within a few months you will no longer be able to call in your ADRs - you will have to do it online. Then, yes, a majority of those Dining CMs at the call center will be repositioned, for lack of a stronger term.

2.) For anyone concerned that the online rez system won't be able to handle the massive requests on a daily basis I share your anxiety. However, Disney has said this is a whole new reservation system that will tie in vacation, recreation and dining, which could potentially mean systems akin to Expedia or Travelocity which can pull up 2500 hotels in Paris in 12.5 seconds. The whole point of Disney making this move is to make booking via their site more attractive than their competitors.

3.) I believe all ADRs using this system should be linked to hotel reservations, and CC#s must be given to secure ADRs. A cancellation policy of anywhere from 72 hours to 10 days should be enforced, otherwise the CC# will be charged $10 for each person on the reservation. In other words, you book 12:30 pm at Le Cellier for (4) people on 4/25/09. If you cancel on 4/23 or don't show up on 4/25, then you are charged $40. This is the only way to prevent double booking. Oh, it won't stop it completely but it would force people to make up their minds well in advance. Anyone who dislikes this policy, well, don't make a reservation. Be a walk-in. You might get lucky. But there are many people who make a rez and stick to it. They have nothing to worry about.

Nobody likes change but this new system is necessary. I've said it on other boards but if they model it after Opentable.com it could work. If Disney posted menus, 360° tours of the restaurants, opening hours, available times, etc. they could make the experience wonderful. We go to WDW in December and have already made our ADRs. We won't go back until next year and by then the system will have been perfected. Remember, this is not a test. If it does not work well at first they will make it better. They are doing this so as to cut the workforce of CMs taking your reservations. There is no turning back, so I look forward to using it in the future.

1. Disney WILL NOT get rid of the phone lines. They may have a message on the phone system advising that reservations can also be made via computer, but there's no way they're cancelling out the phone lines completely. This would alienate them too much from all the families who either aren't computer savvy, don't LIKE computers for reservation purposes, or don't own a computer.
Obviously we're all sitting at a computer to chat on the Dis, so computers don't bother us, but I happen to know a LOT of people who don't fall into that category.

2. I'd love to see DIsney do a huge overhaul of the system, but I'm not sure they will. If you've ever booked reservations on the cruiseline site, you'd see how outdated a system it is. Not only is it slow, but for our last cruise, we logged on at the 90 day mark and the site crashed out. My Dis friends and family members and I sat at our computers from midnight until about 8 am, didn't get the reservations we wanted in some respects and it took.. seriously FOREVER for the rest of them to be put down.

I had another thought, about double booking, tonight.

If Disney finds a way to abolish the evil double bookings, there will be no more ADR's available than what are now.

Disney does not have an issue with double booking, we do. Disney handles double booking by overbooking. If everyone with an ADR shows up on any given night the restaurants get backed up. If this consistently happens, then Disney answers this problem by allowing fewer bookings on an evening.

I was going to post something similar. I think we on the Dis are a lot more bothered by the double booking thing than the powers at WDW are. Believe me, those ADRs are not held as open tables forever. They have a window under which they told the tables (say 15-20 minutes) and that's it. They DO overbook things anticipating no-shows. They also know that in most cases, there will be walk-ups and a waiting list, so if there were enough cancellations, there would be people to fill in the tables if it suited them economically.
There can be several reasons for empty tables, and only one of those is because of double bookings. I also think that we hear a lot more about double bookings because Dis members are so planning happy! A lot of people go to WDW with no ADRs at all.. or just a couple. It's the group of us (ahem... slightly obsessed) with our Disney dining that tends to indulge in double booking. Personally, as obsessive as I get about my dining, and believe me.. I do, I've never double booked. I HAVE called on the same day and tried to switch a reservation, but I always cancel the one I'm not using.
Some of you guys have great ideas on how to try to avoid double bookings, but I don't think Disney is going to bother with something that elaborate! Just MOHO.

 

[lilyv]

They aren't going to get rid of the phone lines. Beyond folks who don't have computers, Disney Dine books all sorts of things besides your garden variety Chef Mickey type reservations. Cirque du Soleil, special dinners, even F&W are a few that come to mind off the top of my head. I seriously doubt they would bother with attempting to put everything online. Guests booking special dining/ticket/event requests often have lots of extra questions that will be impossible to answer any other way than on the phone.

 

[shellybaxter]

I have walked by Disney restaurants that had rooms full of empty tables that were turning people away saying they were full. This was during Free Dining 2006. I don't think it took Disney long to figure out that people were double booking, especially when they come on the internet and post it. I do think it bothers Disney. I have never Double Booked. I think it is a Selfish action on the part of the person doing the booking. They are taking a table away from another family that needs it...times that by how many hundred per night. Servers not getting paid, Disney restaurants not getting meals served, that doesn't bother Disney?

I restaurant can be full to capacity and not able to take walk ins based not on the number of tables available, but on the size of the staff available. Just like a hotel can have empty rooms and not accept more reservations because they don't want to increase the size of tht housekeeping staff for that day.

I agree with the above statement completely... which is why they will have to start imposing a penalty for those who continue to double-book. Whether this is taking a CC# and charging you for a no-show, or canceling within 72 hours prior to the rez time, whatever. I have no problem with that because I would not be guilty of violating it. And considering an online approach, most users would have to be registered first, and in doing so put down a CC#, so the entire process would be seamless. I don't know what Disney will end up doing but these are things that they should be considering/doing.

Disney is a theme park destination. I really can't see them making it more difficult to eat than a place like Vegas where we routinely eat and have never had to put down a credit card. They can't get to totalitarian with their policies or people will go offsite to eat. Much like some do not have computers, some do not have CCs