Disney to launch online dining reservations

[kabuki]

JUst found this online at another web page!



Disney to launch online dining reservations

Disney have sent out an email to Travel Agents informing them that Travel Agents and guests will soon be able to book dining reservations online. Here is the quote from the email.

"In the future, Travel Agents and Guests will be able to make dining reservations online at disneyworld.com with this new reservation booking system. The launch date for this enhancement will be announced at a later date."

 

[Quiksilvr]

Wow that sounds like a hassle. It's not like calling WDW is the easiest thing in the world but making the reservations online could be much worse unless they execute the system extremely well and it doesn't have a lot of bugs and glitches.

 

[Mermaid_Ariel]

Great. I hope Disney plans to upgrade their servers to handle the slamming they're going to get on 180 day marks.

 

[erin2470]

I love doing things on line, but I worry every morning the system will crash. Unless you can book from midnight onwards at your 180 day mark.

 

[lilmrsellis]

Just like everything else, at first this will suck. Once the bugs are worked out, this will be a great system.

 

[shovan]

Wow! thanks for the info! I think it's a great idea!

 

[Finiamh]

So instead of everyone being poised on the phones first thing in the morning, now everyone will have to stay up till midnight and hope?

But cancellations and such will be registered faster electronically so yea once the kinks get worked out this might work.

 

[gelebean]

I wonder...

If people already double book restaurants because they can't make up their mind now doing it over the phone, I wonder how bad it will get when you can do it yourself.

I am all for doing things online. I do everything online. But unless they have a way to control that I don't know.

JMO

 

[n2mm]

Hopefully you'll have to log onto your account to make any changes or ADRs. This sounds good, once the bugs are worked out.

 

[simonkodousek]

This would be a great way to book ADR's, but I can see the system being used to double book. I can only hope there is a way Disney prevents that from happening... and also, the bugs should be worked out before the system is actually available for guest use.

 

[Tricia1972]

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.

 

[inloveindisney]

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.

 

[Tricia1972]

I should clarify, I think it could be a great thing too. I am just letting the pessimist win out right now. Disney has done things without thinking them through entirely before (the DDE Disaster of last year pops into my mind)

I just hope they realize the enormity of what they are taking on right now.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

I wonder...

If people already double book restaurants because they can't make up their mind now doing it over the phone, I wonder how bad it will get when you can do it yourself.

I am all for doing things online. I do everything online. But unless they have a way to control that I don't know.

JMO

I am SO with you on this. I think a CC will be a cure all!

 

[sandybobandy]

I should clarify, I think it could be a great thing too. I am just letting the pessimist win out right now. Disney has done things without thinking them through entirely before (the DDE Disaster of last year pops into my mind)

I just hope they realize the enormity of what they are taking on right now.

I couldn't agree with you more!

I too hope it works out

 

[disnut8]

I don't think double booking is ever going away. I'm sitting here now and if I made a dining reservation on this machine in my name, I can immediately go over to the other side of the table and make another one on my husband's machine with a password and user ID I made up. I can then have my husband make yet another reservation from work with a password and user ID he made up. We have three credit cards, each imprinted with our names. Use one credit card for each reservation. We'd just have to keep track of which card was used for which reservation.

Changes could be done the way wyndhamrewards does it. You have to have that credit card you used to book (or the confirmation number) in order to make any changes. But, I could still that in the above example. All three cards reside in my wallet.

I have four email accounts I use daily. One junk one, one for fantasy football, one for family, and one for job stuff.

There has to be one finite thing that identifies the person making the reservation to their actual reservation. I just showed how it couldn't be a credit card or active email address.

I don't think biometrics work via internet ties.

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

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.

Ok, you, outta my head! Every single point that you just said, including the part about being THRILLED that you aren't going until 2010, it's exactly what I thought about when I first read about this a few minutes ago. You are most definitely not alone in your opinions and concerns.

 

[Allison]

I was listening to Lou Mongello's podcast yesterday and he mentioned it was being looked at as a way to cut down on double-bookings by more closely tieing dining reservations to room reservations or home phone numbers.

 

[Minniemom97]

Man, can you imagine that around free dining promotions if the bugs aren't worked out....I've never been able to take advantage of free dining, but I can only imagine how croweded TS restaurants are.

 

[Disneycouple99]

What if they tied your reservations into your SS# or DL#?