Disney to require credit card guarantee for all table service restaurants

[Mkrop]

I have no problem with this whatsoever. I think it's a good thing.

This is just further proof that rampant no-show rates were a HUGE problem for Disney, and that the initial CC guarantee policy has been extremely successful. By all accounts, on the whole, it is much easier to get ADRs ever since the initial policy went into effect. So it's only natural for them to expand this successful policy.

Just like I argued a few years ago when the original policy was announced (and those threads were doozies!), as long as you have all intentions of following through with your reservations from the time you make them, the CC guarantee should not bother you one bit. I would suspect - just like a few years ago - that those who have a problem with the CC guarantees are people who making ADRs knowing that there's a good possibility they won't be going to that meal for whatever reason - be it something innocent or something, say...less scrupulous (such as being double-booked somewhere else).

I have never double booked anything, I am dont like the implication that just bc we dont like this policy that we did. In fact we have only cancelled an ADR once in all the years we have gone to WDW that under this new policy would we get charged for. Have we had sicknesses other times, yes, but we have lucked out that we never had an ADR at those time. We have dealt with weather, freezing cold weather, and once again I was lucky that we did not have a Tusker House ADR like we normally do bc we would not have enjoyed ourselves in 30 degree weather in AK, so after plunking down a lot of money to go, I then need to either suck it up and not enjoy my vaction and trudge out to the restaurant, or cough up $40 bucks which would then make me less likely to go spend a good chunk of money at Tutto Italia, instead I might go back to the Villa and cook. I was thoroughly annoyed, cold and miserable when we had to go to our CP dinner package and show when they could not switch us to another night. So bc we were going to be charged, we went, we were unhappy campers. We walked away that night very frustrated. Now we love WDW, have DVC and we will be back but for a first time visitor that could be very off putting that WDW isnt so accomodating.

It is called good will and good customer service. WDW could charge the true no show, recoup maybe what the diner would have spent in the restaurant and then possibly fill it with a walk up, makes better finanical sense to me. Or make the guest feel good by saying, ok thanks for cancelling, hope your child feels better, dont forget about our room service options, or the Boardwalk bakery has great takeout items, or stay dry and enjoy your resort, can I book you a meal at the Flying Fish, I see you are staying at the BW. Then they could send out a notification via the app that an Ohana ADR opened up, and since it is pouring now maybe a Poly guest or another guest on the monorail might enjoy dining there.

I find it hard to believe that WDW could not find another way. And I also find it hard to believe that most of you would be ok forking over money for an ADR if for some reason you could not make it. You must have more disposable income than I.

 

[Mkrop]

The thing is... money talks. More people are not going to risk making a maybe reservation or a double booking if they run the risk of losing money due to it. People are less likely to just not show up to a reservation if they risk losing money. Losing money is a great motivator to keep people honest. This means a reduction of no shows.

It is obvious that Disney had an issue with no shows. Something had to be done. It is also obvious that Disney has seen a success in the fee at the limited restaurants they had it with before. If it works, then you do it.

And more people will drag their sick kid or sick themselves to the restaurant bc they dont want to get charged. Great

 

[ArwenMarie]

Maybe the problem is the ADR system that encourages you pick your restaurants 180 days ahead of time? I think many people are going to be real reluctant to plunk down their CC for many of the restaurants at WDW.

I think this all ties into the over-scheduling issue at WDW in general, which is now going to be increased with FP+. And it probably ties into the DDP somehow too but I haven't had enough coffee yet to think about that LOL

I still can't see why they just can't give your table away to someone if you don't show up within 15 minutes. Or maybe take some of the restaurants off of the ADR system entirely since they aren't that much different in quality than QS anyway. Many of them are basically diner food.

It's fine overall with me, I guess I just see the other side too.

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

I have no problem with this whatsoever. I think it's a good thing.

This is just further proof that rampant no-show rates were a HUGE problem for Disney, and that the initial CC guarantee policy has been extremely successful. By all accounts, on the whole, it is much easier to get ADRs ever since the initial policy went into effect. So it's only natural for them to expand this successful policy.

Just like I argued a few years ago when the original policy was announced (and those threads were doozies!), as long as you have all intentions of following through with your reservations from the time you make them, the CC guarantee should not bother you one bit. I would suspect - just like a few years ago - that those who have a problem with the CC guarantees are people who making ADRs knowing that there's a good possibility they won't be going to that meal for whatever reason - be it something innocent or something, say...less scrupulous (such as being double-booked somewhere else).

I agree with you on too many people abusing this . I think Disney is trying to get people to cancel earlier or to not double reserve as much. This policy , even day of, will be tweaked or many "exceptions" given but ultimately more people will at least call to cancel instead of just not showing up !

 

[clanmcculloch]

I'm all for it! It is so nice to be able to check for a restaurant less than 180 days before your trip, and find availability.

My last several trips I've had absolutely no trouble getting ADRs at the restaurants that currently have no cc guarantee even a month before our trip. The ones that do currently have a cc guarantee have become easier but the ones without are already not a problem. I don't see how this is going to make a difference for something that's already not a problem.

My next trip is a little over 4 months out. So far I've only booked 1 ADR (BOG YAY!!!). I don't anticipate any more difficulty this trip than I have in the past.

I have no problem with this whatsoever. I think it's a good thing.

This is just further proof that rampant no-show rates were a HUGE problem for Disney, and that the initial CC guarantee policy has been extremely successful. By all accounts, on the whole, it is much easier to get ADRs ever since the initial policy went into effect. So it's only natural for them to expand this successful policy.

Just like I argued a few years ago when the original policy was announced (and those threads were doozies!), as long as you have all intentions of following through with your reservations from the time you make them, the CC guarantee should not bother you one bit. I would suspect - just like a few years ago - that those who have a problem with the CC guarantees are people who making ADRs knowing that there's a good possibility they won't be going to that meal for whatever reason - be it something innocent or something, say...less scrupulous (such as being double-booked somewhere else).

You're making huge assumptions about the intent behind this change. Knowing Disney, my guess is that this has more to do with IT issues than anything else. It's significantly easier for a system to have all restaurants work under the same rules than it is to mix and match. As somebody who works in IT, I can tell you all sorts of stories of policies being changed to work around poorly written applications. With the way Disney's IT seems to work, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that this is the main driver behind this change. Like you I have no inside information but my speculation makes as much sense as yours. I'm just not stating it as fact the way you are.

As I said, it's already pretty easy to get ADRs at the majority of the restaurants that don't have cc guarantees. Those that are difficult to get ADRs for also turn away walk-ups because they're already behind on seating those with ADRs who have already shown up (ex Sci-Fi Dine-In, 50s PTC) so it's not like cancellations are an issue (they've got people waiting for tables).

Your assertion that those who aren't happy with this are people who make ADRs knowing that there's a good possibility they won't be going to that meal is ridiculous and frankly offensive. People can have a different opinion than you without being selfish entitled people with no consideration for others (that's what you're basically saying). I'm not thrilled with this expansion of the cc guarantee but I definitely book my ADRs with every intention of going. Having a lot of allergies, TS meals are significantly easier for us so it's pretty rare for us to want to miss an ADR. We've run through pouring rain to get to a park in order to get to ADRs on time. We do everything we can to make sure we DO get to our ADRs. We've only missed a few ADRs in all of our trips (we average 1 ADR per day every trip and have been quite a few times) and those are due to illness (well, one time same day a CM surprised us with a fabulous opportunity that we couldn't pass up on but that was really unusual and we did call to cancel as soon as we knew we wouldn't make it). Because we have health issues in our family meaning a higher than average change of illness (though we've been unbelievably lucky to not have many issues during our trips) so I stopped booking more than a couple ADRs with cc guarantees. Now our trips are going to become more difficult.

 

[maxiesmom]

My last several trips I've had absolutely no trouble getting ADRs at the restaurants that currently have no cc guarantee even a month before our trip. The ones that do currently have a cc guarantee have become easier but the ones without are already not a problem. I don't see how this is going to make a difference for something that's already not a problem.

I think having a credit card policy across the board will make it simpler for people to understand. Look at how many posts there are asking about which restaurants require a credit card and which don't. They all do is much easier to grasp than this one does and this one doesn't.

 

[clanmcculloch]

I think having a credit card policy across the board will make it simpler for people to understand. Look at how many posts there are asking about which restaurants require a credit card and which don't. They all do is much easier to grasp than this one does and this one doesn't.

I really do think that simplifying the rule is the reason behind this change. I think it's meant to simplify for guests, simplify for the dining line CMs (one less thing for them to get wrong) and to simplify the reservation system for Disney IT. That much we definitely agree on. As to whether any of these are really problems that needed fixing, I'm not so sure but I do believe that this is most likely the driver behind the change.

 

[mcd2745]

You're making huge assumptions about the intent behind this change. Knowing Disney, my guess is that this has more to do with IT issues than anything else. It's significantly easier for a system to have all restaurants work under the same rules than it is to mix and match. As somebody who works in IT, I can tell you all sorts of stories of policies being changed to work around poorly written applications. With the way Disney's IT seems to work, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that this is the main driver behind this change. Like you I have no inside information but my speculation makes as much sense as yours. I'm just not stating it as fact the way you are.

As I said, it's already pretty easy to get ADRs at the majority of the restaurants that don't have cc guarantees. Those that are difficult to get ADRs for also turn away walk-ups because they're already behind on seating those with ADRs who have already shown up (ex Sci-Fi Dine-In, 50s PTC) so it's not like cancellations are an issue (they've got people waiting for tables).

Your assertion that those who aren't happy with this are people who make ADRs knowing that there's a good possibility they won't be going to that meal is ridiculous and frankly offensive. People can have a different opinion than you without being selfish entitled people with no consideration for others (that's what you're basically saying). I'm not thrilled with this expansion of the cc guarantee but I definitely book my ADRs with every intention of going. Having a lot of allergies, TS meals are significantly easier for us so it's pretty rare for us to want to miss an ADR. We've run through pouring rain to get to a park in order to get to ADRs on time. We do everything we can to make sure we DO get to our ADRs. We've only missed a few ADRs in all of our trips (we average 1 ADR per day every trip and have been quite a few times) and those are due to illness (well, one time same day a CM surprised us with a fabulous opportunity that we couldn't pass up on but that was really unusual and we did call to cancel as soon as we knew we wouldn't make it). Because we have health issues in our family meaning a higher than average change of illness (though we've been unbelievably lucky to not have many issues during our trips) so I stopped booking more than a couple ADRs with cc guarantees. Now our trips are going to become more difficult.

Making the policy universal and applying it to all restaurants to simplify things (the IT side of it, guest understanding of the policy) certainly could have been a factor. I definitely would not dismiss that. They probably saw several compelling reasons to do this. But I don't think it can be disputed that the original policy was a success...so why not expand it?

I didn't assume or insinuate that everyone who disapproves of the policy was a double-booker or up to some other devious doings. And I was clear that it could be people who may make ADRs without the full intention of going for "innocent" reasons. It could just be people that book ADRs even though it may only be 50-50 they go on their trip at all or make "just-in-case" we feel like eating there that day. These are certainly not in the class of double-bookers and the like, but they do take away availability from people who 100% want to go to specific restaurants and intend to go.

I agree with the other poster who put a lot of the blame on the 180 days policy. I have always felt it's ridiculous and been against it. My thoughts have always been it should be 45 days to coincide with the "pay-in-full" date for packages.

 

[awatt]

I have no problem with this whatsoever. I think it's a good thing.

This is just further proof that rampant no-show rates were a HUGE problem for Disney, and that the initial CC guarantee policy has been extremely successful. By all accounts, on the whole, it is much easier to get ADRs ever since the initial policy went into effect. So it's only natural for them to expand this successful policy.

Just like I argued a few years ago when the original policy was announced (and those threads were doozies!), as long as you have all intentions of following through with your reservations from the time you make them, the CC guarantee should not bother you one bit. I would suspect - just like a few years ago - that those who have a problem with the CC guarantees are people who making ADRs knowing that there's a good possibility they won't be going to that meal for whatever reason - be it something innocent or something, say...less scrupulous (such as being double-booked somewhere else).

I totally agree.

For those who doubt the necessity of the new policy just take a look at the Oct ADR cancellation threads.

One person cancelled reservationsmade at Park Faire for 3 consecutive days. I seriously doubt she planned to attend dinner there 3 nights in arrow, instead just wanted to keep options open.

Another person cancelled 3 dinner reservations for the same day, 3 different restaurants!

Really that behavior is just selfish.

I am glad new policy will give more people access to sit down dining.

 

[celina14]

I totally agree.

For those who doubt the necessity of the new policy just take a look at the Oct ADR cancellation threads.

One person cancelled reservationsmade at Park Faire for 3 consecutive days. I seriously doubt she planned to attend dinner there 3 nights in arrow, instead just wanted to keep options open.

Another person cancelled 3 dinner reservations for the same day, 3 different restaurants!

Really that behavior is just selfish.

I am glad new policy will give more people access to sit down dining.

I agree that this is just absurd however, like its been mentioned before, I doubt this will stop behavior like that. If they aren't putting a hold on your credit card (which they don't do now except for prepaid meals) the these people will still grab 3 different dinner ADRs and just make sure they cancel by the day before.

 

[maxiesmom]

I agree that this is just absurd however, like its been mentioned before, I doubt this will stop behavior like that. If they aren't putting a hold on your credit card (which they don't do now except for prepaid meals) the these people will still grab 3 different dinner ADRs and just make sure they cancel by the day before.

That may seem like that is what would happen, but the ease with which I have been able to get ADRs for my last few trips disagrees. Even for my December trip, where I booked ADRs less than 180 days out, I was able to get all of my ADR choices. Including Le Ceiller and the California Grill.

 

[nugov2]

I support the decision. I think it is sad that Disney has to do it because of people who abuse the system. If people were not double booking or making reservations "just in case", then this would not be needed. Disney is responding to those guests who have complained about not being able to get the reservations they want and to what they are seeing in the restaurants with no shows.

Disney has been good about working with people with situations the day of dining and not charging. So if your child wakes up sick, then call that morning and speak to someone. Historically, the people who do this have not been charged.

Also, booking 180 days in advance does NOT cause people to double book. Plenty of people can make their ADRs at 180+10 without double booking. That is just an excuse that people make. Sorry, but I do not buy it.

I guess I was one of the abusers...and this still won't stop me. I booked many of our ADR's for multiple days b/c 180 out I wasn't 100% sure what we wanted to do. I was respectful and did cancel once I had other things locked in place. Honestly is Disney's fault. I didn't know if/when our Tommorowland Terrace was going to be until those dates opened and because of that I had to double book other restaurants in case I got the TT on a different day...wasn't going to chance losing BOG(one of the ones I double booked) or other desired TS b/c WDW has weird booking policies and this would impact which days we were dinning. I would still double book even with this policy b/c you are only charged if you cancel after the 24 hour mark, so really no bigge on the policy change.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I just think it stinks that once again WDW is taking the spontanetity out of a trip, say we are swimming and having a blast and dont feel like getting showered and heading back out. It is vacation. I should be able to call and cancel. I am sure they could fill the place with a walkup. Now if I dont bother to call at all and just stay poolside, than by all means charge me!

You perfectly summed up how I feel about this. In fact, we had almost that exact situation come up on our trip. It was a beautiful morning, we were midway through the trip and loosing oomph, so we decided to cancel our lunch ADR at DHS, rebook a dinner there (different restaurant) and spend the morning/early afternoon at the pool. Under the new rules we would've been out $30 for that flexibility, even though we did call and cancel and we even "replaced" the ADR with something else.

I don't double book ADRs but I do like the option of changing plans midstream based on weather, energy level, or just plain, "hey, we're at the end of the trip and I feel we didn't get enough MK time, let's go there instead of Epcot today" and I'm sort of mourning the loss of spontaneity.

 

[nugov2]

You perfectly summed up how I feel about this. In fact, we had almost that exact situation come up on our trip. It was a beautiful morning, we were midway through the trip and loosing oomph, so we decided to cancel our lunch ADR at DHS, rebook a dinner there (different restaurant) and spend the morning/early afternoon at the pool. Under the new rules we would've been out $30 for that flexibility, even though we did call and cancel and we even "replaced" the ADR with something else.

I don't double book ADRs but I do like the option of changing plans midstream based on weather, energy level, or just plain, "hey, we're at the end of the trip and I feel we didn't get enough MK time, let's go there instead of Epcot today" and I'm sort of mourning the loss of spontaneity.

I think this is a very valid point too. You should be able to decide you don't want to go to dinner at the last minute if you don't want to...it is a shame that option will be gone. We would pay the cancellation fee no problem if something came up(I'd rather have the ADR's I want and be out some money then not have them), but it is a vacation and you shouldn't have to have it planned down to the minute.

 

[Granny square]

But having to get adrs 190 days out isn't planning down to the last detail?

You dont have to book adrs. It seems everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too. As usual.

 

[Mkrop]

I totally agree.

For those who doubt the necessity of the new policy just take a look at the Oct ADR cancellation threads.

One person cancelled reservationsmade at Park Faire for 3 consecutive days. I seriously doubt she planned to attend dinner there 3 nights in arrow, instead just wanted to keep options open.

Another person cancelled 3 dinner reservations for the same day, 3 different restaurants! Really that behavior is just selfish.

I am glad new policy will give more people access to sit down dining.

why do you think this practice will stop with the new CC guarantee? Wasnt Park Faire one of them requiring a CC already...(I am assuming since it is a character meal, we have never been, boys not into princesses) So the person booked all 3 gave his/her CC and then cancelled closer to the trip or when they had things situated.

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

I agree that this is just absurd however, like its been mentioned before, I doubt this will stop behavior like that. If they aren't putting a hold on your credit card (which they don't do now except for prepaid meals) the these people will still grab 3 different dinner ADRs and just make sure they cancel by the day before.

But it MIGHT put a "bite" into some of these selfish people and they won't do it anymore-as much- hardly at all. Disney needs to try and I'm behind it all the way!

 

[ArwenMarie]

But it MIGHT put a "bite" into some of these selfish people and they won't do it anymore-as much- hardly at all. Disney needs to try and I'm behind it all the way!

As long as people can cancel the night before, they will still book away.

Now if they charged a $10 deposit per person at the time of makig the ADR, to be applied towards your meal when you show up, then people would think twice before overbooking.

 

[Mkrop]

But having to get adrs 190 days out isn't planning down to the last detail?
You dont have to book adrs. It seems everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too. As usual.

I dont find it planning down to the last detail, we book them but we also go in knowing that we could change our plans if we felt like or the situation called for it. I want FLEXIBILITY with my vacation. I like to plan but I also like to change it easily. This is why I am apprehensive about FP+. I like the concept of planning some FP+s ahead of time but I also want the FLEXIBILITY to be able to change for the reasons I mentioned above. I hope they have same day FPs bc I would hate to prebook a TSM FP+ and then have someone get sick and than not be able to ride later in the week when they feel better without standing in super long lines.

I dont have to book ADRS, I could go offsite to eat, dont think WDW would be too happy about that

 

[mcd2745]

As long as people can cancel the night before, they will still book away.

Now if they charged a $10 deposit per person at the time of makig the ADR, to be applied towards your meal when you show up, then people would think twice before overbooking.

Now you're talking! I suggested that a long time ago - before the original CC guarantee policy was announced.

For those who want "flexibility" & "spontaneity", it's simple...don't book ADRs!!! And if you must have a TS dinner, I'm sure places like Marakkesh, Shutters, Olvia's, Boatwrights's can squeeze you in whenever you're ready.