Disney to require credit card guarantee for all table service restaurants

[crazy4wdw]

Several Disney fan sites (haven't seen this posted on the Dis yet) are reporting that beginning on 10/31/13, WDW will require a credit card for all table service restaurants on property. A 24 hour cancellation notice will be required to avoid a $10 per person cancellation fee.

 

[railwife]

Good. People abuse the reservation system by overbooking.

 

[Mkrop]

This is a disgrace...charge someone if they are truly a no show with no attempt to cancel. Do not charge people who might need to change plans or might feel like changing plans...it is a vacation for goodness sake.

I should not be penalized for canceling a 6pm dinner if my kid wakes up sick at 8am and we feel like it should be a resort day instead of hiking it out to a restaurant. I have had that scenario happen. I should not be charged $40 in that case. They could easily fill that table with a walkup. Or with the new technolgy send a text alert that a ADR for 6pm has opened at Ohana.

We have also changed our plans due to weather. I may not feel like dragging my family out to an ADR at CP if I am staying at the Boardwalk in a lighting storm, maybe I would prefer to stick near the resort and eat. Or like in Dec 2010, it was absolutely freezing at the beg of our trip. We had AK and Tusker House on the agenda. It was way TOO COLD for being in AK all day. I called and cancelled our ADR and we went to EPCOT instead where we could stay warm in the buildings. We than ate at Tutto Italia. The only one that week that I could not reschedule was the Candlelight Processional package without being charged...so we froze our behinds off and watch that show. We were miserable.

I have been avoiding booking TS with the CC guarantee if at all possible and booking TS that didnt charge...so great either I take a $40 gamble everytime I want to eat or we our relgated to CS the whole trip...this stinks. I dont have that kind of money to waste!!!!!

 

[bdklein]

People abuse the reservation system by overbooking.

Because 180 (+10 for some) virtually forces you to make dining decisions way to far in advance. Get the park hours, special events, EMH, etc. set. Then ADR's.

 

[DizneyLizzy]

I would be fine with this if the policy was something slightly more reasonable than 24 hours. I have never double booked ADRs, and it has never crossed my mind to, but plans change and things come up within 24 hours.

I know it wouldn't be perfect, but a more reasonable policy would be something like, you must cancel your ADR by the beginning of the meal period - for example, ALL dinner ADR cancellations would have to be made by 4 PM. I know this wouldn't do anything for no-shows in the beginning of the meal period. Or something like, you must cancel ADRs for dinner by 12 PM that day...and lunch by 9 AM. Or breakfast by 8 PM the evening before. There has to be SOMETHING between nothing and 24 hours.

I'd be perfectly happy (and have done this in the the past) to make an ADR at 4 PM for 7 or 8 PM knowing I couldn't cancel without a fee, but under this system, I don't see myself making ADRs anymore until the day-of.

 

[willowsnn3]

I think its a good thing!
Have read a lot of posts where people treat it almost like a game. Grab this one, grab that one....out of our many trips, we have never booked at 180 only if it were something everyone had already agreed on as a must do.

Meant to add also that the 24 hr is a little much. No shows should be charged (uncharged if a real emergency could be proved) and no fee if canceled within a few hours.

 

[wiigirl]

Good. People abuse the reservation system by overbooking.

x2!

 

[mommyrosa2]

I should not be penalized for canceling a 6pm dinner if my kid wakes up sick at 8am and we feel like it should be a resort day instead of hiking it out to a restaurant.

If you or your child gets sick on the day of and you call to explain, you do not get charged. This past August, my oldest DD was sick for most of the week we were there & we had to cancel quite a few ADR's on a daily basis and move stuff around and we did not get charged once.

Having the cc guarantee doesn't phase me at all...I usually make tweaks right up until we go, sometimes while we are already there but being mindful of the cancellation policy. So short of an illness, we keep our ressies but then again, I only have to deal with dinners as that's where I make my ADR's.

 

[celina14]

I think this is a little ridiculous! So, if you want to be guaranteed a sit down dinner at a TS restaurant you pretty much HAVE to book an ADR or you chance not getting in but then I'm going to be penalized if something unexpected comes up? Things happen like sick kids, late flights, weather or just changed plans. Sorry if I didn't realize I wouldn't want Mexican food 6 months out from my vacation! Maybe they should only let you have 1 ADR for each "meal" to avoid people double booking. I know you can have 2 ADRs at the same time but it does let you do one dinner for like 5pm and then you can do another dinner for say 8pm. That may help some.

Don't get me wrong, I would definitely cancel a reservation if I knew I didn't need it but sometimes things happen. This would definitely sway me towards eating off property more if they did this.

 

[LilyWDW]

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.

 

[mommyrosa2]

I think this is a little ridiculous! So, if you want to be guaranteed a sit down dinner at a TS restaurant you pretty much HAVE to book an ADR or you chance not getting in but then I'm going to be penalized if something unexpected comes up? Things happen like sick kids, late flights, weather or just changed plans. Sorry if I didn't realize I wouldn't want Mexican food 6 months out from my vacation! Maybe they should only let you have 1 ADR for each "meal" to avoid people double booking. I know you can have 2 ADRs at the same time but it does let you do one dinner for like 5pm and then you can do another dinner for say 8pm. That may help some.

Don't get me wrong, I would definitely cancel a reservation if I knew I didn't need it but sometimes things happen. This would definitely sway me towards eating off property more if they did this.

You're right, plans change all the time but no one is being forced to make an ADR and too many folks (I know quite a few) abuse the system all the time. And in the case of an illness or emergency, you do not get charged if you call or have concierge call as we did this past summer.

 

[sjs314]

It saddens me that this will be the policy at ALL TS locations since I try to stay away from the places requireing a CC Hold just in case I do want to change plans/parks.

I guess it is necessary since there are too many no shows.

 

[franluvsbubba]

Yes. My TA just told me that today. She said its because people were abusing the system by reserving several ADR's for the same restaurant at diff times/ and or days because they weren't sure which day they would be at that park, and then not even bothering to cancel the other reservations that we're no longer needed.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Part of me thinks it's a fair enough policy.

The other part of me thinks that it's just going to make me more reluctant to book ADRs and I'll just wing it and probably end up eating CS more. Which is fine, cheaper!

 

[clanmcculloch]

I guess I won't be booking any more arrival day ADRs. Currently I'll typically book something at a restaurant at my resort for around 2.5-3 hours after my flight lands. So far I haven't missed it but if there's a mechanical problem with our plane or weather delays then I will. I make sure that I don't book something with a cc guarantee just in case. I won't gamble when there are factors completely beyond my control involved, factors that DO happen and not exactly infrequently. The restaurants I book typically can handle walk-ups (ex. lunch at Kona or Captain's Grille) so I'll just take a chance with that route and have a CS backup plan just in case they don't. It just really stinks for families like mine with lots of allergies because it's nice being able to give chefs a heads up that we're coming.

It's pretty rare for us not go to an ADR that we've booked. I figure that if somebody's sick we'll b able to get the fee waived (this happened to us with the FDP back when only special meals like that had CC hold) and if we're changing up our schedule we typically know it ahead of time. I do wish it was a shorter time but it is what it is.

We've never double booked ADRs and we average 1 TS meal per day every trip. We've cancelled maybe 4 ADRs in all that time only 1 same day.

 

[CalvaryMike]

But, I think people will still over book, especially at 180 days out. As long as they're not being charged immediately on their cc. Double bookers will still reserve times and they will still wait until the few days leading up to the ressie to cancel.

 

[ArwenMarie]

But, I think people will still over book, especially at 180 days out. As long as they're not being charged immediately on their cc. Double bookers will still reserve times and they will still wait until the few days leading up to the ressie to cancel.

Yep, it won't stop overbooking.

 

[celina14]

I know no one is forcing me to make an ADR but what are my chances of getting a table if i don't? From my research here and elsewhere, seems like they are pretty slim. This is a vacation and I don't necessarily know when and where I will want to eat on a particular day months out. But, if I want to get into certain restaurants then that's the only way to guarantee it.

I get that they need to cut down on no shows somehow, its just sad that everyone has to pay the price due to other inconsiderate people. And I don't mean people who no show for a valid reason.

I guess I will just be glad that my ADRs are made before the 10/31 date so for the most part I don't need to worry about it for this trip other than the ones I booked that already have this in place.

 

[Mkrop]

If you or your child gets sick on the day of and you call to explain, you do not get charged. This past August, my oldest DD was sick for most of the week we were there & we had to cancel quite a few ADR's on a daily basis and move stuff around and we did not get charged once.

Having the cc guarantee doesn't phase me at all...I usually make tweaks right up until we go, sometimes while we are already there but being mindful of the cancellation policy. So short of an illness, we keep our ressies but then again, I only have to deal with dinners as that's where I make my ADR's.

I am glad they did not charge you for cancelling when you had a sick kid

But I have heard that is not guaranteed for them to waive it for a sick party member. And what about my weather scenario...it is my vacation, if I dont want to get soaking wet to get to an ADR, I should be able to cancel. It is not like I can get valet service right up to the place

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!

 

[celina14]

I am glad they did not charge you for cancelling when you had a sick kid

But I have heard that is not guaranteed for them to waive it for a sick party member. And what about my weather scenario...it is my vacation, if I dont want to get soaking wet to get to an ADR, I should be able to cancel. It is not like I can get valet service right up to the place

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!

Agree 100%! On the upside maybe it will make walk ups a little easier? One can hope!