Disney Veterans -- How has your recent experience been with the new guidelines

[jpmom]

We plan to return to WDW this year after a 12 month hiatus.

The new reservation plan is understandable -- and probably necessary.

What is your experience? Are the glitches, if any, worked out?
Has the "walk up" availability been positively affected?

How about reservations within the time you are on property? Are these impossible to get?

Do you think the new policy makes getting reservations easier ??? I would think that some folks might not want to "lock in" their dining plans.

 

[PrincessV]

Admittedly, as a party of 2, we probably have an advantage, but I've never had problems getting walk-ups, even before the new system. Then again, I don't even try to walk-up at the most popular spots.

Ditto for reservations - I had no problem getting last-minute reservations (as in, a few hours away) at a number of places, including Kona and Tony's Town Square.

You didn't ask, but I'll offer as both a WDW-veteran and semi-local: I won't book any ADRs that require a CC anymore, with very few exceptions. Experience tells me that stuff happens and I'm not willing to bet my hard-earned money that I won't miss or be late for an ADR.

 

[jpmom]

Thanks for the reply...

After some 30 trips to WDW, I have a hard time with this new system. I really do understand why they felt the need for it... but I'm with you -- I'd be hesitant to book a ressie that requires a CC.

It's good to hear that you have been able to get last minute reservations.

 

[PrincessV]

Thanks for the reply...

After some 30 trips to WDW, I have a hard time with this new system. I really do understand why they felt the need for it... but I'm with you -- I'd be hesitant to book a ressie that requires a CC.

It's good to hear that you have been able to get last minute reservations.

Yep, yep ,yep - I do get the need, but I don't like it, lol!

 

[TDC Nala]

I won't be booking any reservations at restaurants requiring a credit card hold (except possibly Victoria & Alberts which is worth the risk)

Not that I won't eat there anymore, but I won't do it on a reservation. The ones you absolutely must have a reservation to get into, I'm indifferent about, so if that means I don't eat there I'm good with it. There are plenty of good restaurants that don't require a credit card hold.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I won't be booking any CC hold restaurants anymore either. I do not book multiple reservations and have every good intention of keeping ADR's, but there are just too many things that are totally out of my control that can happen and force me to miss an ADR.

 

[jpmom]

This is very interesting to me, that many of you have stopped making ADRs.

Part of the enjoyment of WDW for our family of four is the dining. We always look forward to a nice dinner at the end of the day. But sometimes, we would change our plans. Maybe we are too tired to go back out to dinner - or ate lunch too late and are simply not hungry.

Anyway, I think our dining plans will change here on out. I'll take a chance on last minute ressies. And maybe only book one ADR at that "can't miss" restaurant.

 

[gobo2]

Wouldn't it be fantastic if enough of us stopped making ADRs because of the CC charges so that walk-ups (or phone ressies made from the bus on the way to the restaurant like before free dining) became available?

I only made one ADR that needed a CC for my trip this month. After explaining the risk to my fam, they thought only Kona was worth the risk. Since that ressie is at 2, it should be easy to make sure we are super hungry. None of us really wanted to spend our whole vaca worrying about being hungry at dinner time or having ADRs as the most important thing of the day. That just isn't how we roll.

I have always cancelled any ADR that we would miss a few hours ahead, as soon as we knew we wouldn't make it. We generally miss two in our eight day trip. The restaurants are always overbooked, as evident by the amount of time waiting after an ADR so I never really felt bad about it.

Overall, I don't hate the policy. Disney felt that too many people were making ADRs they didn't plan on using. I do think that if they are going to charge for no-shows, the long waits (more than 15 minutes) after an ADR should stop.

 

[DoBug]

I think it may be too early to see a big impact on the availability of walk-up reservations. Since this policy went into effect for new ADRs at the end of October I am not sure you would see it for at least 3 months.

I haven't been on the boards a lot in the last few weeks (we were in Disney Dec 15-22) but I think there have already been some reports of it being easier to get the 'hot" ADRs at the 180 day mark. But you would also have to look whether free dining is avail in that time frame, etc.

I did not have to deal with this when planning our last trip since I made all the ADRs before October. I know there are some problems with implementation which I hope will be fixed ASAP. But I don't think this will change our plans at all - we really enjoy the table service restaurants and the signature restaurants and may only have 1 character meal. I have no problem paying the CC guarantee but we are only a family of 3 and assuming maybe one missed ADR $30 out of a $5000 vacation is not worth worrying about to me.

I think this change as well as others, including making Le Cellier 2 credits and adding the picnic option for Fantasmic are profit making but also to spread out the customers and reduce the 'load' at some of the most popular places. It may also help manage staffing - there were many reports about empty tables even during free dining, so getting some control of the number of no-shows may help get staffing right. Disney doesn't want to have a full crew on with half the tables empty. The more knowledgable people here have said that the empty tables are probably due to inability to hire enough staff. Or not wanting to hire and pay enough staff.

I don't know the answer and may still have my rose-colored glasses on in regard to Disney. Anyway just my 2 cents (and keep in mind that I got a C in Economics) so don't flame me!

 

[PrincessV]

It may also help manage staffing - there were many reports about empty tables even during free dining, so getting some control of the number of no-shows may help get staffing right. Disney doesn't want to have a full crew on with half the tables empty. The more knowledgable people here have said that the empty tables are probably due to inability to hire enough staff. Or not wanting to hire and pay enough staff.

Those were exactly my first thoughts when the new system was announced. I love my Mouse, but he's not in the business of making dining reservations more pleasant/easier to get/less stressful for customers - he's in the business of making money. Often, he makes more money when he has happy customers, so it works out for all, but I really think this has its roots in restaurant management, not guest reservation experience.


I'll echo an earlier comment, too - most of the CC places aren't on our list of favorite spots, anyway, so that makes it a little easier. Brown Derby was a bummer; I looove that place. But DHS is the absolute worst park for us regarding plans gone awry so I wouldn't chance it our last trip (Dec.). I planned to try for a walk-up, but sure enough, stuff happened and we never went, lol!

 

[eliza61]

I won't be booking any reservations at restaurants requiring a credit card hold (except possibly Victoria & Alberts which is worth the risk)

Not that I won't eat there anymore, but I won't do it on a reservation. The ones you absolutely must have a reservation to get into, I'm indifferent about, so if that means I don't eat there I'm good with it. There are plenty of good restaurants that don't require a credit card hold.

What's equally interesting to me is that my secretary just booked her adrs for a trip in June. She made 2 a day. In different parks. LOL. She had no qualms whatsoever giving them her debit card (which she says she uses just for vacation) and she simply insist that around 10 days before her trip she'll do a final go through and cull out the ones she doesn't want.

I laughed because as I predicted this is doing not a blessed thing to stop anyone from making multiple adr's

 

[jpmom]

What's equally interesting to me is that my secretary just booked her adrs for a trip in June. She made 2 a day. In different parks. LOL. She had no qualms whatsoever giving them her debit card (which she says she uses just for vacation) and she simply insist that around 10 days before her trip she'll do a final go through and cull out the ones she doesn't want.

I laughed because as I predicted this is doing not a blessed thing to stop anyone from making multiple adr's

Sounds like she has a good plan. May have to adopt that for our next trip. If I ever made multiple ADRs per day in the past - I always cancelled the one we didn't use. And for the most part, we would decide the day before.

I like the way your secretary thinks! Good for her....

 

[NLD]

What's equally interesting to me is that my secretary just booked her adrs for a trip in June. She made 2 a day. In different parks. LOL. She had no qualms whatsoever giving them her debit card (which she says she uses just for vacation) and she simply insist that around 10 days before her trip she'll do a final go through and cull out the ones she doesn't want.

I laughed because as I predicted this is doing not a blessed thing to stop anyone from making multiple adr's

Ha, proof of what a number of us have been saying all along... that this policy really doesn't do anything to stop the double-bookers in advance of a trip.

As for us...

We have a trip in January. We booked it in October. When I heard about the new policy, I made sure to have all our ADRs settled before the policy went into effect. Made me happy, because we had a Tusker House breakfast booked with no cc. And while I played with a few other ADRs after the October 26 date, that Tusker House reservation stayed put!

Then just this week we added someone to the trip, and I had to renegotiate all the ADRs.

And now... we still have a Tusker House reservation, but it's with a cc guarantee.

But that is the ONLY one. I stared a long time today at the Artist Pointe menu, thinking "Should we or shouldn't we?" And stared a long time at other character breakfasts available for departure day.

And ultimately decided that no, I was not willing to risk the money. One cc guarantee is the limit, at least this trip!

Maybe we'll try for a walk-up somewhere once we are there. In the meantime, I'm going to Disney with 4 ADRs scheduled for a 7-day trip; out of those 4, only one is a cc guarantee. And no DDP. I didn't like DDP anyway, but with this policy? Just one more nail in the coffin for the plan, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[eliza61]

Ha, proof of what a number of us have been saying all along... that this policy really doesn't do anything to stop the double-bookers in advance of a trip.

.

More than that I think it is just going to leave a very sour taste in the mouths of many first timers.

Realistically anyone like us on the dis and my secretary, us folks who are knowlegable enough or have experience with disney dining reservations will continue to make multiple adrs IF we want too. Now I know most here don't but my point is that for the uber planner this is really not going to free up many adr's

 

[PrincessV]

I stared a long time today at the Artist Pointe menu, thinking "Should we or shouldn't we?"

Too funny - that's exactly the mental conversation I had with myself over Artist Point last month! I opted to skip it, too. Which makes me think... so far, I'm eating at far fewer of my pricey favorites, which means less of my money in WDW's coffers. Wonder if that's happening across the board???

Now I know most here don't but my point is that for the uber planner this is really not going to free up many adr's

Yep, ITA!

 

[NLD]

More than that I think it is just going to leave a very sour taste in the mouths of many first timers.

Eliza I totally agree about this policy being awful for first-timers. It's truly setting them up for a horrible customer service experience.

Our plans changed SO many time on the fly, on our first trip in 2009. I had found the diboards before going and knew a TON of info. We had a GREAT plan... on paper. Rest time built in, not too overscheduled but managing to hit all the most important things. Coordinating with EMH and nighttime entertainment.

But in PRACTICE... we just didn't know what that vacation would be like until we got there.

Too funny - that's exactly the mental conversation I had with myself over Artist Point last month! I opted to skip it, too. Which makes me think... so far, I'm eating at far fewer of my pricey favorites, which means less of my money in WDW's coffers. Wonder if that's happening across the board???

With Artist Point... we're going a slow time of year, I'm actually thinking maybe we'll just sit at Territory Lounge some night and see if they'll let us order off the AP menu. The Wilderness Lodge experts report this being possible sometimes, if it's not too busy. So we shall see.

 

[DoBug]

I guess I am really surprised at the number of people posting here that WILL change their behavior pretty radically based on the CC guarantee. I understand in the case of large groups it would be a bigger risk but is Disney charging the whole party as no-shows if 1 or 2 people don't show up?

I assumed (and maybe Disney did too?) that this would mostly change the behavior of people booking multiple ADRS for a single meal or the casual no-show who just changes their plans. Yes, there are still way's to book multiples and put them on separate names/credit cards etc. But I think it would be harder to keep track of all these and cancel the extras in time. Maybe I am underestimating the abilites/determination of the wiley double-bookers.

I didn't think that it would change the behavior of the average DISer (you are all really well above average).

Anyway I wonder if Disney is in for a shock about how much this may affect their restaurants?

 

[mcd2745]

I guess I am really surprised at the number of people posting here that WILL change their behavior pretty radically based on the CC guarantee. I understand in the case of large groups it would be a bigger risk but is Disney charging the whole party as no-shows if 1 or 2 people don't show up?

To me, this signals just how much that many guests felt there was virtually no real obligation for them to show up at their ADRs. The prevailing attitude was very flippant toward ADRs.

I assumed (and maybe Disney did too?) that this would mostly change the behavior of people booking multiple ADRS for a single meal or the casual no-show who just changes their plans. Yes, there are still way's to book multiples and put them on separate names/credit cards etc. But I think it would be harder to keep track of all these and cancel the extras in time. Maybe I am underestimating the abilites/determination of the wiley double-bookers.

There will likely always be a small group of people who will go through great lengths to continue their practice of double-booking. I get the feeling for a lot of those people, it's more about "getting over" than it is the ADRs or meals themselves. However, there's probably a large group who stopped because now it requires at least some effort to both make the multiple reservations and then cancel the extras whereas before it required no effort at all.

I didn't think that it would change the behavior of the average DISer (you are all really well above average).

Anyway I wonder if Disney is in for a shock about how much this may affect their restaurants?

In another thread on the Rumors board, someone posted that they were just checking ADRs for late March (only 2.5 months away) and that suprisingly, on a Friday night, all but one restaurant (Tutto Italia - a non CC guarantee restaurant interestingly enough) had times available between 5 and 7pm. That seems (to me, at least) like a pretty dramatic shift. If that is a result of the new policy, it's hard for me to view the policy as anything but positive. If, and it's a big if, that is what will become the norm as far as availability going forward...that's a very good thing for everyone.

 

[TDC Nala]

In another thread on the Rumors board, someone posted that they were just checking ADRs for late March (only 2.5 months away) and that suprisingly, on a Friday night, all but one restaurant (Tutto Italia - a non CC guarantee restaurant interestingly enough) had times available between 5 and 7pm.

Tutto Italia is closed for renovations from next week until April - that's why it's not showing up for March.

 

[luvmy2babies]

This will only be our 2nd trip with ADRs, but I didn’t have a drastic reaction as far as where we are going to eat. Our upcoming trip is 9 nights. I don’t intend to cook on vacation so we stay on site. I’m a single mom with a long commute. I drive us everywhere all the time so I am not the least bit interested in driving while on vacation there. With a little girl and a toddler, there are only so many places we are going to go to eat.

What I did take a hard look at was my scheduling. On our first trip, the two I ended up cancelling just happened to be the only two I booked for the same day. This time, not doing that. We have just one per day. I also did not make ADRs on either our arrival day or our departure day. I don’t have any breakfasts scheduled at another resort and the two dinners I have scheduled at resorts I can get us to without a bus. I kept our reservations as close to our normal meal times as possible.