Do guests who pay OOP get seated before those on the DDP?

[HLBLan]

A travel agent told us that even with reservations, those who were paying OOP got seated before those on the DDP.

Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[Sysyphus]

Doesn't sound terribly plausible to me.

 

[Scornelius]

I don't buy it. They have no way at all of knowing if you're going to be using the DDP, because even if you're on it, you might be paying OOP for this meal. We've gone on the plan for the last 2 years and have always been seated promptly, even when it's busy. I wouldn't worry about it at all!

 

[kaytieeldr]

You need a different Travel Agent. That one is wrong - and if he/she is wrong about this, who knows what other misinformation is being provided?

Your dining reservations can be best described as "Call-ahead Seating: Extreme".

You call.
You make your reservation.
You - at the direction of the CM with whom you originally spoke - arrive at the restaurant five or ten minutes prior to your reservation time, and check in at the podium.
You get seated at the next available table for your party size, at or after your reservation time, and behind other Guests with the same size party who checked in before you.

Nobody cares, at this point, how you're paying for your meal.

 

[Allison]

Bad TA

 

[Superspectral]

There is no discrimination on whether you are on DDP or OOP.

Based on what I observed during my trip last week, I do think they seat in or order of check in for each time slot. For example, the first 7pm to check in sits before the 2nd to check in, etc; but never before 7pm unless all reservations prior to 7pm have arrived. All 7pm people who check in on time will sit before a 7:15 pm person who may have checked in earlier. I do think that if you check in late, that is if you had a 7 pm reservation and you check in at 7:05, you get in order as if your reservation were the next time slot, say 7:15. Any 7:15 people who checked in before 7:05 and who are waiting will sit ahead of you. After 30 minutes (I think, it never happened to me) your reservation is cancelled. In practice, I think the way it works is that there is no real reason to arrive more than 15 minutes before hand, and you generally have about a 15 minute wait after you arrive (as long as there are tables opening). You may have a shorter wait than 15 minutes if you arrive 15 minutes early. You will always have a 15+ minute wait if you arrive late.

 

[MomofKatie]

There is no discrimination on whether you are on DDP or OOP.

Based on what I observed during my trip last week, I do think they seat in or order of check in for each time slot. For example, the first 7pm to check in sits before the 2nd to check in, etc; but never before 7pm unless all reservations prior to 7pm have arrived. All 7pm people who check in on time will sit before a 7:15 pm person who may have checked in earlier. I do think that if you check in late, that is if you had a 7 pm reservation and you check in at 7:05, you get in order as if your reservation were the next time slot, say 7:15. Any 7:15 people who checked in before 7:05 and who are waiting will sit ahead of you. After 30 minutes (I think, it never happened to me) your reservation is cancelled. In practice, I think the way it works is that there is no real reason to arrive more than 15 minutes before hand, and you generally have about a 15 minute wait after you arrive (as long as there are tables opening). You may have a shorter wait than 15 minutes if you arrive 15 minutes early. You will always have a 15+ minute wait if you arrive late.

We have gotten seated early many times- we tend to be hyper-early for our ADRs (sometimes as much as 45 mins to an hour), and have never had to wait until our ADR time. Even coming 10-15 minutes before our ADR time, we haven't usually had to wait until the "official" time of our ADR if the restaurant wasn't busy. They will usually seat us right away if possible.

 

[Superspectral]

We have gotten seated early many times- we tend to be hyper-early for our ADRs (sometimes as much as 45 mins to an hour), and have never had to wait until our ADR time. Even coming 10-15 minutes before our ADR time, we haven't usually had to wait until the "official" time of our ADR if the restaurant wasn't busy. They will usually seat us right away if possible.

If the restaurant isn't fully booked with reservations during the time period you arrive, I'm sure they will seat you early. If the restaurant is accpeting walk ups that would be a good sign than you could seat early. Most restaurants I went to were clearly fully booked. I arrived at several reservations more than 15 minutes in advanced and was told to expect to seat within 15 minutes of my original reservation time.

 

[winterman]

You are not asked if you are on DDP until you are seated at your table.

 

[Sysyphus]

You are not asked if you are on DDP until you are seated at your table.

That was not always the case for us last week - quite often we were asked about the plan at check-in

 

[Allison]

You are not asked if you are on DDP until you are seated at your table.

That's not correct. We were asked before that during our December trip.

 

[n2mm]

You are not asked if you are on DDP until you are seated at your table.

I will also chime in, that that is incorrect. When you check in at the podium now they will ALWAYS ask if you are on the dining plan.

 

[willis37862]

I don't buy it. They have no way at all of knowing if you're going to be using the DDP, because even if you're on it, you might be paying OOP for this meal. We've gone on the plan for the last 2 years and have always been seated promptly, even when it's busy. I wouldn't worry about it at all!

I agree. We have seldom had to wait more than 5-10 mins. past our check in time and we were on the dining plan.

You are not asked if you are on DDP until you are seated at your table.

That's what I remember too.

That was not always the case for us last week - quite often we were asked about the plan at check-in

That's not correct. We were asked before that during our December trip.

I will also chime in, that that is incorrect. When you check in at the podium now they will ALWAYS ask if you are on the dining plan.

We were there last in Sept. 2006 and we weren't asked about the DDP when checking in at the podium, maybe that changed since our last trip. I was asked if I was on the DDP when I made the ADR's so I am sure they have a note of it even if you don't tell them when you sign in at the podium.

 

[n2mm]

"We were there last in Sept. 2006 and we weren't asked about the DDP when checking in at the podium, maybe that changed since our last trip. I was asked if I was on the DDP when I made the ADR's so I am sure they have a note of it even if you don't tell them when you sign in at the podium"

That was a long time ago and things have changed. We used the DDP for 5 trips in 2007 and there wasn't a time that we were not asked if we were participating in the DDP. We just returned from our first trip for 2008 and it's the first time we choose no DDP after 10 trips with it. We too were asked every time when checking in for a meal if we were on the DDP. It's pretty much standard podium check in now at all TS locations.

 

[BabyPiglet]

Do guests who pay OOP get seated before those on the DDP?

No. Travel agents get things wrong a lot about Disney.

 

[Brian Noble]

You need a new travel agent. Even a medicore one wouldn't try to talk you out of something s/he would get an additional commission on.

 

[karibritt01]

We were there last in June 2007. I have never been asked about DDP before sitting at my table. Our service has always been excellent, and we were always seated quickly. If in doubt, tell them at the podium that you are not yet sure whether to use your DDP or not, depending on what you decide to eat.

 

[PEANUT1]

when we make our reservations we don't even say if we are doing the dining plan.

 

[HLBLan]

We had friends who were just there and said they were asked at every check in if they were on the DDP.

Other friends who were there 6 months ago didn't get asked that. So maybe it's new?

I have read on this board that when you call to make ADR's to not tell them you are on the DDP.

 

[mkycrzy1971]

If the restaurant isn't fully booked with reservations during the time period you arrive, I'm sure they will seat you early. If the restaurant is accpeting walk ups that would be a good sign than you could seat early. Most restaurants I went to were clearly fully booked. I arrived at several reservations more than 15 minutes in advanced and was told to expect to seat within 15 minutes of my original reservation time.

Not so last May...we arrive about 30 minutes early for Ohana...they were PACKED with people waiting everywhere...they gave us a pager and before we found a place to get settled we were paged (3-4 minutes).