Double/Tripple Booking

[katie111]

I pretty much always book my trips last minute so I'm actually really grateful that people double book & then cancel, especially those that post it on the cancellation thread. For my last trip I booked only a month in advance & we got Chef Mickeys, the Crystal Palace, Garden Grill etc all thanks to people that posted on the cancellation thread. But it took a lot of work, I was checking the board 6-7 times a day. What I don't like are people that make multiple reservations and then don't cancel them. I have lots of friends that have done this & it really frustrates me. Some restaurants that I've walked into are barely full when I show up & and yet its practically impossible to make a reservation there. Unfortunately, I don't think there's any way to stop this from happening.

 

[Mom of 2 Wife of 1]

Of course I would book my reservation on a flight as far out as I knew I could. But I don't make reservations on 4 planes on 4 consecutive days, then cancel months later.

And those people getting the restaurant they wanted are getting it because they know they're taking a trip 180 days in advance. However, I'm spending the same amount of money they are, and yet because they have double booked, I'm unable to secure a reservation. Please don't tell me I'm not diligent because I decided to go to Disney 100 days out (over 3 months) instead of 180 - those who are not doing their homework are those deciding to book ressies at CRT or 'Ohana or Tusker House 5 days in a row because they don't want to plan their trip. I've done my homework, and when it's time for me to book a reservation, I know what I want - and it doesn't hurt anyone in the process.

You're arriving late to the game and wondering why there aren't any good seats, or why there aren't any seats at all. The solution? Get there earlier! Don't decide to come to WDW -- the #1 tourist destination in the world -- 100 days out AND expect there to be tables with the exact # of seats you want at the most popular restaurants on property at the exact times and dates that you want them. That's not only presumptuous, that's downright ridiculous. Once again, stop blaming others for what they do and take responsibility for yourself, your family and your trip.

 

[LynneyPooh]

okay, so I have to agree with nearly everyone but the OP. My story goes like this: I booked @ 68 days out. I have ALL the resturants I want. Wow- how did I do this?
LOTS of time going to the WDW ressie site and playing with days and times. In addition I am VERY flexible. We have a CRT (YES CRT!) LeCellier, Garden Grill, Ca Grille, Yatchsman, Chef Mickey, Tusker House and a 1900 Park Fare. No complaints from me! BTW, We went in June, and I booked in Feb and got all the hard to get places then too. (CRT, LeCellier, Ca Grille etc) and I was past the 180 day mark. if you are willing to work at it, you usually can get what you want- Oh also I keep forgetting about the cancelled thread, so I haven't ever used that!!

 

[rachel09985]

I agree about that poster on the December thread. I mean, one ONE day they were cancelling 7 reservations allthroughout the day. How does that make sense??? They means they had to have triple reservations for every meal of the day because they will still have some reservations kept for them. I thought that wasn't allowed??

I appreciate that they are cancelling so thank you and I am not always clear of double booking but I would not do it that much.

 

[gigi1313]

I agree about that poster on the December thread. I mean, one ONE day they were cancelling 7 reservations allthroughout the day. How does that make sense??? They means they had to have triple reservations for every meal of the day because they will still have some reservations kept for them. I thought that wasn't allowed??

I appreciate that they are cancelling so thank you and I am not always clear of double booking but I would not do it that much.

it's possible that they were a group and had various ressies for various factions of their group...

last year we were three families of five, 15 ppl total... i made all the ADRs for all of us and when we switched up our itin, i was cancelling three coral reefs when i was able to score three garden grills... and this happened more than once... i did not book us as a group of 15 for most meals because we wanted the option to separate and retreat to our own families at mealtimes... and when we did want to sit together, we politely asked, sometimes we were accommodated, other times not...

another time i had booked us all at H&V for lunch for the smaller kids in our group to see Handy Manny et al... teens wanted SciFi so we did some swapping out and cancelled some of the H&Vs and subbed in some SciFis... it was a bit of a logistical nightmare at times, but we made it work and we did not do any no-shows...

this happened a few times... and had i been familiar w/the cancellation thread then, i am sure i would have been erroneously flamed!

 

[collegejunkie]

I agree about that poster on the December thread. I mean, one ONE day they were cancelling 7 reservations allthroughout the day. How does that make sense??? They means they had to have triple reservations for every meal of the day because they will still have some reservations kept for them. I thought that wasn't allowed??

I appreciate that they are cancelling so thank you and I am not always clear of double booking but I would not do it that much.

i'm probably that posted on the december thread. i have my reasons. just like i told the OP, if you want one of those, let me know and i will try to coordinate with you if not, then don't bother yourself to be upset by it.

 

[gigi1313]

i'm probably that posted on the december thread. i have my reasons. just like i told the OP, if you want one of those, let me know and i will try to coordinate with you if not, then don't bother yourself to be upset by it.

i'm curious to know "your reasons" as i posted above, i had mine for doing what appeared to be similar...

 

[nkereina]

The reason people do it is because there is no penalty or cost. No one would book two flights on two different days and cancel one because you can't get a refund. If you had to enter a credit card number to hold each reservation and then get charged some kind of penalty for a no-show, people would be much more diligent about canceling and maybe even not double book so they don't forget to cancel. Another way Disney could prevent some of it is if they required you put everyone's name and phone number or email when making the reservation - currently you only have to put one person's, so people can double book by using someone else's name in their party. But if everyone's name was on the ADR, then it would alert the system there's a conflict. I'm sure there's a reason Disney doesn't do this, though. It also wouldn't prevent people from making ADRs for the same restaurants but on different days, it would only work for different restaurants around the same time.

 

[miprender]

Another way Disney could prevent some of it is if they required you put everyone's name and phone number or email when making the reservation - currently you only have to put one person's, so people can double book by using someone else's name in their party. But if everyone's name was on the ADR, then it would alert the system there's a conflict. I'm sure there's a reason Disney doesn't do this, though. It also wouldn't prevent people from making ADRs for the same restaurants but on different days, it would only work for different restaurants around the same time.

That would be a PITA if I had to enter all 5 of our names on every reservation. Can't imagine if you were a bigger party size.

Plus you could just make up a name for the other guest so that wouldn't solve the problem either. And as of right now Disney doesn't check your ID to see if it matches your name.

 

[sweetandsour]

You're arriving late to the game and wondering why there aren't any good seats, or why there aren't any seats at all. The solution? Get there earlier! Don't decide to come to WDW -- the #1 tourist destination in the world -- 100 days out AND expect there to be tables with the exact # of seats you want at the most popular restaurants on property at the exact times and dates that you want them. That's not only presumptuous, that's downright ridiculous. Once again, stop blaming others for what they do and take responsibility for yourself, your family and your trip.

Oh goody, you're telling me that I don't deserve to go to WDW because I didn't know more than 180 days in advance that I was going?

Before DH started planning a surprise trip for me, he had no idea that he had to plan at least 180 days beforehand. Let's just take him around the back of the barn and shoot him.

 

[kmedina]

I'm putting the over/under at 8 on this one. Going with the under.

Other than booking a back up in case the Candlelight Processional packages sold out (which I got) or the dessert party sold out (still waiting for them to release), I did not double book anything. There are some valid reasons like these to book a restaurant you may need to cancel. I check daily for the December dessert party and will be bummed if I miss it. It would be worse if I missed it and did not have a back-up (which I booked 180+days out).

I released my back up for the Candlelight Processional package right after I booked it over the phone on 07-26-11 (for Le Cellier too; so bummed there is no dinner Le Cellier CPP). Will do the same thing if I get into the dessert party but already have a nice reservation for the CG if I do not.

I agree that it is better to book and cancel as soon as plans are finalized than it is to just not show up. Since I never know someone's reasons for cancelling, I try not to judge. There are probably people who take advantage of the system (there and everywhere else) but many are not. Someone will be grateful for that cancellation. These cancellations give people who book their trips less than 180 days out a chance to eat at popular restaurants. I once booked a trip less than 3 weeks out, so I know it can be stressful.

If no one cancelled, it would be almost impossible to dine at popular places booking less than 100 days out. If the people who "double booked" at 180 days did not do that, a single booker would have taken them sometime between the 180 and 100 day mark. Instead some of them take an alternative restaurant and do not bother checking in for cancellations. There are a lot of people (like my sister) who just take what they get and do not check back but would have preferred something else and taken it if it was available.

I hope you get everything you want, because people do the right thing and cancel unwanted reservations rather than not show up. Have fun on your trip and do not sweat the details. Checking daily for reservations is a pain; I know. They still have not released November dates for the dessert party, qnd I need a December one. If I can get a dessert party reservation, maybe you can be the one who gets my CG reservation if it works into your schedule.

 

[Mom of 2 Wife of 1]

Oh goody, you're telling me that I don't deserve to go to WDW because I didn't know more than 180 days in advance that I was going?

Before DH started planning a surprise trip for me, he had no idea that he had to plan at least 180 days beforehand. Let's just take him around the back of the barn and shoot him.

No, that's not what I said. Please re-read my post carefully before you respond.

I said you should not book a WDW vacation with less than 180 days to the date of your arrival and expect every restaurant to have complete availability for your entire party size and your preferred time. If your DH set up a surprise trip, that's fantastic. Lucky you. But don't expect to get a table at the most popular TS spots on property whenever it best suits you. Maybe you'll get them, maybe you won't. But don't blame others for double or triple booking just because your DH didn't plan ahead.

Now, if you want to take him around the back of the barn and shoot him for another reason, well...

 

[sweetandsour]

Saying "You're arriving late to the game and wondering why there aren't any good seats, or why there aren't any seats at all. The solution? Get there earlier" is so trite.

I'm okay with not getting some popular ADRs, as I believe that dining isn't the be all and end all of the Disney experience - sorry, I know folks will want to shoot me for saying that.

But simply suggesting to just plan earlier/get there earlier is impossible to some of us (me & DH) whose employers don't let us firm up holidays that far in advance. In a world with a great employer, yes, but in this economy, sometimes you just have to lump it. And with the trip being so expensive for some of us (being geographically further away), I just can't take the chance that I can have a certain week off.

(And my DH was working with my boss on my surprise and he booked the trip as soon as my boss gave the go-ahead...about 90 days out.)

Anyway, I find that closer and closer to the date, I'm finding ADRs at restaurants on my "list" so I would say to the OP that you can't change how others do things and to not give up, and I find that stalking the cancellation list here at DIS is a very good leg-up on the competition.

 

[Cafeen]

Saying "You're arriving late to the game and wondering why there aren't any good seats, or why there aren't any seats at all. The solution? Get there earlier" is so trite.

I'm okay with not getting some popular ADRs, as I believe that dining isn't the be all and end all of the Disney experience - sorry, I know folks will want to shoot me for saying that.

Sounds like you have the right expectations for booking after the window. No matter the reason, it's the same result and solution. Just because the solution isn't viable for your situation doesn't mean that it's any less valid of a solution. I used the word solution way too much in that paragraph.

Yup, it stinks, but that's the way it works. The only solution is removing ADRs in their entirety (as you can always find someone who books after you, to the point of the day before). However, this would create large amounts of other issues, especially for us planner-type folk.

If you book at < 180 days and expect to get every ultra-popular ADR in the perfect time slot, your expectations are too high. If you go in and expect to get what you can get, and are flexible and/or persistent about the must dos, then you'll likely get 90% of what you're after (or more!).

But simply suggesting to just plan earlier/get there earlier is impossible to some of us (me & DH) whose employers don't let us firm up holidays that far in advance. In a world with a great employer, yes, but in this economy, sometimes you just have to lump it. And with the trip being so expensive for some of us (being geographically further away), I just can't take the chance that I can have a certain week off.

(And my DH was working with my boss on my surprise and he booked the trip as soon as my boss gave the go-ahead...about 90 days out.)

Anyway, I find that closer and closer to the date, I'm finding ADRs at restaurants on my "list" so I would say to the OP that you can't change how others do things and to not give up, and I find that stalking the cancellation list here at DIS is a very good leg-up on the competition.

And that's the key, just keep swimm...erm.. trying .

I feel for those that simply cannot book outside of the window, but it is what it is.

 

[OnlyDisney]

Strange, but until I read this particular post, I had no problem with what people were doing... but you are booking tables for a trip not even yet booked. That seems a bit out of line to me.
I get your being upset about people staying onsite getting a ten day headstart... but again, you aren't even booked yet but still reserving tables. That seems a bit much to me.

I don't mean to offend, and I hope you don't take it that way.

I made ADRs for a trip I hadn't booked yet. I was hoping that a trip would be possible so I made my ADRs for the week. About a month out when I knew that the trip would be a no go I went to the cancellation board and coordinated times with other DISers to release those ADRs. No where does Disney say that I have to have a reservation already booked for me to plan my dinning. I'll do the same thing next time. I'll probably book my ADRs before my resort and keep my fingers crossed that we'll actually make it to Disney that time!

 

[Neverneverland]

See OnlyDisney that's sort of the problem - because this is my first time at like 68 days out sort of planing and I've already said that for dc 2 's fifth birthday trip in 2 years I'm ADR ing CRT et all 180 days out - whether we know for sure or not we are going - so a lot of burned once people probably REALLY jam up the system ....

 

[lobsterkmd]

The nice thing is that we are able to put our reservations we are about to cancel in a thread here- so even if they are last minute- someone will hopefully be able to snag them. To me that's AWESOME!! I had to change my upcoming trip (which I booked a shocking 99 days in advance- GASP!) because I just couldn't find any decent priced flights the days I was looking for. So everything was tweaked and pushed around- and I am sure there may be more changes if something opens up. I am okay with it!

Maybe I am in the minority here- but ADR's aren't the end all- they are an important part to dining in Disney at a TS, but it isn't going to make or break the fun I will have when I am there if I 'can't' get into one of the restaurants!

 

[goodtmz37]

The nice thing is that we are able to put our reservations we are about to cancel in a thread here- so even if they are last minute- someone will hopefully be able to snag them. To me that's AWESOME!! I had to change my upcoming trip (which I booked a shocking 99 days in advance- GASP!) because I just couldn't find any decent priced flights the days I was looking for. So everything was tweaked and pushed around- and I am sure there may be more changes if something opens up. I am okay with it!

Maybe I am in the minority here- but ADR's aren't the end all- they are an important part to dining in Disney at a TS, but it isn't going to make or break the fun I will have when I am there if I 'can't' get into one of the restaurants!

So are you good with people double and tripple booking? I'm so glad this list is here, but I also have a job that precludes me from checking the blog 8 times a day.

 

[lobsterkmd]

So are you good with people double and tripple booking?

No not at all- and I didn't mean to imply that by my post. It stinks! I am right there with you- but you are always going to have those people that want to cheat the system or screw the next guy. They hurt everyone else for their benefit.

Sorry if it was misread- I was more talking about- booking and changing ADR's.

 

[Mom of 2 Wife of 1]

So are you good with people double and tripple booking? I'm so glad this list is here, but I also have a job that precludes me from checking the blog 8 times a day.

But you're still blaming other people for getting the ADRs that you wanted. What if nobody else double or triple booked and you still couldn't get the restaurants you wanted? You'd then blame the overall ADR system for favoring 180+10 guests and not those who decided to come in a shorter time-frame than that.

Once again, you do not know who is and who is not 2x/3x booking. You are assuming that's the case based upon what you've read posted here by a mere handful of people. There are tens of thousands of people in WDW every day and most of them are not overbooking. Most of them don't even book at all. You are simply upset that you didn't get what you want and you're looking for a scapegoat. The truth is, you need to plan ahead better. That's all.