Duplicate ADR's for Same Time??

[MareQ]

I have two dinner reservations at the same time for our September trip. It's all under the same name and phone number. Do they usually not let you do that?

We originally made our ADRs at the 180 day mark. Currently my son is being tested for celiac disease. I had originally picked restaurants without considering gluten-free choices. Once the doc ordered the tests, I added some ADR's at places appearing more celiac friendly. Once we get results of the test, we will cancel some ADRs. I didn't want to wait for the test results to make the ADRs since it sounds like September is filling quickly thanks to free dining.

All restaurants will be able to provide your child with a gluten free meal as long as they have plenty of notice

Good luck with the testing - we went through it with my oldest 2 years ago - positive TTG IgA and IgG - negative biopsy - we did the diet anyway for a full year with all of the kids (to make it easier - they're all underweight anyway) - no response - turned out to not be our answer - still searching for one...

Anyway - Feel free to PM me with any questions you have if you like- it was a tough road for us in the beginning - a hard adjustment.

 

[Sammie]

As soon as Disney figures out that the number of no shows is negatively impacting their revenue streams, they will either start "overbooking" or requiring a credit card hold/deposit. Anyone care to venture a guess on when that will be?

Best wishes -

I would say with the Dining plan causing more and more bookings, I would say soon.

 

[ajksmom]

With the Fantasmic Dinner at MGM they put a hold on your CC and will charge it for $10 pp if you don't cancel within 48 hours. I think that policy should be put into place for all TS restauraunts. Would reduce the no-shows and give someone 2 days to secure last minute ADR's.

 

[Raevyn_Wolfe]

OK, I COMPLETELY agree about not having more than one ADR for roughly around the same amount of time, it's just rude. It's my policy that when (not if) I change my mind on where we want to eat I book my new choice and instantly cancel the old one. Easy, done, and frees up that time slot for another guest.

But I do think there is a BIG difference between a no show cause you changed your mind and had another ADR somewhere else you would rather go to, and a no show that was not completely deliberate and unexpected.

January trip, I had SEVERAL ADR's and we made them all except one of them. It was for dinner and towards the end of the day my son was starting to get sick and we just could NOT make it to our ADR. Ofcourse we tried and waited until the last minute before finally deciding that it was just not going to happen. I didn't want to call and cancel just in case we changed our mind or something came up so that we felt we could make it (like our son feeling better). . . . and by the time it was finally decided I felt it was really pointless to call and cancel because it was about 10 minutes before hand.
If Disney were to implement a policy against no shows then what would be fair? Having to call and cancel right before the ADR, an hour before, 24 hours before, 48? I think it's a little too hard to decide because sometimes things just really do happen. I had no idea 14, 48, or even 1 hour before our ADR time that we were not going to make it, we had had every intention of going before things went downhill really quickly.

 

[ajksmom]

Ya know after I posted I thought about the same thing!! There can truly be very good reasons why someone becomes a no-show. I'd like to think that Disney would do someone right in those situations, but of course there would be those that take advantage of that too!!

 

[TinkGirl]

I just did this by accident today. I thought my reservations for Spoodles were for the middle of our trip, so I made an ADR for Teppanyaki for our first day. Oops--I filed it away and found they were both for the same day. I called to cancel one, and the CM said it was because one had my cell # and one had my home phone. Apparently, they are listed by phone number.

 

[bicker]

There are many things that require you to cancel a certain amount of time in advance. It's not an insurmountable quandary. I don't really care which way they go, actually: I could see having a no-show fee and I could see not having one. If they decided to have one, I would say 3-4 hours in advance would be a reasonable minimum, but I could also see 2-3 days. Whichever way it is, with a no-show fee or not, I'll deal with it, and interact with the system as my host would have me, based on how they structure the system.

 

[melomouse]

Oooo... fight! fight! fight!

I just wish Disney would make up its mind about that and tell us how they want it to be. For many things, Disney prefers to offer flexibility rather than integrity. (Think about how folks use dining plan credits purchased at the child rate for adult meals.) We see lots of people complaining when that flexibility works out to their disadvantage but not when that flexibility works out to their advantage. I don't think we can have it both ways. Either we want Disney to be flexible or we want them to keep things honest.

Right on, bicker...but isn't it also that Disney allows we guests more leeway in being inconsiderate and abusive of each other than of Disney??? WDW will still fill those tables with walk-ins if the ADR's don't show or cancel til very late. Meanwhile, I' ve had to re-vamp my dining plans 3 months earlier because somebody's been holding duplicate ressies at several TS restaurants I would have liked to try, too. I am not even trying for walk-in at certain popular spots during FDP. One's option for flexibility equals another's limitation on vacation.

And Disney's not the big ol' Daddy parent who says, "Now, kids, all of you share nicely..."unless it hits them in the bottom line. The current ADR system apparently does NOT... just yet.......

I don't want WDW to "police" it's guests.. just have a hard time understanding how folks don't understand that it's wrong to do duplicate ressies for TS unless their party is splitting up.

 

[keishashadow]

IMO, a credit card guarantee (not a charge upfront) w/cancellation fee imposed 24 hours prior will probably be implemented soon sine occupancy levels are up & the DP appears to be a success - especially when it's free.

We've never had a problem getting a res. where we wanted to eat as long as we called as earlier as possible.

We've been able to change ressies fairly easily up until trip time.

Only time we had to take a different time frame was CP @ LeCellier, slightly later than we wanted.

Other than the fact that CRO doesn't have the ability to currently reference DVC reservations, wonder why they don't tie in ADRs to resort res. # in lieu of telephone number?

 

[Raevyn_Wolfe]

There are many things that require you to cancel a certain amount of time in advance. It's not an insurmountable quandary.

You are right. It's not insurmountable.
If there was a no show fee in my situation I could have dragged my son kicking, screaming, and vomiting to the ADR just to not be charged say $30 for a party of 3 for not showing. And as my son vomited on the way to rushing to the bathroom every 30 minutes or so I could have undergone the scrutiny of everyone in the place and let them think I am a horrible parent for dragging my sick 4 year old son around Disney when he's really not up to it.

I would hope if there was a policy and I somehow dragged my son to the ADR and explained the situation they would let me cancel on short notice without a charge. But it is not completely unlikely to get a CM who believes policy is policy no matter what.

I'm not saying the idea is completely unfounded. I too, get a little tired of not being able to book what I want because someone has frivolously made an ADR. Or not being accepted as standby because they are booked with ADRs of which only a small percentage actually show up. I am just not sure a strict no show policy would be the way to go.

 

[TooBoyz4us]

I would never book 2 ADR's for the same time/night .

I was just sitting here looking over my itinerary before I opened this thread, and am about to call and cancel a few ADR's and make changes.I keep "tweaking" my itinerary plan.
I need to just leave it alone

 

[shellybaxter]

I, for one, wish Disney would ask for CC payment for 50% at the time of the ressie. It's a minor inconvenience to the customer but it just may prohibit guests from being rude and irresponsible when it comes to dining.


Of course, I know there are very few DIS'er's here who would ever do this..
JMHO -

Flame retardant suit is donned..

That is not a MINOR inconvience. We've either made it to or canceled every ADR I've ever made in five different trips. However, I've been in a cab that is lost on the way to the restuarant, I've been on a stuck monorail, and I've been in a ride line that just simply isn't moving for whatever reason all in the sudden. All of those situations have occured while I was "on my way" to an ADR. Theme parks are not condusive to always being "on time". Families with young children are not condusive to always making it where they plan. We had a ressie at the Brown Derby at MGM for 3:30. We were on our way on a Disney bus from MK to MGM with our niece who was four. The bus was very very crowded and she had a total and complete meltdown. She threw herself to the floor (we didn't get seats) and sobbed. I did call and cancel our ADR as we were not going to make her attend, however it was only about 45 mins before our time. I would have been very very upset if we had lost over $75 (about half) because of a child at a place that should understand the issues of children.

I understand there is a problem, but charging a 50% deposit isn't a reasonable solution. We always go to WDW for 10 plus days. That would be an awefully big deposit. I don't always have half of my food budget saved up at the 180 day mark.

 

[Sammie]

Disney will change its policy on this, when it either cost them money or is a major inconvenience to them in terms of staff. They won't change it because it is an inconvenince to the guest.

As to guests being inconsiderate of others, simply read these forums on a daily basis and you will know that will never stop either. Some people are all about what works for them, with little regard for thier fellow man.

Personally I think everyone would be happier if some of this info was just kept to oneself and not shared and certainly not bragged about.

Sometime ignorance is bliss.

 

[melomouse]

Just to clarify - I am brainstorming possible ideas to prevent guests from making duplicate ADR's for the same time at different restaurants - up to 180 days in advance, thus closing out times and seats to other guests.

In no way do I necessarily think everyone should be penalized for being late for ADR's or cancelling last-minute altogether. Been there with kids and changes of plans - and also getting food budgets together.

The OP was asking opinions as to whether or not it was ok to do duplicate ressies. I say NO!"

I just can't get why folks think it's ok to make TWO ADR's so far in advance because they are indecisive, making others change THEIR plans for "flexibility".

 

[shellybaxter]

I just can't get why folks think it's ok to make TWO ADR's so far in advance because they are indecisive, making others change THEIR plans for "flexibility".

Melomouse - I agree with you. I don't think people should make multiple ADRs just so they can have flexibility. I just thought that your brainstorming idea was really unreasonable. I'm not sure what the answer is. I just hope that if Disney chooses to "fix" the problem they put a lot of thought into the solution and come up with something that won't punish people for normal theme park behavior

 

[LilyWDW]

But would it still be okay to make 2 reservations if they will both be used? When you have a group of 13, it is near impossible to get them all to agree on where to eat every day/night...

 

[Raevyn_Wolfe]

But would it still be okay to make 2 reservations if they will both be used? When you have a group of 13, it is near impossible to get them all to agree on where to eat every day/night...

oh no. I don't think anyone has any problem whatsoever with even a small group making two ADRs if they will both be used because of a group split. I think the main gripe here is people that deliberately make two so that they have the option of two or more places for lunch on any given day, so that they can show up for one and the other one or two or three are just "wasted".

 

[Cinderella]

Don't do it - it's so unfair to those who are struggling to get ressies. I do wish Disney would only allow people to make one adr per mealtime.

 

[bicker]

Right on, bicker...but isn't it also that Disney allows we guests more leeway in being inconsiderate and abusive of each other than of Disney??? .... One's option for flexibility equals another's limitation on vacation.

Of course, and that's the case with regard to much of the flexibility any company provides. Flexibility can either be a win-win (which are extremely rare situations, after a program has been operating any period of time, since such changes are "no-brainers"), comes out of the bottom-line (very unlikely given that company have a fiduciary responsibility to structure programs in the best interest of the company's owners), or comes from taking flexibility away from some other customer. Furthermore, it isn't always just things like opportunity for an advance reservation -- sometimes it costs other guests "real cash money".

 

[bicker]

You are right. It's not insurmountable.
If there was a no show fee in my situation I could have dragged my son kicking, screaming, and vomiting to the ADR just to not be charged say $30 for a party of 3 for not showing.

Or just accept the loss. I suspect that is the approach most patrons use, in cases where there is a non-refundable deposit for something they have to cancel out of at the last minute.

I would hope ... they would let me cancel on short notice without a charge.

Why? The airlines don't give you a refund on non-refundable tickets if you cancel your flight on short notice. And those airfares are typically higher than what folks would pay at a restaurant for a meal, so passengers are out even more money than they would be out at the restaurant, yet there are still millions of passengers each year choosing non-refundable airline tickets.

But it is not completely unlikely to get a CM who believes policy is policy no matter what.

Policy should be policy no matter what. In a situation where customers basically expect the world, exceptions severely undercut the effectiveness of the policy, thereby hurting all the other guests. If a CM could rely on being backed-up by management for implementing a fair and equitable policy, then there would be far less confusion here on the DIS.