Effect of CC guarantee ?

[LindaBabe]

What do you think the effect of having to guarentee each ADR with a credit card will be on general availabilty?

Will people make the same number of reservations as they did without the guarentee?

Will there be more walk in seating available?

Will availabilty not be affected at all?

Has it changed the way YOU plan your dining?

 

[AlohaAnnie]

what do you think the effect of having to guarentee each adr with a credit card will be on general availabilty?

No comment

will people make the same number of reservations as they did without the guarentee?

No comment

will there be more walk in seating available?

No comment


will availabilty not be affected at all?

No comment


has it changed the way you plan your dining?

Not one bit!!!!

.
.
.

 

[AmyB2006]

What do you think the effect of having to guarentee each ADR with a credit card will be on general availabilty?

Depends. I think people who want to make the effort will find a way around this policy as well as they did the other one. Overall, I think there will be more availability.

Will people make the same number of reservations as they did without the guarentee?

Again, depends on how badly you want to "go around" the system.

Will there be more walk in seating available?

I think there will be yes.

Will availabilty not be affected at all?

See above.

Has it changed the way YOU plan your dining?

No. I never booked multiple reservations. I never made reservations just in case. If I made one I intended to show up, and luckily I've not had to deal with a sick child at the last minute (knock on wood).

 

[Colleen27]

It has changed the way we travel. I'm simply not willing to chance inflexible plans with a monetary penalty attached for every meal, so we've gone from 2 ADRs per day to 2-3 per trip. I never booked multiples or back-up plans and I only made ADRs with every intention of keeping them, but the bottom line is that I don't feel like most Disney dining is worth the risk. I want the flexibility to be able to change plans if the weather turns nasty or one of the kids isn't feeling well. Unfortunately, the only way to have that flexibility is to pass on the deluxe dining plan that we used to enjoy, not have signature dinners, and chance eating mostly counter service... which is one reason among several that once my AP expires in March I don't plan on going back for the foreseeable future.

The jury is still out on whether it will help with last-minute availability, but keep in mind that "last minute" in Disney terms is limited by their technology. I noticed on this trip that the app cannot book ADRs for less than 90 minutes in advance. It could in March, I know, because we did so several times, but now there's a 90 minute block-out. I was sitting in the pool with DD5 on Sunday looking for something for dinner, and one minute (about 3:57) I had a dozen options available for 5:30 and after chatting with her about what sounded good all those times were gone (at 4:02). Since I wasn't about to haul out from ASMu to see if I could get one of those times as a walk-up we ended up sticking around the resort instead.

A positive change I noticed on this trip is that one of the restaurants where we were told "No walkups" but able to make a last-minute (20min out) ADR from the app in March is now accepting walk-ups. We walked up to the Plaza at about 4:10 and were seated in <10min. I didn't test it anywhere else but I would hope this is a property-wide change. It was really stupid to get turned away at the podium only to find multiple available ADRs for right around the same time.

 

[Mrsjvb]

What do you think the effect of having to guarentee each ADR with a credit card will be on general availabilty?

Will people make the same number of reservations as they did without the guarentee?

Will there be more walk in seating available?

Will availabilty not be affected at all?

Has it changed the way YOU plan your dining?

the casual person will make fewer now that they know failing to call and cancel will result in a charge. Before they knew they could make several and just blow off the ones they weren't going to use. as a result I think there will be more ADRs made available ahead of time but I really don't think the WI situation will change.

I am actually hoping I will be ABLE to actually make ADRs now. before it was always very hard for us to get certain restaurants. We tend to do two TS a day.. breakfast and dinner. Breakfast will probably be at the resort( AKL for me so Boma buffet mostly save for a couple favs in the parks..and no character dining for us) Dinner will be about half parks and half resort.. I do want to try Sanaa this time, and have never been able to score one prior, and I am bound and determined to hit Le Cellier finally.

 

[wdwrich]

The PPs all make valid points, but personally, I think we won't know the actual effect on walk-ups until some months down the road when all the non-CC ADRs are out of the system.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

What do you think the effect of having to guarantee each ADR with a credit card will be on general availability?
. . . already, there are more ADR's available
. . . many people no longer double-triple book

Will people make the same number of reservations as they did without the guarantee?
. . . no

Will there be more walk in seating available?
. . . not really
. . . this just allows more people to get ADR's
. . . in most cases there is still more people wanting ADR's than tables available

Will availability not be affected at all?
. . . sometimes

Has it changed the way YOU plan your dining?
. . . most folks now plan more firmly
. . . or, they go to the opposite and make less ADR's

 

[Uncleromulus]

Won't change anything we do.

When I make reservations I fully intended to keep them and have NEVER double-booked.

If something unusual should happen to keep me from a reservation (and it hasn't yet) then sobeit for that dinner.

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't make reservations anyway unless I am sure I'm going to the restaurant. And if I decide not to go, it usually wasn't on the same day. I can decide the day before.

I think there will still be difficulty getting walkups at the most popular restaurants.

 

[LindaBabe]

Count me among those who won't make ADRs at all, now, until I see how I feel on the day I want to dine.

 

[jimandami]

I really have no idea if it is related at all, but I can tell you that DH and I booked a trip today for March (which to me feels last minute!), and when I checked to see where we could eat for our anniversary, almost every single restaurant had availability. I mean, CG, O'hana, CM, everything....except BOG of course.

 

[TJA]

Doesn't change anything for us. I do think there are less people booking ADR's because just tonight I went online to book 2 Easter week ADR's and I got both Ohana dinner and chef mickeys breakfast for perfect times! In the past, that would've been impossible to do.

 

[jimandami]

Doesn't change anything for us. I do think there are less people booking ADR's because just tonight I went online to book 2 Easter week ADR's and I got both Ohana dinner and chef mickeys breakfast for perfect times! In the past, that would've been impossible to do.

Yeah, I'm still seeing availability at most restaurants, including O'hana and CM, and our trip is less than 60 days away. I definitely think people are making fewer reservations.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

I will not do ADR's either. We had a problem in Norway where we showed up and they had us down of the wrong day....$70 charge........they ended up refunding it because I complained but it was such a turn off and a hassle... When I'm paying $43 for a buffet that is meh...no thanks! I'll eat in Morroco...my favorite and it always has availability.

With young kids there are times when you can't make it due to illness. $10 a person is a lot when you have 7 people in your party. Me and DH not so much.....it would be nice if they would book ressie for half the tables and let walk ups for the other half... Not everyone is a planner.

Disney is expensive and if I was paying for the DDP I'd be furious with the charge, wonder how that is affecting the DDP.

It's amazing how you can' t get a FP+ without a ticket! yet people could double and triple book dining ressie. That should be something they are working on.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

We just returned from 13 nights with the ddp over Christmas and New Years.

Before we left, I would have said this new policy didn't bother me as we carefully planned out all of our ADRs and intended to go to every single one.

However, now that we're back, I have a very different opinion.

Two times during our 13 night stay, we just didn't want to make our ADR's. Once because it was torrential rain and our ADR was in Epcot WS, which there is just no easy way to get to without getting soaked. The other time, 2 of the 4 of us were feeling sick and we just craved some quiet time in the room, but NO, we HAD to go eat or face a $40 penalty.

Both times I called Disney dining because we had made the ADRs before the new policy was in effect but BOTH times with 2 different CMs we were told the policy applied to us and we would be charged if we didn't come. In both cases, the CMs on the phone seemed quite rude too.

I immediately complained via email to Disney when we got home and this is the response I got (8 days after my email):

Thank you for contacting us.

At the Walt Disney World Resort, we strive each and every day to ensure
our Guests have memorable experiences with us. As you are aware,
additional table-service locations now participate in our dining
cancellation policy already in place at select restaurants on property.
When booking a reservation at these restaurants, Guests are required to
provide a credit card to hold a reservation and are charged $10 per
person if the cancellation isn't made at least one day in advance. This
reduces the number of "no shows" at our restaurants and ensures more
Guests will have the opportunity to dine at our table-service
restaurants.

Dining cancellations can be made by calling 407-WDW-CNCL, visiting any
table-service restaurant podium, Walt Disney World Resort Hotel front
desk or concierge or by calling 407-WDW-DINE. Guests may also make and
cancel reservations by visiting www.DisneyWorld.com/Dining.

In addition, pre-paid locations will continue to retain the full,
pre-paid amount if Guests are unable to honor the reservation and are
unable to cancel the reservation one day in advance. Special dining
events and packages such as Fantasmic! packages, New Year's Eve dinners,
Victoria & Albert's reservations may have different cancellation
requirements.

We truly regret your disappointment with the adjustments made to our
dining cancellation policy and assure you that your remarks have been
shared with the appropriate individuals. Our Guests' impressions are
very important to us, and we appreciate the time you took to share your
thoughts.


For us, we decided the ddp will NOT work for our family any more. In fact, I'm still so ticked off, I doubt I'll make ADRs again in the near future. It really turned me off. This is vacation after all - some flexibility needs to be allowed without a significant cost penalty.

One more note: almost every dining experience we had, we heard multiple guests being turned away (walk ups) so I didn't seem to me that anyone was able to walk up and get in.

 

[KiminChicago]

It appears that something must have changed with the new credit card guarantee -- our trip is in mid-July. I'm less than 180 days out yet I was able to get a dinner at Be Our Guest with no trouble, I actually had two choices of times. I was making an ADR for three people, which usually means a table that would seat four, so I was really surprised there was anything available.

 

[bumbershoot]

Two times during our 13 night stay, we just didn't want to make our ADR's. Once because it was torrential rain and our ADR was in Epcot WS, which there is just no easy way to get to without getting soaked. The other time, 2 of the 4 of us were feeling sick and we just craved some quiet time in the room, but NO, we HAD to go eat or face a $40 penalty.

Both times I called Disney dining because we had made the ADRs before the new policy was in effect but BOTH times with 2 different CMs we were told the policy applied to us and we would be charged if we didn't come. In both cases, the CMs on the phone seemed quite rude too.
......

For us, we decided the ddp will NOT work for our family any more.

We got in on the 4th. By the 6th I was sick. It was just me and DS until the 10th. I was so sick the CMs at SSR on the 8th wanted to just send me to centracare. We were there for marathon weekend. I could barely eat; a charming part of this heinous virus. I ran the 5k with DS very ill. By his Mickey mile the next day it was hitting him. My aunt came in on the 10th and as I ran on the 11th it hit DS hard and fast.

We had to cancel every single TS we had. The only one we had to do same day was Tea, which was booked BEFORE the cc guarantee happened for that restaurant. I nearly forgot about Tea because I was so sick and then taking care of DS.

When I called I said I had made the reservation before the cc was require for it. I was firm. She could hear how sick I was. She cancelled it and said she had waived the fee. I was so ridiculously sick I didn't speak back to that but omg seriously? You waived nothing. I did not agree to a charge when I made that ADR. There was nothing to be waived. But I was too sick to be philosophical.

If we had had the dining plan I would have been in big trouble. We barely ate from the 5th to....well, today. Both my son and I have dropped weight. Freaky enough for me but not good for a trim 9 year old.

Right now this virus is hitting the parks and the state so hard. If you are part of a small family, the guarantee is very very difficult if you get hit by illness.