Heard some thing very surprising from a TA this evening.

[TDC Nala]

Hmmm..I was doing online dining ressies about 2 months ago and I had a 5:30 ressie for Narcoossee's and I tried to book a 7:50 pm ressie for Narcoosee's and it told me I had to cancel the earlier one first

Same thing for Cape May Clambake, I had an 8pm and tried to book at 5:35, Boma breakfast, I had a 10:35 and tried to book an 8:30am

Each time I had to cancel the reservation to make the new reservation

Maybe it was because it was the same restaurant?

Unless this is a recent development, the system notifies you that you have made two reservations at about the same time, but gives you the option to keep them both. Even if it is the same restaurant.

 

[Cafeen]

While I do disagree with the base action (making multiple reservations for a single party based on the "not knowing where they want to go"), one thing that gets missed quite often is that it is not against written Disney policy to do so. I have scanned and read numerous bits of information regarding dining reservations on the official site as well as the booklets they send out and nowhere does it state that an individual cannot make multiple reservations at the same time. Is it inconsiderate to do so? Yes. Is it against the "rules"? No.*

Unforunately, we're pretty much stuck with the system we have now until/unless they alter their policy. There have been suggestions regarding stiffer penalties for missing reservations, which may work, but they really need to take into account the little things that happen day to day. Deposits sound like a good idea, but when figuring either long DxDDP trips (where 20-30 reservations is common) or the amount that people tweak and it can get messy real quick. Plus, there's also the fact that sometimes, stuff happens and people miss at the last minute. While it seems good to deter those booking reservations they will likely not need, it catches several people who have good intentions but life just happens differently. Those types of people should not be punished at all.

I've done quite a bit of thinking about the system, and IMO, there really isn't a better way to do it. It's far from perfect now, but the other options that I've thought of and others have suggested (in this and many other threads) only seem to restrict and penalize those with better intentions more for when life happens. On the flip side, as Disney pushes and hard sells the dining plans more and more (whether free dining or via phone booking), they are going to reach a point where the system is massively overloaded and they will have to change something up.

*Note: The fact that is not against written and stated policy is why the rogue cancelations get me quite riled up. Again, I don't make multiple and I think it's inconsiderate as anyone else, but until it's publicized policy that one person cannot have multiple reservations at the same time for different places, I will be strongly against those doing this.

 

[Tricia1972]

I largely agree with Allan, only want to add that Disney overbooks to compensate for no shows (whether they don't show because of deliberate overbooking or because life happened)

For example, let's assume that LeCellier can seat 100 4-tops a night. Disney knows that 25% don't show up for reservations. LeCellier will open up 125 ADRs for that night and they know that only about 100 of those groups will show up.

I would think that if Disney tightens down their ADR procedure, they will only open up 100 ADRs for a night. This means that instead of having 125 chances for LeCellier, you only get 100 chances at the 180 day window. Making LeCellier even harder to get. Those that double book will continue to double book, and just make sure that they cancel within the timeframe. So more reservations will open up, but not at an anticipated time (such as the 180 day window).

In my mind this may be a case of "Be careful what you wish for"

 

[Aggiegrl]

Which is pretty much the reason I rarely make adrs. but when I do, I also don't care if I don't make it to the restaurant. call me selfish but this is the system I have to work with. I can make 7 adr's for a 7 night stay and it's a good bet I won't feel like eating at that particular place or time for 4 of them. I'm not about to stop and try to call disney dining to cancel.

It takes a couple of minutes max to cancel a reservation. You can do it by phone, at the park, or at your hotel. You would deny someone a chance to eat at a TS restaurant because you are too lazy to take a few minutes to cancel? Yes, that is selfish.

Also, I can't believe people have such whims about places to eat. There isn't a single place in WDW where I couldn't find something I liked. The menus are diverse enough for everyone. Making multiple ADRs and deciding later "what sounds good" just doesn't make sense. With the exception of some of the signature restaurants, WDW restaurants are really more about the experience/atmosphere than the food itself.

 

[Billabongi]

I agree something needs to be done but not sure "what" that should be. The 180 day change was a good and bad thing. It's wonderful if you can book that far in advance which I am attempting to do for our trip next year, but we consistently go to Disney on short term notice (when things free up) and have very little shot at getting some of the more popular resturants.

 

[eliza61]

Also, I can't believe people have such whims about places to eat. There isn't a single place in WDW where I couldn't find something I liked. The menus are diverse enough for everyone. Making multiple ADRs and deciding later "what sounds good" just doesn't make sense. With the exception of some of the signature restaurants, WDW restaurants are really more about the experience/atmosphere than the food itself.

Oh totally, emphatically disagree. Yeah I could "make do" with any thing but sorry, I'd like to have a 50% chance of enjoying my meal. and I've already paid for the "atmosphere", it's call park admittance. Tonys does not in any way have a "diverse" menu. Its Italian, 6 months from now I may not be in the mood for pasta.

Now the buffets are designed to be diverse but sorry, Le Cellier is a steakhouse plain and simple. If you eat there you should have a hankering for beef. One "catch of the day" entree cooked the same way at every restaurant does not make diversity.

Sorry, I no more know what I feel like eating 6 months out than I know what pair of pants I'm going to be wearing 6 monts out. Heck, I don't have any idea what I'm eating 6 weeks out let alone 6 months.

 

[JimmyV]

I may be in the minority here, but I don’t have a problem with double-booking as long as the unwanted reservation is cancelled at the earliest opportunity, and by that, I do not mean the day of, or frankly even the week of. You should know long before that where you are going to be on any given day. As long as Disney is going to allow you, (force you, really) to make reservations long before they post Park hours and EMHs, then people are compelled to guess where they are going to be on any given day until further information regarding Park hours is posted. But once that happens, people should be able to crystallize their plans and dump the unwanted ressies. This should be done at least a couple months ahead.

As for double booking in the same Park as suggested above (e.g., Liberty Tree at one time and Crystal Palace at another) because you don’t know where in that particular Park you will be at any given time is utter nonsense. In the example above, where could you be in the MK that would be too far to get to the Crystal Palace, but no so far to get to Liberty Tree? You can walk from one to the other in three minutes for crying out loud. Double booking in a Park is not necessary. But not knowing 180 days out if you are going to be in EPCOT or HS is perfectly understandable and hence making a reservation that is convenient to each is, under Disney’s 180 day system, strategic planning more so than unethical behavior. If they went back to a 60 day system, we wouldn’t really be having this discussion.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

It takes a couple of minutes max to cancel a reservation. You can do it by phone, at the park, or at your hotel. You would deny someone a chance to eat at a TS restaurant because you are too lazy to take a few minutes to cancel? Yes, that is selfish.

Also, I can't believe people have such whims about places to eat. There isn't a single place in WDW where I couldn't find something I liked. The menus are diverse enough for everyone. Making multiple ADRs and deciding later "what sounds good" just doesn't make sense. With the exception of some of the signature restaurants, WDW restaurants are really more about the experience/atmosphere than the food itself.

If you try and cancel by phone it can take more than a couple of minutes to cancel. You have to go through all the same prompts, CM wait times and questions. If Disney added a prompt for cancellations without all of the above, more people might be inclined to cancel, especially if the new system was published and pushed by Disney.

Yes you can cancel at GS or at the hotel, but a lot of times there are lines involved that most people won't wait on.

Seems like a fairly trivial enhancement to the system and might add some benefits.

 

[septbaby]

While I do disagree with the base action (making multiple reservations for a single party based on the "not knowing where they want to go"), one thing that gets missed quite often is that it is not against written Disney policy to do so. I have scanned and read numerous bits of information regarding dining reservations on the official site as well as the booklets they send out and nowhere does it state that an individual cannot make multiple reservations at the same time. Is it inconsiderate to do so? Yes. Is it against the "rules"? No.*[/i]

While I haven't read the rules in the way you say you have double booking is against policy. That is why the online system won't allow you to do this. Also there have been reports that Disney has cancelled ADRs that have been double booked. Obviously people get around this by using multiple names or phone numbers to book ressies for a group or family. I have definitely been "corrected" by the online system if I've had two ressies in the same "meal period".

What OP should do is up to her and I wish her luck with her decision. I rarely use TAs to book travel, too much fun doing it on my own and I actually learn things along the way. However, with family and a group that large I can see how the "service" could save headaches and spare feelings.

 

[Cafeen]

While I haven't read the rules in the way you say you have double booking is against policy. That is why the online system won't allow you to do this. Also there have been reports that Disney has cancelled ADRs that have been double booked. Obviously people get around this by using multiple names or phone numbers to book ressies for a group or family. I have definitely been "corrected" by the online system if I've had two ressies in the same "meal period".

What OP should do is up to her and I wish her luck with her decision. I rarely use TAs to book travel, too much fun doing it on my own and I actually learn things along the way. However, with family and a group that large I can see how the "service" could save headaches and spare feelings.

The online system does allow you to do so though. It simply offers the ability to cancel one, but you don't have to. The policies I looked up (or rather, attempted to look up) were the posted ones on the Disney website. Yes, we all know it's often wrong, but something of this magnitude is required to be posted up there for obvious reasons.

Yes, Disney has canceled double-booked reservations (and in some cases, single-booked reservations where someone has tweaked numerous times). The system by itself does not do this however. It takes human intervention to flag them for cancellation.

Until it's a posted policy (and not an "unwritten" or "unspoken" policy), then I feel it's very wrong to do this. Just because it offers you a way to easily cancel and existing and become some have been flagged by CMs for cancellation, does not make it official written Disney policy. (And the fact that TAs (I'm sure more than just this) recommend this, lends credence to that fact a bit more, as if it were posted and they violated it, I'm sure some flak would easily go their way as well).

 

[eliza61]

While I haven't read the rules in the way you say you have double booking is against policy. That is why the online system won't allow you to do this. Also there have been reports that Disney has cancelled ADRs that have been double booked. Obviously people get around this by using multiple names or phone numbers to book ressies for a group or family. I have definitely been "corrected" by the online system if I've had two ressies in the same "meal period".

What OP should do is up to her and I wish her luck with her decision. I rarely use TAs to book travel, too much fun doing it on my own and I actually learn things along the way. However, with family and a group that large I can see how the "service" could save headaches and spare feelings.

Thanks Sept,

So my game plan is this. We have another planning meeting the 6th of Nov. In between time I'm going to plead, beg, force other people to look at all ears and chose 2 restaurants they really would like to try.

On the 6th I'm going to explain with the TA there why triple booking is inconsiderate and offer suggestions on maybe breaking up into smaller groups and making ADR's that way.

One of my problems is that I'm a dvc'er and not using the TA, and I'm not in NYC where the bulk of my family and the TA are. So I'm not sure in between time of what the TA may be encouraging the other planners on doing. Nor do I want the responsibility.

and I'm stocking up on lots of tylenol. extra strength.

 

[bumbershoot]

OP, with a big family reunion, I'd make it a Grand Gathering (or whatever they are calling it now) and go straight through Disney for this. They, I believe, have special capabilities for dining reservations, along with other offerings to your group that you can't get otherwise.

Yes, it does remind you that you have a ressie around the same time but it does give you the option to keep them both.

Yep yep. Absolutely!

Background:
We're having a big long trip, and 4 nights of it we're spending with family. I know NOTHING about what sorts of food they eat while at the parks (they are the long-time WDW-visitors, and I'm the newbie, but I'm providing the accomodations and I obviously play on the Dis while they don't, and I've already known things that they do not know, which makes me giggle a little bit). On the day that we check out of the 2 bedroom, first we thought family would be going home. Then we found out that they *might* be sticking around, staying at a hotel on their own, and we'd still meet up.

All of this was roiling around in my head, and then the 180 days came around. The family doesn't do the ADR thing, it seems, because no one wanted to talk about reservations with me. So I was making them mainly for the time that we won't be in the same villa with them; we'll just do counter service or whatever while we're with them. But on the day that we leave the 2 bedroom, I figured it would be fun to go to T-Rex. So I made an ADR for the 3 of us. Then realized that they might still be around, so I might as well include them. Since I didn't KNOW (and still don't), I made a second ADR for their group of 5. Same time.

It popped up a thing reminding me that I already had a reservation, and did I want to cancel it. I said No, and it let me continue. The T-Rex reservations are still there.

A few times I was changing times around slightly at the same resaurant and the same popup showed up. A few times I said that I'd cancel it, a few times I didn't, just to see, and it kept the two reservations when I did that. (then I would go back and cancel it separately)


So it might LOOK like it's telling you that you have to cancel, but it's not...



Anyway OP, I'd leave the TA and go straight through disney, at least for the disney part. Maybe for travel, if people need the help, stick with the TA.

 

[mcd2745]

I may be in the minority here, but I don’t have a problem with double-booking as long as the unwanted reservation is cancelled at the earliest opportunity, and by that, I do not mean the day of, or frankly even the week of. You should know long before that where you are going to be on any given day. As long as Disney is going to allow you, (force you, really) to make reservations long before they post Park hours and EMHs, then people are compelled to guess where they are going to be on any given day until further information regarding Park hours is posted. But once that happens, people should be able to crystallize their plans and dump the unwanted ressies. This should be done at least a couple months ahead.

As for double booking in the same Park as suggested above (e.g., Liberty Tree at one time and Crystal Palace at another) because you don’t know where in that particular Park you will be at any given time is utter nonsense. In the example above, where could you be in the MK that would be too far to get to the Crystal Palace, but no so far to get to Liberty Tree? You can walk from one to the other in three minutes for crying out loud. Double booking in a Park is not necessary. But not knowing 180 days out if you are going to be in EPCOT or HS is perfectly understandable and hence making a reservation that is convenient to each is, under Disney’s 180 day system, strategic planning more so than unethical behavior. If they went back to a 60 day system, we wouldn’t really be having this discussion.

For the most part, I agree with everything in this post - although I do have a problem with double-booking. It may be cliche, but to me, it all boils down to the "Golden Rule", for this and pretty much everything in life. No doubt the 180 day rule has created this monster (so much more so than the DDP, free or not). However, I wouldn't go back to 60 days, I would make it 45 days...which should eliminate the speculators - those who make ADRs for a trip they don't even end up taking at all. And I'm totally on board with the deposit idea mentioned by another PP. It would certainly be amusing to see a lot of the reactions around here if they ever made those changes (although for the record, I doubt Disney ever would). You get the sense that some people would give up their first-born before they would give up the right to book ADRs at 180 days.

 

[txwdwmom]

I honestly would switch my reservation to another TA. To me this person's actions are unethical and I prefer not to give my business to people like that.

I agree!

 

[Kit'smommy]

I wish they would start requiring a deposit to make ADRs. That would eliminate the just in case ressies and encourage people to cancel them when they definitely decide against a restaurant.

Honestly, I can't believe anyone can have a more clear idea of where they want to eat at 45 or 90 days out than they do at 180. I personally would like to have park hours or to know what days are going to be party days at MK before I make ressies, but most of the time we end up keeping the reservations we make at 180 days out with maybe a few minor tweaks at most. DH and I tend to decide on a whim that we are in the mood for specific things or restaurants at home, but we can generally get in the mood for something we know we have booked as the date approaches.

Keeping me from a restaurant I really want because you might be interested in eating there is pretty selfish.