Help! Reservations seem impossible to get for Nov 2015

[FunTimeMom]

Never lose hope. Disney is all about the magic. I was able to nab CRT and BOG after much ADR stalking. Still nothing for HV. Spoke to their management team advised that week is blocked and they don't know why. ? Kinda appreciate their honesty rather than reservation cast members...."every thing seems booked to capacity."

What week are you going and was it the management at H&V you spoke to?

 

[PEC]

Is this issue of few Dining Reservations based on the Free Dining Plan. My trip is not until April 2006 but starting a couple of months ago I have seen very few of the reservations I am looking for at the 180 day mark. I realize I will not actually know until I get to my 180 day + mark but it also appears that the times offered have become terrible. My group size is 12 (which I know is a factor) but until a couple of months ago I saw decent times for most of the ones I wanted but now it just isn't happening. I do not plan on CRT or BOG (Dinner). An example of what I am seeing is 50s Prime Time often shows a Dinner at 350 and that is it. That would be a bit early for Dinner. I hope this is just because of Free Dining. IF they have changed the times for big groups I will have to either split the group or possibly go to 2nd or 3rd choices.

 

[Funfire240]

A lot could be for free dining but we are going the first week of November and I had no problems with a group of 9. I did have to take 4:15 for CRT but that works for us. Our 6:40 for BOG I had to split 6/3 but that's no big deal for us either. I have a CM at 6:30 that I got on the 3rd day of our trip. Looking over I have more breakfasts than anything but I had no problems with our party for prime time breakfasts either.
I've gone in July and have been able to make ADR's - including BOG and CRT 3 weeks before arriving so it's possible.

 

[Team Bunch]

I think this thread can become the new "November" thread, it may be longer than the other two.

 

[K-Jen]

What week are you going and was it the management at H&V you spoke to?

Going Nov 14 -22. And yes, called Hollywood & Vine directly. Still hoping for releases, but as everyone else is experiencing, nothing yet.

 

[K-Jen]

I agree that not to lose hope and there is a very good chance of getting the ADRs you want if you are persistent and patient.

However, I do not agree that Disney is "all about the magic", at least not anymore. Disney is about making money and nothing else. All of these "glitches" and "holding back reservations" I'm sure are just Disney intentionally manipulate its customers and making more money. Yes you can have a magical experience once you get there if you plan like crazy and drive yourself mad for the prior 6 months. Since you can order your lunch meal at 30 days out now at BOG, I wonder if the next planning nightmare will be having to choose what you are going to eat at all the restaurants before you get there!

Agreed, RRRmouse. I don't depend on Disney to make my magic, I use them to do that. I can have a blast at home drinking a beer, but I prefer to drink that beer in a Disney park. I don't particularly like planning my day 6 months in advance, but Disney dictates that. My 8 year old granddaughter explains Disney better than Disney....Disney is like a party inside your body....I say, unleash that party! Make some memories!

 

[FunTimeMom]

Going Nov 14 -22. And yes, called Hollywood & Vine directly. Still hoping for releases, but as everyone else is experiencing, nothing yet.

Thanks. This makes me really frustrated with the customer service reps who flat out lied to me. I wonder what other restaurants are doing the same thing?

 

[AnnaKat]

Why would H & V hold back ressies for the FD mid-Nov. time frame?!? I just checked dinner ressies for Nov. 29 & 30th--nothing!
YET Dec. 9th has dinner ressies avai. To make matters worse, HS closes @ 6 on Wed. 12/2 & Wed. 12/9, so only a few dinner slots! IF the ressies are still being held back during Nov. FD, I expect their IT programmed Dec. FD period to not release H & V
AND Epcot restaurants, yet AGAIN!! Those booking during Dec. FD will not be happy!! AND they're paying peak season room rates!!!

 

[5DisneyNuts]

It's been stated by very reliable sources and CMs on this site that Disney does not hold back reservations. When the restaurants have their schedules in place, the reservation system makes reservations available. For example, the EPCOT restaurants, had to get their schedules during the CP and it took longer than 180+10. Frustrating? Yes. But unlikely to be a 'Pinky and the Brain' type scheme.

 

[Dean Marino]

This is very interesting....

Sandy and I are going to WDW Nov 12-21. We've gotten every ADR we asked for, except V&A. The V&A thing is no problem.... they are doing something special for F&W, we're on their guest list, they will be calling us back around July. And I often wonder why they BOTHER with MDE.... perhaps they will correct this.

What I HAVE seen is a sellout of in-the-park, fairly low end food shovels. BOG is always sold out - doesn't even count. Everything else? Wellllll - no proof, but I suspect "free dining".

Suggestion: Get out of the parks. Book the GOOD restaurants in the hotels. Here are a few:

MK
GF: Narcoosee's, Citrico's. Disney owned
Contemporary: California Grill Disney owned
WL: Artist's Point Disney owned

EPCOT & HS - Get on the Boat - there was nothing in the park anyway
IlMulino - Swan non-Disney owned
Shula's - Dolphin non-Disney owned
Blue Zoo- Dolphin non-Disney owned
Yachtsman's - Yacht Club Disney owned

DTD
Fultons non-Disney owned
Boat House non-Disney owned
Portabello non-Disney owned

All marked "Disney owned" must be booked thru MDE.
All marked "non-Disney owned" may be booked by contacting the restaurant directly, or using Open Table (which works).

 

[FunTimeMom]

It's been stated by very reliable sources and CMs on this site that Disney does not hold back reservations. When the restaurants have their schedules in place, the reservation system makes reservations available. For example, the EPCOT restaurants, had to get their schedules during the CP and it took longer than 180+10. Frustrating? Yes. But unlikely to be a 'Pinky and the Brain' type scheme.

Reservations going live at 180 days should come as no surprise to Disney. Not having a schedule ready and thus not released at 180 days when it is supposed to open is intentional. So is lying to customers when they say those restaurants are simply booked solid.

 

[RRRmouse]

Reservations going live at 180 days should come as no surprise to Disney. Not having a schedule ready and thus not released at 180 days when it is supposed to open is intentional. So is lying to customers when they say those restaurants are simply booked solid.

Agree. This also removes one of the major benefits of staying on site if they are not "ready" at 180. Also the CP doesn't start until 11/28 so why did it affect the week of Nov 8th when we are going? Suddenly last week lots of Epcot reservations became available that weren't before -- I can't see how that has anything to do with the CP schedule. CM's seem to either play ignorant, state it is much busier than ever before, blame it on special events like CP and delayed schedules, or say it is a "glitch". I am sure most of the CM's answering the dining line just don't know the real reason and are just trying to keep the customers happy by saying something. We will probably never know the reasons but I feel pretty sure it is intentional whatever it is. It could even be something like waiting until the hotels reach a certain capacity before deciding to staff more servers during the time and suddenly open up more tables.

Disney planning gets more complex everytime we book a trip. I wonder to myself at what point will it no longer be worth the hassle. This is our first time going with FP+... That throws a whole other wrench into the works. They really should just make all deadlines the same -- i.e. book restaurants and FPs at 60, 90 days -whatever. Everything is so tied to each other at this point it really makes planning difficult. Not to mention encouraging people to make lots of extra ADRs they don't need just to hold until they see what FP's they get, which in turn makes it harder for everyone to get ADRs etc.

 

[FunTimeMom]

I spoke to two different people in guest services, not just the reservation line who both lied to me about what was going on.

 

[samsteele]

I spoke to two different people in guest services, not just the reservation line who both lied to me about what was going on.

A few years ago, when the press were starting to put out brief news alerts that summer about the new Magic Band, I called Guest Services because I had a November reservation at the POP and wanted to know if I would be included in the Magic Band test roll out planned for the POP. I am not a US citizen (Canadian) & read that the bands wouldn't be mailed to guests outside the US. We now know that non-US guests pick up their bands at check-in but at that time, when the test was just rolling out, that information wasn't out there. The CM/rep informed me that there was no such thing as a Magic Band, WDW was never going to have a Magic Band, and that she was tired of having to deal with this "misinformation" in the press. Wow. I had also payed something like $9 for that long distance call to the US for this information (and the "beautiful" music while on hold waiting for this gem). I resolved never to call Guest Services again. Either they are the last to be informed of anything new, or a handful of them are just winging it. Heck, maybe both. BTW I did get to set up MDE online a few weeks before I arrived, got to choose my Magic Band (it was a fun novelty, then!), was definitely included in the test and it all worked well. How did I know to do this? I looked online off and on that summer and found the information myself. I recall that I picked my FP+ choices in advance but still got to enjoy the last of the legacy fastpass machines. Those were the days!

 

[JJZMgailey]

I spoke to two different people in guest services, not just the reservation line who both lied to me about what was going on.

I so often get different responses and information depending on who the CM is on the other end of the telephone. You can get told something, hang up, call back and speak to another CM in the same department and get a completely different explanation of the exact same situation. That could go on and on all day - I don't believe that CMs are intentionally lying to anyone - I know from personal experience that Disney does not put out a specific notification to their dining CMs with information to pass on to Guests about any "system issues." They simply have them tell folks to "keep checking back."

 

[FunTimeMom]

I so often get different responses and information depending on who the CM is on the other end of the telephone. You can get told something, hang up, call back and speak to another CM in the same department and get a completely different explanation of the exact same situation. That could go on and on all day - I don't believe that CMs are intentionally lying to anyone - I know from personal experience that Disney does not put out a specific notification to their dining CMs with information to pass on to Guests about any "system issues." They simply have them tell folks to "keep checking back."

The first CS rep told me the problem was I tried booking online at 6am and MDE doesn't allow that. When I corrected her and told her it is fact possible she said it must be something new. Lol!

 

[K-Jen]

The first CS rep told me the problem was I tried booking online at 6am and MDE doesn't allow that. When I corrected her and told her it is fact possible she said it must be something new. Lol!

Lol. Was told by one that my ADR issues could be due to Jersey Week. I'm going the 3rd week in November! Another told me that restaurants inside the parks do not follow park hours that they close hours before the parks do. Kinda feel sorry for them, seems like Disney has thrown them to the wolves without providing them with adequate information.

 

[Jeni3612]

I'm so frustrated. We will be there Nov 9-16 and the only one we want is a dinner at 'Ohana. Can't get anything in that time.

 

[22Tink]

I'm so frustrated. We will be there Nov 9-16 and the only one we want is a dinner at 'Ohana. Can't get anything in that time.

Don't give up! You've still got 5 months and people are cancelling ADRs all the time! Have you joined the November ADR cancellation thread?

 

[Amy&Dan]

Count me in as frustrated too. My dates are November 6th to the 14th and so far the only things I have managed to snag are Plaza and Kona Café. Trying for days to get something inside MK the day of our MVMCP (10th) and other than a 2:45 Tony's nothing has shown up for me. I have been MANY times during Free Dining and have never had these issues. Heck, I booked reservations during spring break which was also a free dining period in March of 2012 just a couple of weeks before our trip and got everything I wanted and also shuffled a lot of stuff during our trip. Something is up.