I wish Disney would do e-mails with meal cancellations by other guests as they occur

[Bete]

Be Our Guest triggered this post.

I think this could be done by signing up for e-mail notifications on the Disney dining website. For example, you pick a date and the restaurant you are interested in if it's currently sold out and then if a cancellation occurs you get an e-mail for it. Of course, this has to be first come, first serve, but at least you have a better chance this way.

The Fantasmic Package and the Candle Light Processional packages are sold out for many restaurants, right now for our week there. I think it could help, here, too.

 

[TDC Nala]

You mean, a waiting list.

It could work, but I think Disney IT would muck it up. And I don't think it would necessarily mean you have a better chance. A reservation has to open up, it has to be for your party size, and you have to be next on the waiting list.

 

[Cafeen]

Theoretically, it sounds good. After all, who wouldn't want to be notified immediately when there's an opening?

However, practically, this would raise more issues than it would solve. Not the least of which would be potential for massive server load (sending emails is not the easiest thing a server does) and considering Disney's IT infrastructure (at least, my theories on it from past experience with their sites and other issues that are still showing up) would be a setup for massive outages between the email spam being sent out and an influx of people hopping on to get that one ADR.

Now, what could work, and what I wouldn't mind seeing, is Disney opening up an API to a replicated server with the openings. Not something you can reserve though, but if they replicate openings on a 15-30 minute schedule to a different DB/Web server, and then allow external connections via API to it, we could see websites pop up that offer this service (among others). Of course, it wouldn't be real time so not ideal, but it'd be good enough for the vast majority of people out there.

And what Nala said...much, much more succinctly than I did. (Though, her visualization was slightly different from mine).

 

[TDC Nala]

I was seeing it as they'd send an email to whoever was next on the wait list, not mass emails to a lot of people saying "there's an opening, better get in on the feeding frenzy now if you want it" or words to that effect, which would mean the servers may be down most of the time from the influx.

 

[ctl]

If it would be beneficial to Disney they would have done just what you suggest. They obviously have more than enough people requestng ADR's that there is no down time they need to fill by adding extra emails or a waitlist. To set up and monitor a list like that would cost money and time. So they rely on the fact that if you want it badly enough you will be willing to wait for endless hours on the phone and keep trying. Good luck getting a cancellation.

 

[sarmat1]

Disney's IT is so poor that the site frequently manages to "forget" reservations you have already made, requiring retrieval via confirmation number. Given this, I can't believe that they would ever be able to setup a notification system for cancellations that would work effectively (or at all).