Interesting Experience w/ ADR Change Issue

[mom2rtk]

I love how everyone is concerned about Chef Mickey being stuck with a last minute opening. The one time we stayed at the Contemporary we were never able to get a reservation and we were turned away as walk ups. I have no doubt they made some last minute walk ups very happy. It’s probably easier to fill with walk ups there than at Wilderness Lodge.

 

[Lewisc]

I love how everyone is concerned about Chef Mickey being stuck with a last minute opening. The one time we stayed at the Contemporary we were never able to get a reservation and we were turned away as walk ups. I have no doubt they made some last minute walk ups very happy. It’s probably easier to fill with walk ups there than at Wilderness Lodge.

Not at all concerned. My issue is with entitled guests who don't think rules apply to them. Who tie up CM time arguing with multiple CMs until one bends.


Stop by the restaurant. They can waive the charge.

 

[The Iron Giant]

I love how everyone is concerned about Chef Mickey being stuck with a last minute opening. The one time we stayed at the Contemporary we were never able to get a reservation and we were turned away as walk ups. I have no doubt they made some last minute walk ups very happy. It’s probably easier to fill with walk ups there than at Wilderness Lodge.

Totally. Somewhere on the DIS someone is posting about the pixie dust when they were pleasantly surprised with a last minute walk up reservation at Chef Mickeys courtesy of the OP. Probably made their trip.

 

[Lewisc]

Totally. Somewhere on the DIS someone is posting about the pixie dust when they were pleasantly surprised with a last minute walk up reservation at Chef Mickeys courtesy of the OP. Probably made their trip.

Do you have a link to the post? I don't remember the OP posting a specific date and time.

 

[musicguy856]

Do you have a link to the post? I don't remember the OP posting a specific date and time.

Wouldn’t necessarily need to happen on the DIS. It could have been anyone that walked up and got the reservation.

And think of it this way - within the two hours there is no way to even tell them you won’t be coming. If they let you cancel within 2 hours that spot could pop up and someone could grab it. Or they could know ahead of time that they have space for a walk up.

 

[starousse]

You don't seem to understand accounting and especially accounting at Disney.

Chef Mickey and Artist Point are NOT on the same P&L, are not managed by the same people, do not mix their profits and losses - they keep them for themselves. They are independent profit centers, within hotels who are independent profit centers. They are all responsible to produce at projected income which they then pass on profits to the mother company.

So Chef Mickey took a big hit when you cancelled last minute and especially since they didn't get the cancellation fee that you owed. And no they can't easily replace those in an hour being in a resort (parks are much easier). Chef Mickey's management will be the one questioned when they are under projections, over on expenses etc.

Bottom line there is a very clear cancellation policy.

I may be in the minority here on this thread, but honestly can't believe the HUGE deal some of you guys are making over this. Disney's P&L (regardless of what restaurant we're talking about) is not getting a hit because someone cancels their table an hour in advance. Maybe if you did that w V&A.....that's a diff story. A good portion of people vacationing in Disney, aren't even aware that making reservations is a thing. Every place you look at will have a line of walk-ups waiting to snatch a table and that's even at the more unpopular places. If I'm spending ten thousand on a trip and was looking forward to eating at a certain place and a reservation happens to pop up a hour before, damn skippy, I'm gonna switch it....and if I'm charged a fee, then yes, I will kindly ask someone at my hotel front desk if they could remove it. Before you start saying..."oh, how entitled".....I'm not being entitled...it's just a reasonable request....and yes, if someone said no, I'd ask someone else. If I went into restaurant and ordered $400 worth of food and didn't like my steak and asked them to comp my bill....THAT would be entitled. If I went into a place and had to wait a little past my reservation time and I put up a big stink....THAT would be entitled. This is just a reasonable request....not breaking the law.

 

[The Iron Giant]

Do you have a link to the post? I don't remember the OP posting a specific date and time.

Good question, Lewis! I think you’re taking my post a tad too literally. We see posts every day on here from people being overjoyed about a coveted ADR opening up for them and I was inferring that some lucky guest likely snagged that open Chef Mickey ADR and it made their trip. IF they posted here we would all be liking their post and congratulating them on their pixie dust.

 

[Lewisc]

Good question, Lewis! I think you’re taking my post a tad too literally. We see posts every day on here from people being overjoyed about a coveted ADR opening up for them and I was inferring that some lucky guest likely snagged that open Chef Mickey ADR and it made their trip. IF they posted here we would all be liking their post and congratulating them on their pixie dust.

In other words you don’t have the slightest idea what happened with the OPs canceled ADR.

I'll speculate Disney doesn't want CM decoding which ADRs are so popular as to justify waiving the fee

 

[DLgal]

If I'm spending ten thousand on a trip and was looking forward to eating at a certain place and a reservation happens to pop up a hour before, damn skippy, I'm gonna switch it....and if I'm charged a fee, then yes, I will kindly ask someone at my hotel front desk if they could remove it.Before you start saying..."oh, how entitled".....I'm not being entitled...it's just a reasonable request....and yes, if someone said no, I'd ask someone else.

This is a really good example of entitlement.
This is like the example you'd see in a dictionary under the word "entitlement."

Talk about a lack of self awareness.

You feel entitled to do whatever you want because you paid ten thousand dollars.

When someone tells you "no", you feel entitled to a "yes", so you will ask someone else until you get what you want.

 

[Moliphino]

I may be in the minority here on this thread, but honestly can't believe the HUGE deal some of you guys are making over this. Disney's P&L (regardless of what restaurant we're talking about) is not getting a hit because someone cancels their table an hour in advance. Maybe if you did that w V&A.....that's a diff story. A good portion of people vacationing in Disney, aren't even aware that making reservations is a thing. Every place you look at will have a line of walk-ups waiting to snatch a table and that's even at the more unpopular places. If I'm spending ten thousand on a trip and was looking forward to eating at a certain place and a reservation happens to pop up a hour before, damn skippy, I'm gonna switch it....and if I'm charged a fee, then yes, I will kindly ask someone at my hotel front desk if they could remove it. Before you start saying..."oh, how entitled".....I'm not being entitled...it's just a reasonable request....and yes, if someone said no, I'd ask someone else. If I went into restaurant and ordered $400 worth of food and didn't like my steak and asked them to comp my bill....THAT would be entitled. If I went into a place and had to wait a little past my reservation time and I put up a big stink....THAT would be entitled. This is just a reasonable request....not breaking the law.

How is it reasonable? It is going directly against Disney's published cancellation policy, so it is against Disney's "law". Some people just like to think the rules don't apply to them.



It's one thing if there were extenuating circumstances (illness, monorail broke down, etc.), then yes it would be reasonable to ask to waive the fee.

 

[musicguy856]

Maybe Disney could come up with a system where if you cancelled within 2 hours, you wouldn't be charged if the reservation was rebooked by someone else. But we all know their IT is not the best, so I doubt this would ever happen.

 

[jimmymc]

If the cast member wants to enforce the rules, they are more than allowed to. However I think ranting about why a policy exists is unprofessional, and if they just said "I'm sorry, but I can't override the fees.", this wouldn't even be a post.

And I really can't stand the comments complaining about OP for claiming the rules don't apply. Disney makes exceptions to rules all the time, as evidenced in OPs post, and it never hurts to call in if you find yourself in a situation like this. The cancellation fee was to prevent restaurants from being empty from people cancelling reservations last minute. If OP transfers the reservation for the same night, then the number of empty seats across property remains the same.

 

[starousse]

How is it reasonable? It is going directly against Disney's published cancellation policy, so it is against Disney's "law". Some people just like to think the rules don't apply to them.

View attachment 765397

It's one thing if there were extenuating circumstances (illness, monorail broke down, etc.), then yes it would be reasonable to ask to waive the fee.

Still a little bit over the top here, for the person who decides they want to eat somewhere else. As I mentioned before, when it comes to breaking the rules, let's focus our worries on when someone hides their 9 year old kid in a covered stroller to sneak them into the park as a two year old or when people who don't want to wait on line or pay for Genie + asks for a das pass for whatever reason they make up.

 

[musicguy856]

If the cast member wants to enforce the rules, they are more than allowed to. However I think ranting about why a policy exists is unprofessional, and if they just said "I'm sorry, but I can't override the fees.", this wouldn't even be a post.

And I really can't stand the comments complaining about OP for claiming the rules don't apply. Disney makes exceptions to rules all the time, as evidenced in OPs post, and it never hurts to call in if you find yourself in a situation like this. The cancellation fee was to prevent restaurants from being empty from people cancelling reservations last minute. If OP transfers the reservation for the same night, then the number of empty seats across property remains the same.

Yep. Case in point: I showed up 7 hours late for my Guardians VQ this past week. And guess what? I was still allowed in.

 

[Moliphino]

Still a little bit over the top here, for the person who decides they want to eat somewhere else. As I mentioned before, when it comes to breaking the rules, let's focus our worries on when someone hides their 9 year old kid in a covered stroller to sneak them into the park as a two year old or when people who don't want to wait on line or pay for Genie + asks for a das pass for whatever reason they make up.

Why? They're all scamming Disney.

 

[jimmymc]

How is it reasonable? It is going directly against Disney's published cancellation policy, so it is against Disney's "law". Some people just like to think the rules don't apply to them.

View attachment 765397

It's one thing if there were extenuating circumstances (illness, monorail broke down, etc.), then yes it would be reasonable to ask to waive the fee.

Comparing Disney policies to laws? Disney makes exceptions all the time for all sorts of fees, gives out free lightning lanes like candy if something goes wrong with a resort room, and cast members on the phone can make magic happen when other features don't work. I would guess that a majority of cast members from call centers would've just moved the reservation without questioning it. The cancellation policy is to prevent people from holding multiple reservations and deciding on one or just not eating table service at the last minute. Moving from one restaurant to another keeps the same total number of seats filled. And yes I understand each resort operates as a separate entity, but as a customer, I honestly don't care. If Disney wants to overcomplicate their accounting, that's on them.

 

[The Iron Giant]

I’m sure the restaurant that the OP ultimately dined at was happy to have the open spot filled. I’m sure the OP was happy to get a spot at their preferred restaurant. And potentially the walk up person who lucked into a Chef Mickey restaurant ADR at the last minute was also happy. That’s three happy outcomes vs potentially Disney losing out on $10 that they actually were happy to waive. Sounds liked a great deal all around for all involved.

 

[Lewisc]

If the cast member wants to enforce the rules, they are more than allowed to. However I think ranting about why a policy exists is unprofessional, and if they just said "I'm sorry, but I can't override the fees.", this wouldn't even be a post.

And I really can't stand the comments complaining about OP for claiming the rules don't apply. Disney makes exceptions to rules all the time, as evidenced in OPs post, and it never hurts to call in if you find yourself in a situation like this. The cancellation fee was to prevent restaurants from being empty from people cancelling reservations last minute. If OP transfers the reservation for the same night, then the number of empty seats across property remains the same.

No issue if you politely ask. Arguing with the CM. Calling back until you find a CM who'll bend NOT

Yep. Case in point: I showed up 7 hours late for my Guardians VQ this past week. And guess what? I was still allowed in.

Guardians has always allowed late guests. Tron doesn't

 

[Moliphino]

Comparing Disney policies to laws? Disney makes exceptions all the time for all sorts of fees, gives out free lightning lanes like candy if something goes wrong with a resort room, and cast members on the phone can make magic happen when other features don't work. I would guess that a majority of cast members from call centers would've just moved the reservation without questioning it. The cancellation policy is to prevent people from holding multiple reservations and deciding on one or just not eating table service at the last minute. Moving from one restaurant to another keeps the same total number of seats filled. And yes I understand each resort operates as a separate entity, but as a customer, I honestly don't care. If Disney wants to overcomplicate their accounting, that's on them.

In this case, Disney has nothing to make up for it's just the OP thinking they're above the rules. Pay the fee or keep your original ADR.

 

[maxiesmom]

I may be in the minority here on this thread, but honestly can't believe the HUGE deal some of you guys are making over this. Disney's P&L (regardless of what restaurant we're talking about) is not getting a hit because someone cancels their table an hour in advance.

The OP was the one making it a big deal. When they couldn't believe that the rules applied to them to begin with.