Internet ADR..will it ever happen?

[Dizzytime]

I think it is in the works. I imagine they can systematically find a way to deal with the same issues that the operators deal with.

The italics and underlines above are mine..but FireDancer hit it and this has been my thought all along. They obviously are already using computers that can do this and their operators are using them. My point is that since I take 10 mins of their phone time , over and over and over, just for me, multiplied by (how many ?) thousands of people a day, it just seems so clear that it would be a money saving thing for DW to put it on-line. Let those like me stare at it for hours at a time, just play and play while we make our picks, change them, or most likely see them vanish in front of our eyes because we thought too long.

All this has been interesting.
Thanks!

 

[Condorman]

Why do people always freak out whenever the idea of collecting CC#s for ADRs or attaching the ADRs to vacation confirmation #s is brought up?

"That will never work!" "I have ten credit cards and I can easily find a way around that!"

Yes, of course, there are sidewalks around every building in every town. Disney is not infallible. Nor do I believe they are clever enough to actually implement a system that would crack down on those who abuse the process of making double ADRs. However, that is what they SHOULD do. They should take CC#s from everyone and apply a 72 cancellation policy. You could still make five reservations for a Tuesday night at 7:00 pm using a different CC# for each, but you better figure out where you want to eat by Saturday night or you will pay for it. And as for having a CC# that expires between the 180+10 date you make the rez and the actual date of the ADR... well, yes I suppose you could get away with a freebie there, but that is also a form of theft of services. I realize nobody likes this idea, but the only ones who would argue against this new process are those who would plan to abuse it.

If Disney were smart, they would also cut back on ADR CMs, forcing more people to use the online system. They will never get rid of the phone aspect for those who do not have the Internet, but they could make wait times long enough on the phone that the Internet becomes a better option. And I won't accept arguments about this from anyone on these boards... because all of you have the Internet... and I won't go into details about how I know that.

I make my ADRs and stick to them; I show up on time and I don't scam the system. If you want flexibility, don't make ADRs. Wing it. Walk in whenever and wherever you want to eat and hope they have a table for you. Again, I don't think Disney will ask for CC#s or attach your ADRs to your resort rez # once this online method becomes available but they absolutely should. And when they do, I look forward to printing off a PDF version of all my ADRs and seeing exactly what Disney CMs currently see on their end of a very long, annual phone call.

I've said it before and I'll repeat it here: Disney, please copy Opentable.com. Just do that, and everything will work out fine from day one.

 

[Tricia1972]

I am thinking that the day that they launch the system it'll be "Christmas coming early" for those reading the boards. I can't imagine that their system will work from the get go. If the rest of their website was humming along perfectly when it gets slammed with requests - then I'd have more faith.

 

[Dizzytime]

If Disney were smart, they would also cut back on ADR CMs, forcing more people to use the online system. They will never get rid of the phone aspect for those who do not have the Internet, but they could make wait times long enough on the phone that the Internet becomes a better option. And I won't accept arguments about this from anyone on these boards... because all of you have the Internet... and I won't go into details about how I know that. call.

I may have misunderstod..Use the on line system? ADR? Maybe you are like me, hopeful.

Nice post! Thks!

 

[disneyin2008]

. And as for having a CC# that expires between the 180+10 date you make the rez and the actual date of the ADR... well, yes I suppose you could get away with a freebie there, but that is also a form of theft of services.

How is that a form of theft of services? My Disney VISA expires on August 31....I just this weekend got my replacement card. It certainly isn't my fault that I must begin making ADRs for my November trip before my credit card expires. Are you saying that I should now call Disney and cancel and rebook all those hard won ADRs so that they have the correct expiration date?

Sorry...I personally think the easier way would be to stop forcing us to figure out what/where we want to eat half a year ahead of time!

And just for the record....I have NO duplicate ADRs....not one. I am still trying to change times for several as my family doesn't really want to eat dinner at 8:40 and 7:45......but I took those because we really want to eat at those restaurants (both character meals) and they were the only times available. But I also am hoping to change a GF tea to an hour or so earlier, but that's mid-afternoon not evening. WHEN/IF those are able to be changed, I'll be cancelling the later ones, because I don't need them.

Will I still make more changes as my November trip approaches, yeah, probably, because I kinda like playing around with our schedule....yeah I'm one of those Type A planners, lol. But I still don't see where having duplicate reservations will do me much good....in fact, considering the time and hassle of setting up all of them that I have, I can't imagine wanting to spend more time setting up duplicates, lol.

I'm simply one of those people that is cynical enough that I tend to see all the ways that someone can and will abuse the system....be it Disney, the legal system (which I worked in for way to many years of my life to ever lose my cynicism), or even my kids trying to get around the rules, lol. Believe me, if someone wants to find a way around any of the Disney rules, they won't have to work very hard. But they will have to live with their actions.....sadly most of them don't see that as a problem. And that IS the problem, now isn't it.

But I do agree that I don't see Disney doing much to stop those who want to get around it....they don't seem to want to upset their guests, sad as that is.....after all, one of the hottest discussions on this board seems to be about people re-using a $13 mug at multiple visits and/or multiple resorts. This is probably one of the absolutely easiest ones for Disney to stop the abuse, and yet instead they make it easier by just last year changing the design for ALL the resorts to the exact same design AND removing the year that used to be on them. Now a CM can't tell what resort, or what month/year that mug was originally purchased. We have several local establishments that have a similiar concept....but they all have some way that at a glance anyone looking can tell if it's still valid or if it's expired. THere is the T-shirt that has 2008 on it...wear it to the moves and get a free popcorn......or bring the loyalty mug that also says 2008 and the design changes each year as well, and get a free drink.....or the restaurant that had a special hole punch made to punch a card so that after 10 visits you get a free meal (they had to go to the expense of a special punch after not just a couple, but literally hundreds of people cheated and punched the star hole into their own card. I know the owner of this restaurant and it nearly put him out of business with people coming in for free meals, not just for themselves, but for entire families!). The list goes on...I have a glove box full of such things in my van so that when we're out and shopping, eating, entertaining ourselves, we can get our credit. But there are and always will be people who try to figure out a way to get more than they're due. It's a sad statement about what human beings have evolved to....but it's what it is.

I think Disney has decided that they would rather have happy guests and repeat visitors and take the losses. Considering what they charge, I'd say we all are paying for those losses anyway, so Disney isn't losing much.

 

[FireDancer]

I think that no matter what you do there will be people unhappy and there will be people who figure out a way to beat the system. I think you can use a carrot instead of a stick to try and crack down on the ADR problems. One way to do this is to tier the number of days out you can make an ADR. Here is one example of how this can be implemented:

• 180 days out: Resort Guests. The reservation # can be used for the ADR. If a reservation is changed the computer system SHOULD be able to propagate the changes from the reservation system to the ADR system.
• 120 days out: Disney Visa card holders or AP holders. The card number or AP pass number could be used for the ADR. This would limit the multiple cards problem because only Disney Visa cards could be used. Sure, the system cam be played if you have two Disney Visas or are a family with more than one ADR but it would cut down on the abuse.
• 90 days out: All other reservations. Any CC can be used to hold this reservation.

A 72 hour cancellation policy can be used for all of these scenarios. The AP holders would have to leave a credit card but if they had an AP number they could use a non-Disney card at the 120 day mark. In all of these situations Disney would have a credit card number (or reservation number to add the charge to prior to checkout) to enforce the policy.

People will find a way to beat this system also but the goal has to be cutting down on ADR abuse because totally eliminating it is not feasible.

I work in I.T. and manage project all the time. This is by no means an impossible system to implement and is actually a relatively simple concept as far as the system is concerned. The hard part is developing the policies, not making a system to enforce them.

 

[LisaInNc]

The regular Disney site is so slow that I doubt that I would deal with it for reservations but I would LOVE an email confirnmation of my dining plans like when we make hotel reservations!

 

[Tricia1972]

There are a few things about cutting down on ADR abuse that just don't make sense to me:

*Disney's restaurants are still full and they are turning away walk ups. What does Disney gain by cutting down on ADR 'abuse'?
-Disney implements charging for those that cancel late. Guests get upset
......about the charge because Susie was sick that morning - not 72 hours
......prior to reservation. Guests vacation elsewhere and Disney loses
......thousands of dollars.

*Disney eliminates double bookings, new reservation slots don't open up. Why? Because Disney currently addresses double bookings, no-shows, bus was late, Susie got sick, with overbooking. If Disney knows for a fact 99.9% of those with ADR's are going to show up, they will cut the number of available reservations. Why? Because they can no longer overbook a restaurant.

*Has Anyone heard from Disney that they have an issue with this and are cracking down? Not a disgruntled CM or a sympathetic CM who feels bad because not getting LeCellier for this nice family is ruining this nice family's vacation, but actual word from Disney?

Whatever they want to implement, I am fine with. I don't abuse the system. I just cannot figure out Disney's motivation for taking such drastic measures to fix a problem that doesn't hurt Disney's bottom line.

 

[FireDancer]

I just cannot figure out Disney's motivation for taking such drastic measures to fix a problem that doesn't hurt Disney's bottom line.

WARNING: This will bore 99.9% of the population to sleep, read on if you so choose.

I don’t think Disney’s main motivation for implementing an online solution would be to curb abuse. I only mentioned the abuse because it is something that would need to be addressed while designing the system.

I think the main motivation would be a convergence of the entire reservation system. This will give you front end (customer) advantages and, more importantly back end advantages.

On the front end you would allow a guest who is booking online to add ADRs to the package. While you are at the guest could add things such as the Richard Petty Experience, parasailing, Wishes cruises, etc. This would put more control in the hands of those of us who would like to just log on and do it ourselves.

Where the real advantage comes in is on the convergence side. Disney has a problem with disparate systems which inherently create disparate and duplicate data. One good example of this came up with Magical Express recently because of the airlines charging for baggage. Disney had no way of integrating the Magical Express system with the reservation system so they could just add the luggage charge to the room reservation. There is no reason for these systems to be separate. I will not bore everyone with the technical reasons but I assure you this costs a company Disney’s size a small fortune.

In designing an ADR system that is integrated with the reservation system you are taking a first step in converging reservations, ADRs, Magical Express, what ever they call extra functions like the Richard Petty experience, ect into one integrated system (think ERP for those of you who know about such things).

Disney would also have much more control over policy enforcement if more was done systematically.

This could turn into a book, but in the end a single solution for all guest interactions would most likely provide enough ROI to make itself worth it.

 

[Tricia1972]

Firedancer, I should have said in my original post - your solution has been the best that I've seen so far. Not only does it make sense, it's clear and from what I can see it'd be fairly easy to implement.

From products/processes that Disney has released in the past, it's clear that they'd do better on the technical end if they employed more people like you.

I agree, I would love to see an integrated system. In my opinion Disney is lagging in the technology industry. You would think that they would be leaders, but it seems that every system they utilize is plagued with bugs and errors.

My questions are more general, versus corrections or criticisms of your solution. I don't see where an occasional double booking or missing a reservation by a few, necessitates a huge overhaul of the dining system.

 

[FireDancer]

From products/processes that Disney has released in the past, it's clear that they'd do better on the technical end if they employed more people like you.

So the question is:
1. Do you work for Disney in the HR Department and
2. Are you hiring?

 

[Tricia1972]

So the question is:
1. Do you work for Disney in the HR Department and
2. Are you hiring?

If I was working for Disney HR, I would be sending you a PM.

Sometimes I wonder WHO they hire for these things. Clearly it can be done better, and really it seems like they do try to do better. They just always seem to fall short on execution.

Maybe I just expect too much because it's Disney.