My Letter To Disney

[big_red_s]

I wrote a letter to Disney, nothing they don't know about...
============================

We just came back from eight wonderful days at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Disney parks. We had a wonderful vacation and our kids (daughter 4.5 and boy 2) enjoyed the Disney experience almost as much as we did.

There was one event which left a bitter taste in our mouths which I thought you folks at Disney might like to know about. Please note that we are not ones that complain about every small thing that doesn’t go according to plan, but we simply roll with the punches and enjoy life to the fullest.

However this event really vexed us on several levels, especially since it wasn’t the first time that week, as well as happened to many other families.

We arranged a breakfast with Donald Duck at the Tusker House on the last day of our vacation; from there we would catch the bus back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge with enough time to catch the shuttle to the airport. We thought we built enough cushion in the time frame so we won’t be running around trying to catch buses, planes and automobiles.

This meal was supposed to be our last hurrah at Disney, we got to the restaurant 30 min. early but even after 40 min. (10 min. past our reservations time), and they were still seating people who had reservations 15 min. before us.
Being seated about 30 min. after our appointed reservation was simply cutting it too close for us to take a chance.
We got our kids and walked away, too bad since it left a sour taste in our mouths after a great week.

Disney does need to stop overbooking their reservations. When Disney requires you to make reservations 3 months ahead of time, which means that you are arranging your whole itinerary around food, there is no reason to be seated late. It is a total disrespect for your time and effort and is NOT the "Disney way" of treating guests.

As I said, this might be a minor event and I’m sure Disney doesn’t care they lost the $100 or so from our family, but by overbooking such events shows the total disregard for people’s time and the effort it takes to plan such a complex vacation.

Thank you,

 

[dkbnyc]

you left 10min after your reservation time?

 

[Jeanieblue114]

send it.

Disney is a resort. Its success if based on quality of custmer service and their happiness. If they don't know of the problems, they can't fix it.

Send it to them!

It does take a while for them to get back to you. Expect at least a month of wait. Include your name and phone number. You will get a call from them. They will discuss with you any and all issues, make not of it, and do what they can (sometimes that isn't much) to address the situation.

I just completed the Disney Institute Keys to Excellence executive training class. I can assure you that even if a change isn't made, they still want your feedback.

I also think that you addressed the issue in a very appropriate manner.

 

[big_red_s]

We left 10 min. after our reservation time when it was clear that we will be seated, at best, about 25 min. after our reservation time.

By the way, when making reservations 3 months in advance, 10 min. is the maximum amount one should wait to be seated.

 

[PEANUT1]

I really don't think your complaint is valid. I see nothing wrong with waiting 20 minutes past a reservation at disney or anywhere else. We waited 45 minutes past our reservation at ohana for breakfast and I will admit, i was preturbed...but that is alot longer.

I don't understand why you arrived 30 minutes early to a reservation..were you trying to get in early?

In the future, I would allow a lot more time so you don't have to rush so much.

 

[SunniKC]

My thoughts....
One thing you have to think of when you have a reservation is the restaurant can not guarantee how long any one party stays at their table. Some may linger and linger after finishing their meal. In this case reservations back up...it happens...not just at WDW but everywhere. We waited at a local restaurant one evening for a table for over half an hour...people had finished their food and check had been taken care of but they just weren't leaving (we could see the table from where we waited).
I am sure part of the reason WDW overbooks is the sheer volume of no shows (my niece's bf works at a restaurant at DTD and stated that they have a good 100 no shows every weekend).

 

[big_red_s]

I really don't think your complaint is valid. I see nothing wrong with waiting 20 minutes past a reservation at disney or anywhere else. We waited 45 minutes past our reservation at ohana for breakfast and I will admit, i was preturbed...but that is alot longer.
.

It's absolutely a valid complaint. The fact that mediocre service and complete disregard to people's time has become the status quo doesn't make it right or appropriate. I didn't want to sit around and wait 45 minutes past our reservations time, we did that once that week in the EPCOT fairytale breakfast.

I don't understand why you arrived 30 minutes early to a reservation..were you trying to get in early?
.

Yes, that didn't work out - but that's not the complaint.

In the future, I would allow a lot more time so you don't have to rush so much.

We did build in enough cushion to be seated late, which was 30 minutes. Who would have thought that when you have a meal geared towards small kids you'd be sitting waiting to be seated 20 - 30 mintues past your appointed time?
Could you imagine any other children's restaurant doing that?
They'd be out of business in a week.
Disney can do that because most people don't have another choice, that still doesn't make it right.

 

[sydconmom]

I have to agree with the previous poster on this. I think leaving 10 min after your time doesnt warrant a complaint. You can not know 100% for sure that you would have had to wait another 25 minutes to be seated. I think it may have been wishful thinking to squeeze it in. I also wonder why you arrived 30 min early? Maybe they were behind in seatings cause others arrived 30 min early and were seated and threw the morning schedule out the window?

I really don't know what can be accomplished by this complaint, especially when you will never know exactly how long past your ADR you would have been seated.

Edited to add: If you stated above that you allotted for a cushion of 30 minutes late, why leave after only 10 min? You said earlier you thought you would be seated 30 min late...if you allotted for that anyway...what's the fuss and why leave? I am confused.

 

[big_red_s]

I have to agree with the previous poster on this. I think leaving 10 min after your time doesnt warrant a complaint.

Again, we left only after it was made clear to us, by the staff, that the earliest we will be seated will be 25-30 minutes after our ADR. Which to us, on that day, was unacceptable. Any other day we maybe would have waited (but I still would have sent the letter).

 

[Olivia'sMom]

I have to agree with the previous poster on this. I think leaving 10 min after your time doesnt warrant a complaint. You can not know 100% for sure that you would have had to wait another 25 minutes to be seated. I think it may have been wishful thinking to squeeze it in. I also wonder why you arrived 30 min early? Maybe they were behind in seatings cause others arrived 30 min early and were seated and threw the morning schedule out the window?

I really don't know what can be accomplished by this complaint, especially when you will never know exactly how long past your ADR you would have been seated.

I agree! Have you never waited past a reservation time at a non disney owned restaurant? We do all the time. It is the nature of the dining industry. You can not control how long someone sits at their table. If they rushed people out we would be hearing you or someone else complain about that.

 

[sydconmom]

We did build in enough cushion to be seated late, which was 30 minutes.

OK, I still dont get it. They said you would be seated 30 minutes after, which you said you allotted for right? So if you had time built in for it why not stay? And if you anticipated this wait by allotting for it in your schedule why the big fuss after the fact?

 

[Mickey Fliers]

I am sorry you didn't make your breakfast, but in this instance, I don't think you really have a valid complaint.

First, you did not build enough cushion into your itinerary to make the ME bus. What if it had taken you longer to get back to AKL from Tusker house. If 30 minutes was your breaking point, you didn't have enough time.

Second, do you realize that a Disney ADR, isn't like a reservation at any other restaurant? There isn't an empty table waiting for your arrival. You are basically just guaranteed a spot in line for your party size. If anyone ahead of you lingers...which happens often at character meals...your ADR time is pushed back.

Again, sorry you didn't get your last "hurrah". Better luck next time.

 

[maxiesmom]

I am sorry you didn't make your breakfast, but in this instance, I don't think you really have a valid complaint.

First, you did not build enough cushion into your itinerary to make the ME bus. What if it had taken you longer to get back to AKL from Tusker house. If 30 minutes was your breaking point, you didn't have enough time.

Second, do you realize that a Disney ADR, isn't like a reservation at any other restaurant? There isn't an empty table waiting for your arrival. You are basically just guaranteed a spot in line for your party size. If anyone ahead of you lingers...which happens often at character meals...your ADR time is pushed back.

Again, sorry you didn't get your last "hurrah". Better luck next time.

I agree with all of the above. An ADR is NOT the same thing as a reservation. They don't hold a table for a specific time for your family. It is the next table that opens up about that time for your family size.

Second, if you left after waiting only 10 minutes past your ADR time because you ran out of time, you didn't build a big enough cushion into your travel time. Conventional Wisdom is to allow at least an hour to get from point A to point B using Disney transporation. I actually think on the Disney web site they are now stating an hour and a half as a good time.

It is too bad you made plans that depended on having a meal at exactly a certain time, and that didn't work out. Trying to cram a character meal into a specific time frame like that is not a good idea. I'm sorry you were disappointed, but I don't think Disney is at fault.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Sorry you were disappointed on your last day when you were looking forward to having a fun breakfast as your send-off.

I always get a little nervous about timing on the last day when we have to catch DME so we try to make an ADR at our resort if possible otherwise I allow a huge buffer, like two hours or so, if we're venturing to another resort or a park.

Hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip.

 

[big_red_s]

OK, I still dont get it. They said you would be seated 30 minutes after, which you said you allotted for right? So if you had time built in for it why not stay? And if you anticipated this wait by allotting for it in your schedule why the big fuss after the fact?

No big fuss, I thought the letter was polite and to the point highlighting the many positive experiences we had last week as well as the few negative ones.

At the time we were made aware that we might be seated, at the earliest, 25-30 minutes late, we might not as well and decided not to take that chance. The 30 mintues cushion wasn't meant to be taken in only by being seated late.

Since we didn't have much choice we voted with our wallets and left.

As I said before, any other day we would have waited (maybe), but I still would have sent the letter.

There is a problem, I think we all agree on that.

Making Disney aware of the problem is the right thing to do.

Keep in mind, this is the slow time of the year, I can't even imagine these character meals when it's busy.

 

[big_red_s]

Second, do you realize that a Disney ADR, isn't like a reservation at any other restaurant? There isn't an empty table waiting for your arrival. You are basically just guaranteed a spot in line for your party size. If anyone ahead of you lingers...which happens often at character meals...your ADR time is pushed back.

.

That I didn't realize, thanks for the clarification.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Keep in mind, this is the slow time of the year, I can't even imagine these character meals when it's busy.

Even though this is the slow season, I think the restaurants are probably still very busy due to free dining.

 

[maxiesmom]

Keep in mind, this is the slow time of the year, I can't even imagine these character meals when it's busy.

But Disney is offering Free Dining right now, so that means the restaurants are booked up, and the character meals are the first to go.

I do think Disney did everyone a disservice by calling these things Advance Dining Reservations. The word reservation is very misleading. Priority Seating was much clearer, imho.

 

[big_red_s]

First, you did not build enough cushion into your itinerary to make the ME bus. What if it had taken you longer to get back to AKL from Tusker house. If 30 minutes was your breaking point, you didn't have enough time.
.

The 30 minutes was just for the meal, there was another buffer time of one hour to get back to the resort (a 5 minute bus ride)

By the way, we did have a great time during our vacation and this event did not spoil the wonderful week we had.

 

[NOLA_Tink]

It sounds like you really shouldn't have made the reservation to begin with. Honestly, if you were crunched that much for time, then why make a reservation for a time that doesn't really accommodate your schedule? I'm assuming that an earlier time wasn't available when you made your reservation. (You may have been seated within just a few minutes, but if you didn't have time to wait another few minutes, then you really didn't allow yourself enough time for a character meal anyway.) Therefore, you should have come up with "Plan B" for "We can't eat early enough that day, so let's do ______ instead." There have been times in Disney when I've been upset with myself for planning things that weren't realistic time-wise. However, I knew what my schedule could/couldn't fit, so it was ultimately my fault for planning something that didn't work in my allowed time.