New 90 Day Dining Reservation-Bad for DVC Members

[CarolA]

No, the op was not alone at the 180 day window, however the DIS forums only make up a very small portion of WDW visitors at any given time. Most WDW vacationers who do not frequent the DIS boards most likely have no idea that people like the op & myself book all their restaurants 180 days in advanced, 'cause anywhere else in the world- that's unheard of.

Everyone want to act like it's not hard to get ADRs at wdw, but if it was so easy than how come the dining boards have monthly ADR exchanges & "adr wishlists"?

I think it really depends on the time of year you are visiting, the restaurant you are choosing & the dining time. There are a lot of restaurants that you could probably walk up & get a table that day, but not the popular ones especially during free dining or a time when many DVC members enjoy visiting.

I do think going to 90 days out, at times, will not benefit us, but I like that I will now be able to at least know the park hours for the adrs I'm trying to make. It has pros & cons & it really is all subjective opinion really.

I have several friends who go to Disney regulary and don't post on here. They all know the drill on reservations..........

And as for ADR's. On 12/17 I had a choice of several places for dinner... RIGHT THEN! LOL! IMHO the "hard to get" suffer from thier own popularity. I used to really like Le Cellier for example. Now... sorry it's gone downhill as it's gotten harder to get. I can generally get a reservation for either Jiko or Yatchsman much easier and have a better meal/experience.

 

[rbuzzotta]

I personally am glad that it is back at 90 and would like to see it go to 60 days out. I remember when you could only make reservations on the day of dinning at Epcot at the computer screens in the Park.

Funny you mentioned that. DH and I and where talking about the good ole days and how much fun it was talking to someone on those kiosks about dining reservatons!! My girls used to love making faces at them before they realized they could see us too!! LOL!!

 

[dgaston]

OK both a DVC owner and also a Visa Free Dining celebrant. I booked AllStarSports (first time) to take advantage of the free dining from Dec 15 to 21. I paid rack rate at $82 (even for the weekends -- don't know why I wasn't charged the weekend rate -- plus $10 per night for my extra adult). I called in October and was able to book LeCellier for the CP, Mama Melrose, Boma, Crystal Palace, and the Grand Floridian Cafe for our TS. I really think that the extra money we paid for the 1 - day admission will be fine, credited to our next DVC AP purchase. This trip was great, and lovely to only pay gratuity on our TS meals -- sometimes free dining does work out.

I'm not worried about 90 day booking.

 

[Lynn5700]

I'm OK with the new 90 days ahead..I mean it's the same for everybody so I don't think you should have a problem getting the ADRs you want...it's just the same as being 180 days, same rules.

 

[fishermouse]

So Now, the way Disney is giving away the meal plan free to people, chances are that I may not get the places that I would like to eat at. I have a hard time thinking that I pay for my meal package and someone who is getting a free meal package beats me to the reservation system by 10 minutes or so and gets the better reservations. This is not a good way for Disney to treat the DVC members

As the saying goes there is no free lunch. Folks are paying for a package and it includes a meal plan.
I wish it would go back to the days when you could actually get to WDW see a nice resturant and make reservations for later that week. Would love to see it where you have to make them within one week, but that's just me I'm sure lots of people like making them far in advance as you do. Would sure be nice to be at the park and be able to just decide you want to eat at Mama Melrose or something and actually have a chance of getting a seat. I would also love to see the whole dining plan disapear, but that's not likely.

 

[daver]

There is no way those meals are free. The money is collected somewhere else in the package. I would guess that a certain percentage of what DVC members pay for DDP is what Disney Travel pays to the Food and Beverages department for the "Free DDP"

You could be right, however, on our 2nd trip in 2007, we booked in advance without DDP, then the free promo came into effect, it reduced the price by the cost of the DDP, but the rest stayed the same. We saved about $1300.00 off of the price we had booked originally. Let's face it, there usually a discount of some type available, how much you can save depends on how badly Disney wants to fill the rooms at that time of year!

 

[disneynutz]

What's the true cost of dumbed down menu food and how many credits go unused? If any incentive wasn't making Disney money, they wouldn't offer it.

 

[daver]

What's the true cost of dumbed down menu food and how many credits go unused? If any incentive wasn't making Disney money, they wouldn't offer it.

Depends,

When we leave there are no credits left.... I have heard it has changed, however in '07 we could pick up say the $3.00 bag of pretzels at the resort store and call it a snack... we brought several home.

While some restaurants are overpriced, we couldn't afford for our family of 5 to eat at the Coral Reef twice in a trip. One night was $210.00 the second was $235.00.

It's like Wal-Mart offering Coke at 97 cents. they lose money hoping you buy other things. We stayed for 14 days and ate free. but we bought about $2000.00 worth of merchandise. So they only make 10% margin on the room and tickets instead of 50%, we stay on resort and buy stuff.... it works for both parties, and puts bums in seats during the slower times.
Whenever they are!

 

[Anal Annie]

Although I am quite a planner, I for one thought the 180 days was completely absurd. I could not possibly know what time or night or where I wanted to eat that far in advance. They don't even usually release the park hours or special events that far out. I am happy for the change to 90 days. I used to make TOO MANY reservations with the old 180 day system because I didn't know what I wanted that far out - but I made them "just to be safe". I would book 2 or 3 restaurants for basically the same time on the same day. Then I had to call and cancel them the week of our trip once we got closer to figuring out what our game plan was. I'm sure that I am not alone in the over-booking process. I'm sure this will eliminate a lot of that crap.

 

[daver]

Although I am quite a planner, I for one thought the 180 days was completely absurd. I could not possibly know what time or night or where I wanted to eat that far in advance. They don't even usually release the park hours or special events that far out. I am happy for the change to 90 days. I used to make TOO MANY reservations with the old 180 day system because I didn't know what I wanted that far out - but I made them "just to be safe". I would book 2 or 3 restaurants for basically the same time on the same day. Then I had to call and cancel them the week of our trip once we got closer to figuring out what our game plan was. I'm sure that I am not alone in the over-booking process. I'm sure this will eliminate a lot of that crap.

I Guess I'm Anal Davey!

I booked way out and had it all on a calendar. I was all done planning months before leaving. I already have my restaurants planned for our April trip. We have had Chef Mickeys booked for at least 2 months! Now that's Anal

 

[pilferk]

IMHO, what this is going to do is make the dining line MUCH busier.

The 180 day rule helped space out demand for most of the sit down places....sure, Le Cellier and the Castle meals were quick "sell outs" at the 180 day mark, but (except during the very busy times of the year) the rest went much more slowly. You had to call BY the 90 day mark, pretty much, to ensure you were in good shape with "the rest" of your dining arrangements.

Now, that 90 day mark is going to be a free for all, zoo when the lines open. Because EVERYONE is going to pretty much NEED to call, and hope you've got fast fingers, or risk being blocked out, IMHO. It's going to be a madhouse, and that scenario NEVER seems to work out in the guests favor....

Sure, we're all still on equal footing....but the "fastest fingers" game for Le Cellier and Cindy's Castle meals likely just transferred itself to include a whole HOST of other places. And IF, as promised, they introduce "on line" ADR's.....yikes. I NEVER thought 90 days was "long enough", back when that was the rule...and while 180 days seemed a might bit TOO long, in some respects, it also seemed to work pretty well.

We'll see how it works out in practice...

 

[tjkraz]

IMHO, what this is going to do is make the dining line MUCH busier.

It was only about 3 years ago that Disney expanded the ADR window to 180 days. Before that it had been 90 days for many years. Besides, they aren't changing the number of people looking to secure reservations or the number of restaurants available. The call volume should be pretty much the same, albeit distributed a little differently.

Disney is also working on an on-line system for booking ADRs.

 

[Chellymouse]

We generally book at 180 days out because we are creatures of habit. We have our list of choices and just cross off as we book them. I'm not overjoyed about the 90 day booking and I for one will be rather vocal about it if we are denied because of it. This may be the last trip for the dining plan anyway as the value is not the same as it once was.

 

[pilferk]

It was only about 3 years ago that Disney expanded the ADR window to 180 days. Before that it had been 90 days for many years. Besides, they aren't changing the number of people looking to secure reservations or the number of restaurants available. The call volume should be pretty much the same, albeit distributed a little differently.

Disney is also working on an on-line system for booking ADRs.

The distribution is what I meant...instead of distributing those calls over 180 days, with an initial rush to book up the "hard to book" stuff, and then dribs and drabs (relatively speaking) leading UP TO the 90 day mark, I suspect you're just going to have ONE overwhelming AM rush that's going to take a good chunk of the "inventory". I remember that's largely how it was back when the window WAS 90 days. It wasn't just Cindy's and LeCellier that booked up...it was those, plus a good portion of the other sit down places (especially the character dining), and even some of the less popular places would "book up" for the prime dining hours. And that was LONG before free dining. Sure, there were still spots to be had.....just as there are now. The net effect on ressies is likely to be zero for Disney. But that initial rush, and "7 AM requirement", just got a lot larger, and spread out to encompass a LOT more of the sit down places, I suspect. So it's going to behoove EVERYONE (not just those looking for Cindy's, LeCellier, or who are obsessive planners) to hit the system at 90 days out, 7 AM.

If you add on-line ADR's to the mix....again, looking at past events with Disney net tech....you're likely going to see the system buckle pretty frequently. At least at first. And woe to the forums (and likely Disney, too) when you get the first person who had a Cindy's ADR "in hand", only to lose it to a crashed out system. Witness how the Disney on-line systems deal with the Candlelight Dinner Packages at DisneyLAND. And they won't have the "do-over" mechanism at their disposal to fix the problem...since the phone ADR's will fill the spots "lost" by those using the online system, in the event of a crash.

Personally, I don't like the change. I can certainly live with it..it's not worthy of a full on tirade. But I think it's going to make things a bit more difficult, a bit more demanding (7 AM, 90 days out, exactly) and a bit LESS flexible. Again, we'll see how it works in practice.

I know there are MANY who clamored for this, because they disliked having to plan 6 months out. In practice though...you really only needed to plan (during MOST of the year) a couple of things that far in advance...with the rest being more like 120 - 100 days out. While now you gain the benefit of not having to plan the "special stuff" so far in advance....I don't find THAT benefit large enough to outweigh what I suspect will be the relatively painful experience of having to delve the system at 7 AM, 90 days out, exactly. We've seen that one of the things Disney's systems do NOT handle well (meaning their CRO, ADR, and "special event" booking systems) is sudden and large volumes. I'm a bit leary of having to depend on them to handle that on, basically, a daily basis.

We'll see. Maybe it will be better than their history would lead you to believe. Or maybe the projected downturn in occupancy and attendance will materialize and, for the short term anyway, it won't be nearly as painful.

 

[Chuck S]

Another thought...given the current tight economy, this would give Disney more flexibility on simply shutting down a lower demand restaurant for short periods of time. It allows them to make such decisions at just over 90 days out without having to call all the people that have made early reservations, explaining the restaurant is uhhh..."down for rehab"...then trying to rebook those people into other locations.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

IMHO, what this is going to do is make the dining line MUCH busier.

The 180 day rule helped space out demand for most of the sit down places....sure, Le Cellier and the Castle meals were quick "sell outs" at the 180 day mark, but (except during the very busy times of the year) the rest went much more slowly. You had to call BY the 90 day mark, pretty much, to ensure you were in good shape with "the rest" of your dining arrangements.

Now, that 90 day mark is going to be a free for all, zoo when the lines open. Because EVERYONE is going to pretty much NEED to call, and hope you've got fast fingers, or risk being blocked out, IMHO. It's going to be a madhouse, and that scenario NEVER seems to work out in the guests favor....

Sure, we're all still on equal footing....but the "fastest fingers" game for Le Cellier and Cindy's Castle meals likely just transferred itself to include a whole HOST of other places. And IF, as promised, they introduce "on line" ADR's.....yikes. I NEVER thought 90 days was "long enough", back when that was the rule...and while 180 days seemed a might bit TOO long, in some respects, it also seemed to work pretty well.

We'll see how it works out in practice...

I am not at all happy with the change, for the reasons pilferk listed.

I have the entire itinerary for our Aug. 2009 trip FINISHED. I was just waiting for 2/2/09 so I could call and book our ADRs.
Now I am being shoved into that narrow little 90 day window along with all the slackers who couldn't be bothered to sort out their plans 180 days out. I DID have an advantage, but now I don't. Perhaps by having 3 cell phones and a land line that we can dial with on ADR day I MIGHT be able to edge out a few people, but it may not be enough of an edge to get the ADRs I want.

 

[jana]

I'll be pretty sure this is because

1) A lot of people who booked 180 days out called back closer to their trip to "fine tune" their plans. This meant Disney were paying an employee 2,3 or 4 times to make the same reservation. It will cut costs with minimal loss of "service"

2) A lot of people make multiple reservations then either no show or call to cxl close to the date. No guarantee this will will reduce this practice,but hopefully it will mean peoples plans are more set and it will reduce the need ( is there really a need?) for one family to have 5 different bookings the same evening. Cuts costs at the call center and improves occupancy in the restaurants.

3) A lot of people cancel their trips between 90-180 days out, due to any number of reasons. With Disney's cancellation policy for packages it is much less likely that people will have to call once ( or more) to make all those reservations only to call again later to cxl them.

4) A lot of people who remember to cxl their hotel+ dining packages (because they have money coming back) "forget" or don't have the time to cxl all their ADRs causing restaurants to operate at less than full efficiency.

I understand it is a little frustrating for those that used the 180 day window as it was intended and didn't abuse the system but with the current economic situation I think it's a sensible measure to cut unnecessary costs with only a very minimal ( if any) loss of service.

 

[icouldlivethere]

I think 90 days makes more sense. I called yesterday to make a couple of reservations for our upcoming trip and got Chef Mickey's no problem even though people have been able to book it for 180 days now.

I could have had Chef Mickey's any day I wanted at any time I wanted for our trip in March. I had no trouble at all getting a 5:30 pm reservation. My sister just scheduled a short weekend trip for the end of February and was also able to call and get Chef Mickey's for any day she wanted for whatever time she wanted and she just called yesterday.

I don't think there will be any trouble getting what you want at 90 days. I only made 2 reservations yesterday. One for Chef Mickey's and one for Biergarten and had no trouble at all getting exactly what I wanted. I still need to make 4 more reservations and I'm not worried at all about getting what I want. I'll take my time deciding where I want to eat and call again in a couple of days.

 

[tjkraz]

Perhaps by having 3 cell phones and a land line that we can dial with on ADR day I MIGHT be able to edge out a few people, but it may not be enough of an edge to get the ADRs I want.

Until proven otherwise, I'm taking a wait and see approach with the change.

Eight months ago people were convinced they would be denied their DVC reservations en mass due to the booking change, but that never materialized. Disney did its homework and concluded that day-by-day bookings were not needed 99% of the time and made a change to eliminate the cost and hassle involved with that process.

Similarly some are now worried about not getting their dining reservations. We'll see.

Before the 180 day window the only location that was terribly hard to book was Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast. Since then Disney has tripled the number of character meals in the castle, increased the price dramatically, added a mandatory pre-payment and started alternatives like the Akerhaus princess breakfast in Norway. I don't see us going back to the days of calling at 6:59am to secure the desired reservation--even at CRT.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I guess I should be glad I don't want to go to CRT or Le Cellier. We will be booking mostly signature dinners, maybe 2 or 3 buffet breakfasts, 3 TS lunches but those won't be a big deal no matter what the booking window is. The front 6 nights of my trip are the ones I am most worried about. The back 8 nights we have concierge so I am really hoping they can secure the ADRs I want for those nights.