New credit card guarantees. Restaurant list, policy & common questions in 1st post

[tarheelmjfan]

Why wouldn't it? You can still wake up and check for open ADRs for breakfast. I will give you that you won't have walk-ups, but this is for what, the occasional hour of a few park restaurants. And in my experience, they're not fully filling the opening hour anyway - that schedule a gradual restaurant fill.

And if the rule is actually going to be cancellation the prior day a some hav said (instead of a true 24 hours), you'll have the same situation with breakfast availability as if the cancellation period was 3 hours. Granted, you might lose the ADRs that would have been made from 1:00 - 5:00 am. But I'll put $20 that that number isn't very high.

I don't think you'd have too many people show up at the parks an hour & 15 mins. early on the off chance the CMs at the gate kept up with restaurant availability & they'd be able to get a table. They wouldn't be able to get into the park early otherwise. If the cancellation period is 24 hrs., people could be booking ADRs the day prior to assure they'll get in for the coveted 8:05 am ADR or sometime thereafter. They won't have a problem filling early morning character meals a day prior. Filling those tables a few minutes prior is a different story. Most people will not get up early "just in case", then possibly be left going elsewhere for breakfast.

If the window ends up being as some have said, that could give people a few more hours to book the breakfast not less. (Maybe, I'm not understanding what you're saying though.)

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

There are already restaurants that require a credit card pre-payment or guarantee. In the last two years, we have dined at Cali Grill 3 times, Akershus 3 times, HDDR once and CRT once, all with a credit card guarantee and we have not missed any of those meals, nor was it a big inconvenience to put the credit card as a guarantee. I have also forgotten to cancel in those two years two early morning breakfasts - H&V and Cape May - because we simply got up too late and by the time we were up, it was basically already the time for the ADR. So, based on my experience, putting your credit card down will commit you to making that ADR on time. It will also make folks more aware of situations that may impact making that ADR and force all of us to make decisions slightly further in advance. For example, instead of waiting until the morning of the ADR, you may have to look at the weather forecast in advance and make a decision about whether you are really going to visit a park on a particular day. If kids are looking like they are coming down with something, we may be forced to cancel early, rather than taking the chance that someone will not be up for the ADR.

I can understand why many find this inconvenient - I don't particularly like having to guess 30 hours in advance if my kids are going to be up for a meal - but I understand why Disney is making this change. Clearly, simply expecting people to cancel in advance has not worked, and in the end, this will likely make it a little easier to get reservations at the last minute. Too many have taken advantage of the system and now even those who would have legitimate reasons for cancelling at the last minute will have to pay the consequence (pun intended). Again, as much as I don't like to think ahead during my vacation, I think this change is for the best. And, I would just factor into my vacation budget one missed meal.

For our family that is $70. No I will not give Disney $70 for nothing. I already give them plenty for what is fast becoming subpar service. Yes for the adults the magic is quickly disappearing. Our kids don't know all these things or analyze quality of food vs. price so they still feel the . Once they don't then I'm not sure Disney would be worth it to us. Sad to say as I was the one who started my whole family including other relatives on the Disney love and had envisioned trips with grandkids down the line but by then Disney may just be a place where you drop your lifesavings in a box and then get slapped around by a surly CM for your trouble.

 

[Snurk71]

I don't think you'd have too many people show up at the parks an hour & 15 mins. early on the off chance the CMs at the gate kept up with restaurant availability & they'd be able to get a table. They wouldn't be able to get into the park early otherwise. If the cancellation period is 24 hrs., people could be booking ADRs the day prior to assure they'll get in for the coveted 8:05 am ADR or sometime thereafter. They won't have a problem filling early morning character meals a day prior. Filling those tables a few minutes prior is a different story. Most people will not get up early "just in case", then possibly be left going elsewhere for breakfast.

If the window ends up being as some have said, that could give people a few more hours to book the breakfast not less. (Maybe, I'm not understanding what you're saying though.)

I agree with you that people won't go to the park early on non-EMH days for the odd chance of getting a walk-up breakfast reservation.

I was offering that some are saying the policy isn't going to be 24 hours, but previous day instead. So if someone can cancel their 8:05 AM CP at 11:00 PM the night prior who is that going to help with having that ADR available at 11:00 PM with a prior day cancellation policy that having a 3 hour cancellation policy and having that ADR open up at 5:00 AM wouldn't? Remember, you challenged that a 3 hour cancellation policy wouldn't work for early breakfasts. I'm highlighting that if the cancellation policy is actually prior day instead of 24 hour, there really won't be a material difference between a prior day cancellation policy vs. a 3 hour one when it comes to early breakfast ADR availability. Not to mention that we're not talking about a large or significant portion of the restaurant pie of the pre-park opening restaurants that already don't plan on seating every available table at opening anyway (they seat the restaurants at opening in waves from what I've experienced - restaurants don't want an entire restaurant all sitting down at the same time, they want the customers to be on different time shifts).

So I come back to my 3 hour cancellation being a more service/hospitality-friendly policy than prior day or 24 hour.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

It has also been reported that this has been a function of staffing too, where the restaurant didn't have the appropriate staffing level to support all of the tables in a restaurant. We don't know to what extent tables are open due to staffing vs. holding tables for possible ADRs. Most seem to be concluding it's because Disney is holding the tables open.

You're right, we're not in on their meetings, so we don't know for sure what's going on. I'm just thinking of it from a practical standpoint. At restaurants, the customer pays most of the employees salary. WDW is making much more money filling tables than they are when they're empty. Why would they routinely under staff? It's not like bringing in an extra server is costing them a lot of money. OTOH, they've made a policy change to discourage no shows. This tells me what the problem most likely is.

I'm new to the discussion but just wanted to add that I don't like the feel of the new policy. It's hard enough just trying to figure out where to eat 180-days in advance and now we have to worry about penalties. My family doesn't live or die by our ADR's. We like to book a couple of character dinners when we go for fun, but the retail cost is soaring. While we enjoy the dinners, we're starting to feel that they aren't worth the cost. Now factor in the added stress of getting charged if we don't make the reservation, and it does make me personally not want to book them anymore. I was already on the fence just because of the cost. Nobody wants to be stressed out while they're on vacation, and we have had things occassionally happen (both good and bad) to prevent us from getting to couple of dinners in the past.

I just think that we are going to back to touring Disney the old school and simple way without the reservations. We can eat some CS and bring some food from home. I know that Disney can "replace" me, but that's OK. I'm not looking to bring them down. I just want to go and enjoy my trip. I do wonder if I'm feeling like it's not worth it, than do other Disney fans too? In this economy it's going to be hard for Disney to replace all of us. The good news is it will be easier for the rest of you to book your ADR's.

I don't think they see you replaceable. (Well any more than the rest of us.) They'd probably just rather you do exactly as you said. Book those couple character meals you're definitely going to keep, then wing it for the rest of the meals. It sounds to me like you have a good plan that will work best for your family.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I agree with you that people won't go to the park early on non-EMH days for the odd chance of getting a walk-up breakfast reservation.

I was offering that some are saying the policy isn't going to be 24 hours, but previous day instead. So someone can cancel their 8:05 AM CP at 11:00 PM the night prior. So I ask who is that going to help with having that ADR available at 11:00 PM with a prior day cancellation policy that having a 3 hour cancellation policy and having that ADR open up at 5:00 AM wouldn't? Remember, you challenged that a 3 hour cancellation policy wouldn't work for early breakfasts. I'm highlighting that if the cancellation policy is actually prior day instead of 24 hour, there really won't be a material difference between a prior day cancellation policy vs. a 3 hour one when it comes to early breakfast ADR availability.

So I come back to my 3 hour cancellation being a more service/hospitality-friendly policy than prior day or 24 hour.

I'll need to go back to read the earlier speculation, but I think they were saying it could be closer to 48 hrs for some meals not less than 24. If it will be possible to cancel an 8 am ADR at 11 pm the night before, it won't make much of a difference with breakfast ADRs. That's not the way I understood it though. I understood it to mean at least 24 hrs. prior to ADR time.

 

[Mom of 2 Wife of 1]

For our family that is $70. No I will not give Disney $70 for nothing. I already give them plenty for what is fat becoming subpar service. Yes for the adults the magic is quickly disappearing. Our kids don't know all these things or analyze quality of food vs. price so they still feel the. Once they don't then I'm not sure Disney would be worth it to us. Sad to say as I was the one who started my whole family including other relatives on the Disney love and had envisioned trips with grandkids down the line but by then Disney may just be a place where you drop your lifesavings in a box and then get slapped around by a surly CM for your trouble.

Then speak with your wallet and stop going to Disney. Or continue going and only do counter service. ADRs are not mandatory. You don't have to make them and you don't have to eat at table service. Yes, you can't get into many places without an ADR, but that's not Disney's fault for having very popular venues.

I don't understand why anyone is complaining about this new policy. If you make an ADR, stick to it. If you can't, don't make it. But if you already know or believe or expect that your child is going to become deathly ill within 45 minutes of your Le Cellier dinner, then you've got bigger problems in the world and you should probably cancel that rez right now and seek some medical help. I'm not joking. It amazes me how people are already forecasting a death in the family, an ill child, or a broken down car to prevent them from making to an ADR that they were not forced to make.

If you can't keep your promise, don't make one. There, I just solved everyone's problem. So simple. You can thank me later.

 

[Snurk71]

If you can't keep your promise, don't make one. There, I just solved everyone's problem. So simple. You can thank me later.

Are you also saying that if Disney doesn't keep its promise and seat its customer (wait, what - we're the customer???) at the ADR time that the customer is due remuneration like Disney is asking for? Or do you only support one-way promise streets?

It's okay if you don't see the vendor-customer relationship, or hospitality industry expectations as some of us do. You can thank me later for highlighting that for you.

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

I am trying my best to see how this is a bad thing. For those of you against it as you say you can't know 24 hours prior whether you will show, what have you done in the past.

Have you been not showing up or cancelling at the last minute and letting tables set empty, preventing others from dining, costing Disney lost revenue which results in higher prices for you and the rest of us.

Honestly and I am not judging, I just can't seem to grasp not living in a world where this is already common practice.

I mean Disney has very strict policies for rooms cancellations that are much more expensive, require a credit card or debit, and much further out than 24 hours, how do you handle that?

I guess short of dire emergency which I would at that point care less about money lost, I can plan 24 hours out, as I do it all the time in my daily life.

Don't any of you take other vacations where advance reservations are a necessity? I know we do.

Actually, a lot of times we will have the healthy party go unless it's not possible ie an adult is sick as well as kid so other adult needs to help or several people get sick all at once. So if part of our party shows up and informs the front desk, they have moved us to a smaller table and seated a walk up. Now they didn't lose any money in this scenario so why charge me $20 except to be nickle diming. If we had to cancel it would be within 2 hours, unless they get sick on the way in, again those walkups we always see turned away now don't get turned away. Once again no revenue lost. Now I would never consider not canceling at all like a no show and would think that should/could incur a charge as maybe they did turn away a walk up at that point and lost money. But then again since they are not reservations I'm not sure they lost any as they could seat the next group early and squeeze in a walkup later in the day. I would love to be seated on time as we are always seated late it seems.
And we make our ADR's knowing that whether we want to change plans or not this is what we have so yes I have told the kids we can go to MK for only a few hours because we have to hop over to HS for dinner. Once again we only cancel for illness or alter our group size for DS' problems. I don't believe that is an unreasonable reason to cancel. And those who think it is well I would like to see your posts after your sitting next to some family with obviously sick people while your trying to eat. And I apologize in advance as we will be their with DS if we are going to be charged otherwise. I will not throw money away (and in this economy who would?) for nothing. I do not expect to be rewarded for doing the right thing like thinking of how my DS affects others and only making 1 ADR so we have nowhere else for family to go eat while I deal with DS. But I sure as heck will not be penalized for doing the right thing. And no I will not disappoint the kiddos by not booking character meals on the off chance that their brother has a bad day. Besides this is where we still see the when DS gets to hug Ariel who he has had a crush on since he was 3. Or he gets excited to see Donald to give him a hi 5.

 

[always]

I've read a majority of this thread and I still fail to see how this is going to stop people from double and triple booking. They will just cancel the ADRs they don't want right before they leave for their trip.

 

[Cafeen]

I'm a little late to today's party. Stayed up a bit too late last night and just woke up (yes, it's almost 4pm!)

All you need to do is read this thread to see why the policy has changed. I didn't realize there were so many potential reasons to cancel an ADR at the last minute or not show.

I also don't see the big distinction so many are making in ADR hoarders & no shows. I agree the hoarders negatively affect us the customer more. From WDW's standpoint, an empty table is an empty table. It really doesn't matter to them why it's empty. The fact that it is costs them money. I'm sure they're just as interested in stopping the no shows as they are the hoarders.

The big distinction is that it's the hoarders gaming the system and causing the ADR issues, while those who miss (cancel the same day, or just don't show up) are attempting to follow the system and just have things pop up. A no show is a no show, and I'll agree with that, the bigger issues are when a single person no shows to 2-3 meals a day the entire length of their trip vs the ones that may miss one or two, or partially show up, during an entire trip. This policy affect the later group more than it affects the former group.

It seems fairly obvious to me that they only want people who will definitely show up to their ADR, unless there's a serious illness or major injury, to make them. Most who are seriously ill won't care about losing $10/person. They'll be more concerned about their sick loved one. Anyone seriously injured on WDW property won't need to worry about cancellation fees. They will be taken care of. From my many years of going to WDW with people of all ages, I don't think either of these cases happen frequently to the large majority. They're definitely the exception not the rule.

But the thing is, the minority are "seriously" sick or injured. The majority will be "minorly" sick, injured, melting down, and/or tired. I'd agree that a $10pp charge for breaking a leg getting of HM wouldn't be the first thing on your mind. But $10pp for getting the sniffles before you go to CM may very well be. It's this subset of people that will be hit by the policy more adversely than the other.

It's the people who can foresee a dozen different reasons for cancelling at the last minute or not showing that they'd rather call for an ADR or walk-up, when they're 100% sure they'll be dining there. They want to fill the tables. From a business standpoint it makes more sense to fill them will walk-ups than with people who plan to show up, but may have something come up. Reasons, other than the 2 major ones above, are why most wouldn't show or they'd cancel at the last minute. Those are things that could be planned around, if they were give the importance a financial commitment usually receives. It may not be important to you, but it is to their bottom line. I can see why they wouldn't want people committing to ADRS, if they weren't going to plan their trip to assure they would definitely be at the restaurants at the appropriate time. If a guest wants more flexibility on vacation, or foresees potential problems, it's better for Disney, if they don't make ADRs. It's better to walk up, when everyone is hungry, well rested, feels good, etc. Unfortunately, life is about choices. Everyone needs to make the responsible one for their family, even if it's not the choice you'd prefer. I know I'd like to eat at 1/2 the restaurants on every trip, but I also know my stomach won't hold that much food. I hate having to choose what to keep & what to eliminate. It's not the fun choice, but it's the responsible one. (Darn responsibilities. )

Not everyone can plan to that detail. I can't plan when I catch a cold, maybe you can, but I certainly can't. Now, if I have a bad cold I'll have to decide if I want to show up and potentially make others sick, or not show up and be charged. The same goes for the other family issues that we've presented. I know what my choice would be, sorry folks, I'm going to be passing around a cold. I'm sure families would be more apt to bring melting down and grumpy children as well (again, if it were lose money or annoy others, sorry, you're going to get annoyed).

So, now the responsible thing to do is bring sick, overstimulated, and melting down people into the restaurant, simply because canceling a few hours ahead isn't enough.

I've read several times that people think to solve the problem they should just give tables away, if there's a no show. Think about that from a financial standpoint. For every 15 minutes a table sits empty, that's a 1/4th to 1/6th of a table turn (depending on how fast one eats). Multiply that by several tables & you're bleeding money. They want the tables turned as fast as they can be cleared. If they know the people with ADRs will definitely show, they then know how many walk-ups they can accept to accomplish that.

The thing is, this IS the way it's supposed to work. Just because they don't always follow it doesn't mean that's how it works. Read the reports of people showing up late to 'Ohana NOW and you'll see that often times they were turned away or given walk-up status. Since the restaurants in question ALWAYS have a decent wait even with an ADR, means they aren't letting many (if any) tables just sit vacant solely due to no shows.

In other words, they don't hold a physical table for you if you have an ADR. They put you in a line and draw from that line. Empty tables when there's a wait for those with ADRs are not likely due to these no shows, but other reasons.

Now, if there were empty tables AND no line for those with ADRs, then it's much more likely caused by No Shows.

WDW has definitely done things in the past few years I don't agree with. In dining alone, I think the quality has declined while the prices continue to rise. To me, that's greed. However, people brought this policy change on themselves by making a commitment & not keeping it. If you don't want to commit to something 100%, you're better off not making the commitment at all. I can totally understand wanting more flexibility on vacation. Things do come up. If you can foresee that potentially happening, it probably makes more sense to book much less ADRs & do more walk-ups. If you owned the business, you could probably see you're not WDW's ideal ADR maker.

No offense to anyone. It just seems obvious to me that WDW has probably heard the excuses given on this thread so many times they've decided they need to do something to eliminate them.

People who will not likely be affected very much brought this change on others who fully intended to use the system as it should be. Those who abused the system will barely be scratched, while those who honestly used it, only to have something come up are going to get hit. That's one of my issues with the policy. The fact that it's not addressing the problem, and penalizing those who make an honest run of it.

No offense taken. At least you aren't calling us children and stating that we want to disobey the rules . I do agree that Disney had to do something, I just feel this policy is off the mark.

Exactly we're a family of 7 with 5 kids if someone on the plane is sick or someone in line etc. There is a high possibility that one of our kiddos will pick up a 24-48 hour bug in a 10 day trip. We've had it happen twice in 5 trips.

My advice? Just show up sick now. That seems to be what everyone wants. If someone's screaming and melting down, show up with them anyway. The other customers will appreciate the fact that you followed the rules and showed up!

I'll need to go back to read the earlier speculation, but I think they were saying it could be closer to 48 hrs for some meals not less than 24. If it will be possible to cancel an 8 am ADR at 11 pm the night before, it won't make much of a difference with breakfast ADRs. That's not the way I understood it though. I understood it to mean at least 24 hrs. prior to ADR time.

The official policy uses the term "Full Day". In the original articles (posted throughout), those writers had called Disney and were told that "Full Day" means a full day between the cancel day and the reservation day.

So even 48 hours isn't quite right, it's more like the latest you can cancel that 7am breakfast on Thursday is at about 5:59 am on Wednesday (right before the system rolls over). However, that same deadline holds true for even a 9:30pm dinner on Thursday.

Then speak with your wallet and stop going to Disney. Or continue going and only do counter service. ADRs are not mandatory. You don't have to make them and you don't have to eat at table service. Yes, you can't get into many places without an ADR, but that's not Disney's fault for having very popular venues.

I don't understand why anyone is complaining about this new policy. If you make an ADR, stick to it. If you can't, don't make it. But if you already know or believe or expect that your child is going to become deathly ill within 45 minutes of your Le Cellier dinner, then you've got bigger problems in the world and you should probably cancel that rez right now and seek some medical help. I'm not joking. It amazes me how people are already forecasting a death in the family, an ill child, or a broken down car to prevent them from making to an ADR that they were not forced to make.

If you can't keep your promise, don't make one. There, I just solved everyone's problem. So simple. You can thank me later.

You're equating people against the policy to those who don't show up for the majority of the meals. This is just plain incorrect. We take issue that for a family destination, this hurts families more than those who cause the issue.

Again, the issues aren't so much "Deathly Ill" or "Serious Injury". I agree that a $10pp charge in those cases may be not the first thing on your mind. The issues are "Pretty Ill" or lower levels of the various things. Now it becomes "Do I take little Johnny to Le Cellier when he's miserable or melting down, or to I pay $20 (little Johnny + 1 parent) to take him back to the room?" I surely wouldn't be surprised if more people picked the former now than the latter, leading to potentially degraded experiences at all the affected restaurants.

Are you also saying that if Disney doesn't keep its promise and seat its customer (wait, what - we're the customer???) at the ADR time that the customer is due remuneration like Disney is asking for? Or do you only support one-way promise streets?

It's okay if you don't see the vendor-customer relationship, or hospitality industry expectations as some of us do. You can thank me later for highlighting that for you.

If I get charged because I decide to go for CS after waiting 30 mins past my ADR time (the wait has happened), that's going to be a problem. Maybe Disney should do the same, and give a $10pp credit every time the restaurant is over 15 minutes late! That would hold THEM accountable for their own actions as well. Of course, that'll NEVER happen. It's all personal responsibility without a thought to corporate responsibility.

I've read a majority of this thread and I still fail to see how this is going to stop people from double and triple booking. They will just cancel the ADRs they don't want right before they leave for their trip.

It's not. And that's what we take issue with. It's only going to stop families (used in a general term, since I travel solo) from deciding to cancel a reservation due to sickness, minor injury, over stimulation, and meltdowns. It'll also add undue stress to an already stressful vacation as these people are now tied to the ADRs even more via their wallet.

But, I guess the answer to not liking a policy is to simply shut up and don't go and we'll be replaced just fine. /shrug.

 

[happysummer]

I have never double booked or cancelled any of my ADR in the last 6 years we have gone to WDW. I think this new policy is terrible. I never use my cc on line. The one place we had to use our cc I phone and gave them my number, costing me long distance charges. The rest I always did on line so was free for me. Maybe some people do not think 10 or 20 dollars is a lot. But for some of us who save all year and have to take multiply planes to get to WDW every little penny affects our vacation. We were almost late for tusker house this last September because of the bus I can not imagine being charged for that. I think if they are bring in this new policy they need to bring a 1-800 number for all the people who do not want to give our cc on line.

Not everyone who is against this policy is an over booker or has ever cancelled at the last minute.
If someone had a sick kid and could not do the 24 hours cancellation and they knew they would be charged, 40 or whatever for nothing than they might decide they needed to make up that money somehow. I know some families would decide less tipping or no tip. Which is not fair to the waitresses, but taking money for no service is not fair either. I love WDW but this new policy sucks. I also think everyone has a right to their own opinion. Just like some people love free DDp and some do not.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I'm a little late to today's party. Stayed up a bit too late last night and just woke up (yes, it's almost 4pm!)

Must have been a good night.


The big distinction is that it's the hoarders gaming the system and causing the ADR issues, while those who miss (cancel the same day, or just don't show up) are attempting to follow the system and just have things pop up. A no show is a no show, and I'll agree with that, the bigger issues are when a single person no shows to 2-3 meals a day the entire length of their trip vs the ones that may miss one or two, or partially show up, during an entire trip. This policy affect the later group more than it affects the former group.

We, as guests, may see a difference. Hoarders affect the ability to get ADRs, before the trip no-shows don't. I doubt WDW sees the distinction. They want everyone to show up for the ADRs they make regardless of how many that is. Both scenarios have the same impact on the restaurants.


But the thing is, the minority are "seriously" sick or injured. The majority will be "minorly" sick, injured, melting down, and/or tired. I'd agree that a $10pp charge for breaking a leg getting of HM wouldn't be the first thing on your mind. But $10pp for getting the sniffles before you go to CM may very well be. It's this subset of people that will be hit by the policy more adversely than the other.

You may be right. Personally, I think parents who would take their child under those circumstances would take them regardless. Parents who normally wouldn't will eat the fee.

People will now need to plan accordingly & not push the kids to that point, prior to ADRs. For example, if a kid is prone to melt downs when they're tired, it may be better to only book breakfast ADRs. If kids are prone to getting sick on vacation, maybe booking a daily ADR isn't what's advisable for that family. I could go on, but won't. My guess is it's the minor issues people are anticipating that helped prompt WDW to make this change in order to get guests to think before booking so many ADRs. Hoarders being the other. Everybody that no-shows or cancels last minute has a reason they feel is valid. If money's involved we'll all think twice, before clicking that button to make all those ADRs.


Not everyone can plan to that detail. I can't plan when I catch a cold, maybe you can, but I certainly can't. Now, if I have a bad cold I'll have to decide if I want to show up and potentially make others sick, or not show up and be charged. The same goes for the other family issues that we've presented. I know what my choice would be, sorry folks, I'm going to be passing around a cold. I'm sure families would be more apt to bring melting down and grumpy children as well (again, if it were lose money or annoy others, sorry, you're going to get annoyed).

No, I can't anticipate getting sick. I'm not psychic. I certainly don't expect it to happen, before even going though. If I, or someone in my family, got sick every time we went to WDW, we'd be looking for a new place to visit. If someone does get sick, we'll deal with it then. It would be the exception rather than the norm.


So, now the responsible thing to do is bring sick, overstimulated, and melting down people into the restaurant, simply because canceling a few hours ahead isn't enough.

To me, the responsible thing to do is plan ahead for those situations, if you anticipate them happening to your family.

People who will not likely be affected very much brought this change on others who fully intended to use the system as it should be. Those who abused the system will barely be scratched, while those who honestly used it, only to have something come up are going to get hit. That's one of my issues with the policy. The fact that it's not addressing the problem, and penalizing those who make an honest run of it.

Here we'll have to agree to disagree. I think everyone who was a no-show or canceled last minute brought this on us. The problem is people were making more ADRs than they could or would keep for whatever reason.

If I get charged because I decide to go for CS after waiting 30 mins past my ADR time (the wait has happened), that's going to be a problem. Maybe Disney should do the same, and give a $10pp credit every time the restaurant is over 15 minutes late! That would hold THEM accountable for their own actions as well. Of course, that'll NEVER happen. It's all personal responsibility without a thought to corporate responsibility.

I agree that people should be able to leave w/o penalty, if the wait is too long. (I won't hold my breathe waiting on that credit. ) If the new policy doesn't help with the long wait times, I think those complaints will be justified. I'll wait to see if that's the case, before worrying about it though.

 

[eliza61]

It's not just a matter of projecting capacity. They're also trying to serve and please as many Guests as possible - and they can't easily do that when people hoard reservations, or book one and don't show up & don't cancel.


Just for general information, a writer/speaker can't infer anything; they can only imply. it's the listener/reader who infers (or doesn't ).

But thats an easy thing to do Kay. We did this in my families restaurant in the middle of NYC for years. You can do it easily. You track your guest and patterns develop. The space of the restaurant is finite, the number of people on the payroll is finite. over time you get a % of no shows that can be darn near accurate to a small decimal place of how many no shows you have. You can project down almost the penny how much lost revenue, no shows may cost you and then you can plan accordingly without emposing ridiculous charges on the customer.

If WDW management cannot seem to do this they are hiring either the dumbest restaurant managers on the planet or they are just sticking anyone they want to in these positions. Actually I can't say that because I have no idea how wdw runs their establishments. It would be nice if I could assume that each place had it's own independant management but I get the feeling that this is not the case.

grrrr sorry we've run restaurants in NYC (until my uncle died selling the last one in Harlem for a tidy sum) and Las Vegas for 35 of my 50+ years and these lame excuses for disney supposedly having an inability to deal with no shows are just that lame excuses.

Call me a cynic and a skeptic, or maybe it's because I grew up in the restaurant business but I'm not buying it.

Oh well in the long run, it really doesn't matter, disney will continue to implement changes saying it's for it's guest "benefit" so it's just a matter of how it affects individual travel style.

 

[Mom of 2 Wife of 1]

Are you also saying that if Disney doesn't keep its promise and seat its customer (wait, what - we're the customer???) at the ADR time that the customer is due remuneration like Disney is asking for?

No, because Disney is still seating you. ADRs are not (nor were they ever) guarantees for a specific time, they merely granted you the next available table. Disney will seat you if you show up. It's not as if you're showing up and they say, "Oh, we changed our minds about the Smith family ADR. We won't be seating you tonight; we want to seat someone else." If that ever happened, sure, you should be entitled to remuneration. But... that will never happen.

Once again, if you can't make it to the ADR, don't make the ADR. Easy as 1-2-3. As always, you're welcome.

 

[MSLRAC]

No, because Disney is still seating you. ADRs are not (nor were they ever) guarantees for a specific time, they merely granted you the next available table. Disney will seat you if you show up. It's not as if you're showing up and they say, "Oh, we changed our minds about the Smith family ADR. We won't be seating you tonight; we want to seat someone else." If that ever happened, sure, you should be entitled to remuneration. But... that will never happen.

Once again, if you can't make it to the ADR, don't make the ADR. Easy as 1-2-3. As always, you're welcome.

Why are you being so dang snarky about this?

When I book our ADRs 180 days from our travel dates, I have all of the intentions in the world of keeping them. But when the time comes and you add my 3 kids to mix, things might get a bit crazy at times and our plans might suddenly have to change no matter how good our intentions are.

I get why Disney is doing this (although I doubt this is going to solve many problems) and I think 24 hours would be fine if we were talking about a couples only, no kids, resort but we are talking about a family resort and when kids are involved, you have to be flexible.

 

[MamaJessie]

I agree with you that people won't go to the park early on non-EMH days for the odd chance of getting a walk-up breakfast reservation.

Oddly enough I saw that happen on our trip last month.

 

[Snurk71]

Curious...

To all those who are supportive of the new policy, how do you think this will improve your vacation experience? Do you think hoarders won't make multiple ADRs at 180 days, giving you more opportunity to get your restaurants (I think that is naive thinking - hoarders will still hoard)? Do you regularly try for day-of ADRs and think the new policy will force some cancellations and create some last minute openings for you? Do you frequently check for walk-up availability and think you'll have a better chance walking up to O'hana or LeCellier under the new policy (I doubt you will - people aren't going to no-show under the new policy)?

If the new policy won't change your vacation (many say it won't impact them - they make the ADRs they go to and never miss one), why would you be so combative to those of us that view a vacation differently and want a little cancellation slack? What harm would it cause you to let us cancel 1 out of 10-20 ADRs 3 hours ahead of time instead of 24?

Curious...

 

[Colleen27]

Every time I've had dinner at 1900 PF after 7:00 I can guarantee I'll have at least a 30 minute wait, most of the time it's at least 45. If I experience this kind of wait on a reservation in the real world, good restaurants will be overly apologetic and usually comp something (drinks, appetizer, or dessert) - without any prompting.

That is the one possible bright side I see in this - with a CC guarantee they should (should, not will, and this might be the true test of whether this policy is about full tables or an additional revenue stream) be able to stop overbooking.

Twice we've walked away from our hard-won Le Cellier ADR when the hostess told us that we should just come back and check in again to get a pager in 45min because they were running over an hour behind. With young kids, being seated at 8pm for our 6:30 ADR is not an acceptable substitution so we let the hostess know to cross us off the list and we went elsewhere. Since under the new policy we'd be charged for opting not to sit around waiting for a massively overbooked restaurant, one would hope they'll take steps to ensure that isn't a common occurrence.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I've read a majority of this thread and I still fail to see how this is going to stop people from double and triple booking. They will just cancel the ADRs they don't want right before they leave for their trip.

It's not. As far as I can tell, there are 3 groups of people who will benefit from this policy:
1) Disney
2) People who like to book their ADR's approx. 24 hours before their meal (whoever that might be)
3) People who enjoy others being miserable

It's not going to stop people from making multiple ADR's and it's not going to help with walk-ups with that big of a cancellation window.

In 35 years of going to Disney, I've missed one meal - 'Ohana in 2010 when my son got strep. I am traveling to WDW with a large group next year and was hoping to take them to 'Ohana. Well, sorry to say, if we are hit with strep the day of again, we will be going. I'm not throwing $130 out the window.

 

[Buckimion]

I see back on post #10 that there is a probability that there will be a charge for partial parties if someone does not show up but I'm curious about the reverse...what if I made a reservation for one, hedging my bet that DW may or may not come to dinner with me? Currently, there is virtually no problems adding a second guest to a single (or adding a fourth to a party of three, etc.) as most of the tables sit an even number of guests. Does anyone expect Disney to get stickier with undercounting guests on a reservation?