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

[Cafeen]

I think its a good policy, it should help open up more dining spots for people like me who don't book 180 days in advance. And its not that I don't want to book that far out its just that we never plan our trips that far in advance. However, I hope that maybe if someone is having an emergency of some sort they can be allowed to modify their reservation without penalty? For example, if my son was sick (which always happens to at least one of us every time we go) then I could call and modify my reservation to only 3 people instead of 5 so that I could stay back in the room with him. Do you think that would be allowed?? Or maybe allowing me to modify the name on the reservation, so if my brother-in-law's family could take our place we wouldn't get a penalty? I'm just throwing out ideas here.

Between 180 and 1 day in advance, there's likely to be little to no change. For example, 'Ohana, instead of being booked at 178 days it likely to be booked by 175 days. Not really giving you much more choice.

As far as the modifications, two things. First, it's hit or miss. Sometimes it works as an actual modification, sometimes the agent has to cancel and rebook. The second, who's to say that modifying within the deadline won't also get you charged? We don't know this point and it's pretty easy with Disney's current policy that it very well may be.

Lastly, you cannot change the name on a reservation. They actually specifically changed this a little over a year ago. This was to curtail the ADR selling that would happen occasionally. I doubt they'd be willing to go back on this.

I have a good friend who is now retired, but worked as a server at a WDW Resort TS restaurant for many, many years, and was a member of the union. It was not unusual for him to be called and told not to come in, to come in but be told to leave before the restaurant opened, to be sent home early (sometimes with as little as one or two tables served), or to be told to come in later than scheduled, or be told to come in when he was not regularly scheduled, or sometimes they would ask for volunteers to leave early or take a night off. One of these different scenarios would happen virtually weekly, if not multiple times per week. Believe me, they can, and do, change schedules on the fly. Part of it, like any business, can be attributed to the absences of other CM's and the necessity of covering those shifts, but a big part was how busy the restaurant was expected to be. I was there a few nights when it backfired - they had sent CM's home, and all of a sudden, all these guests would appear and want to eat. So the servers would pick up extra tables, and the people would get fed. This was not very long ago either, so I would assume that servers working there now have the same schedule changes thrown at them as well.

Thanks for that second-hand account.

So wouldn't that mean 5-6 ADRs will all of a sudden become available a day or two before you go into a park, perhaps one that you absolutely know you're going to be in a day or two... for all those people who don't plan every step they take months out.


But if your child is sick wouldn't they miss the character meal too?

Personally I see this as a "policy" issue that won't be enforced IF you talk to someone and explain your situation, if not the restaurant but a customer service rep. Anyone know what Disney's official policy is someone getting sick in the park? Is it a refund of tickets? However a few years back after a day at going to a park with "rides I'm too old to ride anymore because they hurt" and having my noggin knocked around I went to DL the next day (slow day) me and my wife bought a 1 day park hopper to go to both parks, well we went to the DL park for a couple hours then over to CA when that one opened, went on a few rides and then hit the ferris wheel they have, and for some reason I got so dizzy I felt like I was going to throw up, and when the ride was over I sat on a bench for 30 minute or so and just could not continue to do anything... talking to customer service we asked if it was possible to upgrade the tickets to 2-day park hoppers, and I explained why.. I obviously did not look very happy/healthy and the guy printed out 2 - 1-day park hopper tickets, and 2- enter after 4pm DL park tickets (in case I was feeling better later in the day), free of charge. Now I'm pretty sure this isn't official Disney policy, also I doubt it's abused much if it is, but I got a sympathetic customer service rep (who I recall ironically was from Orlando), who helped me out of a jam. Does this mean "my boy is sick I don't want to pay $40" will work? No, but sometimes those who have power to make changes do have a bit of sympathy.

If a child is sick, they'd miss one character meal. If I feel that there is potential for the unexpected, so I do as many have suggested and don't book any CC held reservations, now my child misses ALL character meals.

For the second part, they don't do this now with the guaranteed reservations, why would they change that policy? It works fine now right? Of course, there's a lot of inconsistency with Disney CMs, and sometimes it does get waived, but the policy stands that you will be charged regardless.

The last bit, I believe that would fall under the "Guest Recovery" situation and is likely on your permanent Disney record (though, I highly doubt the two resorts are integrated on that end). This same mark can make it so that you can't get the fee waived, even in the event that they may otherwise do so. Especially if you have a few of these marks. It's how they work. If they see you getting too many recovery flagged comps, they're far less likely to continue doing so for you.

Long time lurker- first time posting and it's like jumping into deep water to learning to swim!

Here's something that might be a fly in the ointment. This morning I called Disney to check how I could add my son to an ADR (forgot to hit 3 when I booked online) and found out that Disney's computer still had an ADR that I cancelled weeks ago. This ADR DID NOT show up on my home computer on "my reservations." I asked the cm to go over all my reservations to make sure some other cancellations didn't still appear on their computer; that was the only one.

Now obviously that was a glitch, and hopefully, not common, but if this happened under the new system, I would have been blissfully unaware that the cancellation (done weeks earlier) hadn't gone through on Disney's computer and we would have been charged $30. It makes me wonder if this happened on other trips. No way to know, but on future trips you better believe that I'll call Dining Reservations to make sure that any cancellations done on the website through my home comptuter actually are cancelled on Disney's system.

Just a head's up.

Jump on in!

This brings up yet another potential issue with the system. The ADR application is far from ideal as it is. There are several cases of lost reservations (more common) and uncancelled reservations.

How many of those would even know, until well after they returned, that they were charged extra? And of those, how many would realize what a random $30 (or whatever) charge was, and have the wherewithal to fight it? And lastly, since I'm a very cynical person when it comes to the phone CMs, how often is that guest going to be told "Sorry, nothing we can do about it?"

I don't see why this is a bad thing! It's not a cash grab at all... Any restaurant in ANY location (just to avoid the YOU'RE COMPARING APPLES AND ORANGES thing) will cut people if they're over-scheduled because it saves money. On the flip side, they'll be swamped all night if they're under-scheduled. Having a good idea of the # of reservations makes it easier to plan the schedule accurately to avoid both of these things from happening. Saving on labor is not a cash grab at all.

Anxiously awaiting your condescending reply

Because many people (and I believe yourself included, but I could be wrong) were raising the issue of the servers and how this would only help them and in no way hurt them. I don't know about you, but I see getting your hours and/or tables cut on a more regular basis as hurting the servers (and cooks, and hosts/esses).

It's a triple win for the restaurant's bottom line though. First, they cut back on personnel (reducing expenses). Second, they make extra revenue via the cancellation fee for those canceling after a "full day". Third, they are more than able to refill that reservation via a late ADR or walk-up, thus still making up the money for that "lost" table. The fact that it's coming under the auspice of "improving Guest Experience" really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Maybe, if they'd refund the fee if they filled your reservation I would be a bit more sympathetic. However, I very seriously doubt they'd even consider that.

You're not alone. That doesn't sound like a fun vacation to me either. I think Katie will love it though.

I felt bad on our last trip - we were at TL and DD was having a blast in the wave pool. I had to pull her out though because we had an ADR over at WCC for dinner. I considered just canceling the dinner at the time. No way I would do that under the new policy (I don't know if WCC is on the list or not - it's just an example/illustration before someone jumps on that).

Well then, the solution is obvious. Just don't make any ADRs for any days where you may end up doing something else If you make an ADR, show up at the restaurant at least 3 hours ahead of time to wait around to check in at 15-20 minutes before ADR time. Oh yes, and make sure you don't have any plans after, as we're not likely to seat you until 30-45 minutes after said ADR time that we would have charged you if you were 15 minutes late to check in for!

 

[Colleen27]

I think people are saying they won't even make the character meal ADR now because of the odds that their child will get sick without enough advanced warning at some point (they don't know when, but it will happen) and they don't want to risk the $40-$60 cancellation fee they know they're going to experience at some point (based on their past experience with their trips and children).

That's a reasonable position, given an individual's financial position.

Exactly. It is our habit to have signature dinners virtually every night on our Disney vacations. However, I know from experience that we've got about 50/50 odds of someone getting sick over the course of the trip - traveling in the winter and dealing with a sudden 60-80° change in temps seems to be rather hard on the system. And while the $50-70 fee isn't make-or-break, it isn't a small sum either. That's our monthly cable bill, or cell phone bill, or a season's sports fee for one of the kids, and we live simply at home to afford our travel habits so we're very uncomfortable with the idea of throwing away that amount of money for nothing. It isn't about being able to afford it; it is about knowing that if we do end up hit with that fee it will put a damper on our enjoyment of the trip.

So now we need to decide if we want to run that risk or if we want to give up one of the things that we like most about Disney - the fact that it is one of very few destinations where dining experiences on the level of Jiko or Flying Fish don't come with a no-kids atmosphere/expectation.

 

[Colleen27]

How very nice. So my family should not enjoy a character meal because we do occassionally have illness in our family? No I am not sure my kid will be sick that is the point with kids you never know and yes they could get sick at WDW on a day we have an ADR. So l will keep my
ADR no matter what. Now how will you feel eating next to a sick kid or a kid having an autistic meltdown. If people want to be cold and unsympathetic towards others then I guess I shouldn't be concerned in sparing their family when I trek my family in. So now problem solved yep we will keep our promise and all those around can suffer.
And obviously part of this is with sarcasm as I wouldn't drag a really sick kid but I might now risk a kid who may seem slightly off and if he loses it on Mickey wel oops.

That's about how I'm feeling on this one. I've always been the considerate parent. If my kids are under the weather or I have an inkling they won't be able to handle a meal, we change our plans. Until this thread it genuinely never crossed my mind that people see that as just as bad as hoarding ADRs for the sake of flexibility, and I'm thinking that if I'm going to be penalized financially for being a responsible parent I may as well just throw up my hands and join the ranks of the obnoxious parents who drag sick/tired/upset kids along to whatever plans they made rather than being flexible enough to consider the kid's needs. After all, that seems to be what Disney wants guests to do.

 

[MSLRAC]

Exactly. It is our habit to have signature dinners virtually every night on our Disney vacations. However, I know from experience that we've got about 50/50 odds of someone getting sick over the course of the trip - traveling in the winter and dealing with a sudden 60-80° change in temps seems to be rather hard on the system. And while the $50-70 fee isn't make-or-break, it isn't a small sum either. That's our monthly cable bill, or cell phone bill, or a season's sports fee for one of the kids, and we live simply at home to afford our travel habits so we're very uncomfortable with the idea of throwing away that amount of money for nothing. It isn't about being able to afford it; it is about knowing that if we do end up hit with that fee it will put a damper on our enjoyment of the trip.

So now we need to decide if we want to run that risk or if we want to give up one of the things that we like most about Disney - the fact that it is one of very few destinations where dining experiences on the level of Jiko or Flying Fish don't come with a no-kids atmosphere/expectation.

Exactly but for us, add in that we start our days with a character breakfast and the odds are just too great for us to risk. Thus, we started rethinking our entire 8 day vacation.

We had already lightened up our planning to accommodate DS (hoping to avoid some Autism issues that we encountered last time without realizing what was happening) and now we are looking at lightening up even more.

When I started looking at our trip, it became obvious very quickly that we didn't need to go with the DxDP, which got DH thinking why stay on sire and which then led to us both thinking that maybe we needed to explore the idea of adding some days at the other area parks.

When it's all said and done, we will probably spend a very small fraction of the money we had originally planned at Disney.

Sorry but we're not ADR hoarders or no-shows...we are simply a family that wants to enjoy our vacation without worrying about being popped $50 if we need to change a meal...so I have a very hard time believing that this new policy will do anything to change the problem at hand.

 

[maxiesmom]

That's about how I'm feeling on this one. I've always been the considerate parent. If my kids are under the weather or I have an inkling they won't be able to handle a meal, we change our plans. Until this thread it genuinely never crossed my mind that people see that as just as bad as hoarding ADRs for the sake of flexibility, and I'm thinking that if I'm going to be penalized financially for being a responsible parent I may as well just throw up my hands and join the ranks of the obnoxious parents who drag sick/tired/upset kids along to whatever plans they made rather than being flexible enough to consider the kid's needs. After all, that seems to be what Disney wants guests to do.

Wow, really? You would force your kids to suffer thru a meal when they didn't feel well, just to somehow prove a point to Disney?That is beyond sad. It is not up to Disney to see to kids and their needs. That is the job of the parent. Their trying to run a business and keep from losing money in no way strips any parent of the responsibility of parenting. And too many posters seem to think that it does. A very sad statement on parenting, that they value a few dollars over their childs health.

 

[Snurk71]

For anyone interested, I just called Dining to verify the cancellation window timing.

According to the CM and their supervisor that I spoke with, your ADR only needs to be canceled by 11:59 pm EST the calendar day prior to the day of the ADR (if done online, otherwise by 10:00 PM EST via the phone when the call centers close for the night) - it is not a 24 hour cancellation policy. That means that you're clear on canceling a 8:00 am CP ADR 8 hours and one minute prior.

So, given this clarification, I come back to the question of what is Disney incrementally gaining by the day prior cancellation vs. a 3 hour window? 3 hours still allows you to know how many seats you have filled (or getting a cancellation fee for) and how many walk-ups you can take to keep the restaurant full. The only incremental advantage I see is the ADR will show open from the start of the day for same day bookings. And I don't know how valuable/important that is vs. filling the restaurant with walk-ups (there certainly seems to be a large supply of walk-ups to fill the restaurants).

 

[MSLRAC]

Wow, really? You would force your kids to suffer thru a meal when they didn't feel well, just to somehow prove a point to Disney?That is beyond sad. It is not up to Disney to see to your kids and their needs. That is the job of the parent.

Based on the complaints I've seen on these boards, the misbehaving/sick kid is not that one that suffers through the meal. It's the people at the tables around them that suffer.

One of the first threads I read on these boards was from a poster shocked and appalled that a parent had drug a sick child to CM's, the kid had puked all over the place and CM's hadn't bothered to clean it up right away. The general consensus was that said parent was an irresponsible, selfish, jerk. I'm pretty sure someone even threw in the argument that there are Make a Wish children with compromised immune systems all over WDW.

I've also seen countless threads about misbehaving kids at signature meals and how rude the parents were for not controlling those kids. I've even seen posters be made to try to feel guilty for even considering taking their young kids to nice meals for various reasons.

Well, this isn't going to get better with this new policy. In fact, it will probably get worse. So woohoo, you finally got LeCellier or Ohana or whatever but how enjoyable is that meal going to be if you get seated next to the family with the sick or misbehaving kid(s)?

I'm pretty sure that Colleen27 is just being sarcastic but I bet that many parents will do it. Seriously, the crazy guy a Tony's that almost got into a fist fight over being short a kid's meal credit, do you think he would let said kid miss a meal and cost him money? I'm thinking, no!

 

[Snurk71]

Wow, really? You would force your kids to suffer thru a meal when they didn't feel well, just to somehow prove a point to Disney?That is beyond sad. It is not up to Disney to see to kids and their needs. That is the job of the parent. Their trying to run a business and keep from losing money in no way strips any parent of the responsibility of parenting. And too many posters seem to think that it does. A very sad statement on parenting, that they value a few dollars over their childs health.

It's not to prove a point to Disney. It's about not throwing away $50-$60. I would bet a lot of parents would make that choice, at least based on my experiences at WDW.

 

[kaytieeldr]

So long spontaneity at Disney...

Isn't that a sort of oxymoronic observation - given that most people plan their meals six months in advance?

 

[DisneyFamily123]

For us, having some flexibility is important. We added the waterparks fun and more options but had no idea how much we would like it,and want to go back vs. other parks during our trip. I really don't want to be a prisoner of dining reservations and will be more likely to use the regular dining plan or quick service instead.

If I can't have some spontaneity, it's not a vacation to me. I'll just avoid those restaurants or do more quick service next trip.

I've been to WDW 4 times now and I still cannot predict with certainty how everyone will be feeling.....So, there's no way first timers will be able to.

DS might just be too tired and we might want to cancel our evening plan and just go back to the resort. He might be full of energy and we will stay out late and cancel our breakfast plans. DW might not be feeling well and want to relax at the resort while DS and I tackle all the rides. Lots of things can cause a change in plan.

 

[kaytieeldr]

So, given this clarification, I come back to the question of what is Disney incrementally gaining by the day prior cancellation vs. a 3 hour window?

The courtesy of a reasonable length of time?

Pretty much, what it comes down to is you don't own the company, you don't suffer in any way when people don't show for ADRs or cancel them at the last minute. Unless you're a stockholder, in which case you do own (part of) th company and should go tonthe next meeting and make your feelings known - and I mean anyone
, not just the quoted poster.

 

[Cafeen]

For anyone interested, I just called Dining to verify the cancellation window timing.

According to the CM and their supervisor that I spoke with, your ADR only needs to be canceled by 11:59 pm EST the calendar day prior to the day of the ADR (if done online, otherwise by 10:00 PM EST via the phone when the call centers close for the night) - it is not a 24 hour cancellation policy. That means that you're clear on canceling a 8:00 am CP ADR 8 hours and one minute prior.

So, given this clarification, I come back to the question of what is Disney incrementally gaining by the day prior cancellation vs. a 3 hour window? 3 hours still allows you to know how many seats you have filled (or getting a cancellation fee for) and how many walk-ups you can take to keep the restaurant full. The only incremental advantage I see is the ADR will show open from the start of the day for same day bookings. And I don't know how valuable/important that is vs. filling the restaurant with walk-ups (there certainly seems to be a large supply of walk-ups to fill the restaurants).

Interesting, as this goes against what was earlier reported. The author of the original article did the same thing and was told "Full Day" meant there had to be a full day between the cancellation and the meal.

More CM inconsistency? Probably. Only makes things worse when they can't make up their collective minds.

However, I'll give the potential that the author of the article had called and asked about one of the 2 day reservations instead (CG, Akershus, CRT, Dinner Shows) and was given the right answer for those. Who knows? Unfortunately, with the way Disney CMs can't answer a single question without another CM giving a totally different answer, we really won't know until we see the results.

(I'm sure you get this, but as a note, I'm in NO WAY disbelieving that you were told what you were told. Only being cynical due to the track record that phone CMs have had over the past 3 years that I've dealt with them and been reading reports of others having other issues.)

The courtesy of a reasonable length of time?

Pretty much, what it comes down to is you don't own the company, you don't suffer in any way when people don't show for ADRs or cancel them at the last minute. Unless you're a stockholder, in which case you do own (part of) th company and should go tonthe next meeting and make your feelings known - and I mean anyone
, not just the quoted poster.

So again, it's bend over or shut up? Seems to be the common tone that I'm getting from some of the posters here.

 

[Snurk71]

The courtesy of a reasonable length of time?

Many of us believe 3 hours is a reasonable length of time. It's okay if you don't. It doesn't make our belief wrong though.

Pretty much, what it comes down to is you don't own the company, you don't suffer in any way when people don't show for ADRs or cancel them at the last minute. Unless you're a stockholder, in which case you do own (part of) th company and should go tonthe next meeting and make your feelings known - and I mean anyone
, not just the quoted poster.

We are their customer (and some are owners too). And it is a customer's right to express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction to a vendor's service or product. Sorry you if don't get that. This isn't the old Soviet Union where feedback and dissent will not be tolerated. And yes, this policy is going to negatively impact my vacation experience and make it less magical (Disney's goal to make every experience magical) because of the reduced flexibility. That's great for you if it won't impact yours, but it will impact mine.

I think I should just stop responding to you. You appear to be so dead set in your thought process that offering you alternatives to consider and think about is wasted keystrokes. Could you return the favor and stop responding to us too?

 

[Snurk71]

Interesting, as this goes against what was earlier reported. The author of the original article did the same thing and was told "Full Day" meant there had to be a full day between the cancellation and the meal.

More CM inconsistency? Probably. Only makes things worse when they can't make up their collective minds.

However, I'll give the potential that the author of the article had called and asked about one of the 2 day reservations instead (CG, Akershus, CRT, Dinner Shows) and was given the right answer for those. Who knows? Unfortunately, with the way Disney CMs can't answer a single question without another CM giving a totally different answer, we really won't know until we see the results.

(I'm sure you get this, but as a note, I'm in NO WAY disbelieving that you were told what you were told. Only being cynical due to the track record that phone CMs have had over the past 3 years that I've dealt with them and been reading reports of others having other issues.)

The CM and the super asked for specific restaurants because of the one day and two day deals and gave me examples of both (the 2 day has to be canceled by 11:59 pm 2 calendar days prior). She also said they had 24 or 48 hour policies at one time, but have since changed to the "full day" concept.

 

[Cafeen]

That's great for you if it won't impact yours, but it will impact mine.

This got me thinking. (It's ok, I turned off the smoke detectors first!)

Why isn't a 3hr window enough and why is a "full day" window better?

Consider that charges would still happen for no shows and those who cancel after the 3hr deadline. So the actual no show rates would be roughly similar. Consider that in both cases, the disincentive to book multiple meals for the same day and not show up is the same (the $10 pp charge).

The only things I can see are that those who don't know which park they're going to have more time to cancel additional ADRs, but if they can cancel up to 11:59pm the day before, isn't going to entirely make much of a difference. The second is my tin-foil hat conspiracy about restaurant scheduling and cutbacks. (Yes, I admit it's a bit out there, but it doesn't change the fact it's plausible).

Or, is it that certain people just take whatever Disney says is policy and goes along with it without care as to the consequences of said policy?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Wow. Just. Wow. Ignore my responses if you want; put me on ignore; even report me to the Moderators if you feel I'm violating any board rules.

Could you return the favor and stop responding to us too?

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

Except that most families are on a multi-day ticket. And the price of an extra day for a multi-day ticket is not $50. It's $8.

And just because there are already "financial penalties" for being sick and missing park time does not mean that someone should just be OK for lumping on more financial penalties. Why would anyone think that? It's sort of like someone suggesting your taxes be doubled. Well, you already pay 25%, so why would you have a problem with 50%. You pay taxes already, right?

And consider this........ if they are on the dining plan, they are already losing use of one of their dining credits. (Even if they are on free dining, they are paying rack rate to get that "free" meal, so they are in essence paying for it).




I don't know what size party your travel and pay for, but a $10 for one person may not be a big deal. For a family of 5 or 6, it really becomes a different level of financial hit.

Thank you, this is what I'm saying while $20 for a couple is different than $70 for our family. And yes losing the credit we pay for is already enough of a penalty.
I think people are sincerely not understanding this does not in anyway penalize the rule breakers/hoarders as they will be able to cancel before the mark. It only penalizes people who have a problem come up and I keep mentioning sick kids not because our kids are on death's door. I mention it because let's face it with that many people and not everyone is as bleach crazy/sanitizing as me (have to be with 5 kids and some who get sick easily) there are going to be sick kids at WDW. And someone mentioned the water, that happened to us our preschooler at the time got sick out of the blue for a few days. My mom switched him to bottled water on a hunch and yep he rebounded quick. Florida water doesn't agree with him and everytime we go down there and he forgets and drinks the tap water. I always order bottled water to be delivered now.

 

[MELSMICE]

And again, most everyone else in the world seems to survive without the penalty. I don't understand why Disney, with a captive audience, can't. It points to poor management to me.

Captive audience caught my attention........you do have a captive audience for many of the WDW guests with limited places to dine. If freeing up some same day bookings helps some of those guests, I'm all for it. (& I'm not even one of those guests, as we alway have a car)

I felt bad on our last trip - we were at TL and DD was having a blast in the wave pool. I had to pull her out though because we had an ADR over at WCC for dinner. I considered just canceling the dinner at the time. No way I would do that under the new policy (I don't know if WCC is on the list or not - it's just an example/illustration before someone jumps on that).

Just shows how everyone vacations different. I would have never booked an ADR on a water park day. When we did water parks, we'd spend the day there, go back to the resort & crash for a bit & then head out to a later dinner. We were just too tired & worn out to think of having a strict dinner plan.

At that time we usually stayed at FW so we'd head to Trail's End for pizza or something like that.

Well then, the solution is obvious. Just don't make any ADRs for any days where you may end up doing something else If you make an ADR, show up at the restaurant at least 3 hours ahead of time to wait around to check in at 15-20 minutes before ADR time. Oh yes, and make sure you don't have any plans after, as we're not likely to seat you until 30-45 minutes after said ADR time that we would have charged you if you were 15 minutes late to check in for!

I have been going to Disney numerous times a year for about 20 years in a row now & have never experienced this. I'm not saying we've never had to wait a bit for our table to be ready, but it's always been a reasonable amount of time.

For anyone interested, I just called Dining to verify the cancellation window timing.

According to the CM and their supervisor that I spoke with, your ADR only needs to be canceled by 11:59 pm EST the calendar day prior to the day of the ADR (if done online, otherwise by 10:00 PM EST via the phone when the call centers close for the night) - it is not a 24 hour cancellation policy. That means that you're clear on canceling a 8:00 am CP ADR 8 hours and one minute prior.

So, given this clarification, I come back to the question of what is Disney incrementally gaining by the day prior cancellation vs. a 3 hour window? 3 hours still allows you to know how many seats you have filled (or getting a cancellation fee for) and how many walk-ups you can take to keep the restaurant full. The only incremental advantage I see is the ADR will show open from the start of the day for same day bookings. And I don't know how valuable/important that is vs. filling the restaurant with walk-ups (there certainly seems to be a large supply of walk-ups to fill the restaurants).

This sounds like it could be correct and reasonable.

My belief is just what you have said........the ADR will show open from the start of the following day for same day bookings. There have been many times we've been at the pool & one of us will suggest trying to get an ADR for that evening. This policy would allow tables to be available because of the ADR cancellations.

Many of us believe 3 hours is a reasonable length of time. It's okay if you don't. It doesn't make our belief wrong though.

But Disney does not believe that 3 hours is a reasonable length of time.

Here's the thing, they could move it to 12 hours & some people wouldn't be happy, they could move it to 6 hours prior & some wouldn't be happy & they could move it to 3 hours & some wouldn't be happy.

As a business owner, I've learned that when you need to make a tough business decision you just make the best one you see fit. There will be some that will agree and some that won't. There will be some customers that you may lose & some you may gain. You do your best to retain them all or as many as possible, but in the end you can't stress over those ones that decide to leave. You can only move forward continuing to make those that remain loyal to you happy. You also continue to focus on attracting new customers.

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

It seems to me that that is how many posters are making it out, that sick kids are soo common at WDW.

I hightly doubt Disney wants sick people in the restuarants. I bet they hope, as I do, that if a child is sick that a parent would value their health and well being over a $10 cancellation fee. But maybe we are both over-estimating the care and common sense of some people.

It has already been posted that if part of the family shows up, the fee for the missing (if ill) would be waived. So nothing is stopping mom or dad from taking the rest of the family, and leaving the other parent in the room to care for the sick child. If for some reason a family simply won't consider that, then that is the choice they are making. No one is forcing anyone to take a sick child into a restaurant, it is just an easy way for people to try to make a week argument against the fee. Odds are no one in your family will get sick.

It is not $10. It is $10/person which adds up quick. Even a regular family of 4 is losing $40. If it were a $10 flat fee for the whole reservation while I might not like it I could handle but not $70.
And no some have posted that they would charge for the missing part of your group at an ADR.

 

[CandleontheWater]

You know, this thread has gotten me thinking about ADR hoarders and ADR skippers and I've realized that I don't really care about them at all. Really, they don't impact my vacation. If someone wants to make 65 reservations over a week, and skip all of them, that is there prerogative, it does not really impact the enjoyment I derive from my vacation.

Let me explain it this way, my mom and I decided last month to take a WDW vacation in Dec. I took a look at what dining was available and I wasn't able to get an ADR at CP or Chef Mickey's, both which I think DS would have enjoyed. Am I upset at hoarders, or am I going to get angry at people who have those reservations and don't use them, no! I know that I should have planned in advance and I didn't, so I get what available. I believe that the people who planned ahead have the right to make whatever ADRs they want.

Now here is the crux of the matter- do I wish that there was some availability at Crystal Place or Chef Mickeys- sure I do! However, I do not want the reservation bad enough to make it worth putting up with this policy. I'd rather not get the reservation this time around, then have to worry about penalties when I DO manage to secure those coveted ADRs.

I'm guessing that those who don't like the policy don't think that the trade off is worth it, but those that do like the policy think that it is.

I don't worry about what other people do or do not do on their vacations, I concentrate on enjoying my own. This policy will put a damper on my enjoyment by causing me to worry about dining penalties.