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

[TDC Nala]

I don't use the DDP anyway, but there won't be any more making reservations at a signature and just telling friends to show up or not show up. Did that at Brown Derby the other day, the res was for 10 and we had six show up. Can't do it that way anymore, at least not at a signature. Nor will I make a reservation to take my parents to Flying Fish, in case they don't feel like going after all. If we go, we'll ask if they have a table, and if they don't we will sit at the bar, and if we can't get in at all I will take them to Kimonos or Il Mulino. I don't see the point in fussing about it though, not here, maybe if it's a problem I will send something to Disney. But I think they don't want me making reservations for 10 without being sure all 10 will show up, at least not at a signature.

If I'm there on my own, I make reservations for two, in case I can get a friend to join me - I can always do the cancellation of the second person the day before, but maybe I will be more inclined to do it at restaurants that aren't on the list.

 

[pinkerbell]

They demolished my favorite area (Pleasure Island) with no replacement too.

It's up to everyone. If you want to stop going to WDW because this policy is the straw that breaks your back, that's up to you. Apparently Disney thinks they will easily be able to replace you. Tell Disney why you're leaving and vacationing elsewhere though.

another one! Ughh did u have to remind me!!
I guess a part of me hopes that as some have said, Disney does in fact watch over some of these "unoffical" sites and it puts a bug in their ear.
One stay the entire system?? wahtever that is, was down on our last day. I coudn't use my card anywhere for anything including meals or snacks... was told it was a first. Ya know what they did about it so we could eat etc, NOTHING but give us each 2 snacks, they said they had no way of knowing what we were entitled to and if we paid we'd be reimbursed Bwa ha HA ha ha haha hh I sent them 2 correspendence and NEVER heard back
My problem is I do like Disney, and I don't want to see them go the way of so many other big Co's.. and it just stinks!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

It doesn't seem like that to me at all. I've never been a "no show" for an ADR and I don't think I've ever canceled an ADR I don't make ADRs "on spec".

I don't want a system which penalizes me if a family member becomes ill. I certainly don't want a system which results in families with screaming kids deciding to keep an ADR rather then lose money.

This is what I say in the post you quoted, "It seems, in most cases (not all), those who are the most upset are the same ones who cancelled for not so valid reasons." "Not all" could apply to you. I still don't get the outrage from those who have never been a no show or cancelled last minute though. If you've never done that, what would make you think you would need to start now? Yes, people do get sick on occasion. Apparently, you haven't missed ADRs for sickness before. Why do you expect to now? As I've said before, I can see those that always book on the 180 day mark not thinking this policy is necessary. I just don't get why they would be so upset. Those who book with good intentions, but can foresee many reasons why they may not make it to the ADR would be upset over the policy change. They no longer have an easy out. That said, feel free to be upset & voice your displeasure. It doesn't bother me that you don't see things the way I do.

As for parents showing up with cranky kids, if they do that under the new policy, they would have done it anyway. If kids weren't pushed too far, they wouldn't be cranky. A parent could prevent the problem by not pushing them to the point of exhaustion.

True but as netfix and bank of america are finding out, consumers are no longer accepting the "what can you do" attitude. Consumer are way more proactive.

Netflix & BOA have much more competition. There's one WDW. OTOH, there's banks on every corner. There's also many options for watching movies.

Meanwhile, Disney's turning into just another bloated corporation, and WDW itself is turning into just another theme park.

If they truly think their customers are replaceable, that's a sad state to be in. A business wants growth, not stagnation. Even if you're replacing every customer you lose, unless you can start keeping customers while getting those new ones, it's not healthy for the company.

In other words, just because we're replaceable, doesn't mean that them turning us off isn't potentially damaging.

How far do you think they can go and still maintain the success they expect?

If that is Disney's marketing strategy, that has to be the worst one yet. In all the Marketing classes and meetings I have been in, you NEVER devalue your current customer EVER.

I don't like the fact that WDW doesn't seem to place much value on repeat visitors myself. It's just the way it is. It wasn't always that way. They've been moving in the other direction for quite some time though.

Besides, how can you (this is a general you) play the typical card with the method of charging resort rates, but the atypical card when dealing with dining policy? (Where's that pot stirring thingy!)

That is typical of other hotels. The fact that WDW has an atypical system for their restaurants doesn't negate that. I'm pretty sure Kaytieeldr didn't establish either policy.

My children (and I bet many others, won't be.. see previous post the Cape won over diseny, Six Flags also) Again, children ar NOT all about Disney, many want Harry potter (disney falls very short on Boy entetainement HP is for both, some want seuss, some want Looney tunes or Batman & Robin.. or even thh beach. There are choices.. MANY
Disney has made a chain of bad Disney Channel choices and my kids can no longer watch it, many parents feel this way, too much teen programing labeled as kids.. call it what they want, but I see it for what it is.
Many kids aer getting way less disney exposure than when The disney channel was still for kids (dont even discuss Diseny Jr)
My 7 yo stopped going to the website because they took away all the things she liked. She told me this... really a kid that no longer likes the dis website! I will not dicatate to her what she should like and seem's Disney is falling OUT of favor in many eye's
The stores are equally packed with non disney merch and kid's have their fav's, and it is not alwyas Disney. Much more reasonably priced choices as well, so if Disney feels the need to go even higher in prices for lost revenue.. they will do more damage than good, Many for sure will stop buying merchandise as well as going to the parks

There will always be people who prefer other destinations over WDW. Where I grew up most people went to the beach for vacation. Many of them have never been to WDW, & have no desire to go. They'd rather vacation in a closer destination. It has always been that way. WDW policy has nothing to do with it. It's great that your kids enjoy other destinations also. Variety is the spice of life. I can't imagine spending all my vacations at the same destination, but that's me.

As for the Disney channel, I grew up loving WDW & had friends who dreamed of going. Back then, there wasn't a Disney channel. There were movies & commercials, as there is now. The Disney channel isn't the only option for enticing a child to tell mom & dad they want to go to Disney World.

As an aside, as I'm typing this there's a Disney commercial on the Weather Channel. What are the odds?

The other #1 Marketing strategy is word of mouth...if enough people here negative things from people who have been on their trips eventually this will play a role.

Where I live tons of people choose the Shore every year for their vacation, they may go to WDW once and then choose to never go back. There are very few "veterans" around here that return over and over again.

Plus if WDW had an endless supply of customers, they would not have to offer discounts or free dining, yet they do.



This is the most skewed business plan idea ever, it goes against everything I ever learned. The only way Disney wins is if I stay in property 24/7 and give them as much money as I can.

Unless people stay in the park opening to close, they will devalue their ticket in your scenario. If they go back to their DVC villa and cook a meal, or there cabin and do a cook out etc.

Tons of people every day stay off site, whether at another hotel, or at grandmas and may eat one of their meals there, I dont think they see their day ticket devalued nor does WDW.

Do people really go around trying to discourage someone from going to a vacation destination they're interested in, just because they're upset over a couple of their policies? Everyone should form their own opinion. It's their money. They don't need others telling them how to spend it. It's not up to a neighbor, relative, co-worker, etc. to try to sway them one way or the other. If anyone is upset with this policy, they have every right to never go to WDW again. It's extremely petty to try to talk people out of taking their kids who've never been though. Anyone who would do that is not a friend. They're self serving & couldn't care less about that family. Those who would make it a personal mission to try to talk people out of going to any destination needs to get a life. Sure, tell them the facts, but to make it sound all bad is dishonest.

They demolished my favorite area (Pleasure Island) with no replacement too.

It's up to everyone. If you want to stop going to WDW because this policy is the straw that breaks your back, that's up to you. Apparently Disney thinks they will easily be able to replace you. Tell Disney why you're leaving and vacationing elsewhere though.

Exactly! If they ever pushed me too far, I'd quit going. We've been known to take a few years break from time to time, when we've had enough. There's a big world out there that I want to see. WDW & every other vacation destination know that. I'm sure it doesn't scare them in the least, when my family takes a year or two off to visit other locations. They constantly advertise to bring in someone to replace us. If I took stuff like that personally, I'd be upset all the time.

 

[dismommom]

What does Applebees have anything to do with WDW?

If you're implying that instead of eating on property, you'll go off-site, Disney still wins. Because you bought a ticket to get into the parks, and now you're willing to waste two hours just to leave the MK, get on a ferry, bus or monorail to the TTC, get on a tram to your car, drive off-site, eat, and then what? Not go back to the MK? Then Disney won back a portion of your day-ticket. If you go back to the MK, Disney wins again because you de-valued the price of your day-ticket by not using it for the entire day. And what was it all for? To spend $60 on a meal for a family of four instead of $80? No. You bought tickets for the day and you wasted 25% just to eat off-site and "show" Disney what's what.

In the end, Disney wins. They have people crunching these numbers all day long. If Disney loses you to an outside F&B venue, there will be someone else to take your place on-site. And when they raise prices and lose a customer, the raised prices make up for that lost customer. Disney won't be missing you. Your children, on the other hand, will be missing Disney and you know it.

I guess you haven't factored in Disney's shorter Park hours. Animal Kingdom closes at 5 or six o'clock most of the time. With the partys at the Magic Kingdom they are closing at 7 o'clock quite often now. Applebees is just past downtown Disney, not a long ride and when I have ADRs with Disney I often wait 45 minutes to an hour for our table. Last time we wanted to see Fantasmic. We booked 5 o'clock ADRs at Mama Melrose, got there 15 minutes early. When we checked in we were told the wait was over an hour. Knowing the service is slow there we never would have made Fantasmic by 6:30 or even 7:00. If we're going to eat off site a couple of nights during the week then we'd probably only book one or 2 ADRs for dinner. So no need to buy the dining plan. This could lead to "there's more space in the rooms off-site and they're less expensive". Just some thinking I will have to do before our next trip to the Orlando Area ( I used to say to Disney World, but I have a feeling this will change).

 

[miprender]

What does Applebees have anything to do with WDW?

If you're implying that instead of eating on property, you'll go off-site, Disney still wins. Because you bought a ticket to get into the parks, and now you're willing to waste two hours just to leave the MK, get on a ferry, bus or monorail to the TTC, get on a tram to your car, drive off-site, eat, and then what? Not go back to the MK? Then Disney won back a portion of your day-ticket. If you go back to the MK, Disney wins again because you de-valued the price of your day-ticket by not using it for the entire day. And what was it all for? To spend $60 on a meal for a family of four instead of $80? No. You bought tickets for the day and you wasted 25% just to eat off-site and "show" Disney what's what.

In the end, Disney wins. They have people crunching these numbers all day long. If Disney loses you to an outside F&B venue, there will be someone else to take your place on-site. And when they raise prices and lose a customer, the raised prices make up for that lost customer. Disney won't be missing you. Your children, on the other hand, will be missing Disney and you know it.

I totally disagree. Every dollar I spend else where Disney looses. They already got my money for the tickets but they did not get any of my dining or shopping money.

 

[Mom of 2 Wife of 1]

For every return customer to a Disney park, there are two who have never been. The problem is that too many on this website arrogantly assume that anyone who goes to WDW comes on these threads and simply knows all there is to know about it. They don't. Disney could change every one of its policies tomorrow and anyone who has never been would never know the difference.

And for anyone who says the cancellation period should be much shorter, again, no. Why should it be three hours instead of 24? You don't expect them to do that for a resort reservation, do you? How about an airline reservation? Or should any new rule, law and policy just be whatever you want, whenever you want it, however it pleases you? I would never expect a government to allow that, let alone a company just trying to keep all of its facilities open rather than making them seasonal or reducing basic services.

The bottom line is: Let this get to you, allow it to keep you from going to WDW and instead to Cape Cod, Yellowstone, Six Flags, etc. and Disney won't be missing you. Your $1500-$5000 family vacation will quickly be replaced by the dollars of Family X, Y and Z. Your eating at a CS instead of a TS just to "voice" your opinion over this new policy will not make a difference either. As I've said, Disney has crunched the numbers. They've done their homework. And as the population of the world grows, through natural attrition alone, WDW will go from 50 million visitors this year to 55 million over the next 5-10 years.

Once again, if you don't think you can make it on-time or at all to an ADR, don't make the ADR. It is not mandatory, it is simply suggested. But to go through life expecting the worst to happen, or to demand an unyielding amount of leeway without consequences... Maybe Walt Disney World isn't the place for you?

 

[happypooh]

they obviously are bothered by it at disney enough to delete my posts on their facebook wall! So I'll keep posting the link to the website alerting people about this change! Seriously people, if you are irked by this then instead of writing here on this board where there are some who think this change in policy is the bees knees, write on Disney's facebook and twitter feed. That will get them noticing that even if we are not part of the 55 million or whatever the number previously quoted was, we're still here and we have a voice!
Imagine if you went to see your doctor and whenever you made an appointment to see the doctor they asked for your credit card info? Would that be acceptable to you? We have no shows a couple times a day and could make a heap load of money if we did this!

 

[Mkrop]

For every return customer to a Disney park, there are two who have never been. The problem is that too many on this website arrogantly assume that anyone who goes to WDW comes on these threads and simply knows all there is to know about it. They don't. Disney could change every one of its policies tomorrow and anyone who has never been would never know the difference.

And for anyone who says the cancellation period should be much shorter, again, no. Why should it be three hours instead of 24? You don't expect them to do that for a resort reservation, do you? How about an airline reservation? Or should any new rule, law and policy just be whatever you want, whenever you want it, however it pleases you? I would never expect a government to allow that, let alone a company just trying to keep all of its facilities open rather than making them seasonal or reducing basic services.

The bottom line is: Let this get to you, allow it to keep you from going to WDW and instead to Cape Cod, Yellowstone, Six Flags, etc. and Disney won't be missing you. Your $1500-$5000 family vacation will quickly be replaced by the dollars of Family X, Y and Z. Your eating at a CS instead of a TS just to "voice" your opinion over this new policy will not make a difference either. As I've said, Disney has crunched the numbers. They've done their homework. And as the population of the world grows, through natural attrition alone, WDW will go from 50 million visitors this year to 55 million over the next 5-10 years.

Once again, if you don't think you can make it on-time or at all to an ADR, don't make the ADR. It is not mandatory, it is simply suggested. But to go through life expecting the worst to happen, or to demand an unyielding amount of leeway without consequences... Maybe Walt Disney World isn't the place for you?

Once again this is a MEAL! Not a hotel room or an airline reservation. Neither of those things have a line of people just waiting to fill that space, yet WDW Dining does. WDW Dining has a park full of people or a hotel full of guests that could fill that table if they were made aware it was open either by social media or by walking up to the podium. There is a need to charge if you cant fill the seat or the room, not for a MEAL, that has people constantly inquiring if their family can eat there like Chef Mickey etc.

 

[kaytieeldr]

That is typical of other hotels. The fact that WDW has an atypical system for their restaurants doesn't negate that. I'm pretty sure Kaytieeldr didn't establish either policy.

I didn't .

 

[Colleen27]

For every return customer to a Disney park, there are two who have never been. The problem is that too many on this website arrogantly assume that anyone who goes to WDW comes on these threads and simply knows all there is to know about it. They don't. Disney could change every one of its policies tomorrow and anyone who has never been would never know the difference.

And for anyone who says the cancellation period should be much shorter, again, no. Why should it be three hours instead of 24? You don't expect them to do that for a resort reservation, do you? How about an airline reservation? Or should any new rule, law and policy just be whatever you want, whenever you want it, however it pleases you? I would never expect a government to allow that, let alone a company just trying to keep all of its facilities open rather than making them seasonal or reducing basic services.

The bottom line is: Let this get to you, allow it to keep you from going to WDW and instead to Cape Cod, Yellowstone, Six Flags, etc. and Disney won't be missing you. Your $1500-$5000 family vacation will quickly be replaced by the dollars of Family X, Y and Z. Your eating at a CS instead of a TS just to "voice" your opinion over this new policy will not make a difference either. As I've said, Disney has crunched the numbers. They've done their homework. And as the population of the world grows, through natural attrition alone, WDW will go from 50 million visitors this year to 55 million over the next 5-10 years.

Once again, if you don't think you can make it on-time or at all to an ADR, don't make the ADR. It is not mandatory, it is simply suggested. But to go through life expecting the worst to happen, or to demand an unyielding amount of leeway without consequences... Maybe Walt Disney World isn't the place for you?

So basically what you're saying is there's no sense in providing good customer service or policies to generate/maintain customer goodwill because there is an endless stream of customers who will either put up with anything because it is Disney or are ignorant of past policies and as such have no reason to expect much? While I do think that's what the Disney suits are thinking these days I don't really believe it. Businesses are not infallible and American business as a whole is FULL of recent examples of companies following a path that leads to great short term numbers but leaves the next guy cleaning up a big mess down the road.

As far as ADRs compared to room reservations or plane tickets, there's a huge difference. There are literally dozens if not hundreds of people who show up at restaurant podiums each and every day that would be happy to fill any tables that were cancelled on short notice. There is no comparable standby/walk-up demand for plane tickets or resort rooms.

And actually this dining policy could be viewed as MORE punitive than Disney's resort policies, at least relative to the value of the cancellation... If one of my kids wakes up sick on the day we leave for Disney and I don't have travel insurance I take a $200 hit on my package cancellation (a penalty they'll generally waive if you postpone rather than cancel). That works out to about 1/2 of 1% of the package cost. If I cancel my breakfast at Crystal Palace on the same time frame and for the same reason, I get hit with a penalty of 50% of what our meal would have cost.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I guess you haven't factored in Disney's shorter Park hours. Animal Kingdom closes at 5 or six o'clock most of the time.

Pretty much all the time. Standard AK hours are 9-5; anything beyond that is extended hours.

With the partys at the Magic Kingdom they are closing at 7 o'clock quite often now.

Thirty or thirty-two out of 365 nights, I think?

Applebees is just past downtown Disney, not a long ride

Long walk or pointless cab fare when one opts not to have a car, though.

Last time we wanted to see Fantasmic. We booked 5 o'clock ADRs at Mama Melrose, got there 15 minutes early. When we checked in we were told the wait was over an hour. Knowing the service is slow there we never would have made Fantasmic by 6:30 or even 7:00.

I haven't ever used the Fantasmic! Dining Option - is there a cancellation fee? Because under the change starting today, only Brown Derby would be affected; if there's always been a cancellation fee, then there's no difference; and I thought there was a cut-off time for F!D reservations anyway, and that it was well before 5?

If we're going to eat off site a couple of nights during the week then we'd probably only book one or 2 ADRs for dinner. So no need to buy the dining plan. This could lead to "there's more space in the rooms off-site and they're less expensive".

Not necessarily. I've stayed onsite with and without a car, with and without a Dining Plan. This won't change anything about my visits.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Once again this is a MEAL! Not a hotel room or an airline reservation. Neither of those things have a line of people just waiting to fill that space, yet WDW Dining does. WDW Dining has a park full of people or a hotel full of guests that could fill that table if they were made aware it was open either by social media or by walking up to the podium. There is a need to charge if you cant fill the seat or the room, not for a MEAL, that has people constantly inquiring if their family can eat there like Chef Mickey etc.

Once again, people are missing that other target market: the guests (usually first-timers, or first-time dining plan users) who didn't know they needed to make reservations in advance. If guests with ADRs at some locations are required to cancel by midnight the day before, these reservations will be open to people who call in the morning, or go to Lobby Concierge, or to Guest Services in the parks.

 

[PlutoBaby]

I definitely have mixed feelings about this one. If guests are making multiple ressies at multiple locations just so they can make sure to get one, that's just plain rude. On the flip side, if someone decides they'd like to eat somewhere, but don't know which restaurant they want to try until they arrive at the park, they get screwed when told there's no availability. With the incredible number of people who walk in asking for a table with no reservation, I can't see WDW losing any $ over it. For those of us who are somewhat "local", we don't usually plan our trips out 180 days in advance. By the time we decide we're going and go to make the res either by phone or online, the only times left are either very early or late, so we just take the chance by walking up to the hostess and hoping maybe something is open.

 

[Mkrop]

Pretty much all the time. Standard AK hours are 9-5; anything beyond that is extended hours.
.

Her point was I believe that you would NOT be burning up a park day's ticket like someone pointed out, therefore hurting yourself vs WDW, if it was a park that closed early.

If you already have a car, and you dont like this policy, and your park closes at 5 or 7pm etc...then WDW is the company that loses out on the money if you decide to take your family elsewhere, vs eating at a resort.

 

[Mom of 2 Wife of 1]

Once again this is a MEAL! Not a hotel room or an airline reservation. Neither of those things have a line of people just waiting to fill that space, yet WDW Dining does. WDW Dining has a park full of people or a hotel full of guests that could fill that table if they were made aware it was open either by social media or by walking up to the podium.

Oh, really? So you know for a fact that if someone no-shows or cancels their ADR that the Disney restaurant in question will absolutely and unequivocally be able to fill that very table with the exact number of guests it seats? So then what you're saying is: "I guarantee it." Fantastic! Then you wholeheartedly agree with Disney's new policy, which holds you accountable and responsible for that GUARANTEE. So then if they can't fill up the table, you've given Disney permission to charge you $10 per missing person. Thank you. I knew you'd finally come around and appreciate the new policy.

So basically what you're saying is there's no sense in providing good customer service or policies to generate/maintain customer goodwill because there is an endless stream of customers who will either put up with anything because it is Disney or are ignorant of past policies and as such have no reason to expect much?

You're joking, right? WDW has 60,000 employees, a majority of whom do a phenomenal job day in and day out with regards to customer service; Disney passes a $10 per head penalty on you re-negging on an ADR promise and all of a sudden, "That's it, folks. The shows over. Fire everyone. Let's take the kids to the beach instead." Really? It's that much of a deal-breaker for you?

I could stop posting about this today (and I probably will) because my family and I keep our promises, and our ADRs, and I'm okay with this policy. Disney wins. I win. No worries. But it seems others are determined to waste more of their time complaining about it. I hate to point out, Disboards has 377k registrants (lots of duplicates and some who never came back) but let's just say its 377k actively posting individuals. That's still less than 1% of the yearly guest attendance at WDW. Even if all 377k signed a petition, they'd still be in the minority, and those of you on this thread posting your disgust are the same 30-40 individuals. The reality is, most folks are okay with the policy or willing to go along with it. Majority wins.

And actually this dining policy could be viewed as MORE punitive than Disney's resort policies, at least relative to the value of the cancellation... If one of my kids wakes up sick on the day we leave for Disney and I don't have travel insurance I take a $200 hit on my package cancellation (a penalty they'll generally waive if you postpone rather than cancel). That works out to about 1/2 of 1% of the package cost. If I cancel my breakfast at Crystal Palace on the same time frame and for the same reason, I get hit with a penalty of 50% of what our meal would have cost.

So once again your foreseeing the end of days because one of your children might get sick on the day of. If that happens, $40 for a missed Chef Mickey's should be the least of your concerns. My thoughts would be with my child. And since you already seem to know that your child will become ill, why are you making the ADR to begin with? Why can it only work in your favor whenever it suits you? I'm not understanding how one person is more important that the overall system and fairness to everyone at once?

If you already have a car, and you dont like this policy, and your park closes at 5 or 7pm etc...then WDW is the company that loses out on the money if you decide to take your family elsewhere, vs eating at a resort.

If you do that, you're probably punishing your family more than you are Disney. You went out of your way "not" to do something special, and that's both a disappointing way to go through life and a sad message to send to your kids.

 

[maxiesmom]

they obviously are bothered by it at disney enough to delete my posts on their facebook wall! So I'll keep posting the link to the website alerting people about this change! Seriously people, if you are irked by this then instead of writing here on this board where there are some who think this change in policy is the bees knees, write on Disney's facebook and twitter feed. That will get them noticing that even if we are not part of the 55 million or whatever the number previously quoted was, we're still here and we have a voice!
Imagine if you went to see your doctor and whenever you made an appointment to see the doctor they asked for your credit card info? Would that be acceptable to you? We have no shows a couple times a day and could make a heap load of money if we did this!

Many doctors do charge for no-shows.

 

[Colleen27]

You're joking, right? WDW has 60,000 employees, a majority of whom do a phenomenal job day in and day out with regards to customer service; Disney passes a $10 per head penalty on you re-negging on an ADR promise and all of a sudden, "That's it, folks. The shows over. Fire everyone. Let's take the kids to the beach instead." Really? It's that much of a deal-breaker for you?

I could stop posting about this today (and I probably will) because my family and I keep our promises, and our ADRs, and I'm okay with this policy. Disney wins. I win. No worries. But it seems others are determined to waste more of their time complaining about it. I hate to point out, Disboards has 377k registrants (lots of duplicates and some who never came back) but let's just say its 377k actively posting individuals. That's still less than 1% of the yearly guest attendance at WDW. Even if all 377k signed a petition, they'd still be in the minority, and those of you on this thread posting your disgust are the same 30-40 individuals. The reality is, most folks are okay with the policy or willing to go along with it. Majority wins.

Seldom is it one issue that turns someone off of a company or vacation destination. It is a lot of little things. Hey, maybe Disney is right - maybe they can continue to raise their resort and ticket rates at triple the rate of inflation every year, cut corners on transportation and housekeeping, and add nickle-and-dime fees to various elements of the experience and have enough people happy with it to remain profitable. Everyone has their own deal breakers.

And BTW, it is a very flawed assumption that silence = approval. Before the poll was locked down it was running 60/40, and that's among DISers who obsess over fairness and rule breaking (even when Disney looks the other way or even expressly tells guests not to worry about the rule). Most of those 50M guests that visit each year won't take the time to know about this policy until they get charged for a cancellation, just like they don't take the time to know that they need to make dining reservations at all until they're on vacation and can't figure out how to use the dining plan they paid for.

So once again your foreseeing the end of days because one of your children might get sick on the day of. If that happens, $40 for a missed Chef Mickey's should be the least of your concerns. My thoughts would be with my child. And since you already seem to know that your child will become ill, why are you making the ADR to begin with? Why can it only work in your favor whenever it suits you? I'm not understanding how one person is more important that the overall system and fairness to everyone at once?

The end of days? Melodramatic much? I don't know about you but a kid with a stomach flu isn't enough to send me into "damn the cost, I'm just worried about my child" mode. I'm not worried about them coming down with ebola or something, just minor bugs that kids pick up and that go around vacation destinations like wildfire. I have no idea if/when my kids will get sick on vacation. We've had one bad stomach flu make the rounds when we were at WDW and that's enough for the possibility to be there in my mind when I'm planning. I make the ADRs because those are the meals I want to have and I'm disappointed if we have to cancel even one; I don't want to have to settle for restaurants I don't really like for fear of someone getting sick at the height of cold/flu season.

It isn't a question of fairness; it is a question of customer service. The old system is fair; everyone has the same chance to make dining reservations for the meals they want to have as part of their vacation. The new system is slightly less so because larger groups now have to think a lot harder about ADRs than smaller parties, and DDP guests who have the added lost value of pre-paid credits harder than cash guests whose losses are limited to the fee.

Again, we're talking about a company that build an empire based on family-friendly entertainment instituting a highly family UNfriendly policy. I know it goes against the grain on the DIS but not everyone is willing to smile and say "Disney knows best" about every negative change to the vacation experience.

 

[MELSMICE]

they obviously are bothered by it at disney enough to delete my posts on their facebook wall! So I'll keep posting the link to the website alerting people about this change! Seriously people, if you are irked by this then instead of writing here on this board where there are some who think this change in policy is the bees knees, write on Disney's facebook and twitter feed. That will get them noticing that even if we are not part of the 55 million or whatever the number previously quoted was, we're still here and we have a voice!
Imagine if you went to see your doctor and whenever you made an appointment to see the doctor they asked for your credit card info? Would that be acceptable to you? We have no shows a couple times a day and could make a heap load of money if we did this!

As someone else pointed out, many doctors charge for no-shows now.

 

[mom2rtk]

As someone else pointed out, many doctors charge for no-shows now.

Well, at least that's somewhere you would go TO if you were sick...... not stay away FROM.

 

[Cafeen]

Seldom is it one issue that turns someone off of a company or vacation destination. It is a lot of little things. Hey, maybe Disney is right - maybe they can continue to raise their resort and ticket rates at triple the rate of inflation every year, cut corners on transportation and housekeeping, and add nickle-and-dime fees to various elements of the experience and have enough people happy with it to remain profitable. Everyone has their own deal breakers.

And BTW, it is a very flawed assumption that silence = approval. Before the poll was locked down it was running 60/40, and that's among DISers who obsess over fairness and rule breaking (even when Disney looks the other way or even expressly tells guests not to worry about the rule). Most of those 50M guests that visit each year won't take the time to know about this policy until they get charged for a cancellation, just like they don't take the time to know that they need to make dining reservations at all until they're on vacation and can't figure out how to use the dining plan they paid for.



The end of days? Melodramatic much? I don't know about you but a kid with a stomach flu isn't enough to send me into "damn the cost, I'm just worried about my child" mode. I'm not worried about them coming down with ebola or something, just minor bugs that kids pick up and that go around vacation destinations like wildfire. I have no idea if/when my kids will get sick on vacation. We've had one bad stomach flu make the rounds when we were at WDW and that's enough for the possibility to be there in my mind when I'm planning. I make the ADRs because those are the meals I want to have and I'm disappointed if we have to cancel even one; I don't want to have to settle for restaurants I don't really like for fear of someone getting sick at the height of cold/flu season.

It isn't a question of fairness; it is a question of customer service. The old system is fair; everyone has the same chance to make dining reservations for the meals they want to have as part of their vacation. The new system is slightly less so because larger groups now have to think a lot harder about ADRs than smaller parties, and DDP guests who have the added lost value of pre-paid credits harder than cash guests whose losses are limited to the fee.

Again, we're talking about a company that build an empire based on family-friendly entertainment instituting a highly family UNfriendly policy. I know it goes against the grain on the DIS but not everyone is willing to smile and say "Disney knows best" about every negative change to the vacation experience.

The collective decisions as of late are straying from the path that built WDW to what it is today (or, well, a few days ago at least...). That's where many of us take issue. It's not about one policy, it's about one too many policies.

Besides, just because we may or may not be affected by a policy doesn't mean that I can't see potential problems with it, and take issue with those.