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

[alicia080979]

I can see where Disney is coming from with this and hope that it will cut down on missed ADRs for the more popular dining spots so more walkups can be taken but I will say this really bums me out for our April trip. We have been to Disney quite a few times...just got back in September and heading back in November and as adults only, I don't worry about whether or not we can make our ADRs bc I know we can get up early, stay late, etc. If something comes up, I try to call as soon as possible to cancel but in April we are taking my 2yr old niece to celebrate her 3rd bday (she turns 3 at the beginning of May) and I honestly have NO idea how it is going to go. Obviously I want to make sure to book some character meals bc hopefully she will love it but now I'm just afraid of something happening and getting charged. Even though she is "free" by Disney standards, we will now get charged for her. What if she has a meltdown and we don't get out of the door in time, what if she is in line to meet a character and it takes longer than expected, what if she has just had it for the day...I just don't like this when so many unexpected things can happen with little ones. I guess if she is cranky and in a bad mood, we will be sitting there suffering through a miserable meal along with other parents in the same boat I'm sure. Ugh. I just wish that with the online sytem there was another way to avoid the double booking or shorter window to cancel. I don't see why as long as you cancel within the same day up to 15-20 min past your ADR time they can't still take walk ups.

 

[mcd2745]

First of all, thank-you for the post.

I am glad to see that they are considering a partial party showing up as making the ADR. This helps me considerably if my whole party (13) decides to do an ADR.

HOWEVER, I have a MAJOR issue with the cancelling a full day ahead thing the way Disney has written it. If you go to Disney's website to make reservations, they are NOT clear on what it means. Their cancellation policy could be interpreted as the day before (as in some time Tues if your ADR is Wed.) or 24 hours before. Without being on the DIS, I would never have interpreted a day before as being almost 2 DAYS before in the case of dinner ADR or a day and a half in the case of a breakfast ADR. If Disney wants people to follow their new rules, they need to make them clear and not open to interpretation.

I agree it should be much clearer, with an example, on the webiste and CMs should be supremely clear when making ADRs over the phone.

 

[Marshay]

You're not alone at all. The anxiety it will produce (although small) alone makes me think TS will become a rare occasion for us. The primary reason I take the family to vacation at WDW over other locations is because they've gotten very good at taking all my anxiety away from the moment I step on the plane to the moment I leave. This threat of charging me for a meal because my son was sick and I canceled only 12 hours out or I missed a bus is taking a step backwards.

If more people feel the same about going elsewhere to eat, I predict that this one little change added to other canned solutions Disney has added to the parks are transforming the "resort" feel of the parks into one of "amusement park". Once it reaches that level it really won't matter where we go for entertainment.

I'm glad to hear I am not alone ... all I could think was that the people proposing this new policy must not have families...

We rarely eat out at home and definitely not in nicer places like we try at Disney. This was one of the nice benefits of a Disney vacation.

The ONLY advantage I see is that IF my family is not sick and IF my family is hungry and IF everyone is in a good mood and IF the restaurant is open and IF the restaurant has an opening, then we can snag a last minute ADR.

 

[dismommom]

So, I figured I'd give it a day, and then call Disney to get the official party line on the issue. When I called I asked to speak with a supervisor, because I wanted the official and correct responses to my questions. The woman I spoke to was very gracious, and told me the following.

All cancellations need to be made full 1 day in advance NOT 24 HOURS. So, if you are dining on Thursday, you need to cancel on Tues, with Wed being the "one full day". This is per the official memo that has been sent out about the policy, and is unfortunately more restrictive than I thought.

If you have an ADR for 10 people and 8 show up you WILL NOT be charged for the two people who do not arrive. If some members of the party show up, than it counts as making your reservation. This is per the official memo. This part makes me feel a little better.




Also I asked about what would be acceptable reasons to waive the penalty. This is what I was told "major illness or injury, hospitalization, death in the family". Any hope of Disney working with the guests, is not happening. The supervisor was adamant that this policy will have teeth, no exceptions.

I asked about dining with young children, who could be unpredictable, and she said that you would have to cancel one day in advance, that no exceptions would be made even for kids being kids.

I also asked about transportation issues. We all know that sometimes even 1.5 hours isn't enough to get around. She said that they will hold your reservation for 15-20 minutes, and then you will be considered a no show and charged.

This is not good, you better be prepared to make sure you have hours to devote to making your ADR, and you better be there unless you are at death's door.

I expressed my dislike of this new policy to the supervisor, and I wrote to Disney, and I will continue to let them know what a bad decision I think that this is. I would highly suggest anyone that agrees with me do the same. (of course if you love the new policy, you can tell them that too, I'm all for equal access.)

Also here is the new cancellation number- 1-407-WDW-CNCL. I tried calling it and it isn't working, maybe its just not up and running yet.

So the only good part is that if the full part doesn't show you won't be charged for them. That's a small break, but I guessit won't happen that often.

If the only hold your table for 15 -20 minutes are they promising you will be seated in 15 - 20 minutes?

 

[mcd2745]

And I know that I will have to be very sure of our plans when making our ADRs and rethinking those plans the week before we arrive to make any possible changes then.

In the future I can see us trying more walk-ups or calling the day-of to see if there's availability. I don't plan on risking $30 for the three of us at almost all of our TS meals when anything can happen.

This will definitely change how I do dining at Disney World. I will do less dining at restaurants so I have more flexibility. Might even just skip making ADRs except for 1 or 2 favorites.

I do see us eating more in our 1br rather than risking a TS and paying $40.

Seems to me like the policy is working already - IF one of Disney's intentions was to increase availability.

 

[mom2rtk]

So the only good part is that if the full part doesn't show you won't be charged for them. That's a small break, but I guessit won't happen that often.

If the only hold your table for 15 -20 minutes are they promising you will be seated in 15 - 20 minutes?

Good one!

Now.......... let's all bow our heads......... and offer a moment of silence.......... for the passing of Disney's Deluxe Dining Plan.

 

[CandleontheWater]

So the only good part is that if the full part doesn't show you won't be charged for them. That's a small break, but I guessit won't happen that often.

If the only hold your table for 15 -20 minutes are they promising you will be seated in 15 - 20 minutes?

I don't know about that, and I think that is something we are going to have to wait and see about, although I think you might be disappointed.

Right now they staff expecting a full restaurant (all ADRs accounted for) and they have a significant percentage of no shows. This should technically make it easier to seat people, since there are less tables to bus, less tables to make food for and bring food too, and more servers to go around and drop off and pick up checks. The turnover should be speedier because they have more hands on deck and less people to serve.

Now if they continue to staff for a full restaurant, and indeed everyone shows up- I'm thinking that it might be even more of a zoo at restaurants like Ohana, which is madhouse even with all the no shows.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

All cancellations need to be made full 1 day in advance NOT 24 HOURS. So, if you are dining on Thursday, you need to cancel on Tues, with Wed being the "one full day". This is per the official memo that has been sent out about the policy, and is unfortunately more restrictive than I thought.

If you have an ADR for 10 people and 8 show up you WILL NOT be charged for the two people who do not arrive. If some members of the party show up, than it counts as making your reservation. This is per the official memo. This part makes me feel a little better.

Also I asked about what would be acceptable reasons to waive the penalty. This is what I was told "major illness or injury, hospitalization, death in the family". Any hope of Disney working with the guests, is not happening. The supervisor was adamant that this policy will have teeth, no exceptions.

I asked about dining with young children, who could be unpredictable, and she said that you would have to cancel one day in advance, that no exceptions would be made even for kids being kids.

I also asked about transportation issues. We all know that sometimes even 1.5 hours isn't enough to get around. She said that they will hold your reservation for 15-20 minutes, and then you will be considered a no show and charged.

This is not good, you better be prepared to make sure you have hours to devote to making your ADR, and you better be there unless you are at death's door.

I expressed my dislike of this new policy to the supervisor, and I wrote to Disney, and I will continue to let them know what a bad decision I think that this is. I would highly suggest anyone that agrees with me do the same. (of course if you love the new policy, you can tell them that too, I'm all for equal access.)

Also here is the new cancellation number- 1-407-WDW-CNCL. I tried calling it and it isn't working, maybe its just not up and running yet.

Thanks for calling to get the official info. This is what I was expecting. I didn't see the other option helping with breakfast. I would have been surprised, if they hadn't considered that.

The partial party policy should help a lot who have posted here. That seemed to be one major concern. I'm glad that worked out for you all.

What bothers me about some of the "last minute things" some posters have talked about is that it could be due to "tired or cranky kids; too full to eat a full meal; decided to go to a different park", etc. I, personally, don't see those as valid excuses.

I completely understand the getting sick thing.......that's uncontrollable. The other things I think are just poor excuses.

It does seem that the "other" reasons are much more likely than sickness. They were definitely mentioned more here early on, until everybody jumped on the "sick" bandwagon. If people only cancelled for sickness in the past, this policy probably wouldn't be necessary.

Do you want to dine in a restaurant with screaming, cranky kids? Only there because the family didn't know the shape their kids would be almost 48 hours in advance? Families don't know how their kids will be at Disney. How much "fun food" the kids will be eating in the park. How over tired their kids would be.

Again. Don't look at it from the side of the families with the kids. Assume most of them will now show up. Is dining with those families the kind of dining experience you're looking for?

Parents have control over all of that. Kids only do what they're allowed to do.

One poster suggested not accepting ADRs until 45 days, the pay in full date for packages. That may be too an extreme a change, but it does have some logic.

That would work for me. I personally think 180 is ridiculous.

The way I see it affecting us is that last trip I called same day to change times on a couple of our ADRs. Same restaurant, but a different time that same night. We originally had a 5:30 ADR at the Yachtsman but wanted to go a bit later so I called in the morning and changed it to 7:45. My guess is that this can no longer be done as we would not be cancelling that 5:30 with enough notice.

This is the one thing that could affect us. We've been known to call a restaurant to attempt to move our time up an hr. or so. I had already told my DH we'll all have to share snacks & wait for our ADR time. It now looks like this has been addressed, & we may be able to change times at the same restaurant. Either way, we'll make it work.

I understand the need for changes and hope this policy will fix some of the issues. But, I find it hard to believe that a company that prides itself on their customer service will take such a hard stance. Especially for things that are easy to "prove." If I went to Disney with my flight plans, verification that the flight was cancelled, and my boarding pass for our later flight (through a different city) and their answer was still - Too bad. I'd be livid, and likely done with Disney.

To me, flight changes are definitely unpreventable. I'm glad they seem to have addressed this too. It doesn't affect us, but I don't see this as just an excuse. I would put it with major illness. The guest can't control either. The other reasons given here.....

I have been to WDW over 30 times. I love the way it is so magical. I am just finding the magic going away. I had a friend who came out of a ride to find her $300 stroller moved and broken. When she spoke with a castmember he told her "It sucks to be you". I couldn't believe it. After woking her way up the chain she was finally given free stroller rental for the rest of the trip.

I had a family member come back to her room after it had maid service. Her beach towels had been taken with the dirty towels. Nothing was done.

We went on the Keys to the Kingdom tour and were told every cast member has the power to right a wrong. I've heard about it happening many times.

I love Disney as I always have found it Magical. We've planned our retirement to move close to Disney. But times are tough and people make choices. We cut out movies and dining out at home to take our Disney vacations and I'm sure lots of other people are watching the money.

But Disney seams to be more interested in their bottom line these days. No one begrudges them making a profit. But the big guys need to understand they are killing the magic.

I'm going in December, and if a free dining bounce back is offered I will probably book it, but I probably won't pay for an upgrade as I usually do. I will be watching these boards and the trip reports. With the constant raise in the cost and the lessening of the experience Disney might loose me as one of their biggest fans. Some say they won't miss me and will fill my spot. Well if they do I hope the family filling my spot finds magic and a great vacations with wonderful memories. And I will miss what Walt Disney World used to be.

Unfortunately, the decline has been going on for a while. Some people seem to think those in favor of this policy agree with everything WDW does. For me, that couldn't be further from the truth. Personally, I think this will benefit many guests. Some changes benefit no one, but Disney. Supporting one policy isn't the same as supporting all.

So I just called back again. I was interested in getting the answers to some of the new questions that have come up, and I wanted to be sure that the information was consistent.

Everything in my previous post was confirmed, but here is some new information that I learned.

If you make an ADR with the CC hold, you will receive an e-mail three days before your ADR, reminding you about your ADR. The e-mail will also have a link for quick cancellation.

I also asked about travel delays, the CM told me that they will work with people who have travel delays, and either modify or cancel the reservation without penalty. BUT you do need to be sure and call Disney when you know that you are going to be delayed.

I also was told by the CM that the new policy also states that if you modify a reservation, that you will not be charged a penalty, even if you are doing it within the "one day" window.

This is of course subject to availability.- Here is how it would work. Today (Thursday) your son refuses to take a nap back at the hotel. You have a 7 pm reservation for Chef Mickeys. You know that your son is going to be a beast at the restaurant, so you don't want to take him. You can call and try and change the reservation to a different day or time, and if you are successful- then they will wave the fee. So if they have availability for dinner on Friday, you can change and not be charged. If there is no availability- then you are SOL, take your beasty son, or be charged.

So I asked another scenario- say it is pouring rain, and you don't want to trek from POR out to the Contemporary for your Chef Mickeys reservation, but you would like to change to Boatwrights and just eat at your hotel. Well that is no dice, if you try to modify across restaurants you will still be charged Even though you are still eating at a Disney restaurant they they are getting your money.

Also I have tried the 1-407-WDW-CNCL number five times. Three time I got the recording "This is not a vaild number and you cannot be connected at this time", twice I was directed right to the Disney dining line.

I asked both time if this was the cancellation line, and they told me that they indeed had a separate cancellation spiel, and that you would not have to give your resort info, how many times you visited, your pets name, your favorite color, etc. From what they told me there is no "separate" cancellation line, just the regular Disney dining line with a streamlined spiel.

Also- all three CM I spoke to about this change have hinted it was made to free up space so that more people can get reservations. They also mentioned no-shows. I still think that Disney can control this, and there are other ways to go about it, but they have chosen the easiest route for them- put it on the guests to police the problem.

Thanks for calling again to answer some of the questions posed.

This is what I had expected to hear. During one of our past trips, we had a Wishes dessert party booking for 7:15 pm on a Thursday. I called at 4:00 pm on Wednesday (27 hours prior) to cancel and was unable to do so without penalty. After some discussion, both the CM and her manager admitted that we were indeed 27 hours out, but the policy was "one full day prior". Needless to say, we went to the party!

I'm guessing this is the result they're hoping for with all ADRs that now require a CC hold.

 

[Snookies]

First of all, thank-you for the post.

I am glad to see that they are considering a partial party showing up as making the ADR. This helps me considerably if my whole party (13) decides to do an ADR.

HOWEVER, I have a MAJOR issue with the cancelling a full day ahead thing the way Disney has written it. If you go to Disney's website to make reservations, they are NOT clear on what it means. Their cancellation policy could be interpreted as the day before (as in some time Tues if your ADR is Wed.) or 24 hours before. Without being on the DIS, I would never have interpreted a day before as being almost 2 DAYS before in the case of dinner ADR or a day and a half in the case of a breakfast ADR. If Disney wants people to follow their new rules, they need to make them clear and not open to interpretation.

The full day ahead thing may not be anything new. A couple of years ago at Thanksgiving, we had an ADR for lunch at Akershush. I called to cancel 48 hours before the ADR to cancel when we decided not to go and was told that I should have called the day before. For example, with a 48 hour cancellation policy, the cast member told me that I should have called by Thursday night to cancel an ADR for Sunday at Noon. She also told me that the cancellation "went through anyway." I was not charged a no-show or cancellation penalty.

FWIW, I agree with you about this and am also happy to hear the partial party information.

 

[mom2rtk]

Seems to me like the policy is working already - IF one of Disney's intentions was to increase availability.

.......... and if their intention was to tick off a bunch of really loyal customers.

 

[Marshay]

.......... and if their intention was to tick off a bunch of really loyal customers.

This made me

I have another question:

So will restaurants only staff to the ADRs planned going forward? What if a lot more people do walk-ups, will they be turned away b/c they don't have the staff for it, thus not increasing availability, which "may" have been a goal of the new policy?

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Now.......... let's all bow our heads......... and offer a moment of silence.......... for the passing of Disney's Deluxe Dining Plan.

There will probably still be a market for it. We don't use DDP, because we don't like being restricted on where to eat & what we order. We like some of the non-DDP restaurants, & sometimes prefer 2 appetizers instead of an entree (soup & appetizer, etc.). At least, I do. However, we do eat 2 TS meals a day one of which is at a signature restaurant. DXDDP would work for our dining style & we make it to our ADRs.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I think this is a money-making strategy. I do not think it will have an effect on getting reservations or ability to walk-up, and here's why:

Disney already takes into account an estimated number of no-shows when they take ADRs, and I bet they have a pretty good estimate. Under the new policy, they will adjust that estimate.

If they were looking for a way to make getting ADRs easier or to accept more walk-ups, this policy does not do that.

I make my ADRs now in good faith that I will actually show up for them, but I am on vacation with a family and our plans do change--maybe we didn't get to do everything we wanted to do at Epcot, so we're going back there tomorrow instead of going to DHS as planned. If I call the night before to cancel a lunch ADR, isn't that way more than enough time to allow someone to make a last-minute ADR on the morning of, or to allow a walk-up to take my table?

 

[mcd2745]

There will probably still be a market for it. We don't use DDP, because we don't like being restricted on where to eat & what we order. We like some of the non-DDP restaurants, & sometimes prefer 2 appetizers instead of an entree (soup & appetizer, etc.). At least, I do. However, we do eat 2 TS meals a day one of which is at a signature restaurant. DXDDP would work for our dining style & we make it to our ADRs.

I agree. This policy wouldn't make me hesitate about doing the deluxe plan again. What will stop us from doing it (or even the regular plan) for now is our DS turning 10 in a few months. He just doesn't eat enough to justify paying adult prices for him.

And for most other people out there who like to do the DxDP, I doubt most of them share the same gloomy outlook that has been displayed here. Most of them probably don't think it's a given that their flight in to MCO will be delayed 36 hours, at least half their family will get violently ill, three of the buses they end up on will break down and/or get flat tires, they will get stranded on the monorail halfway between MK and Epcot, and a freak blizzard will hit Orlando all during their week at the World.

 

[mcd2745]

I think this is a money-making strategy. I do not think it will have an effect on getting reservations or ability to walk-up, and here's why:

Disney already takes into account an estimated number of no-shows when they take ADRs, and I bet they have a pretty good estimate. Under the new policy, they will adjust that estimate.

If they were looking for a way to make getting ADRs easier or to accept more walk-ups, this policy does not do that.

I make my ADRs now in good faith that I will actually show up for them, but I am on vacation with a family and our plans do change--maybe we didn't get to do everything we wanted to do at Epcot, so we're going back there tomorrow instead of going to DHS as planned. If I call the night before to cancel a lunch ADR, isn't that way more than enough time to allow someone to make a last-minute ADR on the morning of, or to allow a walk-up to take my table?

I think that was a big part of the probelm - because it's not that simple. They probably couldn't get enough of a daily handle on the no-show rates. Sure, they can get averages over periods of time, but there was probably too much variability day-to-day. Let's say they assume 20% no-shows for a given month based on the averages for that month over the last 10 years. But then, what if during that month, they days it rains the no-shows jump to 35% and they end up with a lot of empty tables. Alternatively, on the nice days, only 8-10% end up no-showing, resulting in backups. It was probably too difficult to operate efficiently with such large and variable no-show rates and they felt the need to try to rein in those numbers.

 

[mom2rtk]

There will probably still be a market for it. We don't use DDP, because we don't like being restricted on where to eat & what we order. We like some of the non-DDP restaurants, & sometimes prefer 2 appetizers instead of an entree (soup & appetizer, etc.). At least, I do. However, we do eat 2 TS meals a day one of which is at a signature restaurant. DXDDP would work for our dining style & we make it to our ADRs.

Sure there will still be A market for the DxDDP. I didn't really think it would just go away. But I do think it will take a major hit. But the more times you have to enter that CC#......... the more you're going to rethink it.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Sure there will still be A market for the DxDDP. I didn't really think it would just go away. But I do think it will take a major hit. But the more times you have to enter that CC#......... the more you're going to rethink it.

I agree those who book with good intentions, but can foresee life getting in the way of them making their ADR may rethink it. Those, like me, who plan to assure we make it to the restaurant (minus a serious illness or injury) won't give it a second thought. This won't be the first time I've had to enter a CC to secure a reservation for something we wanted to do on vacation. As long as they aren't charging me $10 per person at the time of making the ADR, it won't bother me to give them a CC number to hold my place. If they started charging $10/person, 6 months in advance to hold the ADR, I would think twice about giving them control of that much of my money for that long. At that time, I would have to decide if I thought it was worth it.

 

[mom2rtk]

I agree those who book with good intentions, but can foresee life getting in the way of them making their ADR may rethink it. Those, like me, who plan to assure we make it to the restaurant (minus a serious illness or injury) won't give it a second thought. This won't be the first time I've had to enter a CC to secure a reservation for something we wanted to do on vacation. As long as they aren't charging me $10 per person at the time of making the ADR, it won't bother me to give them a CC number to hold my place. If they started charging $10/person, 6 months in advance to hold the ADR, I would think twice about giving them control of that much of my money for that long. At that time, I would have to decide if I thought it was worth it.

I dont' agree. Everyone is different. While I might have every intention of being at every single ADR I make, I tend to worry and try to foresee problems that could arise. If it were 1 or 2 things (like it has been up to this point. I enter my CC# for the Boutique, Akershus, a couple stops at CRT, and maybe a Fantasmic dining package). But with the DxDDP, I'd have to enter it for 2 TS meals a day, every day. I'm just saying I don't think I'm alone in wondering if that's something I want to do. If someone is sick, under the DxDDP, the odds of missing multiple ADR's increases. At $10 a head per meal, that reall adds up.

 

[caribear]

I have no problem with a credit card guarantee for a sit-down restaurant. However, I do not think the "one full day in advance" notice is reasonable. I think 6 hours would be a good amount of time. This way someone walking up at lunchtime can snag a dinnertime reservation if the restaurant is full for lunch. Seems reasonable......

 

[3pletprincesses]

I would much prefer 24 hours cancellation vs 1 full day. You never know when someone will get sick or flights cancel. I have no issue giving my CC# for every reservation as long as I am not charged the $10 per person in advance. As a party of 5, it would make alot of money tied up before the trip but for guarantee purpose, I will gladly give my CC#. I doubt they will charge $10 in advance as many would drop their dining plan. I know for one that if I was getting the dinning plan and to top it off had to pay $50 for each reservation that I made, I would skip the plan all together. Yes I would probably be able to use that money toward my tip and extra stuff but still that alot of money to tie up 180 days out IMO. To us it would represent at least $700 on top of the dining plan. No thanks!