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

[MELSMICE]

I'm not going to quote posters.

Anecdotal observations don't prove anything. I don't put much credibility in figure listed in an unofficial guide book but others are entitled to give them some credibility. High no-shows during January, a month where some guests may need to delay or cancel a trip do to weather issues makes sense to me.

I don't mean this in a bad way but some posters "live in a different world". Some families don't get sick (much). Seem immune to colds, flu, heat exhaustion etc. Kids never get cranky when over tired....

Posters in this category can't understand why everyone isn't like them.

I don't agree with that. I think that each family is different and vacations differently. It was mentioned that you "won't know how your family/kids will react".

As a family we did not/do not book a lot of ADR's because I knew that my family would not want to be committed to things for the entire length of our WDW trips. We booked a few each trip and looked forward to them.

Believe me, my kids got sick (one year stomach flu, another strep throat, pink eye another time & the list continues). They would get cranky. Heck.......even DH & I would be cranky. I knew from the start to do a park day, then pool day, park day, pool day.

I do understand that everyone is not like me & their family doesn't vacation like us. I guess it's just a matter of what you want to do on your vacation and the style you want to vacation in. We are not a go, go, go family. We want to relax & enjoy & really take it easy.

Our favorite line was always, "It's OK if we miss something because it gives us a reason to come back again!"

 

[bookworm75]

Just made my Dining ressies under new rules today (11-05-11) I did all but one online, I had to put in CC info for each one that required CC. And For CRT, Fanamtasic Dinner pkg. I had to give cc garantee but wasn't charged as I'm on DDP.
And If anyone cares I was booking for more people than were in my Room/ressie as we have friends traveling with us as their room is only on hold not booked yet.

This was the answer I've been scrolling through all the pages to find, so thank you very much for posting!

 

[maxiesmom]

That's a bit of a stretch to unequivocally declare my thoughts wrong on both counts based on distantly-related experiences. To equate the process of checking in with a desk CM on the last day of free dining and how they handle dining credits to a call to the Dining call center to cancel an ADR and what the procedure is for those two different scenarios might be a bit of a leap.

We've had different experiences on semi-related situations in the past. Unlike you though, I won't unequivocally state that since it rained on me one day in Epcot on a Thursday that it's going to rain on everyone in Epcot on every Thursday. That kind of seems to be your logic pattern.

That is not my logic at all. You seemed to be saying Disney would never check for transportation breakdowns, or bother to check if someone is telling them the truth or not. I just said they have been known to do both in the past. I did not say they did either thing all of the time.

 

[coopersmom]

Disney wants more guests in the parks, more guests in the restaurants, more guests in the resorts and on the dining plan. This is going to mean more guests trying to get into the restaurants and more regimentation to try and control how many guests are able to get into the restaurants. Those on the dining plan are already regimented as to which restaurants they can patronize and which courses they can order. That kind of magic isn't coming back as long as Disney's management is into the pack 'em in and make 'em stay method of doing business.

And we've got some arguments and a bit of nastiness going on here about different posters' attitude toward the policy. Really, there isn't anything you can do here about the policy. It is what it is. If you don't like it, write Disney and tell them why. If you do like it, write Disney and tell them why. Arguing about it with each other here will make no difference in the policy and if it keeps up I'm probably going to have to shut the discussion down and do a locked thread with the policy and restaurant list on it (which I may do anyway and make it a sticky, even if the discussion can stay up).

I don't disagree a bit on the effectiveness of the disagreement, but I will note that this policy has the exact OPPOSITE effect on me as you say Disney intends. It is likely to get me OUT of the park, and eating, and then logically, staying, elsewhere.

As someone who likes fine dining, but hates hassle, I might have settled for the easiness of eating in "the World" on previous trips, but this added barrier makes that "easy" part go away. None of Disney's restaurants, save Victoria and Albert's are, in my opinion, worth this amount of trouble. Combine six-month-out reservations that require color-coded planning schedules with mediocre food and the inability to cancel without a fee if something does come out and that, for me, is the straw that broke the camel's back with Disney dining.

For someone like me, who was already leaning towards dining and staying off site due to Disney's quality of food and accommodations, this is enough to push me from the might to will camp ... Which also leads me to think about exploring things like visiting other area attractions. Disney is right, once I'm outside their bubble, I'm gonna give them less cash. My point is, this and some other things (like not offering truly deluxe accommodations and service for their very deluxe prices and charging four-star dining prices for two-star food) are actively pushing me out of the bubble.

 

[TDC Nala]

You may not believe that the Disney restaurants are worth the policy, and I may go and eat at the Swan/Dolphin restaurants, but there will still be guests who want character meals. Character meals are HUGE. Especially with DDP guests, many of whom schedule multiple ones. I don't think this policy will deter most guests.

Disney itself has stated this policy is to "improve availability at our most popular restaurants." You can decide if that is the real reason or if you think they just want to take advantage of families with sick children. I know they've gotten numerous complaints from guests who couldn't get into the restaurants, and that there are a lot of no-shows on many nights.

But it doesn't make a difference to argue about it on this board, especially to the point where the argument is going to violate the board guidelines. Once the nastiness starts it usually just gets worse and this is a big and very hot topic. Posters want to discuss it. That's why it's sort of difficult to decide what to do when the arguing starts.

 

[Wuggy19]

I like the idea of linking to onsite reservations.

I was just poking around and I tried to book Princess Tea outside of my dates and it would not let me, because my reservation was not for that time.

There has to be fair way unfortunately we will also have selfish people and will manage to get around it.

 

[Wuggy19]

I like the idea of linking to onsite reservations.

I was just poking around and I tried to book Princess Tea outside of my dates and it would not let me, because my reservation was not for that time.

There has to be fair way unfortunately we will ways have selfish people and will manage to get around it.

 

[Mom of 2 Wife of 1]

I don't disagree a bit on the effectiveness of the disagreement, but I will note that this policy has the exact OPPOSITE effect on me as you say Disney intends. It is likely to get me OUT of the park, and eating, and then logically, staying, elsewhere.

Disney has already factored in the 1-3% of the people like you who will reduce your dining/resort habits as a result of this policy. Fortunately, Disney gets 15-20% new visitors each year who have no idea about what used to be or what will be. They will take over where you took off. You, and any others like you, who are vowing to take your business elsewhere, will have no effect on Disney's revenue. But so long as you have a place to vent your dissatisfaction on the policy, please continue to come here and post.

 

[Snurk71]

I also have 3 e-mail addresses.

What about tying a last name and a phone number together & then giving a "general reservation" number that will tie one person's ADR's together.

Example:

--Mary Smith calls & makes her first ADR
--She has to give name, address, phone number & CC # if applicable to the ADR.
--She is given a general ADR reservation # that is tied to her name, address & phone #
--She calls 2 weeks later & must use her general ADR # that matches with her name to make additional ADR's.

While a lot of people have more than one e-mail address and phone number, not everyone (although some) people/families usually only have one address. So, if John Smith, Mary's DH calls to make an ADR he uses his name, address & phone number & the address is flagged as being the same family as Mary Smith.

There's a number of ways to narrow the loopholes, but there would still be loopholes with even the physical address included. Spell your street name differently (for example, drop an 'E' off the name), put down your neighbor's house# (you'll still get the mail with the wrong house# and correct name), use your work's address. You could probably still get 2-3 different unique bookings that wouldn't get flagged by a computer program as a duplicate.

I'm probably cynical, but I'm a finance guy that works with/structures sales commission programs. So I have a habit of putting the other hat on to examine how a process could be exploited for individual gain - I've uncovered some pretty creative things people did to get around a policy.

 

[Snurk71]

Disney has already factored in the 1-3% of the people like you who will reduce your dining/resort habits as a result of this policy. Fortunately, Disney gets 15-20% new visitors each year who have no idea about what used to be or what will be. They will take over where you took off. You, and any others like you, who are vowing to take your business elsewhere, will have no effect on Disney's revenue. But so long as you have a place to vent your dissatisfaction on the policy, please continue to come here and post.

Can you source your numbers or did you completely make them up without any semblance of fact? Because I shall make up numbers that 57.4% will be people like us that don't like the policy and Disney only gets 34.2% new visitors each year.

While I agree that some folks at Disney probably think they have an endless supply of new customers to replace the unhappy ones, I disagree with that theory. Maybe they're right, maybe they're not. Maybe they're not but it won't really impact them for another 10 years.

By the way, were you the one arguing against the real-life case examples of customer feedback actually causing a change (new Coke, Netflix, BOA, even the evening monorail scheduling)? Or were you just dismissing this as a possible case of such an outcome because your empirical research shows it's only 1-3% customers impacted?

 

[mcd2745]

I like the idea of linking to onsite reservations.
I was just poking around and I tried to book Princess Tea outside of my dates and it would not let me, because my reservation was not for that time.

There has to be fair way unfortunately we will also have selfish people and will manage to get around it.

I've always liked that idea too...but then again I always stay on-site. I would also include AP holders as well. Obviously, all the people who stay off-site would be up in arms though. If you did link all ADRs to a resort reservation, however, you could eliminate the need for a CC hold and just charge the no-show fees to their resort account (if they then opened up ADRs for off-site guests at a later date, they could require a CC hold for them). Although I do realize that may be an accounting issue - resorts charging fees that should go to dining. Also, since you'd have all that person's ADRs linked, if they did no-show for a meal, Disney could systemicallly cancel all their remaining ADRs (I think I like that wrinkle the best).

 

[Lewisc]

Disney has already factored in the 1-3% of the people like you who will reduce your dining/resort habits as a result of this policy. Fortunately, Disney gets 15-20% new visitors each year who have no idea about what used to be or what will be. They will take over where you took off. You, and any others like you, who are vowing to take your business elsewhere, will have no effect on Disney's revenue. But so long as you have a place to vent your dissatisfaction on the policy, please continue to come here and post.

Do you have a source for the 1-3% figures and for the 15-20% figures?

AFAIK those kinds of statistics aren't publicly available.

That's the problem. Too many people making up numbers. The only fact not in dispute is Disney's interest in $$$ from restaurant guests as shown by the peak surcharges.

 

[Snurk71]

Also, since you'd have all that person's ADRs linked, if they did no-show for a meal, Disney could systemicallly cancel all their remaining ADRs (I think I like that wrinkle the best).

I hope you never work for Disney, and that I never have to do business as a customer with a business you have any influence on. That has to be the most draconian view of customer service I think I've seen.

I don't even know how to debate that drastic of a viewpoint.

 

[coopersmom]

Without changing anything else about reservations, policy, etc. a much simpler, cleaner and clearer version of the policy implemented could have worked just as well, if not better, in my opinion (and, yes, I know my opinion doesn't matter one whit). Something along the lines of ...

"A credit card guarantee is required for ALL dining reservations at Disney World. Unneeded reservations must be cancelled at least 90 minutes prior to reservation time or a $25 penalty will be applied."

No different charges for different party sizes, partial no shows, etc. No 24 hours vs one day. No "good" or "bad" reasons/excuses etc. Not some restaurants, but not others. Just simple and straightforward. Easy to understand AND apply. Explained in two short sentences and understandable by just about everyone without further education.

It would get rid of, or at least wildly cut down on, willy nilly reservations made and abandoned, as well as multiple bookings, etc. (The vast majority of folks stop and think twice before entering their credit card info.) And it would be a lot less confusing, thus costing Disney a lot less man hours in customer service calls and the staff training to handle them.

Heck, I'm even all for making the (utterly ridiculous) 180-day reservation window a perk available only to on-site guests and AP holders. (Of which I plan to be neither, by the by, so it's not at all self-serving.) Every little "bonus" Disney can use to entice guests on-site makes good business sense all around.

 

[pinkerbell]

I don't disagree a bit on the effectiveness of the disagreement, but I will note that this policy has the exact OPPOSITE effect on me as you say Disney intends. It is likely to get me OUT of the park, and eating, and then logically, staying, elsewhere.

As someone who likes fine dining, but hates hassle, I might have settled for the easiness of eating in "the World" on previous trips, but this added barrier makes that "easy" part go away. None of Disney's restaurants, save Victoria and Albert's are, in my opinion, worth this amount of trouble. Combine six-month-out reservations that require color-coded planning schedules with mediocre food and the inability to cancel without a fee if something does come out and that, for me, is the straw that broke the camel's back with Disney dining.

For someone like me, who was already leaning towards dining and staying off site due to Disney's quality of food and accommodations, this is enough to push me from the might to will camp ... Which also leads me to think about exploring things like visiting other area attractions. Disney is right, once I'm outside their bubble, I'm gonna give them less cash. My point is, this and some other things (like not offering truly deluxe accommodations and service for their very deluxe prices and charging four-star dining prices for two-star food) are actively pushing me out of the bubble.

some mention Disney is aware that this will deter a portion of guests, what I do not think they consider is that they also risk the "word of mouth" portion of their business. Or the people who now put up a picture of Universal rather than Disney in their home and so on. I am not so sure those guests can be measured by any reliable statistic, but think this may have a larger impact than they think.
The fact that after being off the boards for about 10 days (6 without power thank you very little SNOW-TOBER) and this thread is still going very strong, surely means there is a population out there that policy does not please. If it was something everyone loved, the thread would have died long ago

 

[Cafeen]

I also have 3 e-mail addresses.

What about tying a last name and a phone number together & then giving a "general reservation" number that will tie one person's ADR's together.

Example:

--Mary Smith calls & makes her first ADR
--She has to give name, address, phone number & CC # if applicable to the ADR.
--She is given a general ADR reservation # that is tied to her name, address & phone #
--She calls 2 weeks later & must use her general ADR # that matches with her name to make additional ADR's.

While a lot of people have more than one e-mail address and phone number, not everyone (although some) people/families usually only have one address. So, if John Smith, Mary's DH calls to make an ADR he uses his name, address & phone number & the address is flagged as being the same family as Mary Smith.

This is pretty much along the lines of the portion about improving guest matching that I've been promoting as one of the changes Disney should have made first. While it wouldn't fix everything, the more hoops that those wishing to game the system have to jump through, the better. Especially since this type of matching does not affect those attempting to use the system as designed and intended. I do really like the idea of the ADR number as well, though I question how difficult it would be to get a 2nd one just by using different data (email, address, phone). Disney's not going to know if there's 2 Mary Smith's in Mobile, AL. One that lives at x,y,z, the other at a,b,c. This would suggest a requirement of more data points, though CC (for applicable) and billing address would certainly add to the data. It's certainly a start though and coupled with other processes would be a step in the right direction.

If only Disney thought in the long-term like most of us do here.

 

[racefanof88]

Been trying to stay caught up, but sometimes life gets in the way of the Dis......... I'm not sure if this question/situation has been posed or not, but what happens if I make an ADR at one of the effected restaurants after the cancel period, and have something come up?

Say I make an ADR on Wednesday night for a 1pm Thursday lunch at Le Cellier, but I/DS/DH gets sick at 2am Thursday morning? Now I know some will think I am nuts to think I can get a Le Cellier ADR that easily, but I did on our trip last March . So, where does that scenario fit?

 

[Marshay]

Been trying to stay caught up, but sometimes life gets in the way of the Dis......... I'm not sure if this question/situation has been posed or not, but what happens if I make an ADR at one of the effected restaurants after the cancel period, and have something come up?

Say I make an ADR on Wednesday night for a 1pm Thursday lunch at Le Cellier, but I/DS/DH gets sick at 2am Thursday morning? Now I know some will think I am nuts to think I can get a Le Cellier ADR that easily, but I did on our trip last March . So, where does that scenario fit?

When you make your resssie on Wed you'll be asked to provide a CC and if you don't show up for the ressie you will be charged $10/pp UNLESS you call the cancellation number and have a CM that is sympathetic to your plea of sickness.

It's really no different than calling prior to 24 hours -- the same rules would apply:

1) Make ressie with CC hold
2a) Cancel prior to 24 hours/full day for no penalty *OR*
2b) Cancel less than 24 hours or no-show = $10/pp penalty *OR*
2c) Call 407-WDW-CNCL and plead your case if extenuating circumstances arise (or go to the podium of restaurant and do the same). No guarantee you won't be charged ... IMHO, it'll be up to the individual CM.

This is just how I understand the policy to be ... someone please correct me if I stated anything wrong.

 

[TDC Nala]

According to the policy, anytime you make a reservation you will be asked for a CC hold. Even if you make it a few hours before the meal. If you don't show up, you will be charged, unless you call or go to your resort concierge and find someone who is willing to waive the charge for you.

I went to the online system and ran through a reservation for Yachtsman Steakhouse for tonight at 7:30 and it did ask for a credit card guarantee. (Yachtsman was the first restaurant I found that had reservations available. None of the in-park ones I tried had reservations available for the entire day.)

 

[mcd2745]

I hope you never work for Disney, and that I never have to do business as a customer with a business you have any influence on. That has to be the most draconian view of customer service I think I've seen.

I don't even know how to debate that drastic of a viewpoint.

I guess that's just a (sad) commentary on society in general these days. Nobody ever thinks they should have any personal accountability for their actions.