New Reservations Cancellation Policy

[Mkrop]

So instead of making advanced reservations and then deciding last minute which to keep, why can't you make no reservations and then about an hour before you want to eat make a brand new reservation based your mood?

Because EVERY TIME we have tried this we have been turned away, even with the new policy implemented. We have been turn away for lunch at LTT, we walked right up to GS when we were at DHS and they laughed when we asked if there was any availablity in any restaurant in the park that day. We wound up at Big River Grill which doesnt take ADRs. We have been turned away at Chef Mickey's. Where are these spur of the moment ADRs that are so abundant?????

See, but no ones see that this new policy will probably alleviate a lot of this. There will be less people booking reservations that they never intend to keep or might show up IF they feel like it. Leaving more reservations open to people who do want them and will show up, and more availability for walk ups.

I think once this kicks in, you will find making last minute reservations the day/morning of, much easier.

See above, we have not seen this with the places that have CC reservations. Can you do a walkup at Chef Mickey, or the Cape May Cafe NO! I really dont understand why people will think that all of these people who double booked wont do it and than cancel either the day before or maybe before their trip once everything is settled.

I find it laughable when people get mad at any Disney policy, and post It is A Revenue Grab or Just Another Way To Get More Money. What business doesn't like to make money? And when you have many people not showing up for their ADRs, coupled with having to turn people away because you don't know if the others are coming or not, then yes. You do something to stop losing so much money. If you have any kind of business sense.

And the only thing Americans seem to understand is a shot to their pocketbook.

Business make money buy providing a good or service, not by just throwing fees at their customers. Charge for a true no show, that will recoup the money lost for not being able to fill that time slot. But is is a money grab and pooe customer service, when you charge me for a cancellation at 8am for 6pm Chef Mickey when you could fill that table and earn that money in a heartbeat. That is not necessary and sticking it to the customer.

Probably no more walk ups available because people are now showing up, because they have a vested interest to not cancel.

So you are worried about losing $10 per person for restaurant reservations, but will continue to make reservations for Candlelight Processional. Really, now here is something that you cannot cancel at all and you lose all you money if you don't show up.

For the one trip we took in over 20 years that somebody was too sick to go to a restaurant for dinner, I will take the chance and gladly put up my $10 per person. Chances are, nobody will be sick.

Well there where are these supposed walkups you all keep talking about. "Oh dont worry, there will be walkups" which is it, your above statement or will there be walkups

The policy make perfect business sense. Note too that a business cannot be selfish. They can set terms of purchase, and you can decide if you wish to meet those terms or not. No business owes anyone any good or service. Especially not on the terms of the person doing the purchase.

No one likes to give up $40 for no good reason but let's be honest. If anyone is taking multiple trips to WDW they are not broke, and can afford to pay the fee if charged. None of us may like it, but it is not going to send us to the food bank for our next meal.

Which is kind of the whole point. Make it hurt a little. Keep people from double booking or deciding at the last minute that it is too cold/too hot/to rainy/to sunny to make their ADRs.

This is why we can afford to go so much, because we dont WASTE or gamble money on things. I guess I am cheap or frugal bc I am not wasting my money like that.

The excuse that's it's too cold to go to an ADR or park makes me giggle.

why. See below. Unless you were there that week, I dont think you should laugh at someone else.

I wonder what too cold in Florida is?

I am from PA so I know what cold is. The week I am talking about was in Dec 2010. Search some of those threads and you will see. It was absolutely freezing. It set records lows in FL. It was in the 30s. It was warmer in PA in the 40s than what we escaped to in sunny FL. Thank goodness we had winter clothes with us, and even then we went and bought gloves, our hands were numb. I had to wash our jeans because we didnt pack enough. We went to the CP bc I could not switch and it was brutal sitting on those cold benches and the wind was blowing. We were miserable. The next night we tried to stand on Main St to see fireworks, and it was so cold, we all looked at each other and said this is ridiculous, and we went back to BLT and watched from the TOTWL, which was pretty bitter up there with the wind. There was a young mom sitting next to us who was crying bc they had spent so much money and hers kids were little and were crying bc it was so cold all the time, they wanted to go home. She even had a little one in a front sling and she said she could not expose the baby to these temps. She brought the kids up in their jammies hoping to see the fireworks bc they had a bay view. The next night we watched the fireworks from our room once again bc it was too cold to be out. We had a lot of early nights and dinners at the resort those couple of days. Or we jumped the monorail and ate at the Poly and GF so we didnt have to go out in the cold. It was very cold once the sun went down.

And we arranged our AK to later in the week, I think we would have been miserable if we went there. Outside all day in 30 degree weather and trying to ride EE and the safari, no thanks. We rearranged and went on Fri when it was in the 70s. It was back to shorts and sweatshirts in the morning. Then Sat we were swimming, bc it was in the 80s. It was the weirdest vacation but we managed bc we were able to be flexible.

Oh yeah and we also changed our room bc we had a first floor studio at BLT with siding glass doors out to the marina. It was absolutely freezing, the wind was blowing through the glass doors. We piled the cusions from the sofa bed in from to keep the cold air out. The rooms were not built for that kind of cold.

We also had friends who were there during TS Debbie and they said they did the same thing, they rearranged their whole schedule bc of the weather and did parks with more indoor stuff and left AK for later after the rain had passed. They also spent more time at the resort enjoying the Community Hall then ever before. They cancelled several ADRs bc they didnt think it was safe at times to venture out.

 

[Colleen27]

And my guess for the next tweak is eliminating the loophole of at least 1 person showing up.

I don't expect it for another year or so, but that will likely be the next step (e.g. so if only 1 shows up for a party of 4, you'd be charged ~$30). After all, now they're going to complain about losing revenue by serving a table for 1 when it should have been 4! Since they're so broke, they obviously need to make that up!

I really thought that one would come before expanding the CC guarantee. Right now booking for larger-than-needed party sizes seems to be far more common than double booking, at least in terms of discussion and advice among Disney fan groups/communities/forums. Rounding up to the next standard table size is often the only way to get ADRs for 1 or 3, but I'm sure Disney would rather have actual parties of 2 or 4 at those tables rather than an empty chair.

I wonder what too cold in Florida is?

We had some lows in the upper 30s/low 40s on our trip this past March. That was too cold to be out before sunrise or after sunset IMO, and we left one evening show early and skipped another because of it. If we hadn't had a first/only timer with us (DD12's BFF) we'd have skipped Wishes too.

 

[Mkrop]

Even if I agreed, so? Is it really that shocking that any business would be looking for ways to get extra money in their pockets?

Disney can only grab your money if you agree to allow them to.

As I stated before, I love the new policy. It has been so much easier to get ADRS than it was before they had the no show fee.

I have to say too that I'm a little shocked that so many posters miss or chose to skip ADRs as a matter of course. I have missed 2 ADRs total, and I have been going to WDW for almost 20 years. If it is cold, I bundle up. If it rains, I put on my rain poncho. The only time I haven't gone is for illness. And now that the kids are all older, we can divide up easier and at least part of the family make the ADR.

I am glad that works for you but that may not work for every family. Some have babies that they dont want to expose to rain or cold. Or little kids the same thing. Or how about someone with mobility issues, maybe it is harder to get around when it is rainy. I know my DS10 slipped and hurt is back big time in Hershey Park a few weeks ago bc the ground was so wet. That could be risky for someone not steady on their feet to be walking around in bad weather, you just never know. Maybe it would be better for Grandma to eat at the resort and maybe just maybe her family would like to stay with her.

And there are plenty of people who have family members with fragile medical conditions who are day to day on how they feel, so now they might get charged bc they are having a bad day bc they dont feel up to making a meal all the way in the back of Epcot when the monorail drops them off at the front of the park.

 

[Colleen27]

Because EVERY TIME we have tried this we have been turned away, even with the new policy implemented. We have been turn away for lunch at LTT, we walked right up to GS when we were at DHS and they laughed when we asked if there was any availablity in any restaurant in the park that day. We wound up at Big River Grill which doesnt take ADRs. We have been turned away at Chef Mickey's. Where are these spur of the moment ADRs that are so abundant?????

I've been turned away at the podium only to hop on the app and get an ADR for minutes later - and actually, LTT lunch was one of those experiences - so I don't think walk-ups are likely regardless of availability. Which isn't really surprising - relatively few of the restaurants are set up for it in terms of having a suitable waiting area for parties waiting for a table. Many don't even have adequate waiting space for people with ADRs to pass the time between check-in and being seated. That doesn't mean that there's no last-minute availability (though there probably isn't at popular locations like Chef Mickey or at peak travel times), but until the app is updated to manage CC hold ADRs there isn't a good way to access that inventory. Right now if you look at any restaurant with a CC guarantee it just says "Call to make reservations at this location" and won't even let you see if there's anything available.

 

[Disneyholic]

The excuse that's it's too cold to go to an ADR or park makes me giggle.

Same here. Been there done that a few years ago inDecember when there was frost at night & not much warmer during the day. Bought sweat shirts to add to our other winter clothes that we had with us and went on our way. And this was right after coming back from the heat of a DCL Eastern Caribbean cruise. Did the cold stop us? No way. We were in Disney World. The pictures from that trip are priceless.

 

[Mkrop]

We had some lows in the upper 30s/low 40s on our trip this past March. That was too cold to be out before sunrise or after sunset IMO, and we left one evening show early and skipped another because of it. If we hadn't had a first/only timer with us (DD12's BFF) we'd have skipped Wishes too.

Oh yeah we had a March visit like that too, I forgot, DS16 was 4 at the time, my memory is bad LOL. I remember my poor mom didnt bring a heavy coat with her on the plane. She was shivering so badly, we were drinking hot chocolate at Crystal Palace. I ran next door to the gift shop and bought her the heaviest sweatshirt I could find and gloves. We did several early nights until once again later in the week it warmed into the 80s. We have had some weird pictures on the same trip...bundled up in on set and in tshirt and shorts in the other.

 

[5DisneyNuts]

I just don't get some of the logic on this thread...

Mkrop/Colleen/Cafeen and the others I am with you...

Disclaimer; I am a planner. I enjoy it and that is why I am here. I don't double book (see my flips on the Nov reservation cancellation thread) and I don't have an issue with not keeping the reservations we book. I am currently holding and have every intention of keeping my reservations for CA Grill, Le Cellier, 'Ohana and BOG. I book at 180 +10 at 6am. We don't have young children and rarely cancel anything.

My problem is with the policy. It is not a no show policy; it is a cancel a day in advance policy.

This is not about double bookings (I'm sure that is a small minority and that could be handled by improving the system). This WILL NOT open up tables for walk in guests as more people will keep reservations so as not to incur the fee. And I don't see how this will open up reservations for booking in advance. The best will be availability the morning of...Maybe that makes a difference? I don't know because I am not looking for last minute cancellations (see disclaimer).

Why can't we agree that a no show fee is warranted and a 4 hour window fee is warranted, but a full day is too much? How is the argument different? I really don't understand and would really like to hear the difference presented without the drama.

I am from NYC...even the best places don't charge a fee like this and WDW is a Theme Park geared to families.

Thanks.

 

[mom2of2]

The in park restaurants are not the restaurants with the no show ADRs. There will always be guests walking up and there will be product and servers available.
The problem is the restaurants in the resorts, most specifically the ones that people park at to go to theme parks without having to pay for parking. Guests know an ADR will get them in the parking lot so they make the ADR and some skip the ADR and go directly to the park.
The ADR list will be full, product ordered and staffed according to ADRs on the books. There aren't as many walk ups and if a restaurant has a full ADR list, guests are turned away.
Giving a few hours notice to those restaurants means nothing. Guests who were unable to get an ADR prior will not venture over in the hopes they can get in. Product is spoiled, staff is reduced. All due to no shows.
So what's the solution? Only charge in resort restaurants?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Seriously, no snark involved in that post at all . We should feel bad for the Disney restaurants who can only charge $25 for a burger. Obviously their bottom line is pretty thin...

Sorry, but the most expensive burger on property is the "Grand Floridian Burger - Angus chuck burger, buttered poached lobster with red onion marmalade, crispy prosciutto and arugula on a Brioche bun with chips - $19.49" available at lunch and dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe

 

[Cafeen]

Sorry, but the most expensive burger on property is the "Grand Floridian Burger - Angus chuck burger, buttered poached lobster with red onion marmalade, crispy prosciutto and arugula on a Brioche bun with chips - $19.49" available at lunch and dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe

Ahh, but tax + tip (18%) with said burger = $24.26 . (Also, it was just a random number thrown out in the spirit of the overly "poor restaurants can't make money" snark thrown in. Since, after all, this is all about their revenue stream, which must be running dry if they need to enact such measures...)

As a disclaimer, the snark is pointed toward Disney and not those associated with Disney (CF, Rusty, probably others) nor those who support the policy at all. It's mostly just in good fun to add some levity. I do that. Fairly often. Often at the expense of either Disney IT/Web/Application Development or other higher up departments of the company.

 

[sndral]

I was there that freezing Dec. of 2010, didn't miss a single ADR, I did acquire a very nice pair of black knit Mickey gloves and a heavy Mickey sweatshirt. I was also there for the record Dec. 2000 freeze w/ young children, didnt miss a single ADR then either (back then we only had a couple ADRs.) Weather happens, if I can't swim afternoons because of lightening should I expect a partial refund of what I paid for my room?
Disney knows how many people make ADRs and how many don't honor them, thus they can predict that an unacceptable number of people do not consider an ADR a high enough priority to treat it as a commitment. They want to change that guest behavior. Studies show that people treat things they've paid for better than things they don't pay for, giving ADRs a price should change guest behavior. Thus guests may decide to skip giving Johnnie that ice cream at 2, so as to honor that 4 pm ADR, or maybe they'll throw on that poncho to go to that ADR, or maybe decide that it's better to skip the line for TSM and head to their ADR. I see it as adding perceived value to change irresponsible guest behavior - from a pure numbers pov, not commenting on specific reasons to cancel @ less than 24 hrs., just from a macro pov. Disney tried it on some restaurants, it changed guest behavior, so it's being expanded.
I did experience the difference in booking availability @ 180+10 in the years before and after the cc guarantee @ limited restaurants - it was much easier to book at 180+10 after the cc guarantee was instituted.

 

[mcd2745]

The excuse that's it's too cold to go to an ADR or park makes me giggle.

Makes me scratch my head. Do people go on hunger strikes every time it rains or the temp goes below 50 degrees in Orlando? One would think you still need to eat.

If you fully intend to follow through with your ADRs and attend those meals, this policy shouldn't mean anything to you. If you're someone who wants to constantly change plans on the fly, or retreats to your room as soon as the weather turns less than perfect, you probably should not be making ADRs in the first place.

 

[Mkrop]

The in park restaurants are not the restaurants with the no show ADRs. There will always be guests walking up and there will be product and servers available.
The problem is the restaurants in the resorts, most specifically the ones that people park at to go to theme parks without having to pay for parking. Guests know an ADR will get them in the parking lot so they make the ADR and some skip the ADR and go directly to the park.
The ADR list will be full, product ordered and staffed according to ADRs on the books. There aren't as many walk ups and if a restaurant has a full ADR list, guests are turned away.
Giving a few hours notice to those restaurants means nothing. Guests who were unable to get an ADR prior will not venture over in the hopes they can get in. Product is spoiled, staff is reduced. All due to no shows.
So what's the solution? Only charge in resort restaurants?

Please tell me which resort restaurants finding walkups would be a problem for, the only ones I can think of is the Wave and GF Cafe? All the others like Kona, Ohana, Chef Mickey, Cape May Cafe, always have a line of people being turned away. We are always turned away at Cape May Cafe when we have tried to get in when we have stayed there if we didnt have an ADR.

And then once again CHARGE these people who are abusing the sytstem to circumvent parking. They are true NO SHOWs. Most here do not have a problem with a TRUE NO SHOW POLICY, it is the day before nonsense.

And guess what they have this nifty technology that they sank millions of dollars into, they could easily send out a msg and let people know about cancellations and availability if they wanted to. Heck they could know I am walking down Main St if I have my band on and send only me and others on Main St the msg that Ohana's has an opening. First one to respond get the ADR.

I was there that freezing Dec. of 2010, didn't miss a single ADR, I did acquire a very nice pair of black knit Mickey gloves and a heavy Mickey sweatshirt. I was also there for the record Dec. 2000 freeze w/ young children, didnt miss a single ADR then either (back then we only had a couple ADRs.) Weather happens, if I can't swim afternoons because of lightening should I expect a partial refund of what I paid for my room?
Disney knows how many people make ADRs and how many don't honor them, thus they can predict that an unacceptable number of people do not consider an ADR a high enough priority to treat it as a commitment. They want to change that guest behavior. Studies show that people treat things they've paid for better than things they don't pay for, giving ADRs a price should change guest behavior. Thus guests may decide to skip giving Johnnie that ice cream at 2, so as to honor that 4 pm ADR, or maybe they'll throw on that poncho to go to that ADR, or maybe decide that it's better to skip the line for TSM and head to their ADR. I see it as adding perceived value to change irresponsible guest behavior - from a pure numbers pov, not commenting on specific reasons to cancel @ less than 24 hrs., just from a macro pov. Disney tried it on some restaurants, it changed guest behavior, so it's being expanded.
I did experience the difference in booking availability @ 180+10 in the years before and after the cc guarantee @ limited restaurants - it was much easier to book at 180+10 after the cc guarantee was instituted.

Should is the key word, there is not proof that this did change guest behavior. It could be that WDW didnt see a guest behavior change but they did see dollar$$$ signs on the income statement.

And my anecedotal evidence is different, I saw no difference getting my ADRs at 180+10. The tough ones were still tough to get.

Makes me scratch my head. Do people go on hunger strikes every time it rains or the temp goes below 50 degrees in Orlando? One would think you still need to eat.
If you fully intend to follow through with your ADRs and attend those meals, this policy shouldn't mean anything to you. If you're someone who wants to constantly change plans on the fly, or retreats to your room as soon as the weather turns less than perfect, you probably should not be making ADRs in the first place.

It is called eating at your resort, or eating at a resort near by...not that difficult a concept. I dont feel like traipising in a lighting storm all the way to the restaurant when I could walk down and eat at my resort, or get room service, or go to the resort next door, a much shorter walk.

And for many families, it is not a simple throw on a poncho or a winter jacket and go, not every familiy is like yours or mine. What works for you may not work for others, maybe going out in the rain is not ideal for the family traveling with grandma in a wheelchair. Now if the time had been sunny, then venture out and go to dinner, but if this is not a passing shower, than maybe the best thing for grandma and her family is to venture down to Flying Fish or grab sandwiches from the BW Bakery than go walking all the way to GG for that evening. SO many are you are saying that family should not make the ADR at all, and Grandma should not be able to see the kiddos enjoy the characters since they might not be able to keep the ADR. Please Please put yourselves in others shoes before declaring that all should just suck it up and head out or be banished to CS bc their family is not like yours.


Listen, my family likes to vacation a certain way. WDW always appealed to our way of touring which is WHY we keep going back and WHY we bought DVC. We like planning...to a degree. We also like flexibility to a degree. We like not being stressed out about an ADR or anything else. We have made almost all are ADRs over the many years of going, but we also did not stress about it either. Now I am totally stressed bc to me $40 is not something I want to waste willy nilly. This has changed the dynamic of our vaction and we are not thrilled considering the huge investment we made in DVC. If your family likes to bundle up and go all over creation than fine, have fun. Mine does to a point and then we peter out. BOTH are ok ways to vacation.

So for YEARS WDW gave us the perfect vacation, planning with the ability to change. And now they are chaning the play book, and for us these changes are not appealing. We dont like it and are entitled to our opinion and we are entitled to express that opinion without being told to suck it up, dont make ADRs or go vacation elsewhere or even go sell my DVC. WDW had made MANY policy changes that have not worked out (no monorail during parties etc) that they wound up changing or tweaking. So in the hopes that WDW sees these posts and listens to emails and calls that have been sent...maybe they can come up with a compromise that will curb the abuse, make some of you happy, and can make us happy too.

But I am sorry just like bank fees, I see this as a money grab at 24 hours notice than a solution to a problem.

 

[jennylyn_b]

Makes me scratch my head. Do people go on hunger strikes every time it rains or the temp goes below 50 degrees in Orlando? One would think you still need to eat. If you fully intend to follow through with your ADRs and attend those meals, this policy shouldn't mean anything to you. If you're someone who wants to constantly change plans on the fly, or retreats to your room as soon as the weather turns less than perfect, you probably should not be making ADRs in the first place.

I agree. We go every six months for 11-15 nights per trip with our dd since she was 12.5 months old. We make one ADR per day for dinner. We have never missed one. This policy has no effect on us. The weather also has no effect on our trips. It rains we dress accordingly and have a great time and eat where was planned. We were there last year during Sandy. We didn't even know if we had a house to return to but we went about our vacation as planned and didn't miss an ADR. We bought some fleeces and had fun.
For people like us, this policy won't change anything except add a step to making the ADR.

 

[Eastern]

Makes me scratch my head. Do people go on hunger strikes every time it rains or the temp goes below 50 degrees in Orlando? One would think you still need to eat.

If you fully intend to follow through with your ADRs and attend those meals, this policy shouldn't mean anything to you. If you're someone who wants to constantly change plans on the fly, or retreats to your room as soon as the weather turns less than perfect, you probably should not be making ADRs in the first place.

So many red arrows.

The point is, plans can and do change due to weather, which is not unreasonable, but you may not know until a few hours before.

I think many of us hear feel that a several hour window cancellation policy would be fairer than a 24 hour one. Even my local top rated restaurant only requires a 2 hour cancellation to avoid a charge to credit card.

 

[Eastern]

I agree. We go every six months for 11-15 nights per trip with our dd since she was 12.5 months old. We make one ADR per day for dinner. We have never missed one. This policy has no effect on us. The weather also has no effect on our trips. It rains we dress accordingly and have a great time and eat where was planned. We were there last year during Sandy. We didn't even know if we had a house to return to but we went about our vacation as planned and didn't miss an ADR. We bought some fleeces and had fun.
For people like us, this policy won't change anything except add a step to making the ADR.

That's great for you. Other people do change/cancel plans due to weather/fatigue, and I don't think it is unreasonable to want to cancel a restaurant reservation 'day of' with no penalty.

 

[Eastern]

I was there that freezing Dec. of 2010, didn't miss a single ADR, I did acquire a very nice pair of black knit Mickey gloves and a heavy Mickey sweatshirt. I was also there for the record Dec. 2000 freeze w/ young children, didnt miss a single ADR then either (back then we only had a couple ADRs.)

I think there should be some kind of award program for people who never miss an ADR. All of the resentment for remaining unrecognized (until now!) seems to be coming out on this thread.

 

[Mkrop]

I think there should be some kind of award program for people who never miss an ADR. All of the resentment for remaining unrecognized (until now!) seems to be coming out on this thread.

Yes I wanted to award them all a medal...but decided to avoid sounding snarky. Maybe instead they should all feel blessed that they have remained healthy enough on vacation to go to their ADRs or that they dont have chronic health conditions that can sometimes throw a wrench in the plans.

 

[mom2of2]

Bottom line is this: If you don't like the policy for ADRs then don't make any! Eat CS, offsite, order a pizza or cook in your DVC room. What works for one family might not work for another. It's not as if TS is your only option.

 

[Mkrop]

Bottom line is this: If you don't like the policy for ADRs then don't make any! Eat CS, offsite, order a pizza or cook in your DVC room. What works for one family might not work for another. It's not as if TS is your only option.

WHY is that the only answer...why cant those of us who dont like the policy contact WDW and try to get it changed to something more reasonable. TS is not the only option but it was one of the reason we bought DVC and kept going back and now that has been compromised. I want WDW to know that they changed something that we the guest is not happy about.

I am truly sick of this answer.