New Way To Make ADRs Coming

[Battousai]

Doing anything online and you lose the Disney touch. Yes, it COULD be more convenient but are we so wired to our little electronic devices that we are willing to sacrifice the magic of talking to an actual human being, and a Disney Cast Member of all people, for the sake of... what again?

Perhaps I am bias, but if this gets the green light, I will be very disappointed.

 

[magicaldisney]

Mermaid Ariel
I'll double that....

 

[chamonix]

I can see this being one more perk for being an on-site guest. (Sort of like the current perk that on-site guests can make all of their ADRs at the 180 day mark from their first on-site date.) I think this would be a really great new perk.

Off-site guests could still make ADRs, obviously, but they would/could be restricted to phone only.

 

[Claire L]

Great idea, especially for those of us on different time zones to the East Coast.

Claire

 

[v_gan]

Being able to make ADRs online would be SO much better! I would like that a lot more than being on hold for 30 minutes and then getting a rude (rare, but it happens) CM to talk to. Plus, I don't like talking on the phone. This would be so helpful, as long as they make sure everything is in real-time and made it so that you couldn't have more than one ADR at a certain eating time. Ah, I would love that!

 

[Melissa_E]

To be honest, it's not 100% the idea of booking online that worries me, it's the idea of doing it on WDW's website. That has to be one of the most unstable, slow, and annoying websites I have ever visited. If the same people do the coding...

*shivers in horror*

I totally agree! You definitely should have high-speed and if you have high-speed, you really need the highest of the high-speed so it doesn't choke on you.

That being said, I think that they give guests the ability to make their ADRs via the internet as well, but I think it should be at the 170 day mark or lower. Why? Because I think there are some restaurants that by calling it equalizes things, like the Chef's table, Cinderella's Breakfast, etc... I do think they should keep the phone reservation available. I learned a lot from one of the CMs and asked, "Is there anything you recommend?" it was great to get suggestions.

 

[angelmav]

Doing anything online and you lose the Disney touch. Yes, it COULD be more convenient but are we so wired to our little electronic devices that we are willing to sacrifice the magic of talking to an actual human being, and a Disney Cast Member of all people, for the sake of... what again?

Perhaps I am bias, but if this gets the green light, I will be very disappointed.

The Disney Magic of phoning a call-center where 9 out of 10 times your better informed than the CM? Waiting on hold, juggling what you have written, reconfirming what you said with what they input, crossing out said list when its not available on the fly or the time etc etc.....

By electronic devices apparently you dont mean those little phones that we cant be further than 5 feet from at any given moment?

I may be a cynical, jaded individual, but that sounded a teensy bit like someone had gotten into the Kool-Aid.

 

[TDC Nala]

Doing anything online and you lose the Disney touch. Yes, it COULD be more convenient but are we so wired to our little electronic devices that we are willing to sacrifice the magic of talking to an actual human being, and a Disney Cast Member of all people, for the sake of... what again?

Perhaps I am bias, but if this gets the green light, I will be very disappointed.

On the other hand, no need to press one if you're in Orlando, two if you're not, three if you've never been to Orlando, four if this is your first visit, five if you have ever known anybody who visited...and then sit on hold for a long time and hope the person on the other end knows what you are talking about when you finally get through.

"Magic" is not the word I would ever use for dealing with Disney Dining.

I hope they use this system for booking special events for the food and wine festival, that might cut down on missing out on the events you want because you happened to get a phone CM who didn't realize there WAS any such thing as food and wine festival events.

 

[jaurban]

So I wonder what time of day the reservations would open for the 180 mark. 7 am Eastern? Or, Midnight Eastern? I see everyone poised with all the info filled in waiting to click SEND.

 

[fla4fun]

I don't see this as an "either/or" situation. I think they will have online booking and have telephone booking as well. I wouldn't be surprised if they limited online booking to guests with on property reservations, to help eliminate double booking by having to provide your confirmation number. Off property guests would still be able to book by phone, so they wouldn't be any worse off than they are now. In fact, if even half of the on property guests used the website to book ADR's, it would make it easier to get through on the phone if you wanted or needed to. I would like to see a function where you could enter the date, time and the park you are going to, and it would just list all the restaurants with availability and "click" you're done! I hate to make ADR's ahead of time, and that would really be helpful making last minute reservations.

I do have some concerns about the reliability of the Disney website, especially after all the problems they had during the last major upgrade. But we'll have to see it first before we decide if it's good or bad.

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

Maybe with free CRO's they will be able to check some of the reservations for double booking. They definitely cancel reservations that have been double booked and without warning, usually the week you are there or just before so they do review these. Everyone may not be caught but many are. By the way I technically double booked during Christmas week a few years back. I had a early dinner reservation and then a late reservation for dessert at a hotel restaurant that is rarely busy. They cancelled my dinner ressie because their rule is they cancel the earlier reservation and all without warning!!! So beware folks

 

[pilferk]

I don't see the system requiring a resort confirmation number to make ADR. You can make ADR if you are staying off site or if you are local. So a resort confirmation number will not be required (although it might be asked for so that your ADRs are linked to your reservation to make it easy for the resort to print them for you if you ask and for marketing purposes).

There are two ways I see they can go -
1. don't put any limits on it - although I can see it warning about double booking during a session - I had this case on the phone - I wasn't really double booking, one of my reservations was done on the wrong night - I probably said the date wrong (or the CM typed it wrong) but her warning me about the double booking allowed us to fix it immediately.
2. Require you to login and then not allow double bookings within a time period.

Frankly, you can double book right now. For people that have had ADR cancelled due to double booking, it appears that it happened right before the trip. In other words, you are allowed to double book early on when plans are still vague, but you can't keep them up until the day. In otherwords, make up your mind at least a week out.

I will confess I have some ADR double booked for early May. I am waiting to find out if the P&P party will really be happening and if I will be able to get a DVC discount. So I have two plans - one with the party and one without. When I know for sure what is happening, I'll make up my mind and cancel the others. It will be done in plenty of time for others to book the ADR.

The problem with not requiring a confirmation number, and simply requiring a log in, is that you can login as many times as you have id's, and you can have as many id's as email addresses. If you're not staying on sight, you coudl bog the system, just to "grief" it, and make thousands of ADR's, booking up restaurants, and then never show. It's far too easy to hack and abuse the system if you allow unrestricted access via login.

The phone system will be in place, IMHO, for those staying off site, or for the locals, to call and make ADR's. The web system, in order to prevent that sort of intentional (or malicous) abuse, will require something more than just a log in...likely your confirmation number.

We'll have to wait and see, of course, but the suggestions you make leave the system FAR to open to issues.

 

[pilferk]

I told the CM that I don't make my own ADRs, I have the IPO do it for me. As we were going through the booking process for a variety of different ADRs it never once asked what resort you were staying at. The places that need a CC# to hold the reservation, you were able to put in your number. You could also book the Candlelight Dinner package. You need to pick the time of the show you want to see first and then it allows you to pick where to eat. It will automatically tell you if it is lunch or dinner you are booking.
One of my main concerns was the website being slow and being down. I asked how they are going to handle the number of guests trying to book at the 180 day mark. They assured me it would be worked out before being put into use.
You are able to save the confirmation numbers to My Disney Vacations and also print them out so you have a hard copy. I did think it would be a good idea, if it works.

Interesting.

Then I wonder how they will prevent they system from being used maliciously. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Maybe, being in development and testing, they hadn't activated the security pieces, yet.

 

[pilferk]

Maybe with free CRO's they will be able to check some of the reservations for double booking. They definitely cancel reservations that have been double booked and without warning, usually the week you are there or just before so they do review these. Everyone may not be caught but many are. By the way I technically double booked during Christmas week a few years back. I had a early dinner reservation and then a late reservation for dessert at a hotel restaurant that is rarely busy. They cancelled my dinner ressie because their rule is they cancel the earlier reservation and all without warning!!! So beware folks

Provided you explain to the CM what you're doing when you double book (like I did....booked a ressie at the CG for me and my work associates and at Chef Mickey's for my wife and 2 kids), and they note the reservation, they won't cancel. Otherwise, there's always a chance they will.

 

[pooh2001]

ADR's - I thought , at least by phining in your ADR's, they are stored (keyed) by your phone #

Online would be a great option - I would think your phone # and Ressie # should be the key for the ADR.

They should also leave the human phone lines available too.
The CM's are great to give advice on meal planning, allergies, birthday and anniversary requests.

What if you need to cancel an ADR ? Could that also be accomplished online ?

What if you do not have use of a computer at WDW and need to cancel or add an ADR ?
The ADR phone lines should be available for those people who do not have a computer - or are not computer savy (no offense to those people).

Plus I would still like to see the WDW ADR phone line people employed.

 

[loafskier]

"I told the CM that I don't make my own ADRs, I have the IPO do it for me. "

Silly question...what does IPO stand for?

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I'm so happy to hear they may let people make ADR's online. I've always wondered why this didn't happen sooner! It would be a great idea. Last year, I had to make a bunch of ADR's and change them several times so it would be easier for me and it would be great if I can view them at any time.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I think it's great as long as no one takes advantage of the system, but I think that'll be what happens. The only way I see that not happening is if they only let guests staying on-property make ADRs online and require the room reservation when making them. That wouldn't matter to me, since I always stay at Disney, but I'm sure that would upset someone. It would just be another perk to staying on-site.

 

[Tricia1972]

Personally I would like to see this become an option. I like the idea of how easy it'd be.

I doubt that ti will be a good thing for the phone agents though. I would guess that they'll cut back on how many reps they have manning the phones if the calls drop dramatically. I can't imagine our inability to speak with an agent is because Disney is unable to employ enough people to man the phones, but more a business decision on their part of how many reps (minimum) they need to cover the calls they get.

 

[KerryCM]

IPO is the Itinerary Planning Office. It is available to guests that stay on the Club Level at the deluxe resorts. I am spoiled and stay at the BWI on the Club Level.