No dining reservations anywhere

[Amy&Dan]

It's funny. I've called a lot in the last few days (and, yes, despite what I told yesterday's CM, will be calling again) to make and change reservations, and after EACH new reservations, and granted they did tell me first, the CMs cancelled the one it was replacing - before we even moved on to my next request.

Same here. In fact, I have called so much to change one cm actually remembered me! But each time, I didn't even have to remind them to change, they had done it. Disney knows full well people sometimes double book and that makes their dining package complicated in that if they sell it, they want people to be able to use it. So they are much more on top of double bookings. I have heard they do intentionally oversell due to the high number of no shows. But every restaurant I know of that takes reservations does that. And again, an ADR is not so much a reservation for a table, as much as a reservation to be put on the list to get a table.

 

[Mickiethepooh]

I think you guys are missing the point here: We DID make many ADR for the 10 day trip. I made at least one ADR per day, whether it was for lunch or dinner.
The original point was, because Disney offered the FREE DDP to guests, there were no tables left for people who wer NOT on the DDP. The ADR i made were 3 months in advance. We always make ADR's for at least one meal every day.
We travel to disney every year at the same time. I NEVER had a hard time walking up to any sit-down place AT OFF HOURS (dinner after 8:30pm for example). This past time, there were no reservations to be had. The Crystal Palace, which is one of the largest places was mobbed every night until park closing. There was one night that there were people waiting to eat dinner @ 9:30pm!

This is just to let people know that if you want to eat at a sit-down, you better make reservations VERY early while the free DDP is in effect. I'm sure once the special DDP promotion ends, things will get back to normal.

You make it sound in your post like the people on the DDP free or not were guaranteed seating. ANYONE can make ADRs 180 days out and if you don't make ADR's before they are gone you don't get to eat there likely as not whether you have free dining paid dining or no dining.

If someone is going to DW even if they never heard of this board or the others out there, they should educate themselves there are books too. IF they don't then they have no call to complain when they arrive and have no clue what is going on, where to go, what to do, don't know about fast passes, or EMH etc. and don't make ADRs.

 

[photobob]

I've always been a walk up, no ADR believer. We usually do a table service meal at lunch and we don't mind eating lunch early because we just have a snack breakfast. I've had very good success going to restaurants at the time they open or shortly before and get seated very quickly. I was able to do this this year as well but was quite lucky and persistent or I would have been shut out of some of my favorite places. I was one of a VERY few walkups to get into Le Cellier for lunch. They open at 11:30 and I walked in a 11:10 and we were able to get a table. While we were waiting people were turned away who didn't have reservations by 11:25. Lucky there. I also got in at 50's walking in at 11:00 even though the lady told me they didn't have anything open until 9:30 pm, I asked if they were not taking walkins she said she didn't know and took my name and then we were seated 5 minutes later. Lucky again..This is a long way around saying that I will be one of the ADR planners from now on. I've never liked to over plan my trips but I believe it is becoming a necessity. I'm not going to point a finger at DDP being the problem, I think it is a good thing for those who choose to use it. I've never used it and don't plan to. I just feel sorry for people who aren't in the know like those of us here and go for their first trip to WDW not realizing how much advanced planning and strategy that a trip requires..

 

[fey_spirit]

Your comment made me wonder...
I know when you have the DDP they warn you upon booking that you want to make those Ressis as soon as possible, but do they give the same warning to folks who don't book the DDP?

Even people without the dining plan should make reservations ahead of time
Just because you don't have it doesn't mean that you shouldn't make reservations. We usually don't travel on the dining plan but always make reservations ahead of time for places we definitely know we will be dining at. This has gotten to be the norm with dining reservations, more and more people are making them in advance whether on the dining plans or not

 

[Squirlz]

I think you guys are missing the point here: We DID make many ADR for the 10 day trip. I made at least one ADR per day, whether it was for lunch or dinner.
The original point was, because Disney offered the FREE DDP to guests, there were no tables left for people who wer NOT on the DDP. The ADR i made were 3 months in advance. We always make ADR's for at least one meal every day.
We travel to disney every year at the same time. I NEVER had a hard time walking up to any sit-down place AT OFF HOURS (dinner after 8:30pm for example). This past time, there were no reservations to be had. The Crystal Palace, which is one of the largest places was mobbed every night until park closing. There was one night that there were people waiting to eat dinner @ 9:30pm!

This is just to let people know that if you want to eat at a sit-down, you better make reservations VERY early while the free DDP is in effect. I'm sure once the special DDP promotion ends, things will get back to normal.

The people at the tables were there because they made ADRs, NOT because they were on the DDP. The opportunity to make ADRs is there for everyone regardless of dining plan or where they are staying. It's simply what you have to do if you want to eat at a good restaurant at a decent hour. That won't be changing anytime soon.

 

[kaytieeldr]

These restaurants were really never crowded or over booked (maybe excep the Castle) before the dining plan.

Well, if ya wanna be that way about it … and the world was never round until Columbus sailed around it… and we never communicated by wire until the telegraph was invented, and for that matter, we never spoke in real time to people not within yelling distance until the telephone came,,, and nobody ever visited Disneyland until Disneyland was designed and built…

They DEFINATELY oversell DDP and overbook the restaurants,

I actually don’t think they do, and I have absolutely NO inside knowledge. They may FULLY book the restaurants, based on and including expected no-shows, but they don’t OVERbook.

Us WDW superfans know to make our reservations 6 mo out

I just made a reservation yesterday. I’ll probably be calling back today to make another change. See my countdown.

The original point was, because Disney offered the FREE DDP to guests, there were no tables left for people who wer NOT on the DDP.

But that’s not necessarily accurate. There were no* tables left for Guests who did not make reservations because so many Guests – dining plan or not, free or not – DID make dining reservations. Yes, it’s likely there are more Guests than average using the Disney Dining Plan right now, but it’s the foresight of ALL Disney visitors who DID make dining reservations prior to arrival that kept other Guests from getting seated – not specifically the DDP Guests.

*Even with the free dining promotion it is EXTREMELY difficult to believe that there was NO table service location anywhere on site that could have accommodated most Guests making this claim. There are restaurants onsite that take the DDP but don’t accept reservations. There are restaurants that take reservations but not the DDP. There are restaurants in resorts. Most restaurants serve two meals a day, if not three. They have widely varying hours. You just need to be flexible. Walk up to Le Cellier at 7 PM and expect to get seated? Apparently they’re booked through February. Head over to ESPN Club (DDP/no reservations) at a non-game time and you should be able to eat reasonably soon. CRT at 9 AM on a whim? Nope! Breakfast at Maya Grill (DDP/reservations)? Sure. Flexibility. Spur of the moment jump off the monorail at the Contemporary for dinner at California Grill spanning sunset and Wishes? Uh-uh, no way, give it up. Dinner at Bongo’s (reservations/no DDP), just by strolling up and asking for a table? Yeah, most likely.

 

[Nom]

*Even with the free dining promotion it is EXTREMELY difficult to believe that there was NO table service location anywhere on site that could have accommodated most Guests making this claim. There are restaurants onsite that take the DDP but don’t accept reservations. There are restaurants that take reservations but not the DDP. There are restaurants in resorts. Most restaurants serve two meals a day, if not three. They have widely varying hours. You just need to be flexible. Walk up to Le Cellier at 7 PM and expect to get seated? Apparently they’re booked through February. Head over to ESPN Club (DDP/no reservations) at a non-game time and you should be able to eat reasonably soon. CRT at 9 AM on a whim? Nope! Breakfast at Maya Grill (DDP/reservations)? Sure. Flexibility. Spur of the moment jump off the monorail at the Contemporary for dinner at California Grill spanning sunset and Wishes? Uh-uh, no way, give it up. Dinner at Bongo’s (reservations/no DDP), just by strolling up and asking for a table? Yeah, most likely.

That is a bit unrealistic... if you're at EPCOT, there may well be table service options open at the Grand Floridian Cafe, but you're not going to trek on over there after you can't find anything at WS. Maybe if you're a group of adults... but if you're a family with two cranky kids in the middle of WS who need to eat, you can't have the flexibility to make the 60-90 minute journey to a resort. You'll probably just end up disappointed, at a crouded counter service establishment.

They do oversell the DDP- because there are a lot of no-shows, since they have no credit card hold or anything like that on the reservations. Have you ever checked in for a reservation and still had to wait 30-60 min until you were seated? That's why! I wish if they were going to push this ddp they would at least do a traditional reservation system... but then they would not be able to accomidate everyone who bought a DDP, so they never will make that change.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Disney hasn’t done a ‘traditional reservation system’ for quite a few years. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Disney Dining Plan. In 1993 (because I still have that year’s UG) you could call up to three days in advance if you were staying onsite. I don’t recall if that was an actual reservation or not. I do know Priority seating predates the DDP by a number of years.

 

[Nom]

Disney hasn’t done a ‘traditional reservation system’ for quite a few years. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Disney Dining Plan. In 1993 (because I still have that year’s UG) you could call up to three days in advance if you were staying onsite. I don’t recall if that was an actual reservation or not. I do know Priority seating predates the DDP by a number of years.

I know that their reservation system has nothing to do with the DDP. Acutally, Disney has never had what you would call a 'traditional' reservation system- it has always been a hybrid. However, their system worked because in most places, average volume was moderate. Now that the volume is so much more massive (due mainly to ddp), the non-traditional system they use is showing its flaws in a major way.

 

[honeymo78]

its not the DDP that's oversold b/c of cancellations - its the ADRS!!!!

I'm not on the DDP (and probably never will be again - maybe deluxe) and I have adrs for 3 meals most days. My ADRs have absolutely nothing to do with the DDP but I will be taking up a seat and dining along with many other people who made ADRs and may or may not be on DDP.

Perhaps free dining is oversold - although there are some limits on how many free packages are available at any resort. Technically every single room at every resort "could" purchase the DDP - there are no limits on how many MYW with Dining packages they sell.

 

[Mickeefan]

I was there for a short trip (2 night) from 8/24-8/26 and I was able to get a reservation at Boma with very short notice. I was also there from 8/15-8/19 and was able to make a reservation for Crystal Palace the night before! I made both reservations for "off" dining hours, however. I ate at Boma at 4:30and we ate at Crystal Palace at 10:30 am. Both were very good.

 

[jamounger]

I just made Ohana breakfast reservations for Sept 30 today. I was able to book LTT at 4:30 on a MNSSHP night an evening a couple of weeks ago. Last week I added a dinner at Boma for 6:10, called in the evening then too. Those restaurants were my first requests too when I made those calls. BTW I cancelled a Narcoossees for Oct 1 this AM- have at it. There are still some reservations out there. Especially as people are getting closer to their vacations and firming up their plans
I booked a trip for Dec during July and it was room only, the CM still asked me about needing ADR's and transferred me to Disney Dining right away. It is not just people that are on DDP that are encouraged to make reservations. Every call I have made on these 2 trips since last Feb I have been asked if I wanted to make any reservations.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I make all my ADRs in advance if I have the DDP or not.

 

[Markstudy]

The Free DDP is not free ...this might help explain the catch with "free dining"

I did NOT get free DDP this year because it would have only saved me $320 off my food while requiring me to pay rack-rate for my room (that would cost me money). Instead, I grabbed Disney's offer for a general code of $460 discount on my room rate at Yacth Club.

This is common in Sept. Oct. because the kids just went back to school so the resorts have to offer deals.

With my $460 savings, I went ahead and bought the DDP for $320 and used the other $140 to pay for my Park Hopper and Water Park and more tickets.

So after I paid for my DDP.... I then called (like other folks that aren't on the DDp) and made my ADR's

No seats at Disney Resturants.... has little to do with "Free Dinning" and everything to do with more people going to Disney every year.


.

 

[SereneOne]

Oh goodness, I got to page two and stopped reading. I will be staying in a Disney resort for the first time ever this Dec and I have been to Disney over a dozen times. I have always made ADR except for one visit and except for that one visit, I never had any problems getting into my choice of restaurants. I was NOT a resort guest...

One either plans and gets their restaurants of choice or one does not. One cant expect a place as large as Disney to not take reservations/adr.

 

[madisonsmom]

I don't think that Disney should withhold reservations from vacationers who plan ahead---whether they have the DDP or not. Saving tables for "walk ups" is not fair. Plus---everyone on the DDP is staying on DISNEY PROPERTY. "Walk ups" may or may not be. It makes more sense for Disney to cater to guests staying at their resorts rather than off site guests.

It's just good business sense.

Wow...last time I checked money is money no matter and spend the same no matter where you stay. If disney wasn't open to the general public you would have a valid argument, but they are open to the general public and are not strictly a private resort. Maybe Disney should hold out a percentage of reservations for resort guests, but to not allow walkins, period- for one it is not good business they would lose vital business and two it is not fair to the tens of thousands of people that visit(and pay good money) all the parks and properties throughout each year. As someone that was raised in Orlando and would dine at Disney, Epcot and Lake Buena Vista(now DTD) frequently, I couldn't imagine Disney discriminating against people because they are not staying at one of their hotels. Maybe since I got the Florida residents rate and didn't pay for a full price ticket everytime I went to a park(and dare I say sometimes didn't even have to pay because an employee got me in) I should not have been able to enjoy all the rides either like tourists that had to pay full price? As a restaurant manager(my profession), I wonder how many times I would get chewed out if I asked if people while they are waiting to be seated if they had a discount certificate/coupon before seating them, so I could seat the full paying customer who got there 30 minutes after them 1st?

Please, everyone goes to Disney and supports Disney because of the joy and entertainment we receive there. No one is more deserving of a dinner reservation than anyone else just because they stay on property, they should just be more thankful that they can afford such a wonderful vacation, enjoy theirself and wish that same goodness for someone else one day.

 

[pta-mom]

Wow...last time I checked money is money no matter and spend the same no matter where you stay. If disney wasn't open to the general public you would have a valid argument, but they are open to the general public and are not strictly a private resort. Maybe Disney should hold out a percentage of reservations for resort guests, but to not allow walkins, period- for one it is not good business they would lose vital business and two it is not fair to the tens of thousands of people that visit(and pay good money) all the parks and properties throughout each year.

But....if I'm staying on site, I like many other on siters have no way to leave DW to eat. We did not rent a car so we are stuck at the mercy of DW's restaurants. Because we knew this, we made ADR's so that we are not stuck eating CS meals, every meal for thirteen days!! I would be a bit miffed if after I planned out all of my family meals for a two week period & made ADR's at 180 days but was told the reservations were full, they would only be accepting walk ups!!

Keep in mind too, September is pretty extreme...they offer free DDP to fill the parks, hotels & restaurants. I dont' think the DDP is the culprit but I'm sure getting it for free would be putting extra tourists in the DW restaurants who might not otherwise be there.

 

[TDC Nala]

ITA! The fact of the matter is that pre-ddp, it was never like this in Sept and Oct. That was what was so shocking to dh and I... we always went during this slow period, and there were always walk-ups available in a few of the WS restaurants. The past two years there has been NOTHING... and I think it takes something away from the experience.

They DEFINATELY oversell DDP and overbook the restaurants, and it is to the detriment of those who are not on DDP and aren't aware of the urgency and necessity to make reservations. Us WDW superfans know to make our reservations 6 mo out, but the average visitor doesn't- unless they are on DDP and reminded to do so. So that is why people complain about the lack of available reservations, and blame it on ddp.

I have to admit, I remember fondly the times that you could only make same-day reservations at SE... at least everyone was on an equal playing field for finding a restaurant to go to.

No, it never was like this then...but it's like this now. And Disney loves that its restaurants are full. Until things calm down a bit, better make those reservations as soon as you know what you want (whether or not you are using the dining plan, because lots of others are using it and they want the reservations too).

Next year, with the DDP changed so it's no longer a steal of a deal, there will likely be more room at TS restaurants except during the free dining period (the bounceback plan is apparently already booking like mad).

 

[madisonsmom]

But....if I'm staying on site, I like many other on siters have no way to leave DW to eat. We did not rent a car so we are stuck at the mercy of DW's restaurants. Because we knew this, we made ADR's so that we are not stuck eating CS meals, every meal for thirteen days!! I would be a bit miffed if after I planned out all of my family meals for a two week period & made ADR's at 180 days but was told the reservations were full, they would only be accepting walk ups!!

Keep in mind too, September is pretty extreme...they offer free DDP to fill the parks, hotels & restaurants. I dont' think the DDP is the culprit but I'm sure getting it for free would be putting extra tourists in the DW restaurants who might not otherwise be there.

Point taken! Just to be clear I didn't say that there should be no ADR's at all. Just that a percentage should be held out for walkins. I understand that not everyone has a car to travel offsite to eat. Disney has so many wonderful eateries that I don't think that anyone could go hungry there and the Disney buses can take you to many good restaurants at DTD, Epcot has amazing restaurants and all the hotels as well. Everyone may not have their number one choice every night, but they may find a new favorite in the process. To penalize and exclude walkins because they are not staying at a disney hotel(this is what the OP was saying) is just not fair to all patrons of Disney and not good business for them either. I would assume that offsite patrons support Disney at home(ie: movies, costumes, books, etc.) and love Disney(the reason for their vacation) just as much as someone staying on resort and should have the chance to dine at Disney properties as well.

For me personally, I am a planner and would have everything mapped out and make my ADR's, like you have ; but I also know not everyone is like this(or may not know in time to have the chance too) and should still have the potential for opportunity- even though the chance may not be high it should still be possible. The popular restaurants are going to be full no matter what, even if they leave 10-20% of the tables open for walkins or last minute planners, they will get filled.

 

[SereneOne]

Again....I have NEVER been a Disney resort guest and I have always gotten the ADR's I wanted with the exception of CRT, which I did get reservations to this time BEFORE I decided to book a package with Disney. Saying that Disney should hold tables for walk ins just does not make sense to me....they are suppose to lose money on the whim of a person who does not want to make reservations? It is fine the way it is. You want to eat at a particular restaurant, make ADRs, it is as simple as that. If you want to be a walk up, be a walk up....if someone cancels or is a noshow then you get that spot.