No dining reservations anywhere

[CapeMayMommy]

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.

Yes... The only thing magical about the Magical Express is that it leaves you magically carless in the middle of Disney.

Otherwise, it's just a bus.

Disney gives you free airport tranfers so that you don't rent a car and go outside to non-Disney places. There is nothing altruistic about it. Free dining further ties you down to Disney property. They're not accepting the DDP at Universal Studios.

I was talking to a worker at Wolfgang Pucks last week, and he said that Disney is REALLY pushing that all the restaurants on Disney property MUST take DDP---no exceptions. So, people that are hoping that DDP goes away--it probably won't happen soon.

 

[kaytieeldr]

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 Disney doesn't hold reservations for any group of vacationers! Anybody traveling to or visiting Walt Disney World is welcome and free to make dining reservations on a basis equal to any other Guest (well, except famous people, but that's a whole different issue ).
Everybody calling today for a reservation for a particular restaurant 180 days from now has an equal opportunity/"right" to get that reservation. Everybody calling today for a reservation for a particular restaurant 10 dasy from now has an equal opportunity/"right" to get that reservation. Disney doesn't care who you are, where you live, where you're staying, or how you're paying.

 

[TDC Nala]

Yes... The only thing magical about the Magical Express is that it leaves you magically carless in the middle of Disney.

Otherwise, it's just a bus.

Disney gives you free airport tranfers so that you don't rent a car and go outside to non-Disney places. There is nothing altruistic about it. Free dining further ties you down to Disney property. They're not accepting the DDP at Universal Studios.

I was talking to a worker at Wolfgang Pucks last week, and he said that Disney is REALLY pushing that all the restaurants on Disney property MUST take DDP---no exceptions. So, people that are hoping that DDP goes away--it probably won't happen soon.

Which is interesting, because as far as I know most of the DTD TS restaurants don't take it and never did. The only ones that do are Puck's cafe, Planet Hollywood and Raglan Road (oh and Cap'n Jack's, but Disney owns that one).

What will they do to the others if they don't sign up? Surely Disney can't force the restaurants it doesn't own to accept - or can they? Isn't the Swolphin on Disney property, are they pressuring them, too?

 

[CapeMayMommy]

Which is interesting, because as far as I know most of the DTD TS restaurants don't take it and never did. The only ones that do are Puck's cafe, Planet Hollywood and Raglan Road (oh and Cap'n Jack's, but Disney owns that one).

What will they do to the others if they don't sign up? Surely Disney can't force the restaurants it doesn't own to accept - or can they? Isn't the Swolphin on Disney property, are they pressuring them, too?

This, of course, was Wolfgang Puck's worker's chit chat. He said that the ADR situation is bad for DDPers that didn't make ADR's---and so Disney was putting the heat on DTD restaurants to accept the plan.

As for the Swolphin--how would they deal with that as right now, their guests are not eligible to be on the plan? I don't know. Adding Swolphin guests would further exaserbate the problem of no ADR's--that's for sure.

 

[marivaid]

I was talking to a worker at Wolfgang Pucks last week, and he said that Disney is REALLY pushing that all the restaurants on Disney property MUST take DDP---no exceptions. So, people that are hoping that DDP goes away--it probably won't happen soon.

They can't be pushing that hard. Landry's has 2 RFC on property, neither of which take the DDP. As a "punishment" they're also getting the new T-Rex restaurant in DTD *AND* Yak & Yeti in Animal Kingdom. That gives them 4 restaurants on WDW property and so far not a single one of them is expected to take the DDP or the DDE.

 

[TDC Nala]

They can't be pushing that hard. Landry's has 2 RFC on property, neither of which take the DDP. As a "punishment" they're also getting the new T-Rex restaurant in DTD *AND* Yak & Yeti in Animal Kingdom. That gives them 4 restaurants on WDW property and so far not a single one of them is expected to take the DDP or the DDE.

There were posts on this board that stated Yak and Yeti would take DDP.

I don't know if that's confirmed by Disney or not.

And it's different from the other restaurants listed in that it is actually inside a theme park, so if Landry's gives in on Y&Y, doesn't mean they'd automatically give in on the others.

I was wondering about the Swolphin restaurants, didn't think about their guests participating - I guess if the restaurants participated they'd have to allow the guests to participate, so they're most likely not pressuring the Swolphin.

Personally I hope the DTD places stand firm because it's going to be useful to be able to get into restaurants that aren't crowded because everyone on the DDP is looking for any restaurant they can find.

 

[mrzrich]

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?

Yes they always ask me if I want to make any dining ressies, whether I buy the DDP or not and Regardless of whether I'm booking a Deluxe resort or a camp site.

 

[Glenn]

I was there last the the wk before Thanksgiving & trying to get a sit down at any time even as a single was almost impossible. I did make it to Germany for lunch & dinner because of their group seating & being a solo. Forget LeCelar, I was told nothing was open at any time for the 7 days I was there. So I ate counter service & the food court. I used to be able to get something everyday if I was flexible not anymore.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

We've found it difficult for walk-ins for the past few years, not just during the free DDP. We're in Orlando a lot. Sometimes just passing through; sometimes for a long weekend; sometimes for a week. I haven't been able to just walk into Jiko or Chef Mickey's for years now. Not saying it's impossible, but I think the cards are stacked against the walk-in.

And we don't DDP. We prefer to stay offsite with friends, family or in our timeshare. So even the folks not on the DDP -- yes, we do eat at WDW! -- need to be aware of booking some ressies in advance if you'd like assurance for a TS meal.

But we're heading down in two weeks, and I'm still able to get ressies. I called day before yesterday for lunch at '50s PTC on Saturday, 9/22 -- an EMH day during free DDP (jeez, what was I thinking?). We also moved around our Citricos dinner from a Wednesday to a Monday, so that was obviously available. For the OOP patron nowadays at WDW, Bistro de Paris looks to be an incredible value, so we booked a dinner there, too, with less than two weeks out.

I must say the sense of entitlement displayed by some on this thread is obnoxious. I think it's feasible that the family that chooses to "squeeze" one day of WDW into their trip while visiting other parts of Orlando and Florida is important to WDW, as well. Wouldn't that family be potential new business if taken care of well? Not for nothing, the families that land on a plane in Orlando who never leave WDW property are already sold. WDW knows this, and it's good business to be looking to expand into new markets, always getting new customers.

Let's not forget about FL residents and locals, either. These folks don't live on WDW property, but we do a lot for WDW. Another healthy hurricane or two swirling across our state, and who do you think will be filling the parks ... again? All those folks in Orlando you see, the locals, the homes you see off I-4 -- as well as a good hour or so radius from O-Town -- these folks have family up North, out West, all over the country. I think most locals and FL residents can agree with me that we become a WDW hotel when we move to central Florida, no?

So I think it's very fair that everyone is on a level playing field if folks want to eat at the World -- eat TS, that is. The can't alienate the offsite guest any more than they can alienate the onsite guest.

 

[RJD]

There have been similar posts. I don't understand why people are blaming lack of table availability on DDP (free or not). Bottom line is, you have to plan and make your ADRs. I didn't make as many as I would've liked (was on DDP) basically because I didn't want to spend our entire vacation tied down to reservation times. So we went there knowing we may not able to eat everywhere we wanted. But we were there first week of the free DDP, had some ADRs and other than that, we certainly never went hungry, ate some counter service and one night at Planet Hollywood (which I think does not even take ADRs) and waited only about 10 minutes at 7:30 pm. Yes, the days of just walking up to the popular restaurants and getting a table are gone, unfortunately, but that's the way it is for now. Again, it's all about planning ahead, IMHO.

 

[sherabby]

We were there two weeks before free dining and we did do the meal plan. I made our reservations 45 days before our trip and was very lucky to get some great sit down restaurants. Our times were not always the best though. We watched many many people get turned away due to no reservations. It really made me glad that I read ahead to know about reservations. Disney has changed so much over the last few years!

 

[Markstudy]

Again, it's all about planning ahead, IMHO.

That really hits the nail on the head.

Summed up - When you go to the most popular resort in the world...

1) plan ahead (or enjoy your hotdog and popcorn for dinner)
2) learn about the place before you go (its BIG! so crack a book... and read a little)

People debating for "walk-ups" might as well ask why super models
don't date- broke, short, fat, guys

 

[disneyfan55]

We were there two weeks before free dining and we did do the meal plan. I made our reservations 45 days before our trip and was very lucky to get some great sit down restaurants. Our times were not always the best though. We watched many many people get turned away due to no reservations. It really made me glad that I read ahead to know about reservations. Disney has changed so much over the last few years!

I agree. Things have greatly changed from the tickets to the dining plan. Up until this trip we have really never had to make TS reservations prior to the day of or day before. The tickets also were not so option full!! We used to be able to visit say in Aug and purchase a 5 day pass and return within a year of the first use and pay the difference between the 5 day and annual and receive an annual pass. It was effective from the first use, but the cost was still much less than buying another 5 day and we would stay 10 or so days on the second visit. That was a great option Disney used to have!!

 

[honeymo78]

With respect to the Landry's restaurants - they haven't completely opted out of disney's dining plans. While not as many people use plat and premium, RFC is available on those packages, and I would expect the new ones to be available on those, if not on DDP.

 

[Nom]

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.

Thank god- I hope this is right! Like I said, I make a few adrs at 6 mo, but a lot of people like a more relaxed vacation... and it is sad to read stories about people who were 'trapped' on wdw property by magical express and then could not find anything but counter service open to them for their whole trip.

 

[Tinkergirl]

We just book a last minute trip to BWV with our DVC. We leave a wek from tomorrow. There is not a sit down ANYWHERE with an opening all weekend. I guess that's what I get for waiting to surprise the family!!

I have a Boma's I am going to cancel sometime today for Sat the 15th. I think around 4 or 7, not sure. If you want it, or anyone else, PM me by noon and I will let you know exactly when I am calling. Hope this helps

 

[aidansmommy]

We just got home last night, and dining wasn't really an issue with us. I had made ADRs the week before we left and got everything we wanted.

I did read on one of the pamphlets they give you that if you're on the DDP and give up one of your ts meals, it will entitle you to either two snacks or a special pin? I wasn't on the ddp so correct me if I'm wrong.

As far as our dining experience, we were flexible on times and even the cm who was making our ressies was suprised at what was still opened.

 

[jarestel]

After dozens of trips to WDW, we no longer consider most of the Disney restaurants to be "must-do" events. Been there, done that and can get pretty much the same thing at home anytime we want so the focus changes from having a dining "experience" to simply dining. Having to structure our days around where we made ADRs 6 months prior is also a drag.

So we're content to just forage for food when we're in WDW now. A phone call to Disney dining the day before or day of is about all I'm willing to concede to the new dining mania sweeping WDW. If nothing is available, we always have a car and there's a brave new world of restaurants a short drive away that fit the bill and do the trick. Haven't gone hungry yet and haven't found ourselves missing the Disney restaurants either.

Sometimes the price of a rental car can be worth it's weight in appetizers!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . The only place to get food was at any of the counter facilities, or to go off-site. I encountered many people that were on the DDP, that were complaining that they could not eat anywhere . . .

1) I am critical of WDW when it is warranted.
2) In this case, I believe it is the diners who are in error.
3) There are almost always places to eat.
4) Not just at your preferred restaurant or at your preferred time.
5) I have yet to see an actual sell out of eateries (except on major holidays).

6) Now, I do admit that popular eateries and times fill quickly.
7) That is one reason for the increase in DDP price - to reduce participation.
8) Disney was threatened with a law suit for over-selling DDP seats.
9) Of course, the other reason was added revenue.

NOTE: In case some of you don't remember, Jim Bakker went to prison for over selling hotel rooms. It is a serious issue when you oversubscribe.

 

[GinnyFavers]

We were there for almost the same dates, and had no trouble eating walk-up at Kona for lunch, tea at the Grand Flo (place was empty at 4:30 pm!), Plaza in the MK, and Nine Dragons at Epcot for a late lunch.

Didn't try for the popular spots like Le Cellier, Rose & Crown, Chefs de France, Chef Mickey's, etc.

If you are winging it, I'd always suggest being at the podium of wherever, 15 minutes before opening for lunchtime, and doing a walk up lunch. Prices are cheaper, food is often the same, and you're pretty sure to get in. If you've been up since 7 a.m., eating lunch at 11 or 11:30 a.m. should be just about right! For places only open for dinner, try the same thing for an early dinner.