**October 27 2009, 180 Day Reservation Thread**

[Corwin]

I've been up since 5:40 a.m., and of course could not get the online system to work.

I got through on the phone at exactly 7:00 a.m. and made most of my reservations then.

Unfortunately, I missed one ressie and spent the rest of the morning trying to get back through. After 40 minutes of busy signals and 20 minutes on hold, I finally got through around 9:30 a.m. to a CM whose system was down. She could not transfer me or put me back on hold, so back to square one.

I tried again around 10:45 a.m. After another 30 minutes of busy signals and 30 minutes on hold, I finally got through! I was able to book my last ressie! Her system was very slow, but was working.

While waiting for her system to load, I chatted with this CM and asked her about reports that people who had made reservations today had found their reservations to be lost or cancelled. She stated that none of the reservations made on the phone have been lost. She said that some of the reservations made online have been lost, though, but if you made your reservation on the phone, you were fine.

So assuming this is true and our reservations "stick", we got:
Akershus (D)
Boma (D)
California Grille (D)
Crystal Palace (D)
Kona Cafe (B)
Le Cellier (D)
T-Rex (D)

Good luck, everyone!

 

[Harlemgirl720]

This is so us today!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlfc8zZF7Wc

(Whoever originally posted this - thank you!)

OMG! That is priceless! That was so me up until an hour ago. I needed that laugh.

 

[yellownovawife]

I was just told it would not be back up for another half hour

 

[CherylA]

All I've gotten today when I call WDW STYLE or WDW DINE is all circuts are busy. I can't even get on hold!

 

[misskate]

JUST got Pixie Dust!!!!!!!! JUST got Pixie Dust!!!!!!!! JUST got Pixie Dust!!!!!!!! JUST got Pixie Dust!!!!!!!! JUST got Pixie Dust!!!!!!!! JUST got Pixie Dust!!!!!!!!

Calling since 7:00 am and JUST now got put on hold!!

 

[Caitsmama]

I don't know what is "back up",, definately not the online system.. this is just so frustrating..

 

[sus]

I tried calling resort reservations finally for a change and after 20 some attempts there, I got through. Someone right away and after a chat with him he nicely connected me to Dining Reservations and someone picked up right away! Give it a try people.

4 and a half hours after starting to call, I got through. Whew.

But, couldn't get Teppan Edo or Le Chefs de france for ANY days we are there. Wierd. Anyone else able to get them?

 

[kim3471]

Well, after two of us trying for six hours (both on line and the phone), my best-husband-in-the-world finally got through and was able to make all six of our reservations for our March trip at about 12:30pm. We were able to get all of the ADRs we wanted within about a half hour of our target times.

The trip is for my son's 5th birthday (who has decided he wants to be a chef when he grows up), so it was important to me that we got into Chef Mickey's at least once. Kudos to my awesome husband!


For everyone still trying, keep believing! The magic WILL happen!

Thanks everyone for the updates that kept me from giving up!

 

[Tricia's mom]

YIPPIE I'm on Hold.....

It's My Turn !!!

 

[rgf207]

For those interested, here is my letter to WDW Dining

ATTENTION: WDW Guest Services, Meg Crofton and President, WDW Dining

My name is ________________. I am writing in regards to my completely unacceptable experience with Disney Dining this morning, Tuesday, October 27th, 2009.

First some background; I have visited the Walt Disney World Resort 35 times in the past 22 years. I have been an annual passholder since 2006. I am a loyal Walt Disney World Resort guest, having visited 3 times in 2009—May, August and October—and I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

My family and I have a trip planned for March 2010 that is of particular significance. The trip is in celebration of my 25th birthday, which falls on March 25th. I secured a resort reservation for March 23rd – March 31st 2010 (#____________).

I was notified that the dining reservation window was shifting from 90 days to 180 days today, Tuesday, October 27th, 2009. My experience with Disney Dining began at 6 am EST this morning and is still ongoing as of 11:34 am EST. As I write this email, I am on my 6th call to 407-WDW-DINE, currently on hold 14 minutes.

Below you will find a detailed account of my experience with Disney Dining today.

6 am
• Signed on to www.waltdisneyworld.com, for the first time today to secure my dining reservations via the online system as I live in Canada and prefer not to rack up astronomical long distance bills. Let me say that I have found the online system to be highly effective in the past. Much to my disappointment, it was not operating this morning. I refreshed my web browser multiple times and had no luck.

7 am
• Called 407-WDW-DINE for the first time and it took 10 attempts to get a message other than “all circuits are presently busy.” When I did get through the automated prompt system, I was informed of a 25 minute hold time. I had to get to work so I was forced to hang up and try again later this morning in hopes that things would have calmed down.

9 am
• Called 407-WDW-DINE for the second time today. I was attempting to secure a dining reservation at Victoria & Albert’s for my actual birthday. It took at least a dozen calls to get a message other than “all circuits are presently busy.” This call was my only positive experience with Disney Dining today. I had a minimal wait of less than 5 minutes and was provided with a reservation number within 10 minutes. However, I was not asked if I needed additional dining reservations and the Cast Member hung up the phone before I could request a transfer.

9:15 am
• Tried www.waltdisneyworld.com for the second time today to discover the system was still down. I refreshed the page intermittently.

9:45 am
• Successfully accessed www.waltdisneyworld.com (this was the third time today). Found availability for 3 of my dates. Added the reservations to my dining cart and attempted to check out (fearing the system may crash, as it had been doing so all morning). System crashes as I am checking out, no reservations secured.

10:15 am
• Called 407-WDW-DINE for the third time and it took at least 10 attempts to get a message other than “all circuits are presently busy.” When I did get through the automated prompt system, I was informed of a 7 minute hold time. I held for 9 minutes, got 2 minutes of dead air, and was the asked to fill out a customer service survey. I had been disconnected.

10:26 am
• Called 407-WDW-DINE for the fourth time and it took at least 10 attempts to get a message other than “all circuits are presently busy.” When I did get through the automated prompt system, I was informed of a 15 minute hold time. I held for 17 minutes, got 1 minute of dead air and was the asked to fill out a customer service survey. I had been disconnected.

10:44 am
• Called 407-WDW-DINE for the fifth time and it took at least 10 attempts to get a message other than “all circuits are presently busy.” When I did get through the automated prompt system, I was informed of a 25 minute hold time. I held for 27 minutes, got a CM on the line who said “Thank you for calling Disney Dining how may I assist you” “I’d like to book dining reservations for March” “I’d be happy to help you, however, our system is currently down, please call back later.” Then I was asked to fill out a customer service survey. I had been disconnected.

11:20 am
• Called 407-WDW-DINE for the sixth time and it took at least 10 attempts to get a message other than “all circuits are presently busy.” When I did get through the automated prompt system, I was informed of a 25 minute hold time. I held for 33 minutes, got a CM on the line who said “Thank you for calling Disney Dining how may I assist you” and I was finally able to book my dining reservations.

12:13 pm
• 6 hours and 13 minutes after my initial attempt to secure dining reservations, I am successful.

TOTAL LONG DISTANCE TIME: 2 hours and 14 minutes at a cost of $0.35/minute, that is $46.90! All the while as I was holding on Disney Dining I was repeatedly informed that online reservations are available for my convenience.

I am not pleased. This is an unacceptable situation. Along with tens of thousands of other guests, I attempted to book online to find the system unavailable, I called to find “circuits busy,” disconnection, agents who cannot access the system, hold times of 30 minutes plus only to be informed that the system is down.

Disney is known for legendary customer service, for magic and for ensuring the customers expectations are not only met, but also exceeded. This situation was none of the above. I would like to know how Disney plans to make up for this gross lack of service. I would like to be contacted personally, within 48 hours, by a Guest Services representative at _______________.

I also request that this email be forwarded to Meg Crofton and to the President of WDW Dining.

Megan Huntley

Although I agree with your frustration, I'm not sure a letter will do much. Disney decided to switch back to 180 day window due to the requests of their guests. They had to pick a day to do this and we all knew there would be thousands of people trying at the same time. Their systems unfortunately are not built to handle this volume. There aren't many companies who have systems that would handle this. No matter which day Disney chose to make this change, there would ultimately be many many people calling at the same time.

Think of it like trying to get tickets for a concert the day the tickets go on sale. You and 100,000 people are trying to do the same thing. I don't think it's a lack of customer service but rather the popularity of Disney.

It's also the same thinkg as trying to call a radio station to be caller 25 or something to win a prize. They lines are always busy

 

[maminnie]

Got through to DVC but agent could not get into the dining sytem and agents around her were booking. On hold for 45 minutes to get through and no reservations.

Have been trying since 6:00am this morning on and off at both dining number and DVC number; no luck! This is rediculous and a terrible waste of all our time. I expect a lot more from Disney then this mess.

Congrats to those that have been successful and to those of us who haven't and our going busy times, looks like we'll be eating off-site, in the villa, or counter service. At least we'll all spend a lot less money at Disney this year!! Thank goodness I made up my mind before today not to do the dining plan...too expensive to justify doing since the food and menu selection have gone downhill at Disney over the years.

It certainly hasn't been a magical day....

 

[Sarahboo]

I've been calling non-stop since the reservation line was open and I'm officially on hold. Hooray!

 

[dopeyone]

Just told the system is still down by MS! back in Que!

 

[TheCampbells]

Just got a lady with a major attitude who said she couldn't book. Name was Tina.

Question, do they do the electric parade everynight> TIA

 

[rgf207]

We'll be at Jiko the same night and Chef Mickey's the next morning!

Sounds great. See you there. It's my 30th Birthday. I'll be the guy wearing the birthday button

 

[lemondog]

I tried calling resort reservations finally for a change and after 20 some attempts there, I got through. Someone right away and after a chat with him he nicely connected me to Dining Reservations and someone picked up right away! Give it a try people.

4 and a half hours after starting to call, I got through. Whew.

But, couldn't get Teppan Edo or Le Chefs de france for ANY days we are there. Wierd. Anyone else able to get them?

We were able to get Chefs de France for lunch in March, it was actually my backup since I could not get LeCellier. Keep trying! The system is obviously really screwy today.

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

Just got a lady with a major attitude who said she couldn't book. Name was Tina.

Question, do they do the electric parade everynight> TIA

Spectromagic is only 2-3 nights a week I believe.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Although I agree with your frustration, I'm not sure a letter will do much. Disney decided to switch back to 180 day window due to the requests of their guests. They had to pick a day to do this and we all knew there would be thousands of people trying at the same time. Their systems unfortunately are not built to handle this volume. There aren't many companies who have systems that would handle this. No matter which day Disney chose to make this change, there would ultimately be many many people calling at the same time.

Think of it like trying to get tickets for a concert the day the tickets go on sale. You and 100,000 people are trying to do the same thing. I don't think it's a lack of customer service but rather the popularity of Disney.

It's also the same thinkg as trying to call a radio station to be caller 25 or something to win a prize. They lines are always busy

As many on this thread have suggested, they could have drawn the ADR window back in stages. They could also have fortified their online system.

It is not like a concert or a radio contest. Every guest going to WDW should have the opportunity to book dining reservations and this morning, due to poor planning and organizations thousands of people have yet to get a dial tone let alone reservations!

 

[davids68girl]

I did it!!! I've got my reservation for the Churro stand outside the Country Bear Jamboree!!!! Fine dining here I come!

Ok, seriously almost spit coffee all over my computer. Best thing I have seen this morning.

 

[MomPOM]

YIPPIE I'm on Hold.....

It's My Turn !!!

Don't get too excited. You'll get put through and then told the system is down.