Online ADRs Thread (Updated FAQ 9/9/9)

[Dreaming~of~Disney]

Online ADR's open at 6am EST.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I almost wonder if I selected the wrong travel dates. I'll be there 9/19-9/26. It seems like its going to be busy since all the restaurants are booking up fast. I can only hope that the lines will be low because all the free diners will be in restaurants and not in line.

I'm at least happy with some of the other ADR's I did get. I'm going to Yachtsman Steakhouse, Teppan Edo, Tutto Itialia, Sci-Fi (although its 8:30 pm), and Captains Grill.

It also seems like a lot people are just simply booked for those dates period, dining or not- I feel like a lot of people here on the Dis are going during 19-26. Part of me hopes not but at the same time, it's still September where a busy day in September is still a slow in April.

At least I have the 9/18th and 9/27-10/2 for those who don't.

 

[amamax2]

I am sorry you had a bad experience but I can tell you that not all TA's are that way. With AAA you have to make sure the agent really knows their Disney stuff and is willing to go the extra mile. I have heard of a few through these boards but the majority do not.

You really need a Disney planner (Travel agents that specialize in Disney destinations) There are many that are mentioned on the boards. I always make ADR's for the people that reserve through me unless they prefer to do it themselves. I always offer and it is up to the person what they decide to do.

I hope you have a great time when your time arrives for your stay at Disney World.

Thank you for your kind words and I am sorry I made such a blanket statement about not using travel agents! You are right, I have read so many posts about wonderful TAs. I'm just frustrated.

I have been to DL so many times I couldn't even tell you, and it is so easy to plan. No ADRs, no waiting for hours to be released, only a few hotels to chose from, lol! When I first started planning this and saw how different it was from DL, I thought, hey, now is the time to try a TA and AAA has all those packages I see every time we go in there for maps! I asked the agent how using a TA "works" and she assured me she "does it all," and I just sit back and relax. Plus, she was supposed to be their Disney specialist. Anyways, it's a lesson learned and next time I will do research FIRST on the travel agent, lol.

I'm sure we will have a great time - luckily my family is very easy and anything I plan they love - I'm the only one who stresses over every detail.

 

[mermaid&cinderella]

I don't blame my TA at all. I blame Disney! Just like the DVC, they should have forseen these issues and solved them before it was an issue. If you can't open up the system to everyone, you shouldn't open it up.
Wow you were harse, you must be a TA

 

[Happy99]

To be honest your first post seemed harsh so the above poster replied in kind but I don't think he/she was harsh just stating the fact.

Saying you would have booked directly with Disney if you knew does kind of say you would have taken the booking away from your TA if you knew does punish the TA on something that they didn't have any control on.

From what everyone has been saying most people have been lucky in getting what they want when they call in and some are that weren't able to book certain places when they called in before online are now finding availability.

once you are inside your 90 days mark you can go online and look at availability, make dining reservations, etc. You just cannot do the +10 right when your 90 day opens.

I hope you get whatever you are looking for on the ADR's

 

[danceintherain]

So apparently if you book with a travel agent you can not pull your reservation # on teh online adr system so you can't get the 90+10 days.
How overly fustrating is that?
If I had know I would not book through an agent and would book directly through Disney.
I am very annoyed especially since my adr time is this week and I was hoping to book online

When I booked through a TA she made my ADRs for me, which was when I realized I like having more control.
I suppose if you book through AAA or something this might not be possible, but most of the TA companies I looked at offered this service...
I know it's not quite as fun to call and tell the TA what you want as it is to just be able to look online yourself, but I'm sure Disney will work out the kinks eventually.

 

[beglluvr]

I booked online at 6:00EST on Saturday... I booked 9 ADR's that morning including dinner at LC and 'Ohana, but when I went to finalize everything, I got an error message that said the system was not available. I had been using Firefox, so thought I'd try it in IE. I wasn't able to get the exact same times for everything, but was reasonably happy with what I was getting, so I went ahead and booked them all. It went through this time, so I went to check my email and I had 2... one from 6:42am including all of the ones that I had done in IE, and one from 6:28 that was completely blank.

Fast forward to this evening, I called Disney Dining and asked the CM (who was fabulous, btw) to check my ADR's and she looked them up by restaurant and time rather than by confirmation number and found that I was double booked at every restaurant. It turns out that they received the first set of ADR's after all. She cancelled the duplicates and I am back to my original set of ADR's including LC at 5:00pm.

I wonder if this is happening often and that may be why some people are having trouble getting what they want. It's worth checking to be sure if you've received a blank email.

 

[LandChildWorldAdult]

Which goes back to my original complaint that DVC reservation numbers don't work in the system...

Disney obviously has a lot of work to do with this system. They shouldn't have released anything until it was fully tested for ALL of their customers.

Sorry, my family of 5 can't do online reservations for Walt Disney World ... I think they should fix that *FIRST*, don't you?

Seriously, I feel your pain, but I'm pretty sure DVC won't be left out for long, whereas my chances of online reservations for accommodations are not looking real long, eh? Good luck!

 

[Colleen27]

It's frustrating, but the online system doesn't work any differently than calling on the phone for what you described. You could still call on the phone and make ADRs for the same place on Mon, Weds, Fri. and they wouldn't question it. I don't see how the online thing plays into it at all.

I think anonymity and convenience play into it. Most people would be at least somewhat embarrassed to get on the phone with a CM and book their family at Le Cellier, Ohana, and Sci-fi all on the same night. Online, though, people can more easily convince themselves that it is okay or that no one will ever know.

Right now, though, I think the bigger issue is the double bookings coming from system errors. How many reports have we seen in the last few days of the cart crashing, sending a blank e-mail instead of confirmations, or other tech problems that lead people to think their ADRs didn't go through when in fact they did? For those folks who aren't DISers, they most likely rebook and don't realize they've made two sets of similar reservations. And no matter how Disney deals with it it is likely to be an even bigger problem 90 days from now - If they don't cancel double bookings, they'll have significantly underbooked TS locations, and if they do, they'll have a lot of people wondering what happened to their ADRs.

 

[mjbradeis]

Today was my 90 day mark, I got up and went online at 6am est. Got all 5 of my ADR's, had to move two meals around but no biggie.

Could the search be a little better, yeah but you have to start some where.

Only issue I have is when I went back to view them I could not pull them up, so I called to book BBB anyhow and the CM stated that all of my ADR's are ok and not to worry (stated that is why they give you confirmation numbers, and not to worry). CM also stated that there is an issue with the phone numbers. When I linked my ADR's to my Room Reservation I used my home number. However when you complete your ADR's it asks for a number to reach you while at WDW, so I gave my cell number. CM then instructed me to try my cell number but that still did not work.

But other then that (LOL) I liked it!

 

[TillyMarigold]

You *can* book La Nouba online--just not through the dining system.

You can chooe "Book" > "Cirque du Soleil La Nouba Tickets" from the main WDW page, which takes you here: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/destinations/downtown-disney/entertainment/cirque-du-soleil/ and that page has a link to the online ticket sales (which are done by Cirque's parent company, not by Disney).

 

[andrewilley]

I rang Disney UK today asking about online ADRs and they told me that they are only for the US customers

What twaddle!!! Online ADRs are for anyone with an internet connection!

The onsite +10 days option may be a different question though, as I can't remember if bookings via Disney UK issue a standard WDW 12-digit confirmation number or not; I don't think that they do, as Disney UK act almost in the capacity of a Travel Agent rather than as part of WDW directly (for example, Disney UK cannot book five people to stay in one room at Port Orleans Riverside as their contracts do not support this).

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

Online ADR's open at 6am EST.

Could we just be clear here please, just in case anyone misunderstands:

Online ADRs do not open or close like the telephone booking office, they are available online 24/7.

However the time that they add another new day's worth of bookings to the 90-day availability window on the system is 6am Eastern.

Andre

 

[pinkerbell]

Could we just be clear here please, just in case anyone misunderstands:

Online ADRs do not open or close like the telephone booking office, they are available online 24/7.

However the time that they add another new day's worth of bookings to the 90-day availability window on the system is 6am Eastern.

Andre

ahhhh, thanks for the clarification!

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

I'm ALL done!

Here it is!

9/18 MNSSHP, no ADRs
9/19 Raglan Road 8:00PM
9/20 The Wave 5:30PM
9/21 Non-park day
9/22 CRT 8:25AM & California Grill 5:30PM
9/23 Kona Cafe 7:30AM & Citricos 5:35PM
9/24 Whispering Canyon Cafe 8:25PM
9/25 Chef Mickey's 7:00AM & Flying Fish Cafe 7:05PM
9/26 Sanaa 2:10PM
9/27 Donald's Safari Breakfast 8:00AM & Yak & Yeti 3:00PM
9/28 HDDR 7:15PM cat 2
9/29 Crystal Palace 8:05AM & 'Ohana 8:05PM
9/30 Rose & Crown 12:25PM
10/1 Narcoossee's 7:55pm
10/2 No ADR, departure day

 

[disneygal922]

I'm done!

Monday 9/21 - Biergarten 5:45pm
Tuesday 9/22 - Chef Mickey's 7:30am
Wednesday 9/23 - Sci-Fi - 1:35pm
Thursday 9/24 - Rose & Crown - 6:30pm

Need to call in still for Big River Grille & Brewery for our Friday night ressie.

 

[nmanning19]

I can't make reservations online past 9/21, is there a trick? I login put in the restaurant, make reservations and the date only shows up to 9/21, HELP!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

I can't make reservations online past 9/21, is there a trick? I login put in the restaurant, make reservations and the date only shows up to 9/21, HELP!!!

Once the restaurant comes up, look RIGHT ABOVE the spot where you choose the date. There should be a link highlighted in blue to "retrieve your reservation". Click there, wait a moment and a box will appear. Put in your RESORT res. number and the phone number you used when you booked. This is how the system knows you are booked and can access 90 + 10. Good luck!

 

[hellokittiemama]

So I was doing my ADRs and getting them OK. well, I go to do CRT and I get what I want.. well, i put in CC info and everything and it SENDS ME A BLANK EMAIL. No confirmation number, so now I cannot pull it up.

The same thing happened to me with Akershus!

I have to call them at 7am anyways now.. Frustrating.

I was able to get Le Cellier and confirmed for my anniversary dinner, and also Ohana breakfast. Ohana dinner I got a very late time on that will be too much for the kids so I will have to continue to check back and hopefully change that one!!!

Well, hopefully when I call in 15 minutes they can help me by pulling up my missing ADRs.. waaaah!

 

[hthrbells]

I have read on here that even with a blank email you have the reservation. I hope this helps. I wish we were able to book more than one day online. I will be calling in 4 minutes too Keep you fingers crossed for me and I will do thew same for you