Online Dining Reservations Now Available

[DVCtinkerbell]

I tried to book Chef Mickey's over the phone but they were booked the whole week. I just tried online and was able to book on my daughter's birthday! The kids were so upset when I told them no Chef Mickey's so do I tell them or keep it a secret until that morning?

Hmmmm....

 

[pilferk]

but I play one on TV. Anyway, I've been following this thread because I've rented points for a stay at BCV in October. My 90 day mark is approaching, and I wanted to see if I'd be able to make any online ressies. For the past two days, I've gotten the same message as others when trying to retrieve my reservation.

Since I've read that others have reported the problem, I just tried again, just for the heck of it. Well, miracle of miracles, it retrieved my reservation! I didn't input anything differently than before, so maybe there has been a fix.

I'm not sure that making online ressies will be a lot faster than the phone, because you have to put in your party info EVERY time. I've always been able to book the places and times we've wanted when going in October, but I'm worried this year. Seems like many can't get into the more popular places.

Still no luck for our ressie, and we're now well inside our 90 day mark.

As for the phone vs on-line...well, there's way's to make it faster on-line. It's tough to be on the phone with 2 people at once. Not so tough to have your PC and 2 laptops running at the same time. I know...not EVERYONE has that option...but there are more ways, with a bit less effort and manpower, to "optimize" the ADR process. In addition...you don't have to "hold" for an operator with the on-line system. As most people will tell you, THAT'S the killer in the morning. At 7:05, your wait times can exceed 20 minutes, easily.

And, you add the fact that the on-line system comes up an hour earlier than the phone system does. Even with everyone on equal footing (meaning the DVC and TA ressie numbers start working for everyone), the earlier the access to the system, the more people you "weed out" because it's just too darn early.

I suspect the online system, once it's 100% fixed, is going to save guests quite a bit of time, and Disney quite a bit of manpower (and likely INCREASE guest satisfaction, to boot, by eliminating the arduous hold times). The question is: Once the system "goes public" and becomes widely known about, can it both handle the traffic and continue to maintain it's quick access? Or are we going to see Ticketmaster-like "ques" when waiting for tough ADR's....

And last, once everyone knows about it...will it be abused? Either by people scooping up hard to make ADRs and selling them, OR just by hackers deciding to "have some fun". The system's controls are certainly not strict enough to keep anyone out from the 90 day mark. A bunch of free email addresses and you could do all sorts of nasty things. And there are a subset of people out there who would do it...just for kicks...if the fancy ever strikes them.

We'll see! I actually REALLY like the system, itself. I'm looking forward to using it more extensively on a future trip.

 

[TyRy]

Thanks for all your work on this Pilferk. We have a CRO ressie, then DVC, then CRO ressie again. The only one I can get to pull up under the "my vacation" is the last CRO one. And our dining was all made using the first one.

I got the same thing about the phone #, but all the systems seem to have our correct one, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Maybe I have too many hotel reservations and the site can only recognize the one made last?

 

[kapeman]

Keep in mind that sometimes I see folks put in the phone number with no dashes and sometimes with dashes and people report it works both ways, so if you put in a phone try the dashes, then try without them. I can't get any of my DVC reservations to pull up at all and I have 5 of them for the rest of 2009. I can get my cash non-DVC reservation to pull up.

There is NO reason that how the phone number is entered should be an issue.

Form field validation is one of the most basic tenets of web design.

Form field validation is the term for verifying that the info put into a form matches what is expected to be there: i.e. ten numbers and no letters in a field for phone number. Also, any good web app will accept that input in any format:123-456-7890 or 1234567890 or 123_456_7890 will be read by the app the same way.

That said, it may be assuming too much from Disney's IT group. Although, I have seen many others fail at the basics as well.


I think that the basic issue here is the online ADR system can't access the DVC reservation database, but without more info it would be just a guess on my part.

 

[JoQuo711]

Still no luck for our ressie, and we're now well inside our 90 day mark.
And last, once everyone knows about it...will it be abused? Either by people scooping up hard to make ADRs and selling them, OR just by hackers deciding to "have some fun". The system's controls are certainly not strict enough to keep anyone out from the 90 day mark. A bunch of free email addresses and you could do all sorts of nasty things. And there are a subset of people out there who would do it...just for kicks...if the fancy ever strikes them.

I do hope they add some sort of safeguard against this in the future if it does become an issue. For example, they could require CC info for all online reservations, or they could require that online-booked reservations have to be attached to an on-site resort reservation, etc. Hopefully it doesn't become an issue in the first place though.

 

[n2mm]

There is NO reason that how the phone number is entered should be an issue.

Form field validation is one of the most basic tenets of web design.

Form field validation is the term for verifying that the info put into a form matches what is expected to be there: i.e. ten numbers and no letters in a field for phone number. Also, any good web app will accept that input in any format:123-456-7890 or 1234567890 or 123_456_7890 will be read by the app the same way.

That said, it may be assuming too much from Disney's IT group. Although, I have seen many others fail at the basics as well.


I think that the basic issue here is the online ADR system can't access the DVC reservation database, but without more info it would be just a guess on my part.

I think we are assuming too much of the basic from Disney.

I've actually checked my reservations once and it did not come up with the dashs and once I removed them it did. But I've not gotten any DVC reservations to come up and am sure it's because there is no phone number tied to my/our reservations. Actually on the new dine system I put in my ADR number for August and yikes it could not find it. Before panicing I called the dine-line and checked on it and it was there. I asked what phone number was associated with my August ADRs and told there was NO phone number associated with those ADRs....whew! So even the CM at dining had not associated my ADRs with a phone number. I'm assuming she just tied them to a room reservation. No continuity it seems. There should just be an addendum added to the new system and a box where you can check Yes - DVC and have it take you to another system that can pull up the reservation. I'm no tech, but this seems like something that might work. I have to call for my October ADRs mid-July and looks like I'll be phoning.

 

[pilferk]

There is NO reason that how the phone number is entered should be an issue.

Form field validation is one of the most basic tenets of web design.

Form field validation is the term for verifying that the info put into a form matches what is expected to be there: i.e. ten numbers and no letters in a field for phone number. Also, any good web app will accept that input in any format:123-456-7890 or 1234567890 or 123_456_7890 will be read by the app the same way.

That said, it may be assuming too much from Disney's IT group. Although, I have seen many others fail at the basics as well.


I think that the basic issue here is the online ADR system can't access the DVC reservation database, but without more info it would be just a guess on my part.

I think the control validation is likely coded correctly. I've "seen" people have success both with and without dashes on the CRO side, so I think they're properly stripping out the special characters. In addition, it seems to recognize when you've entred completely invalid phone numbers, too...so there is some validation logic on entry. I'm not sure how expansive or complete it is, though.

I think you hit the nail on the head, sort of. I think the issue is stemming from some sort of downstream problem from the DVC ressie system to the ADR system. I think the ressie numbers are making it over (and the errors we're seeing seem to indicate that) but other things are getting skewed. I know for us, and a couple others who have called and checked with Disney Dining, it was ABSOLUTELY phone number. Our Ressie came up in the ADR system as having no phone number attached to it. The CM fixed it, saved, and told us to try again later. It didn't work. When my wife called to make ADR's yesterday, at the end of the call, she asked the CM to check our ressie again, to see if there was a phone number attached. Blank field, again.

I've seen a couple of DVC members report they CAN access their ressies..but they are few and far between. So occasionally everything DOES work out right....which, again, leads me to believe it's an issue with the downstream feed.

 

[KiminChicago]

Ok, I've been following both this thread and decided to try my luck. I went to the disneyworld website and logged in. Then I went to the "My Disney Vacation" page and input my confirmation # and phone number.

I'm getting a completely different error message: "Sorry, we are not able to display your reservation at this time. Please try again later."

The odd thing is that at the top of the page it has the "Welcome Kimberly!" box with the message "Your next vacation is 110 days away! Can't wait to see you real soon!"

So, the system knows I have a reservation and knows the dates but can't display it. Fortunately I still have almost 3 weeks before I can make my ADRs so maybe it will be fixed by then.

But I still have a question -- can anyone pull up their DVC reservation on the "My Disney Vacation" page, or are you just waiting until you get to the dining reservation page before trying to retrieve the room reservation?

 

[Crystal_27]

For what it's worth, I called MS today to check on my waitlist (which came through - YAY) and inquired of the CM whether he had knowledge of any problems with the online reservation system as it pertains to DVC members. He said that he wasn't aware of anything and also put me on hold for a minute to check his emails for any information, and came back and told me that he didn't have any emails from DVC reporting any problems. So, although you guys are without a doubt working very diligently with DVC about this issue, apparently this issue hasn't been deemed important enough to at least mass notify CMs about. Which is a bummer!!

 

[pilferk]

For what it's worth, I called MS today to check on my waitlist (which came through - YAY) and inquired of the CM whether he had knowledge of any problems with the online reservation system as it pertains to DVC members. He said that he wasn't aware of anything and also put me on hold for a minute to check his emails for any information, and came back and told me that he didn't have any emails from DVC reporting any problems. So, although you guys are without a doubt working very diligently with DVC about this issue, apparently this issue hasn't been deemed important enough to at least mass notify CMs about. Which is a bummer!!

THAT I'm not surprised about. I don't think the issue stems from the MS/DVC side of things, but from the downstream traffic FROM their system TO the ADR system. Essentially, the CS's at MS are likely doing everything right, and, from DVC's perspective, their system is working just fine.

It's an IT issue, I think.

 

[Sammie]

It's an IT issue, I think.

No thinking about that, definitely an IT issue and they know it, they are working on it, hopefully they will find the problem.

 

[eliza61]

Just booked a few for August trip. I'll let you know if it works when I get back. LOL

 

[Mickeyfollowers]

While I was on disney.com I sent an email from the contact us list. I told them that the online ADR was not working for us DVC members and have been nice to get into the race for ADRs with the free dining folks. This is what they wrote back.

Disney Vacation Club Members can book dining reservations "90+10" days
in advance of their resort reservation by calling the Disney Reservation
Center (beginning at 7 a.m. EDT) or Member Services (beginning at 9 a.m.
EDT). The new online system is in its early phase and there are segments
that the system currently does not recognize. These have been identified
and we are actively working towards solutions.

Sincerely,

Buffy

Member Services | Online Communications
Disney Vacation Club

 

[dvcdisney]

I know for us, and a couple others who have called and checked with Disney Dining, it was ABSOLUTELY phone number. Our Ressie came up in the ADR system as having no phone number attached to it. The CM fixed it, saved, and told us to try again later. It didn't work.

We had the same problem. When I called, they mentioned that it was because the phone number was blank for my room and dining reservations. She said that she corrected it and to try and see if I was able to pull it up in awhile. It didn't work. Assuming that she did add the phone number correctly, it doesn't seem to matter since the system still won't recognize it.

 

[pilferk]

We had the same problem. When I called, they mentioned that it was because the phone number was blank for my room and dining reservations. She said that she corrected it and to try and see if I was able to pull it up in awhile. It didn't work. Assuming that she did add the phone number correctly, it doesn't seem to matter since the system still won't recognize it.

She likely entered it correctly.

When we called back the next day, the phone number was, again, blank, in the ADR system.

I think the system updates directly from the DVC ressie system, and the downstream update (which I suspect is where the problem is) overwrites anything in the existing field, and sets you right back to square one.

 

[ford91exploder]

I suspect the some DVC reservations working and others not working is when they were made as there is probably a flag in the database which is not set for older reservations

 

[DoOverDreams]

I've been off the boards for a couple of days (here in WDW now) and decided to try again for an existing DVC reservation, just for the heck of it. There is now a new error message. This is for a trip that is less then 90 days out.

So it looks like they are hearing us DVC members, and realize there is a problem. Now, all they need do is fix it.....

 

[huey578]

Ok, I've been following both this thread and decided to try my luck. I went to the disneyworld website and logged in. Then I went to the "My Disney Vacation" page and input my confirmation # and phone number.

I'm getting a completely different error message: "Sorry, we are not able to display your reservation at this time. Please try again later."

The odd thing is that at the top of the page it has the "Welcome Kimberly!" box with the message "Your next vacation is 110 days away! Can't wait to see you real soon!"

So, the system knows I have a reservation and knows the dates but can't display it. Fortunately I still have almost 3 weeks before I can make my ADRs so maybe it will be fixed by then.

But I still have a question -- can anyone pull up their DVC reservation on the "My Disney Vacation" page, or are you just waiting until you get to the dining reservation page before trying to retrieve the room reservation?

Last year I was able to pull up my DVC reservation on the "My Disney Vacation" page. I opened a thread and so learned other DVC members were able to view their ressies as well. I did notice when reservation pulled up via "My Disney Vacation" page that the reservation number was totally different. I was able to view the reservation for about a week before the access was switched off.

 

[Sammie]

I've been off the boards for a couple of days (here in WDW now) and decided to try again for an existing DVC reservation, just for the heck of it. There is now a new error message. This is for a trip that is less then 90 days out.

So it looks like they are hearing us DVC members, and realize there is a problem. Now, all they need do is fix it.....

I hope they don't consider that "the fix"

 

[smacky1]

I called WDW Dine this morning to make my ressies for our vacation in September. We have one night at BLT and then are switching to BCV. They would not allow me to do our whole stay today. I have to call back tomorrow to do the rest of the stay. I think they need to fix this issue as well. Im wondering if I will have any luck calling DVC MS when they open or if I will get the same answer from them?