People with multiple reservations

[vicki_c]

I will probably hate myself for asking this. For those who consider it selfish to book 2 ADRs for a restaurant you are planning on eating at only once (and also plan on canceling the other) , do you also consider it selfish and/or self serving to eat at the same restaurant several times during the same trip?

The latter seems to happen with BoG with some frequency; which I can't help but think keeps another family from getting to eat there just once.

As a person who rarely books ADRs at my 180 window I believe I'm often a beneficiary of those who double book and cancel...so I guess I'm selfish because I want their unused ADR!. (I know that they don't always make it back into the system, but some do.)

No, I don't care how many times someone wants to eat at any particular place. Just so they don't book double reservations when they don't plan on using them.

 

[JenCin78]

I agree with Vicki...if people are booking twice because they are going to actually eat there that's different than booking "just in case".

 

[wolf29]

I will probably hate myself for asking this. For those who consider it selfish to book 2 ADRs for a restaurant you are planning on eating at only once (and also plan on canceling the other) , do you also consider it selfish and/or self serving to eat at the same restaurant several times during the same trip?

The latter seems to happen with BoG with some frequency; which I can't help but think keeps another family from getting to eat there just once.

As a person who rarely books ADRs at my 180 window I believe I'm often a beneficiary of those who double book and cancel...so I guess I'm selfish because I want their unused ADR!. (I know that they don't always make it back into the system, but some do.)

I have zero problem with anyone eating in the same spot multiple times. We always begin & end our trip with dinner at Chef Mickey's.

 

[DavidNYC]

I see nothing wrong with having multiple reservations within reason. Not always able to plan exactly where you'll be 180 days out.

Bottom line is the sold out restaurants are serving the same number of people each night regardless of when reservations are booked. You could easily look at this another way. Those who book mutliple reservations and cancel are doing a service to the vast majority of Disney vacationers who don't read message boards and don't book 180 days out. Those who are complaining about this seem to want to keep all the reservations at the popular restuarants in the hands of the select few who know the ins and outs of planning Disney trips. Those cancelled reservations make it possible for people who are looking closer to their trip (or heaven forbid - standby diners) to be able to eat at some of the more popular restaurants without having to set an alarm for 180 days in advance.

Frankly, those cancellations 24 hours in advance allow a good number of people to dine when they wouldn't have been otherwise able to.

So I look at some of these complaints not as how inconsiderate double bookers are in general, I look at them as to how it may affect the complainer personally. Someone is getting that cancelled reservation - it just might be for a mere mortal!

 

[wolf29]

I see nothing wrong with having multiple reservations within reason. Not always able to plan exactly where you'll be 180 days out.

Bottom line is the sold out restaurants are serving the same number of people each night regardless of when reservations are booked. You could easily look at this another way. Those who book mutliple reservations and cancel are doing a service to the vast majority of Disney vacationers who don't read message boards and don't book 180 days out. Those who are complaining about this seem to want to keep all the reservations at the popular restuarants in the hands of the select few who know the ins and outs of planning Disney trips. Those cancelled reservations make it possible for people who are looking closer to their trip (or heaven forbid - standby diners) to be able to eat at some of the more popular restaurants without having to set an alarm for 180 days in advance.





Frankly, those cancellations 24 hours in advance allow a good number of people to dine when they wouldn't have been otherwise able to.

So I look at some of these complaints not as how inconsiderate double bookers are in general, I look at them as to how it may affect the complainer personally. Someone is getting that cancelled reservation - it just might be for a mere mortal!

[B]Or you could say that those "in the know" enough to make multiple reservations are the ones who know the ins and outs and are keeping the best reservations for themselves. If you don't know where you are going to wish to dine, how about taking your chances as one of those "stand-by diners? I seriously doubt that the "vast majority" of WDW vacationers are unaware of the 180 protocol.[/B]

 

[Nancyg56]

I just got into a tiff about this with someone at work...she has LeCellier booked for 2 days of her trip because she does not know which day they will feel like eating there........I tired explaining to her she is hoarding reservations someone else might want, her response was "well I will cancel one once we are at Disney"...urghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I don't think it is that some people don't get, it's that they just don't care!

I think that people who do this should make sure that what skills they lack in planning ahead are magnified during their trip. Folks who create multiple ADR's need to remember to cancel them or that lack of planning is going to cost a lot of money. I cannot speak for anyone else, but that last thing I want to think about while on vacation is canceling multiple ADR's that I am not using.

Okay....here is my scenario.

Last year I booked Chef Mickey's at our 180 day mark for two nights knowing we would only be going on one night. We wanted CM on our arrival day for dinner but I had not yet booked flights and so I did not know if we would be able to go on our arrival day, so I made an ADR for two days later. A month later when I was able to book my flights, I ended up cancelling our arrival day ADR, five months in advance.

Does this bother people?

I am not bothered by people who make multiple reservations at popular places. I am bothered by people who don't cancel their adr's and just don't show up.

I don't have any issues with this kind of thing, but where does it stop? Multiple ADR's until you firm up your touring plans? Multiple ADR's until you arrive and then pare them down?

If no reservations were accepted and you just had to wait in line, or maybe only take same day reservations I would be soo happy. The having to pre-plan sit down meals is the one thing we really dislike about WDW.
.

Good luck with this. If you think standby for Soarin' or ETWB is a long wait, can you imagine standby to eat at 'Ohana or LeCellier? Yikes!

I will probably hate myself for asking this. For those who consider it selfish to book 2 ADRs for a restaurant you are planning on eating at only once (and also plan on canceling the other) , do you also consider it selfish and/or self serving to eat at the same restaurant several times during the same trip?

The latter seems to happen with BoG with some frequency; which I can't help but think keeps another family from getting to eat there just once.

I think that people can eat where they want as many times as they wish.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

I will probably hate myself for asking this. For those who consider it selfish to book 2 ADRs for a restaurant you are planning on eating at only once (and also plan on canceling the other) , do you also consider it selfish and/or self serving to eat at the same restaurant several times during the same trip?

No, I don't think it's selfish at all. We are going on a 32 day trip to WDW in October/November and we have booked BOG, Tusker House, Chef Mickey, O'Hana and CRT twice each during our trip. They are our favourite meals and we are there a long time. If anything happened when we got there that we couldn't make them, we would cancel them as soon as possible. However when we made them, we were and are intending to use them.

As much as I like helping out other people, I wouldn't not go to BOG twice just so someone else could have the reservation.

 

[Nancyg56]

No, I don't think it's selfish at all. We are going on a 32 day trip to WDW in October/November and we have booked BOG, Tusker House, Chef Mickey, O'Hana and CRT twice each during our trip. They are our favourite meals and we are there a long time. If anything happened when we got there that we couldn't make them, we would cancel them as soon as possible. However when we made them, we were and are intending to use them.

As much as I like helping out other people, I wouldn't not go to BOG twice just so someone else could have the reservation.

I agree with you. Your vacation and you can eat where you want as many times as you wish. Now..................32 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[smallblackstars]

I don't really know how I feel about this. I think for certain circumstances then booking a couple of dates for the same place is OK as long as you cancel the one you don't need asap. I think doing this but booking more than 2 dates is a bit excessive. I also don't mind booking the same place twice on the one stay as long as you intend to use both. The only place I would not book 2 of would be CRT as I just feel it's more of a 'once a trip' experience and the thought that some other little princess is not getting to CRT and here we are going twice would make me feel bad That's just me personally though, as long as you use your ADRs or cancel the ones you don't need asap then I don't see any problem.

 

[Disneylover99]

Maybe they should implement a credit card deposit for all restaurants and increase the charge from $10 per person to $20 per person. I would be fine with that. Maybe that would deter the folks who make multiple ADR's with no intention of cancelling.

 

[wolf29]

Maybe they should implement a credit card deposit for all restaurants and increase the charge from $10 per person to $20 per person. I would be fine with that. Maybe that would deter the folks who make multiple ADR's with no intention of cancelling.

Still doesn't help much if you still have until 48 hours prior to cancel without penalty. An exaggeration for sure, but what keeps someone from booking BOG or CRT everyday of your stay and then choosing a couple of days prior which you're going to use.

 

[Gitts2008]

Hoarding reservations is not always very nice. But, I can understand why people do it. For some this is a once in a lifetime trip and they want it to be special or some people just don't know that its wrong.

When I am in "the world" and I get that last minute reservation to me it's like getting pixie dust. So, someone I do not know helped me believe in the magic of WDW.

 

[rainynight]

I see nothing wrong with having multiple reservations within reason. Not always able to plan exactly where you'll be 180 days out.

Bottom line is the sold out restaurants are serving the same number of people each night regardless of when reservations are booked. You could easily look at this another way. Those who book mutliple reservations and cancel are doing a service to the vast majority of Disney vacationers who don't read message boards and don't book 180 days out. Those who are complaining about this seem to want to keep all the reservations at the popular restuarants in the hands of the select few who know the ins and outs of planning Disney trips. Those cancelled reservations make it possible for people who are looking closer to their trip (or heaven forbid - standby diners) to be able to eat at some of the more popular restaurants without having to set an alarm for 180 days in advance.

Frankly, those cancellations 24 hours in advance allow a good number of people to dine when they wouldn't have been otherwise able to.

So I look at some of these complaints not as how inconsiderate double bookers are in general, I look at them as to how it may affect the complainer personally. Someone is getting that cancelled reservation - it just might be for a mere mortal!

Exactly! Someone will eventually get the spot in the restaurant, whether it be someone making last min ressies who is able to book a popular restaurant after the 180 day mark or from a walkup.

I kind of view it as being selfish for those of us in the know to book ADR's at the 180 day mark when a majority of people visiting Disney have no idea reservations are needed that far in advance. The whole system is flawed which causes people to hoard ADR's. The cancelled ADR's are what gives many people who are not aware of the way things work a chance at popular restaurants. So I see no problem booking excessive reservations while waiting to finalize plans. Even if someone hoarded some ADR's and just didn't show up, those restaurants would just accept a few more walkups to make up for it, so someone will be getting a spot and more than likely it will be someone who wasn't aware of the insanity of planning where to eat 190 days ahead of time. So I see overbooking and late cancellations/no shows as being beneficial to the average Disney World guest who did not wake up on the 180 day mark to book their dining reservations as it allows them to book popular ADR's last minute. So if hoarding ADR's and later cancelling can allow the average family to get a last minute ressies to Chef Mickey's so their kids can have a meal with Mickey during their once in a lifetime trip to Disney World then I'm failing to see what's so "selfish" about that? As long as someone is getting the spot in the restaurant, which they will either in the form o last minute reservations or walkups, then I fail to see anything selfish about booking extra ADR's until you're certain about your plans.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

I agree with you. Your vacation and you can eat where you want as many times as you wish. Now..................32 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, 32 days and we cannot wait. We are getting excited now since we made our dining reservations as it's starting to feel more "real"

We usually do CRT once for breakfast but this time we are going during Halloween and cannot miss dining in the castle as Princesses WITH the Princesses

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

I know I'm going to get blasted for this but this is our "excuse".

We're going to Disney for 7 days in August. One popular restaurant I have booked for two different days right now. And I'll admit I won't be cancelling one of them until a few days ahead. Here's why.

One--and only one--of the days we're going to head to Legoland. My son is an absolutely head over heels Lego nut. This will probably be a bigger deal for him than Disney (horrors!). So I want to make sure our day there is a good one. I'm going to be checking weather and making a final decision about which day we go once we get much closer to the time. Then I'll cancel out the ADR I don't need. Someone else will scoop it up and have a great time!

Sorry, but I don't feel guilty about this. Someone else will fill our spot and probably be thrilled that they got a last-minute opening. My son will get his best day at Legoland. We'll get the dinner we really want at Disney. Who's losing here?

 

[wolf29]

I know I'm going to get blasted for this but this is our "excuse".

We're going to Disney for 7 days in August. One popular restaurant I have booked for two different days right now. And I'll admit I won't be cancelling one of them until a few days ahead. Here's why.

One--and only one--of the days we're going to head to Legoland. My son is an absolutely head over heels Lego nut. This will probably be a bigger deal for him than Disney (horrors!). So I want to make sure our day there is a good one. I'm going to be checking weather and making a final decision about which day we go once we get much closer to the time. Then I'll cancel out the ADR I don't need. Someone else will scoop it up and have a great time!

Sorry, but I don't feel guilty about this. Someone else will fill our spot and probably be thrilled that they got a last-minute opening. My son will get his best day at Legoland. We'll get the dinner we really want at Disney. Who's losing here?

Obviously, the family that wants to do the same popular restaurant that winds up elsewhere are the one's losing out. I understand your reasoning, and the fact that we want what's best and will do anything to make our kid's experience memorable, but it is what it is. Yes, the ADR will be used by someone, but it will also be unavailable to many others when they plan their stay. Everyone will continue to do what they wish, and have their own point of view on this issue. Personally, for me, a reservation is to secure a time for some event that I plan on attending, not for speculating. Should I wish to plan as we go, then I am forced to take what's available, not sort through a deck of cards until I find one that I want to play, but that's just me.

 

[DisneyMim]

I think it's very wrong. I don't care if you want to eat in the same place every night during your trip, but to hold 2 different ressies for the same night is wrong, rude, selfish, etc. Just pick one!! People will try and excuse their reasons for doing this, but in my mind I'm not buying any of it. We've been going to Disney forever and have never done this. It's just not fair to others. Some people just don't care as another poster said. They think they are so much more special than the rest of us. Let me give you a clue, we ALL want a magical vacation, but you don't have to be rude about it.

 

[TDC Nala]

The argument is not about holding multiple reservations for the same night. The system at WDW no longer allows you to do this (unless you book them under different names or something.)

It's now about those who do things like book Chef Mickey's every night of their trip, because they know they want to go to Chef Mickey's, they just don't know which night yet. And yes, there are folks who will do this.

Eventually those additional reservations are going to get cancelled, because if they're not it will cost the reserver a bunch of money, and someone else who has been looking for a cancellation will snap them up. but there are some who believe that even though someone will get these reservations eventually, it isn't fair for them to be withheld from those who were booking at around the same time as the reserver.

 

[bdklein]

I think that people who do this should make sure that what skills they lack in planning ahead are magnified during their trip. .

I don't want to have to decide 180 (really 190) days before I am going to eat dinner where I am going to eat. I don't do it an home, and I certainly don't want do it on vacation (Disney or not). Perhaps I might have to plan for a WDW park, but I only have 4 choices (or more if you include DTD, waterparks, etc.). For the restaurants you have the parks and the resorts, and multiple TS restaurants per resort/park. And ease of access if you are staying on-site and at a monorail or Epcot resort, and have park hoppers.

So because WDW is making me to decide so far in advance when there are so many choices, and we don't plan far in advance, I will double-book a few nights. But I will cancel ahead of time.

 

[Disneylover99]

I think it's very wrong. I don't care if you want to eat in the same place every night during your trip, but to hold 2 different ressies for the same night is wrong, rude, selfish, etc. Just pick one!! People will try and excuse their reasons for doing this, but in my mind I'm not buying any of it. We've been going to Disney forever and have never done this. It's just not fair to others. Some people just don't care as another poster said. They think they are so much more special than the rest of us. Let me give you a clue, we ALL want a magical vacation, but you don't have to be rude about it.

Making an extra ADR is neither wrong, rude or selfish. But not cancelling the ADR you won't be using is.