Persistance pays off

[absolutmey]

yes, it does. I must have checked 40 times for a BOG res for our trip in 2014 and wouldn't you know it.... driving down to FL, three days before the res date, I checked one more time and got a 6:05pm! PERFECT! I'm so thankful that I found these boards!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Ah, I understand better now - thank you. Group mentality is a powerful thing! I would love to know the actual statistics about volume on Dumbo.

Where Dumbo's popularity is concerned, it is also location, location, location! Every Disney ad used to feature smiling children riding Dumbo with the Castle in the background. Every first time visitor felt compelled to recreate the image that'd been planted in the mind in the ad. (maybe not everyone, but many)

Now that Dumbo is tucked away, out of sight, out of mind. Funny part is: Astro Orbiter is the basically Dumbo mounted up a floor. For years it was walk-on to Dumbo's hour-long waits. I struggled to figure out why. Lo and behold, Astro hasn't really changed in over 30 years, but the waits have easily doubled since they moved Dumbo!

Relating this back to the threat title: we (usually) used to skip Dumbo because it wasn't worth the wait, but we kept going to Disney. We now skip Astro, but finally DO ride Dumbo!

[I must also add...old Dumbo ALSO used to have a very dumb loading method. Riders used to get red plastic cards per elephant, then CM's would go around and collect them before starting the ride. Except 1/4 the guests would forget and put the card in their pocket or something instead of putting it on the ear. CM's couldn't start the ride until they'd found all the dumb cards. Each re-load took longer than the actual ride! ]

 

[Tomh]

Is it still possible to double / triple book? I know on the website, when I changed the time of my reservation, it told me I already had an existing reservation for that time frame, and automatically cancelled it. Are people creating a second / third MDE account to book additional ADR's through? With the credit card guarantee, sounds like that could get mighty expensive quickly if you should forget to cancel the extra's on time, and I can just imagine having your reservations for a weeks stay scattered through 3 different MDE accounts / names.

 

[momtosam]

Along the same lines, if you think you are getting incorrect information from a CM, hang up and call again. Two Mays ago we were at Dis when they first started Star Wars dining in conjunction with SWW. I called to reserve breakfast at Sci Fi and the CM I spoke with insisted there was no breakfast there. I said okay, thank you, hung up and talked to a CM who knew exactly what I wanted to book.

 

[gzmtlock]

Is it still possible to double / triple book?

No and yes. No, I don't think you can book ADRs with closely overlapping times (maybe less than an hour?). But you can book more than most reasonable people will eat. For example (and I know I'm risking getting flamed here, but am hoping folks will not be judgmental), I have ADRs at H&V at 5:40 and HBD at 7:35 on the same day, about 6 weeks from now. I originally had MM at 6:55, but wanted to move closer to the front of the park and earlier in the evening. When checking yesterday, the H&V and HBD both became available. The H&V ADR meets both my criteria, but is an over-priced character buffet with questionable food. I prefer HBD for food, but it's getting close to potentially overlapping with SW fireworks time of 9:15. Unable to make a decision quickly, I was able to book both, and also cancelled the MM (which someone else booked within a couple hours). I will decide within a day or two which I want, and cancel the other.

Am I holding an ADR I won't use? Yes. Will I release it well before that day? Also yes. Honestly, I've done this with more than 2 dozen ADRs while planning this trip. (I know, I need to get a life.) We're taking the DGKs for the first time, and I want everything to be as perfect as possible!

I have read posts, and am sure they are accurate, that there are people who in a situation like I've described would hold both until the day before. I don't think that's right, and would not do it myself. I could get upset about other folks doing it, but rather than get all worked up about something I can't control, I choose to look at it as an opportunity to pick up day-before reservations, if I would like to do that.

 

[kip0992]

Options seem to open up around a week out as well...when people finalize their plans and start cancelling the things they don't need.

 

[Tomh]

No and yes.

Thanks for the details. While I doubt it is something I would ever do, it is always good to know what can and can not be done.

Personally, I tend to plan things out so much ahead of time that when it is time to make ADR's, there are no situations where I can't decide, because I already decided months ago lol. I have had a couple of situations where I couldn't get a particular restaurant on a particular day, and so I changed that restaurant to another day when we were going to be in that park, but by the time I am making ADR's, I know what days I'm going to what parks, and which restaurants / times I want. If I need to switch something around, all the information I need is in front of me in a spread sheet, and it is easy to swap things around. I don't have to think about what will work, that has been done way way way too far in advance