Questions About Online ADRs

[Sherrkel]

Hi Folks
I have to start making ADRs as our 180 day window opens tomorrow.
I haven't been in a couple of years; so I'm new to the online ADRs.
Question # 1 - Resort confirm error?
I've tried to "test drive" it a couple of times; when I enter my resort confirmation # I receive an error message:
"unable to retrieve reservation".
Am I going to have trouble making the ADRs online tomorrow; or is this just a canned error message because I'm technically not at 180 days yet?
Question # 2 - Linking ADRs?
Some of the ADRs I make will be broken in to two separate reservations for the same restaurant for our group (group dining doesn't always work out because some you have call the restaurant directly - LeCellier, Cali Grill - and they don't call you back right away ). I'm not going to risk not getting an ADR there so I'm making two online ones using separate resort confirmation #'s; can they be linked?

I can try calling Disney Dining directly; but I've got a busy day lined up at work so looking for some feedback here in case I can't get on the phone. Thanks!

 

[Kathy Z]

I've just been test driving the online system to see what your problems might include. First, I learned that as of today you can book for Feb 15 & 10 days if you have a confirmed Disney property resort confirmation. Are you sure that you are using the correct reservation number information?

Secondly, have you created an account at http://disneyworld.go.com/reservations/dining/ ? By creating an account and logging in to it you will always be able to use the online system to retrieve your ADR information.

You could make separate ADRs for various parts of your group but I don't believe there is any way to link them when using the online system. So you may just need to find time to call for all of them.

Hopefully someone with experience in large gatherings will reply to you on this thread. I've only needed to book for 4 or 2.

 

[Sherrkel]

Thanks Kathy for replying!

My reservation window doesn't open until tomorrow morning; I thought I would just get an error message to that affect; and not a message that my confirmation # couldn't be found. I do have an account already and was logged in when I tried.

I've verified my resort confirmation # with my AAA agent.

I'll definitely try to call Disney today or I won't sleep well tonight if I might have problems tomorrow!

 

[Kathy Z]

Double check with your AAA agent again. Sometimes when you book with a travel agent they have a certain reservation # that is not the same as what Disney has you booked under. Be sure that your AAA agent knows that the # you need is the one that Disney recognizes for you.

You are right, you should just be getting the message that your date is beyond 180 days.

 

[Sherrkel]

Hi
I found some time to call Disney directly and the Dining CM was able to verify my AAA confirm #; and she gave me a different confirmation # to try from their system ; that didn't work either.
She referred me to technical support.
I called them and was told that I couldn't link my resort confirmation # to my ADR confirmation #'s (when I make them) because I went thru an outside agency. I tried to explain I'm concerned when I log in tomorrow and they ask for my resort confirmation # when I try to book at 180 days that it will not work. I'm not 100% sure she understood what I was trying to get at; I wish they could have seen my screen error message!

I guess if that happens I'll just call the dining phone # instead and make them the "old fashioned" way .

 

[Kathy Z]

I was afraid that might be the kind of thing that was causing a problem for you. I use a travel agent but they are one that specializes in Disney and I am able to do everything online with the number that they give me on my itinerary. But I remember last year hearing that AAA seemed to operate differently. It does seem like you may have to phone Disney Dining to be able to book your 180 + 10. (Unless one of our great techie type disers sees this thread and is able to come to your rescue.) Alas, I am not a techie.

 

[Cafeen]

Are you able to go through the reservation process at all? Try making a dummy reservation for a day less than 180 days out and see what happens. If it works, that's one problem out of the way .

Now let's look at the numbers you've gotten. No don't post them here, but they should follow a pretty standard pattern of ##FL###### (I believe that FL is standard, it was there on all 3 of mine over the past 2 years). If one looks like that and the other doesn't, try using that one. If neither look like that, then /shrug, dunno.

See if you can retrieve the Resort Reservation with whatever number you have. That should be able to pull up regardless of issues with dining. The best way to do this is on the Disney World Site. Click on "My Reservations", log in when it asks you (if it does), and then choose the Retrieve Package/Room Reservations button (middle button). It should load a page that is slower than dirt (erm... how fast exactly is dirt? Usually it's just old, but when things get real old, I guess they get slow too. Yes, that page is still loading for me, hence the excessive parenthetical expression here. Ohh, I'm only 35 days away ). Ahem...

After clicking that link and then going to watch a movie, a page should display with a box to enter your Resort Confirmation Number, your last name (or the primary guest's last name if it isn't you), the resort you're staying at, and the date of your ARRIVAL. Filling that information out correctly should bring up the resort reservation information. Of course, I'm only guessing since I have no clue how a TA (or AAA) booking would affect this page... In theory, if you have the Disney confirmation, it should display, but I just don't know.

If those all work, you may have to find out tomorrow when it is time to book. Unfortunately, I don't have a greater than 180day reservation number to test to see what the error message would be, but I wouldn't put it past Disney's IT department to leave that standard error messaging in place. Hmm, is this a good enough reason to start looking into booking next fall's trip?

(BTW, lawl @ "Post Quick Reply". My replies are rarely ever "quick"!)

 

[sjs314]

You do not need a reservation number to make ADR's as long as you have made an account on the site "My Vacation" and are signed in of course you can only make them 180 days out not the 180+10 making it necessary to book one day at a time but if the site will not accept the reservation number you have I see no other way

From what I know the TA owns your reservation and anything to do with that reservation has to be done by the TA* , ie room requests, and including dining reservations unless you are will to do them one day at a time without a reservation number.

After you do the search for the ADR and have clicked book reservation it may pop up with a window asking for your email and password and phone # or it may not depends , Disney's system is quewky at times any you will be able to book your ADR's without a reservation # and also pull them up at a later day by signing into My Vacation and clicking on dining reservations in the drop down menu

My DH made ADR using his My Vacation account even though he never updated it with the reservation # after we booked

*I am surprised the TA did not tell you this especially when you called about needing the reservation # to make dining ADR's.....this is why I never use a TA and book on my own eliminating the middle man.

 

[Sherrkel]

Hi - thank you both for your indepth - and entertaining (allan) replies .

I cannot pull up my resort reservation # online (whether I'm logged in to my Disney.com account or not) I receive an error message along the lines "cannot display resort reservation at this time, try back later". It was later explained to me that it is becuz it was made by AAA (the confirm no. format is #FY####). Oops I realize that doesn't look good, but those are the two letter sequences!

I've tested the online restaurant reservation system further today and as sjs noted; now it will let me thru to 2/15/11 for example(180 days from today) and proceed to book (comes up to the enter Guest Information page) - never asks for my confirmation # as it did a few days ago (like your example in #4 step #1 Allan (again; this is both when I'm logged and not logged in )). I didn't go all the way thru with the fictitious booking thou; didn't want to mess up anyone elses plans that may be looking for same ADRs!

We'll see what tomorrow morning brings; I'll try starting at 6am online.

Thanks again for taking the time to provide your valuable input.

 

[MommyGina]

What I have found trying to make reservations on-line is this. What is/is not available on-line is different from when you call Disney Dining. Example, tried on-line for 'Ohana for last Monday night. No luck. Called and got a reservation and multiple times were available and none showed on-line. Same thing happened for T-Rex. Nothing on-line. Called and got T-Rex.

If you can't get something you want on-line, call Disney dining. They will ask you for your reservation number. I usually ask my AAA TA first what my reservation number is before I call. As long as you have the name of your party, hotel and arrival date, your reservation can be found. That has been my experience in the past.

If you are staying at Club Level, you can e-mail your dining plans to the Itinerary Planning Office and they will make your reservations for you.

 

[Vijoge]

Question # 1 - Resort confirm error?
I've tried to "test drive" it a couple of times; when I enter my resort confirmation # I receive an error message:
"unable to retrieve reservation".
Am I going to have trouble making the ADRs online tomorrow?

Probably. I know I did!~ I ended up making my ADR's one day at a time. (one each to recognize my confirmation/reservation number at all, even though I can pull up my reservation without difficulty. I don't think it's because of my booking agency as I booked BLT through DVC Member Services!

 

[Cafeen]

I try .

If the system is not recognizing your number at all, then best bet may be calling. Although, not sure if the phone CM system would recognize it differently (though they may be able to pull it up via details rather than just the resort confirmation.)

As far as the inventory thing, most of the time they match online and offline (except RFC and TRex, this is due to other reasons). There are times when you catch a cancelation at just the right time, but the system isn't all that well coded, so I'm sure there are other times when it just doesn't load right online. (BTW, my comma key is wearing out, I think I use it too much!)

The RFC/TRex thing is due to how that company releases reservations to Disney. They only release some of their inventory rather than all. It's generally recommended to call those places direct and get the times/dates of your choice.

Overall, you can try again tomorrow morning, but be ready to call if it's not working right.

And I'm sure you'll enjoy the break from those NH winters (I was up there until last April when I moved somewhere a "bit" warmer )

 

[Kathy Z]

Thanks Allan for popping over here to try to help.

My reservation # is #FM##### (booked through a Disney Travel Specialist) and I was able to book 180+10 online by myself. My TA offered to make any ADRs I wanted but I was able to do them myself.

Sherrkel, I wish you great luck tomorrow. At least your window doesn't open August 26th when hordes of us will be calling Disney Dining to book the Candlelight Processional Packages!

 

[Cafeen]

So it appears that "F" = Florida, not FL... perhaps the L is just random in my case, or it represents the specific agency. Or... it means nothing at all .

At anyrate, that should be the confirmation number used and I'd suggest trying it in the morning. The "can not find ..." blah blah blah could very well just be poor use of standard messaging (we do similar stuff on our apps, and it drives me crazy!)

You'll get those dining reservations one way or another, just may take a bit of extra work on your part. Disney does not make the process easy . (Between site issues, horrible phone CMs, late/changing hours, non-standardized web systems... I could go on all night)

 

[Sherrkel]

Good Morning!
Just a quick update to all of you who were so kind to try to help out;
this morning (at 6:05am at my 180day window) the system recognized my AAA Confirmation # and I was able to book some of my reservations. The other's I called Disney dining at 7am and spoke to a very cheerful and helpful CM who made the remainder of our group dining ressies .

Got everything we wanted .

P.S. I did find out when you make two online ADRs for the same night, same time you cannot link them. With those I made 1 under my name, and the 2nd one under my SIS name with her email address - worked out fine. I know you might ask why I had to do that - because WCC only allows you to order the Skillet meal when you book a large (13+group) - and I'm sure it's a great meal - but other diner's in our party want the option of ordering anything off the menu.


Thanks again everyone!

 

[MHSweb79]

We are a party of three and we were offered the skillet meal at WCC. Not sure what you are referring to?

 

[Sherrkel]

We are a party of three and we were offered the skillet meal at WCC. Not sure what you are referring to?

When you book for a group larger than 13 - you HAVE to order the Skillet meal - they will not allow anyone in your party to order other entrees off the menu (regardless if you DDP or not). I was told this twice by the restaurant directly in 2008, and re-confirmed it with two Dining CMs this week.

I'm sure the skillet meal is great; and it's likely I'll even order it when we dine there - but not everyone in our party wants it.

 

[Kathy Z]

Sherri - I'm so happy that you were able to get everything you wanted.