Table service dinner on first night

[samsteele]

I booked Raglan Road at Disney Springs via Open Table as my arrival night dinner when I checked into Pop Century 2 weeks ago. Open Table is great because no cancellation penalty if your flight is late, etc. And if you are paying out of pocket for your meals and not on the dining plan you should be good to go. However, I ended up with a big problem. Pop Century didn't set up my dining plan properly when I checked in. So after a slow bus ride to Dis Springs and after being seated for my dinner, I was advised by my server there was a problem with my dining plan and they wouldn't honour it. I could pay out of pocket for my dinner and then take it up with my hotel later. I opted to just have a beer and then got back on the bus to the Pop to sort it out. I ended up eating at the Art of Animation Food Court that night (a quick walk over the Generation Gap Bridge from the Pop) and it was a decent meal. But I then had to redo my dining ressies on the fly as I had an extra TS credit to fit in. My tip: make sure to test that your plan is properly set up by eg getting your refillable mug in the Pop cafeteria before making the long trek to Disney Springs or to another Resort for dinner. Hard lesson learned. I also didn't get much sympathy from the Pop concierge and was very glad I hadn't paid for my dinner oop and then had the fun task of trying to be reimbursed for it. My sense is that this is a frequent problem and happens to many guests. It shouldn't since the magic band has been out of trials for 2 years now. Just FYI.