The "I lied to get an ADR" thread

[maddiesdaddy]

Ok,

I know I just posted on this thread about this issue but here is what just happened to me regarding CRT. Very weird.

I called..I have been calling every day, twice a day, for a cancellation so that my daughter and I can go..Cinderella is her favorite princess.

So, tonight, the usual mantra..table for 2, looking for CRT any meal, any time for Sep 8-12. But this time, because the lady was very nice in helping me book another reservation to try the Wave at the GF, I asked her to sprinkle a little pixie dust on her keyboard and find a cancellation.

She came back on and said, we have no tables for 2 available, but we have a table that seats 3 available for Wednesday night..to which I said, my reservation is only for 2 people. She said, I know this but I need to know how old your other child is. I'm still pretty slow so I said, my daughter is 4..and she again said, you will need to pay for a 2nd child to get this reservation so how old is this child. I stuttered a bit and said, my 'other child' is 3...to which she said, children's rates are for children ages 3-9, adult rates are 10 and up but there is no charge for infants so I ask you again, how old is your 2nd child. I said 2. She said perfect, and rattled off my confirmation number after taking my CC info. I then, playing along, asked her what would happen after a long day at the park if my infant child just wasn't up for a CRT dinner..she said, you can call and move down 1 person on the reservation or if you show up, we know that 'things happen'. I stayed on for the survey and gave her all 1s.

So, that's my story. I have a ressie which I am thrilled about. But it's interesting the way this went down.

What a wierd system.

 

[lin7]

We had an incident at CRT as well a couple years ago, we went to their little podium and ask if there was anything for avaiable that week, she look it up and she said she has something avaiable for us, but it was for three, she told us that was the only way she could get us ressie.

 

[Tricia1972]

I personally have no problem with your reservation. I think it's ridiculous that they have a table for THREE but not one for two. In the normal world where you walk into a restaurant if you're a party of two and there are no two tops available - they seat you at a four top. I don't see this differently, even if someone snagged a reservation that I 'needed'. In my mind - you got to the restaurant before me.

Also, we had a few instances where a party member of ours was legitimately sick. I made my reservations at 180 days, should I have called to cancel my LeCellier to adjust it from 7 to 6? I didn't and I felt no guilt about it. We actually opened up seating that night as well. Party of 7 we'd have been at two four tops, party of 6 we were at a 4 and a 2 that were pushed together.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

Just tell them the 3rd party didn't show up. There are tiny tables for 2 persons, and I would not want to sit there!! I am glad we are a party of 5 for that reason. I have made ressies at CRT for 6 in order to get a ressie, because there were none availabe for 5 even at 180 days out.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

I don't really know where I weigh in on this...I'm still trying to plan my stuff..but booking within 180 days of our trip in September, I can get a reservation almost nowhere.

Here's a perfect example of this issue that is being debated. I have called for 2 straight weeks for a party of 2 for Coral Reef..I said I would take any time, any meal..just get me in..2 straight weeks, nothing. I found this thread today and just inquired if someone were to join me and we became a party of 3..what were my options..she said I could have any time for lunch..she had 'tons' of tables available for anytime I wanted 11:30 - whenever.

I didn't book because I'm not really sure where I fall. I would never teach my daughter to lie..ever..but this is SO FRUSTRATING...they have all these open tables but because we're just 2, we can't book an ADR.

In a word, ugh.

So, call and book the table for 3, and if the third person doesn't show up on your ADR time, they probably will not turn you away.

 

[MrsR]

I have a dillema, what would you do?
I booked a reservation for a party of 4 at CRT. After 2 weeks, my Mom decided she wants to join us on the trip. I called to add her and they told me they had nothing for 5 people. Anyway I kept the reservation and will go regardless. My Mom said she would even sit the meal out so my girls can see Cinderella with my husband and I.
If I show up with 5 people for a reservation of 4 will they turn my Mom away?

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

I have a dillema, what would you do?
I booked a reservation for a party of 4 at CRT. After 2 weeks, my Mom decided she wants to join us on the trip. I called to add her and they told me they had nothing for 5 people. Anyway I kept the reservation and will go regardless. My Mom said she would even sit the meal out so my girls can see Cinderella with my husband and I.
If I show up with 5 people for a reservation of 4 will they turn my Mom away?

They will probably just seat you at a table for 6 - who would turn away "Grandma": that would be like dissing Fairy Godmother!!

 

[LeesyUD]

I personally have no problem with your reservation. I think it's ridiculous that they have a table for THREE but not one for two. In the normal world where you walk into a restaurant if you're a party of two and there are no two tops available - they seat you at a four top. I don't see this differently, even if someone snagged a reservation that I 'needed'. In my mind - you got to the restaurant before me.

Also, we had a few instances where a party member of ours was legitimately sick. I made my reservations at 180 days, should I have called to cancel my LeCellier to adjust it from 7 to 6? I didn't and I felt no guilt about it. We actually opened up seating that night as well. Party of 7 we'd have been at two four tops, party of 6 we were at a 4 and a 2 that were pushed together.

I completely agree with this. I would have no problem if 2 people booked before I did and took up a table for 3 or 4 if that was all that was there. First come first serve. I think it is very different if there are 4 people at a table for 10 but seriously I don't think it is right for Disney to restrict the tables in the way that they do just bc they want to fill every table in the restaurant to full capacity. Me and my fiance stayed at the POLY on our last trip and enjoyed Ohana so much that we wanted to go back a 2nd night. We tried a few nights in a row through Disney dining but they had nothing. We decided to try the concierge and he mentioned to us that there were no tables for 2 but there were still several for 4. So he put it in for a party of 3 and told us to let them know when we checked in it would just be the two of us. He mentioned that some restaurants have very few tables for two and ohana is one of them. The funniest part is that we had 2 people that we were sort of traveling with at a different resort and they decided to come with us last minute bc they loved it too. So we changed the ADR to 4 people that afternoon. Honestly I thought this was a great piece of information to know. IMHO it is not really cheating Disney bc I feel Disney is cheating smaller parties that are spending alot of money to vacation there. I was hoping the secret would not get out

 

[jennwndrlnd]

I've had the same thing happen twice in the past two weeks. First we were told that there were no tables for 4 or 5 but that there was a 6 available. I said we didn't have 6 and the guy told me just to tell them when we check-in that he made a mistake. Basically I was told the same thing the second time also. I am left to wonder how many people can't get a larger table and so they book a smaller one and then show up and say a mistake was made? It's gotta be happening especially with how lax the reservation people seemed to be. I've noticed wait times going up at some locations and now it makes me wonder if that is because they are seating tables with the wrong number of people in the first place. I am in agreement that places should be letting people take the table whether it's a four they have left and only two or three and going to be eating there.

 

[aubriee]

I think the bigger problem here is that a lot of people aren't actually lieing to the CM to get the reservation. The CMs are the ones doing the lieing.

I was honest with the CM and told her we were a party of 2. She took it upon herself to input that we were a party of 3 so that we could get a table.

This is definitely true! When I made ADRs for my May trip, I told the CM I was traveling solo and asked for tables for one. For Narcoosee he said, "we can seat the three of you at xx time". I again repeated I needed a table for one and he again laughed and said, "yes, maam, as I said we can seat the three of you at xx time". I finally caught on and said, "Oh, I guess my two traveling companions will be sick that night?" and he laughed and said, "either that, or you could pick someone up in the parks that day. That is a very nice restaurant after all." Once I got down there, I got a little irritated because I found he had booked two more restaurants for three people without telling me. When I checked in and they asked 'party of three'?, I know I looked at them blankly, before telling them 'no just one'.

He had made ADRs for three for me at: Le Cellier, Narcoosee, and Flying Fish. At Flying Fish, I told them to just seat me at the bar and they could give my table away. Oh, yes, one more thing, at several of my ADRs I was seated at a table for four where I had an ADR for only one person. At Le Cellier, where the CM had apparently booked me as a party of three, without telling me, I was seated at a table for two.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I've had the same thing happen twice in the past two weeks. First we were told that there were no tables for 4 or 5 but that there was a 6 available. I said we didn't have 6 and the guy told me just to tell them when we check-in that he made a mistake. Basically I was told the same thing the second time also.

Between this, and maddiesdaddy's experience, it appears the dining reservation CMs are as annoyed with the issue as we are!

 

[disneyfan2]

I don't understand the 180 days + 10...so can I book 190 days out from my trip? So confused...help! I am planning a surprise christmas trip for my family and its a once in a life time thing for us so I want to make it perfect! Thanks guys!

you start booking at 180 days, but you can book 10 days after that date. so eg if your 180 days booking date is June 15th, you don't have to call in each day to book. You will book all the days at the 180 point(upto 10days)

 

[Terk-1]

I've run into this a couple of times when making ADR's for a party of 1. For instance one of my adr's I was told that there was nothing available for a party of 1, but the exact time I wanted was available for a party of 2. 1 or 2 people, what is the difference? The CM booked it as a party of 2 and told me to arrive on time for the ADR, then just to say the other person cancelled at the last minute.

 

[ReggieB]

It's funny, I read these posts about how odd the ADR system is, then every now and then there is a post about "Why can't they put the ADR system online?"... can you imagine the chaos? I can't see it being as flexible as some of the CM's have been. That and the fact that it would probably be as "buggy" and slow as the DCL excursion/palo system

Glad to see that CM's are trying to be helpful.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Yes I have done this Oh the shame...
We had a party of 5 and nothing was available but the CM said there was a table for 8 available so I took it and when we got there we just said our whole party would not be joining us...
Flame on!

 

[SWesterman92]

Because CRT is a prepaid ADR how should I handle cancelling out the extra space that I don't need? I know I have to make changes 24 hours in advance ...

 

[marvali]

I just want to clarify this a bit...its 180 days from your day of arrival, the 10 are the 10 days of your vacation. Its not 190 days prior to your first day.

This way you only have to make one call to make all your dining reservations instead of having to call every day to make your ADRs for the next day of vacation.

Cindy's Mom, thanks for clearing that up. I knew what I meant but I didn't say it too well. You call 180 days before your arrival day, but if you are a disney resort guest, you can make ressies at that time (180 days out) for up to ten nights of vacation time (for a realized 190 days ahead for the final day - or is it really 189 days since the first day of your ten day stay would be day one??? aarrrrgggghhhhhh).

 

[caresy]

I say go for it, people lie all the time to make life more fun and magical - how many of us have perpetuated the Santa Claus and Easter Bunny are real lie for our children's sake to have a more magical holiday??? I know I have!

 

[DISNEY1975]

I gotta wonder how common this is. Do they check your ressie when you book for ADRs? Are you booked onsite?

I really want to get LeCellier for 2009...we haven't been able to eat their due to the ADR system not having any availability. I wonder if lying about onsite ressies is common. The rule is 180 plus 10 so technically 190 days possible. If I said I am staying onsite from October 1 to October 10th, but am really only staying October 6-10, could I just call and book 1 ressie for the 10th, hence booking LeCellier on the 190th day?

I doubt I would ever do this b/c I'm not one to try and beat the system, but not being able to get LeCellier EVER, is pissing me off. I'm beginning to wonder if everyone else that is getting it is lying or cheating the system like you did somehow. and yes...I've tried for lunch and dinner times, ANY time AT ALL....no availability.

My sister tried you exact scenerio above, calling 4 days early to book the 10th day when it was really the 7th...didnt work. They asked for her resort reservation #. She said she had it at work and was calling from home. They then asked for her home phone number. She couldnt say she didnt know it, so gave it to them and they saw she was checking in later than she stated.

With that being said, I read someones post on Disboards saying they are not staying on property, but were able to book the 180 + 10. I guess its the luck of the draw which CM you get on the phone.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

I know this was addressed earlier on this very thread. 180+10 does not mean you can book 190 days ahead. It means that on day 180 you can make reservations for that day, and then the next 10 days of your vacation. Why is that so hard to understand? I have done this and it makes it easier for onsite guests to make ressies without having to call every day that would be day 180 for a particular day for an ADR. It is a great thing!!