Thoughts on online reservations?

[maccalovah]

I'm not sure how long online reservations have been available (despite living in Tampa, we had a Disney-free year due to our wedding expenses, and are just now starting to get back into it), but does anyone else feel like there are even LESS available reservations now that everyone can just get online and reserve dining? I'm only asking (and partially venting) because I managed to talk my husband into a 4 day trip at the end of September for his birthday, and all of his restaurant choices have absolutely no availability during the entire 4-day span. Granted, we are locals and don't ever plan 180+ days in advance where we are going to want to eat, but it's just really frustrating- 2 months in advance is hardly "last minute", and yet everything seems to be booked completely

Since we can't get into 'Ohana, he no longer wants to go at all!
Any advice on this? Do I just keep checking and checking on a daily basis for a spot to open up? If you call the dining line, is their availability any different from what I am seeing online?

 

[stmize]

It is possible that there isn't any availability due to free dining during that time.

 

[PoohsFan1]

It is possible that there isn't any availability due to free dining during that time.

That is exactly what I was thinking. When we booked we were able to get everything we wanted, but we made ADRs at 180+ out. Then when FD came out, we decided to switch our reservation over from a room only to FD therefore all of my ADRs were cancelled, but I was able to get them back plus add more ADRs like CRT dinner and Le Cellier lunch (we upgraded to the DxDDP).

To the OP, I thought the online ADRs were a lot better than if you were to call. It was really easy and there were a lot of slots open, but like I said before we got our ADRs early on, but for your situation, I would definitely keep trying for your O'hana ADR because people do cancel (especially at the 45 day mark). I would also keep calling too, get overly obsessive with Disney dining because something is bound to show up. And here is some for you

 

[maccalovah]

ahhhh, that explains it! Bummer! Thanks for the heads up, and I will just keep trying and hope for some cancellations! (I was able to get a reservation, although it's for 9:55 PM, which seems a bit late...at least it's something, though!).

 

[Cafeen]

That is exactly what I was thinking. When we booked we were able to get everything we wanted, but we made ADRs at 180+ out. Then when FD came out, we decided to switch our reservation over from a room only to FD therefore all of my ADRs were cancelled, but I was able to get them back plus add more ADRs like CRT dinner and Le Cellier lunch (we upgraded to the DxDDP).

To the OP, I thought the online ADRs were a lot better than if you were to call. It was really easy and there were a lot of slots open, but like I said before we got our ADRs early on, but for your situation, I would definitely keep trying for your O'hana ADR because people do cancel (especially at the 45 day mark). I would also keep calling too, get overly obsessive with Disney dining because something is bound to show up. And here is some for you

Unless you canceled them yourself, the Dining Reservations should not have been canceled. I'd double check to make sure you don't have extras floating around.

As for the OP, yup, keep checking every day. It's a bit rough for locals, and I get that, but something is bound to open up.

 

[PoohsFan1]

Unless you canceled them yourself, the Dining Reservations should not have been canceled. I'd double check to make sure you don't have extras floating around.

Hmmmm, that is interesting because when I called to switch my reservation to the FD, I got a new reservation number and because of that all of my previously made ADRs were cancelled (or at least that is what the CM told me had happened, so I had to sit on the phone with him to get my ADRs back for the times that I wanted). Then when I called to switch resorts, the first thing I asked the CM was if I changed resorts, would it affect my ADRs and she said no just as long as it will still be the same reservation number, if there was a new reservation number then it will affect the ADRs (which I didn't want to happen since I had some hard to get ADRs at really great times). I did go back and check my ADRs and I don't have any duplicates hanging around

 

[Avery&Todd]

YES!! just keep trying! I planned out last "suprise" trip just 3 weeks before we arrived and when I initially booked out ADRs, I couldnt get much of anything!!

But, I kept trying and trying and I lucked out at "odd" times - like later at night or earlier in the morning - and I ended up being able to book O'hana's, Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace and Tutto less than 2 weeks out - just keep trying!

 

[MODisneyfan]

OMG.. I cxled a room only and the CM told me that my dinning reservation were fine.. OH NO..

 

[Tricia1972]

OMG.. I cxled a room only and the CM told me that my dinning reservation were fine.. OH NO..

I would not worry about it at all. This is the only instance that I've ever heard of a CM claiming this.

To check things out I looked over my brand new reservations, as I have used my resort confirmation number to associate my resort reservation with my dining reservations when making my ADRs online over the past few days.

I just went online to look up my reservations, and never used my resort confirmation number. My ADRs are all there, associated with my email address and phone number. There is no mention of my resort reservation number.

I know that my resort reservation number is not associated with my online account, because I have to re-enter that information each morning when I make reservations.

I think that this is an isolated instance of a misinformed CM, not a change to Disney's reservation policy.

 

[Kit'smommy]

We live about an hour away from Disney (between Tampa and WDW) and still try to book our longer stays at the 180 mark. Things fill up with the free dining. They filled up just as quickly with phone ressies as they do with online dining but is because of the dining plans and not the method of making reservations.

I really love the online system because it is faster for me to check availability and make and cancel ressies. I can also more easily see my various options.

We still occassionally run over to DTD or one of the parks for a day and often make ressies the day we go. If you want to to things last minute, you need to check back often for cancellations and be flexible.

Good luck to you and have a nice trip (and birthday).

 

[maccalovah]

Something I've noticed about the online system is that it allows you to keep multiple reservations for similar times at multiple or same places. I guess that was my main confusion on this whole thing- what is stopping people from going on there and booking up multiple reservations, "just in case" plans change during the course of their trip? Obviously that's not what I was doing (I merely noticed it allowed me to keep both reservations as I was changing one of them).

 

[mcd2745]

Something I've noticed about the online system is that it allows you to keep multiple reservations for similar times at multiple or same places. I guess that was my main confusion on this whole thing- what is stopping people from going on there and booking up multiple reservations, "just in case" plans change during the course of their trip? Obviously that's not what I was doing (I merely noticed it allowed me to keep both reservations as I was changing one of them).

I'm sure there's a lot of that happening - people hoarding reservations 180 days out "just in case" even though that they know they likely will not be using them. I bet there are people who book Le Cellier for dinner every night of their stay 180 days out even though they'll only actually eat there once. And doing things like creating multiple profiles/accounts on Disney's site to make multiple bookings for the same time. They need to go back to something similar to the old way when only guests staying at Disney's resorts could make ADRs (or "Priority Seating" back in the day) so far in advance. Also, maybe they should have people guarantee all reservations with a CC or come up with some other way to penalize no-shows.

 

[sydneysmom]

I love the new online reservations ! when we were able to make our ressies 180 + 10, we got everything we wanted for the times we wanted. Now, this was well before free dining was announced, so I think we were very lucky.

A few weeks ago when they rolled out the new system, I had to change 2 dinners ....the cool thing was, our previous ressies came up so I was able to book the new / cancel the old in one step. Very easy.

well, since free dining was announced, there's alot that's no longer available. I tried changing our Coral Reef ressie from a lunch to a dinner, but no times available. I'll keep looking, but I'm just glad we got everything we wanted to get.