Trouble w/dining ressies ??

[RMulieri]

While I generally only stay Deluxe and DVC...this seriously is wrong.

 

[PatriciaH]

I'm wondering the same thing. CM's sign a confidentiality agreement, why are they not only posting this information but keep coming back to stir the pot. My employer does some things I may not agree with but I would never post information on a public board that could harm my company. It's unethical.

Nope no confidentiality agreement here. Certain CM's may have to. Not sure. I would guess Imagineers, lawyers, etc. I also do not think this is info to be hidden from the general public. Disney IT (outside 3rd party company btw) built it into their system. There is a long thread about the tiers on the CM board here on the DIS as well. Of course most CM's are not happy about it. No one is "stirring the pot" either just answering questions. I guess I will not now though.

 

[seamour]

1) Don't give up yet.
2) Just find a Concierge with a Dining Override Code.
3) The code gets you a ressie at any ADR restaurant.
4) Even at the last minute.
5) Each resort has at least one, sometimes two with such ability.

NOTE: Any person that can make ADR's sometimes see ressies in "RED". These are overbookings put in by an override, and can be for Vice-President friends, or marketing friends, or people the concierge just wanted to help. For some eateries, like CRT, there could be 20-40 of these daily. The eatery must put them into the normal order, as if the ADR was not overbooked. Of course, this backs up other ADR's. Such is life.

And you just shared this information with 5,000 of your closest friends, give it about a week before that won't work anymore, and Disney will not be able to use that little bit of magic to pixie dust trips for people where something went seriously wrong. Do you not sign some sort of confidentiality agreement when you are hired?

 

[iHEARTflorida]

I can't manage to read through this 10 page thread, but what is this 'tier' thing, you guys are talking about? Is it official? Or just rumors?

 

[seamour]

Doubt it. As in my post a little further up, the ONLY identifiers that the TA site asks for when searching times are if the client/guest is DVC or AP. They dont ask if staying on property, DDP, TIW, or any of the countless other possibilities people are asking about.

yes but you are putting in your clients reservation number, and that can provide all the information the system needs.

 

[kparc]

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm Let's see, we are staying at a moderate (CSR) with Free Dining from 8/18 tp 8/28. I called ADR on the morning 90 days out (at 7 am per dw instructions), completed my reservations, the system crashed before she could confirm reservations, had to call back in 2 hours, got through, got all the reservations I wanted, on the days I wanted, within a half hour of requested time. I called back a few days later to change two reservations, no problems. I don’t think there is any GREAT CONSPIRANCY or HIDDEN DISNEY AGENDA or SPECIAL PEREFERANTIAL TREATMENT, I think it's just "luck of the draw." Or maybe it's because since my first name is Mickey? (jk - it's not.)

 

[larsnshan]

I was on the phone at 5:59 AM (we are central time) this morning and got all the reservations I wanted on the day and time I requested except Ohana's. I had to swap days to work Ohana's in. My reservations are as follows:

Le Cellier (sept 5) 8:45 PM
Chef Mickeys (6th) 6:35 PM
Maya Grill (7th) 7:30 PM
Teppan Edo (8th) 6:10 PM
Yak and Yeti (9th) 7:30 PM
Kona Cafe (10th) 5:30 PM
1900 Park Fare (11th) 10:30AM
Raglan Road (12th) 7:30 PM
Ohana (13th) 6:40 PM
Chef de France (14th) 5:00 PM

And just for the record we are staying at a value resort, getting free dining, and don't have a disney visa and I did fine.

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

I'm DVC but staying at POP for free dining before I am off to Bay Lake Towers. I called at 90 day mark around 8:30 a.m. and received all my ADR's within the times that I wanted including LeCellier for dinner. Would this "system" know that I am DVC, even though I am actually at a value during free dining? The reservation number I gave was the POP #.

 

[notaclue]

I think it is very nice of the CMs to read and post on this board. They don't have to share their knowledge and tips with us, they do this because they are kind folks who are trying to help the rest of us get the most out of our Disney experience. CM's: I appreciate you. Thanks for being there and answering all the questions.

 

[TDC Nala]

I think this thread is getting into an area where there are some slams being made against a few of the posters.

Please try to discuss this issue without coming down on other posters.

If this thread gets any further out of hand we'll need to close it.

 

[deej696]

There is a major point that you are missing here.

The travel agent system is not the subject of this discussion; the travel agent system is irrelevent. The CM's have already stated that they are NOT talking about the travel agent system.

The CMs are talking about their internal Disney system, which has far more capabilities than Disney will ever give either travel agents or the general public. Therefore, it should surprise noone that the CMs' ability to get ADRs will always be far greater than yours or mine.

If and when Disney gets the online ADR system up and running, CMs with inside access are still going to have the ability to create available ADRs when none exist in the public system. The question is not whether Disney CMs have greater access to ADRs than you do as a travel agent. Of course they do! They always have, and always will.

The question is whether the "new system" will automatically generate preferences for specific groups of customers. And, if it does, what will be the pecking order and how will it affect your vacations?

I think we should all realize that just because the CMs have the ability to enter those designators does not necessarily mean those categories will be treated any better or worse than anyone else. Those designations could well be nothing more than a means for gathering marketing data.

Or stirring the pot...whichever you prefer.

Yes I realize they are talking about the CM system, but you edited my quote before the most important part. The TA and general public online systems for rooms/packages are the exact same. Based on that it is likely that the general public and TA systems for dining will also be the same. In the TA system there is no request for resort information before providing reservation times. The only requested info is if the guest is DVC or AP....thats it....

Why would Disney have one "tiered" system through CMs and one "non-tiered" system online???

yes but you are putting in your clients reservation number, and that can provide all the information the system needs.

Again, this is not correct. The reservation number is not inputed until AFTER the dining time is provided. If there was any sort of "tier" this information would be needed BEFORE the reservation time is quoted....

 

[seamour]

Again, this is not correct. The reservation number is not inputed until AFTER the dining time is provided. If there was any sort of "tier" this information would be needed BEFORE the reservation time is quoted....[/QUOTE]

Um no, that is not correct, unless you are working on a different system than other TA's. The reservation number HAS to be in there to book your 90 + length of reservation (it is not 90 + 10 by the way, it's 90 plus the length of your reservation, IF that is over 10 days to be honest I do not know what would happen).

 

[deej696]

Yes, I just went into the system and I stand corrected on the 90+ part. In the event of reservations beyond 90 days, a resort reservation must be linked first in order to search the days past 90. But for all reservations within 90 days, no reservation number is needed...

 

[ElizabethB]

Interesting thread. Slowly, but surely, everything we've liked at WDW, including great and sometimes rather adventurous dining, is being whittled away in favor of some tiered mass market product that I want no part of.

Oh well. Fine dining at Disney was great while it lasted. Off to other places and better meals, without all the fight and insanity to get in and the disappointing food once we do.

I never thought I'd say, "Bring back Eiser". But, as for the current management, Rusty Scupper said it best.

 

[JimMIA]

Why would Disney have one "tiered" system through CMs and one "non-tiered" system online???

Well, actually I edited for brevity but I also specifically noted that you said the TA and public systems were identical. That fact proves my point that the TA system is irrelevent to this discussion. We're not talking about what you can do, we're talking about what Disney can do.

Why would any hospitality company have a more capable system available only to their employees and not to the general public and TAs? To be honest, I'm amazed that a travel agent would ask that question!

The answer is that Disney needs to be able to accommodate certain people far better than anyone else. There are many circumstances where they need that ability, but the classic is a celebrity who wants to visit Disney on the spur of the moment. Disney wants to be able to accommodate them, so they build a system which allows certain staff people to bounce you out of your room if necessary to accommodate their VIP guest. The same is true of restaurants. They seat the VIP at your table and tell you to wait a few minutes until your table is ready. There is nothing new about any of that -- it happens every day, and it's always been that way.

Disney is obviously not going to give TAs (or anyone else) the ability to go into their system and bump people around, and that's why they have a separate system. Every deluxe hotel chain I know of has a similar internal system to accommodate special situations.

The key question here is not whether Disney has a private, internal system. They do.

The question here is whether that system automatically assigns preferences to certain large customer populations as a couple of CMs seem to believe.

So far, the anecdotal evidence indicates the system does NOT assign preferences as alledged. Certainly the DVC boards are full of complaints about long waits on hold and inabilities to get ADRs. But the system to assign preferences may not be implemented yet.

 

[deej696]

Yes that all makes perfect sense and I agree with basically all of it. I should have clarified that by "general public" I was not meaning the CM system, but rather the general public online dining system that we all know is coming (although at this point who knows when). My point was it made no sense to have a "tiered" system for guests who call WDW-Dine, and a non-tiered system for all the guests who will eventually book their reservations online.

I would fully expect Disney to be able to make tables appear within their system, just as I would expect them to make rooms appear at sold out resorts. But it seems we agree, the evidence is not there yet that tables are appearing for some, and not for others....

 

[JimMIA]

My point was it made no sense to have a "tiered" system for guests who call WDW-Dine, and a non-tiered system for all the guests who will eventually book their reservations online.

Another consideration might be the cost to add a TA/online interface, although you'd think they would do everything they can to eliminate the necessity for people calling WDW-DINE. The purpose of the whole online ADR system is not customer service (although they'll obviously sell it that way) -- it's designed primarily to reduce headcount in their call centers.

Maybe adding that interface is Phase 2 or 3...who knows?

 

[iheartpeterpan]

FWIW,

I am staying club level GF and was unable to get LeCellier for any meal at any time during my trip. Before anyone leaps on me, I have never stayed club before, I got a code that made it less expensive than the same stay at CS.

I also think that people are ignoring the numerous posts that have been made in this thread by people stating that they called at 90 days with their value resort on a code reservation and got everything they wanted within 30 minutes. There may be some advantages provided to Club/DVC in booking ADRs but it does not appear to be adversely affecting anyone here. I really do believe the ADR issues people have seen are a combination of bugs/lack of training with the new system AND the ADR+10 opening for free dining. Free dining does, and always has, cram up the TS restaurants at Disney. Many, many more people are now competing for the same number of seats.

I think the Travel Agent posts are very valid and do have bearing here... you will be able to use THAT system to book your OWN ressies when they open it up to the public, hopefully soon. At 90 days you will be able to search for yourself with nothing in there about where you are staying. I do believe 90+10 will work well for people again once free dining is done and the kinks are worked out of this new system. There will always be ressies you will not get, though.

I am a little surprised by some of the reactions here, that you would never go to Disney again if this is true. I am so excited about my upcoming trip. If I could get ZERO ADRs I would still be so excited. I'm not going to Disney to eat, although I will enjoy the table meals I was able to secure! I surely wouldn't vow to never visit the mouse again just because they had a slight advantage to club level and DVC. Those are their most loyal customers.

Looking forward to my upcoming stay, without LeCellier (which I've never been able to get into on ANY trip, BTW).

 

[ntsammy5]

, i have never stayed club before, i got a code that made it less expensive than the same stay at cs.

wow!

 

[webstah]

Maybe during free dining they are trying to get people into the restaurants who have to pay cash money. It makes sense. Give people the free DDP, but give those who didn't/opted not to get it the ADR's. This way Disney makes money on people who stay at the resorts SPECIFICALLY for free dining, but they make money on the people in the eateries for those that do not have the free DDP. If people on the free DDP can't get TS, then they are forced to go to cheaper CS. Disney makes out on ALL points.

Glad I am not doing the dining plan this year, if this theory could even POSSIBLY be true.

We are going Sept 4-12 and on the free dining program.
We are staying at a moderate resort.
We made our dining reservations on Saturday, and got every restaurant we wanted. We just had to be a little flexible with the days and hours.
Here's our itinerary.
Friday Primetime 5PM
Saturday Le Chefs de France 5:30
Sunday 1900 Park Fair 9:30am
Monday Keys to the Kingdom tour 8:30 LTT 5:30
Tuesday Backstage Safari 8:30 Tutto Italia 5:00
Wednesday LeCellier 4:50
Thursday Boatwrights 5:00
Friday LeCellier 5:00