VERY confused (RFC ADRs)

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Ok, I'm SO confused right now.

On my 90 days (we're offsite) in July, I got online and made an ADR for 10/19 at Rainforest Cafe DTD for 6pm for our party of 8. Yay, all was well. We got all our other ADRs that week that we wanted too.

Fastforward to the past week and MIL & I decided that we would rather just have drinks & dessert (say it with me now...VOLCANO!!!! LOL) and wanted a later reservation. Tried online, nothin. Called for a week straight, nothin. Checked a few other nights, nada.

So, I look up the direct number to RFC (AT DTD, I double checked with the guy that answered, TWICE!) and called up and he asked my name, number, time, and took the reservation!

THEN he proceeded to tell me that Disney doesn't make reservations for DTD Rainforest Cafe and someone must have lied to me. Ok, I get that he didn't realize that they are now taking reservations (I don't know HOW he couldn't know this? Doesn't he see the ressies right there if he works there???). Also, how is it that there was time open, he just asked me what time and took my reservation. In fact, he was confused when I gave him a time RANGE of 7-8pm and asked for an exact time.

So...I'm concerned that I don't really have a reservation? Do they do it separate and HOW is this possible that they can book and Disney can book for them and not even know it??? Somebody help me out here b/c I won't cancel the 6pm original reservation until I know for SURE that the 7:15 one is legit. I'll probably call back RFC in a few days and confirm my ADR.

 

[TillyMarigold]

Assuming RFC works like T-Rex (they're owned by the same company), they release some of their tables to WDW Dining to take reservations, but for most of the tables, they take reservations themselves.

I read an interview with the manager of T-Rex saying that they release 25% of their tables to Disney Dining, take reservations for 50% themselves, and leave 25% open for walk-ups. So suppose they have 200 tables: 50 can be reserved by Disney, 100 are only available by calling directly, and 50 are available to people who just walk up (or at least, that was the plan the manager was implementing--whether it was ever done that way or whether it still is, I don't know).

I don't know for sure that RFC works the same as T-Rex of course, but I know that for T-Rex you have better luck calling them than calling Disney Dining, so it would make sense that RFC works the same.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

That's great! I'm just nervous b/c he didn't seem to know this. I'll feel better when I call and confirm the reservation and make sure they got the info right. Then I will cancel the 6pm ADR!

 

[connie1042]

I had the same problem with Fultons Crab House. I called the restaurant directly, because I did not think Disney took these reservation, because they are not owned by Disney. It took me 4 calls! The people that answered the phone would not take my reservation. Four different excuses. I made them through Disney, then wrote a letter to management of FCH. He called me back, saying he was very sorry about me having to call so many times. I told him, it was like they did not want my business. Anyway I told him I finally had made the ressie through Disney, but he asked when and what time. He said he can not see the reservations that were make through Disney. He took my date and time of ressie down, so we should be okay.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

There's going to be some very unhappy people at these restaurants (not Disney owned: RFC, T-Rex, Fultons) if they don't see any of the ADRs that have been made through Disney????!?!?!?!

 

[TDC Nala]

The restaurants that are not owned by Disney do not release all the tables they have available for booking through Disney Dining. Some of them apparently release a relatively small fraction of their total availability per night. This is why you will have greater success calling these restaurants directly than you will through Disney.

I think it's likely that they will have the reservations on the day of, but if you call the restaurant ahead of time and ask about a reservation that was already made through Disney, it's entirely likely that these restaurants do not have access to Disney's dining database. If you want to confirm a reservation that you made through Disney, you should confirm it through Disney.

 

[TillyMarigold]

There's going to be some very unhappy people at these restaurants (not Disney owned: RFC, T-Rex, Fultons) if they don't see any of the ADRs that have been made through Disney????!?!?!?!

It doesn't mean what you're apparently thinking--the restaurant does get a list each day from Disney Dining of who has reservations there, and so they will honor the list they get. But they can't access the Disney dining system to look up future reservations.

The same thing would also happen if you were to walk up to a Disney-owned restaurant on Sunday wanting to confirm a reservation for the following Friday--they'd tell you they couldn't see it and you'd have to confirm with the central dining line. The restaurants themselves only get a list of who has reservations there that day (I've seen reports that they actually get updates throughout the day, which is why you can get same-day reservations, but no longer less than 2-3 hours ahead of time).

 

[butterfly26]

Can I just ask what may seem a silly question please? When you put that you made your reservation on line is that something we can do from the UK or just something you can do in the states? thanks.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Not sure if it's just for the states or not? Here is the link:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/restaurants/