Why don't they have wait-listing?

[Frances999]

I'm curious - why can't Disney create a wait-list system? We recently tried to book a trip but the room we wanted was sold out. Rather than me having to call back every day and see if there are any openings, why can't they take all my details and as soon as the room becomes available, process the reservation? Surely it's more efficient for them - in that their rooms will be re-reserved faster, and it's a heck of a lot more convenient for guests.

Any ideas?

 

[RalphMouth]

not to be rude but my guess.....

because they don't have to

seriously- if people are willing to call back then why do it ?

 

[PoohsFan1]

I guess Disney wants us to try to work for what we want. I think your idea is a good one. Hopefully Disney is watching these boards and may consider it.

 

[Goofy4]

They could be maintaining 100's or 1000's of wait-listed ressies for openings that probably seldom materialize. The cost to the call center (15-45 minutes per call??) would be huge.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) A wait-list would be a disaster!
2) As mentioned, you could have hundreds or thousands on the list.
3) How many are real ressies-in-waiting, or just "maybes".
4) If you can't reach a person, do you skip them and go to the next on the list?
5) If you get a wait-list person on the phone that is next in turn,
. . . what do you do if they have to call the spouse or other family members?
. . . what do you do if they have to call the airlines?
. . . how long do you give them to book the ressie? minutes? hours?

NOTE: DVC has a wait-list, but it has its own rules.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Not sure if this is true or not, but don't CRO Cast Members get paid more for the more reservations they make? If it is I don't think they would get much out of putting guests on waiting lists.

 

[bicker]

CRO CMs are under an incentive plan.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

CRO CMs are under and incentive plan.

Thanks for confirming that.

 

[disnut8]

Well, I can think of one reason. Person A calls in January and really, really wants to be in Pop Century. So they are put on a wait list. But then discounts come out in February and now Person A wants to be in Riverside because they can afford a moderate now. So Person A calls and gets in at Riverside. They are still on the wait list for Pop Century and want to remain there just in case their income tax refund isn't as big as they think it will be.

Person B calls for Riverside and can't get it. So Person B decides they will stay off site instead. They are not on any wait list.

Person A gets in at Pop Century in early April. They still aren't sure about the funds. So now they have two reservations.

Person A decides a week ahead of the trip to spend only half of their income tax refund on the vacation so they decide on Pop Century and cancel the Riverside.

Disney already lost Person B to off site and now they have to fill a room within a week and maybe at a discount.

Disney already will cancel dining reservations if they are doubled booked. they would have to do something like that with the resort reservations. In this case, since Riverside was made first, Pop Century would have been the one canceled and Person A would be stuck as well.

 

[fla4fun]

Some call centers are inbound only. They may not have the ability to call out. Granted, that could be a simple software change, but it would be at least a small expense.

I would have to go along with the idea that Disney prefers to have the guest call them, because if the guest is initiating the call, they have already decided what they want and when they want it (for the most part ). If Disney initiates the call, then the guest will have to check with 35 members of the extended family before making a decision, and there could be several calls back and forth, spending a lot of time to perhaps LOSE money if the guest is changing to a cheaper resort (and face it, that's what the majority of the changes are).

I know there used to be a sort of waitlist many, many, many years ago, back when all there was were the Poly, CR, FW, and the Golf Resort. I'm sure it was a headache then. I can only imagine how difficult it would be now.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . Not sure if this is true or not, but don't CRO Cast Members get paid more for the more reservations they make? . . .

1) Yes.
2) They can make about double their hourly rate.
3) There are different dollar-sales-per-hourly monthly "quotas".
. . . new visitors - they need a lot of time and attention
. . . returning visitors - they need less time (example: $1500/hr monthly quota)
. . . annual visitors - they need little phone time

NOTE: This incentive bonus sounds really great, but if the CM misses their average-per-hour-monthly-sales-quota three times in one year, they can be fired. That is also why they don't yak as much as before. They are there to sell, sell, sell and not to socialize. Do we have to mention why they dislike people calling to change arrangements or just ask quesions, since the CM loses bonus opportunity and lowers their average hourly sales for the time the person is on the phone?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

1) Yes.
2) They can make about double their hourly rate.
3) There are different dollar-sales-per-hourly monthly "quotas".
. . . new visitors - they need a lot of time and attention
. . . returning visitors - they need less time (example: $1500/hr monthly quota)
. . . annual visitors - they need little phone time

NOTE: This incentive bonus sounds really great, but if the CM misses their average-per-hour-monthly-sales-quota three times in one year, they can be fired. That is also why they don't yak as much as before. They are there to sell, sell, sell and not to socialize. Do we have to mention why they dislike people calling to change arrangements or just ask quesions, since the CM loses bonus opportunity and lowers their average hourly sales for the time the person is on the phone?

Thanks for explaining that. Although I find it hard to believe about guests who are calling to change Resorts, because the guest is still calling for a ligament reason and is not calling to ask them a question without making a reservation.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks for explaining that. Although I find it hard to believe about guests who are calling to change Resorts, because the guest is still calling for a ligament reason and is not calling to ask them a question without making a reservation.

It may be a legitimate question, but the CM isn't making any money on it unless maybe they get something for an upsell. And they are missing out on an opportunity to make money on a sale by answering a question about a resort.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

It may be a legitimate question, but the CM isn't making any money on it unless maybe they get something for an upsell. And they are missing out on an opportunity to make money on a sale by answering a question about a resort.

So if a guest was calling about upgrading from a Value Resort to a Deluxe Resort that would not be an upsell for the Cast Member changing the reservation?

 

[NYDisGuy]

Well, I can think of one reason. Person A calls in January and really, really wants to be in Pop Century. So they are put on a wait list. But then discounts come out in February and now Person A wants to be in Riverside because they can afford a moderate now. So Person A calls and gets in at Riverside. They are still on the wait list for Pop Century and want to remain there just in case their income tax refund isn't as big as they think it will be.

Person B calls for Riverside and can't get it. So Person B decides they will stay off site instead. They are not on any wait list.

Person A gets in at Pop Century in early April. They still aren't sure about the funds. So now they have two reservations.

Person A decides a week ahead of the trip to spend only half of their income tax refund on the vacation so they decide on Pop Century and cancel the Riverside.

Disney already lost Person B to off site and now they have to fill a room within a week and maybe at a discount.

Disney already will cancel dining reservations if they are doubled booked. they would have to do something like that with the resort reservations. In this case, since Riverside was made first, Pop Century would have been the one canceled and Person A would be stuck as well.

This is happening now without the wait list. People are booking two separate reservations with the hope that a discount comes out or that their stimulus/tax refund check comes in time. Disney's cancellation policy allows for that to happen.

 

[suzimar57]

that's sad to learn - i sort of thought it was true, but reading it here (that CMs are on incentive plan, and "chatting" cuts into that) - years ago CMs on reservations at least sounded pleasant and interested, helpful - not anymore, it's just all info, get you booked, and on to the next guest....

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Disney did have a resort wait list some years ago - we used it often, even on our very first visit in 1981. Cannot recall the exact details now, but a guest could make a reservation and go on a wait list for the remaining dates - cannot remember if it was up to 45, 30 or 14 days prior to arrival.

There was no guarantee, so many people had to have multiple reservations to link the dates. Our first visit we had 3 confirmations of 2 ngts each for the CR - one of those was for the Tower. When we arrived we asked if we could stay in the same room for the entire stay and they took care of it easily, so we did not have to check-in/out again.

Cannot remember when it was discontinued, but it was still going in the early '90's.

To be clear, this was not a DVC wait list, but Disney Resort wait list. We used it for CR and the Poly.

So many resorts now, it might just be way too complicated. Guests would still be calling and making duplicate reservations at other resorts to be sure they would not wind up with no room at the inn.