Why have reservations at all?

[mom2rtk]

Well the ADRs are basically the entire fault of the system, they take "reservations" 6 months out expecting to know how fast any particular party is going to eat.

Ditch the whole ADR system, or make them as long as the longest ticket you can get, 10 days. WDW really seems ill equipped to feed everyone unless you want counter meals, at least DLR has hundreds of restaurants within a short walking distance of the parks.

OH and I'm ranting because I'm sitting at home, on the couch looking at the xmas tree, and my wife isn't awake to let me open my presents

And I'm posting because my daughter had us all up at 0 dark thirty and everything is already open! The oldest is already back asleep!

 

[Colleen27]

I never thought Akershus would overbook. They didn't have a reason too. They have required a cc guarantee for a long time. What I was saying is that the restaurants that did NOT used to require a CC guarantee(but now just recently do) probably were used to overbooking to compensate for the no-shows (a much bigger issue when not guaranteed) and now that they they have the guarantee the no-show rate should be next to nothing (I would guess). So if they never changed their booking numbers in conjunction with the cc guarantee change, I could see things really backing up.

My guess is that they did (or will) change their booking numbers to account for the CC guarantee... But since they'd been booking for December for 4+ months before the new policy we're right now seeing reports from the unlucky people who are caught in the in-between - restaurants were already overbooked according to average no-show rates but are now seeing the lower, CC guarantee driven no-show rates and are thus getting really backed up.

 

[jmkjr72]

on our last trip
this was before the 10 dollare deal
we were suprised at how poor things were going at restraunts with the adrs

we travel with a large group so we know there are issues and we have 3 people wo call to make adrs
its great on the land line with disney and on the cell with other people

but knowing the issues of a large group we try for the first adr of the meal
breakfast is never any issue getting seated

and we normaly head over early to check in and with a large party we all dont go in 1 will go in the rest will sit outside and wait for the call

well one of our dinner adrs we were there 30 min early checked in and they said oh yes glad you came by early we can get you seated in about 10 min

well 30 min past or adr we hadnt been seated and didnt get seated till an hr past our adr

and this was during the slow time of the year

then the wife and i had date night on that same trip showed up 15 min before our adr and didnt get seated till 30 min past our adr and when we got seated 1/2 the tables were empty

 

[Deb & Bill]

Part of the problem is people not leaving after they are finished eating.

Various reasons?

• They booked an early time so they could stay an extra hour or two to see the fireworks. How often do you see that on the DIS?
  
• It's raining outside and they want to stay inside until the rain isn't so bad. We experienced this on our first trip at Crystal Palace. It was pouring, the porch was jammed with guests and many more were standing in the rain waiting to get in for their ADR (or Priority Seating at that time). People didn't want to leave the dining room until the rain eased up.
  
• They wanted the characters to come around to their table one more time because they didn't get the photo they really wanted the first time. These are the same people who take up ten minutes with the characters in the meet and greets.
  
• They had to wait to be seated, so they are going to make others wait as well. Humph!

 

[KBecks]

So sorry for your experience, hope the rest of your trip goes much better! We absolutely loved two of our dining experiences in May last year -- at Boma, we did wait, and it was hard to wait with our three kids when we were all exhausted and hungry, I felt a little ignored, but... we waited and then had such a fabulous meal. At Marrakesh, I don't remember much of a wait.. a little but not bad at all. We adored both restaurants.

We had a character breakfast at Cape May and honestly we are not that into characters and I would probably skip that in favor of another great dinner somewhere.

Have as much fun as you possibly can!!! Merry Christmas!

 

[Bete]

to just buy Disney park passes now and there are websites (non-Disney) that have one day free on certain Disney park base tickets, right now. I did this search yesterday, Christmas Eve. There's a better deal for hopper passes, 2 days free on this same site.

It was more than one site that was doing this, too.

I have no idea if it's related to what is being discussed or not.

Anyway, on one non-Disney web site the offer on base tickets is for 3, 4, or 5day tickets to get an extra day free. For hopper tickets you get 2 extra days on these same ticket day tickets.

Another non-Disney site is offering one day free on 4 day base or hopper tickets.

Whether these same offers existed before or not, I don't know.

 

[MikeSF]

And I'm posting because my daughter had us all up at 0 dark thirty and everything is already open! The oldest is already back asleep!

Hehehe... yeah my cat woke me up at 5am, but that didn't fly wife just mumbled "too early for Christmas"...

Oh well, the Christmas Carnage is over, so I'm happy again

 

[bumbershoot]

I completely understand your frustration with having to wait, but you must remember that an ADR is not a reservation for a specific time, but a reservation for the next available table at that time. There's not much that the CMs can do in instances where people occupy tables for considerably longer than the average, which can, and frequently does, result in protracted wait times for guests with later ADRs.

Even with a "reservation" wait staff are still at the mercy of guests already seated and eating.

I too, question the $10 no-show charge....it's only at the restaurants that are so popular that they are not going to lose out any money if people don't show, because there are ALWAYS others waiting for a table.

I feel the same way. I've only gone at not-too-busy times, and there have always been people waiting at the restaurants we chose. To me, IMO, the no-show fee has just been the epitome of greed, only trying to take care of people *getting* those ADRs, not ever because they were worried about not getting enough business.

(come on, "at least 30 minutes" is a kind of mealy mouthed "we really don't know what's going on" answer)/QUOTE]

Well, IMO, they don't know. Not even the fanciest restaurant on earth, unless they have the ability and wish to actually kick people out, knows what's going to go on with the guests already at the table.

 

[photo_chick]

I apologize in advance, I just need to have a good rant to keep from exploding on someone.

In Epcot right now and just showed up for dinner rez and got told they are running at least 30 minutes late. No beepers to let us know when our table is ready. Just one girl with a voice you can barely hear over the crowd noise.

A $10 no show policy just seems incredibly wrong if you are going to over book. And not be able to honor those rezes.

30 minutes is not a long wait. We've had some waits that were more than an hour. To me an ADR at Disney is really just a guarantee that you will get on the list to get a table, not that you'll get a table at a specific time. If you didn't have an ADR it's very likely wouldn't get to eat there at all if it's that busy.

 

[angelmav]

30 minutes is not a long wait. We've had some waits that were more than an hour. To me an ADR at Disney is really just a guarantee that you will get on the list to get a table, not that you'll get a table at a specific time. If you didn't have an ADR it's very likely wouldn't get to eat there at all if it's that busy.

Yet if your not there by a specific time, WHAM, $10 per head fee.

Its that sort of policy that gets people irate and your employees dealing with adult melt downs.

 

[greengeen]

I read all your rationalizations, however, if you go during the busiest week of the year you should expect unreasonable waits everywhere. My solution is, don't go during the busiest week.

And taking taking young children to an 8:45 dinner - not reasonable. Not. Reasonable. They should be in bed by then. People set themselves up for these bad situations and then want to blame Disney. No sympathy here.

 

[okeydokey]

If they expect ever person with a reservation to have to wait for a while, then they should implement a policy that makes that wait as easy As possible. A buzzer and some benches would be a good start.

 

[3floridarays]

I read all your rationalizations, however, if you go during the busiest week of the year you should expect unreasonable waits everywhere. My solution is, don't go during the busiest week.

And taking taking young children to an 8:45 dinner - not reasonable. Not. Reasonable. They should be in bed by then. People set themselves up for these bad situations and then want to blame Disney. No sympathy here.

Seriously??? Children should be in bed by 8:45 when they're at WDW?!?

 

[larryz]

I read all your rationalizations, however, if you go during the busiest week of the year you should expect unreasonable waits everywhere. My solution is, don't go during the busiest week.

I agree that you should expect waits everywhere, except in ADRs.

Because they know (exactly) how many tables/seats they have, and they know (roughly) how long it takes diners to eat and clear the table. It's not like people eat differently during the holidays, right? It still only takes so long to eat and move on...

So why would dinner at someplace like LeCellier or O'Hana take any longer than during the slow season, when even then both of these places are full every night?

I'm one who believes with the "overcrowded" camp. I think they ARE trying to cram too many diners in, and they're taking ADRs too closely together, all in the name of free dining.

Personally, I'd like to see free dining limited to certain restaurants at each park, and the resorts' non-signature dining venues. But that's just me and my opinion again. Feel free to disagree.

 

[ppony]

Just wanted to tell the OP I understand the need to vent. DIS isn't always teh most vent-"friendly" place though. Others had good points as well and I understand them as well, but still, it reminds me of having an appt at your Dr.'s office for the first slot in the AM and STILL having to wait a half an hour. Seriously, you wonder what the point was.

 

[gothtinkerbell]

I read all your rationalizations, however, if you go during the busiest week of the year you should expect unreasonable waits everywhere. My solution is, don't go during the busiest week.

And taking taking young children to an 8:45 dinner - not reasonable. Not. Reasonable. They should be in bed by then. People set themselves up for these bad situations and then want to blame Disney. No sympathy here.

I don't remember OP telling us children's ages. So I could say the same thing and tell you that I have two children ages 5 and 2. Or I could say they are 16 and 13. Same age difference but very different on reasonableness of the dinner hour. This is a personal choice. Not to mention you have no clue what time schedule OP keeps at home. Calling OP out for a late dinner is kinda not the point of the post.

 

[ppony]

Seriously??? Children should be in bed by 8:45 when they're at WDW?!?

Agreed! For us anyway. Not a chance! UNLESS of course they wanted to be or needed to be. But that's not happened yet. ALl families do things differently at home and on vacation and chastising someone for not having children in bed before 9 at WDW seems a bit harsh to me. And for all any of us knows, they didn't get up until 10am?!? Hey, it happens!

 

[jaygalterio]

I had planned to bow out of the conversation since I didn't think I had anything to add... But changed my mind just to mention two things...

My party didn't have kids with us. It was just my wife and I. Party of two, so relatively easy to sit. So we might have gotten the lower end of the "at least 30 minutes" comment.

I merely said I felt bad for families who did have children with them. I didn't attempt to rationalize whether that was a reasonable situation or not. But, on the other hand, I have also witnessed plenty of teenagers who can act like five year olds after a long day in the park and low blood sugar.

The other point being that my original post was made while standing outside Le Cellier and just wanting to vent on someone. In all honesty I really was not that put out, but I would say 75% of the people around us were extremely put out. And making it known in loud volume.

The wait didn't annoy me as much as being crammed into the small area in front of Le Cellier with no beeper option and no benches. And being mixed in with a few very vocal, very irate people.

 

[goofy4prez]

I read all your rationalizations, however, if you go during the busiest week of the year you should expect unreasonable waits everywhere. My solution is, don't go during the busiest week.

And taking taking young children to an 8:45 dinner - not reasonable. Not. Reasonable. They should be in bed by then. People set themselves up for these bad situations and then want to blame Disney. No sympathy here.

I went to LeCellier during one of the slow times of the year (end of Jan. beginning of Feb.) and still waited over 45 minutes in a packed mad house before being seated.

And not to flame you, but it is up to that childs parents whether keeping a child up at 8:45 is reasonable or not.

I agree that you should expect waits everywhere, except in ADRs.

Because they know (exactly) how many tables/seats they have, and they know (roughly) how long it takes diners to eat and clear the table. It's not like people eat differently during the holidays, right? It still only takes so long to eat and move on...

So why would dinner at someplace like LeCellier or O'Hana take any longer than during the slow season, when even then both of these places are full every night?

I'm one who believes with the "overcrowded" camp. I think they ARE trying to cram too many diners in, and they're taking ADRs too closely together, all in the name of free dining.

Personally, I'd like to see free dining limited to certain restaurants at each park, and the resorts' non-signature dining venues. But that's just me and my opinion again. Feel free to disagree.

I agree with you, I think that Disney packs these places in with little concern for the customer and with their attention soley on the $$$$$. After encountering incredible delays at LeCellier, Ohana, Boma, and Coral Reef you can't convince me otherwise. However, like most of you, I love Disney and like a sheep being led, I follow and put up with it. It is what it is and it be what it be.

 

[Jett456]

I am a planner by nature but when it comes to food not so much. I like to just find a place to eat that has an acceptable menu. How much trouble will I have in Disney without any reservations? I will be in the parks Jan 16-18. What are the best sit downs that might have availability? Thanks.