why no ps on-line?

[missypooh]

So does anyone know why disney does not have ps on-line? Its really been bothering me because I can't imagine why you can't just log in with a reservation number and then make ps on their website - seems so much better - they could then keep track, less staff needed, we don't have to call etc.

I was thinking maybe its so people don't make and cancel ps so much - but they could just program in controls. Plus, if cancelling ps was such an issue, there would be something in place to prevent it like a small deposit.

Anyway - all thoughts are welcome.


Missy

 

[kwdietrich1]

I agree! I have been wondering this for awhile my self! I'm sure if Disney wanted to do this, they could. My guess is that they don't want to. I know that college kids can schedule their classes on line, but we can't schedule a meal???

 

[zulaya]

My guess is that it would be a bear to manage the dynamics of PS online. I'd like it as much as anyone else.

Then there's also the issue of Cindy's and the other popular meals and activities. Anyone with DSL has a huge advantage over someone with dialup. If everyone has to call, then everyone has an equal chance

 

[swilphil]

We booked through Dreams Unlimited, and one of the big reasons was you could do your PS's online. The other reason being that they automatically applied discount codes to your room ressie. We got all our PS requests. It's also nice to be able to print out one schedule with all your PS's and confirmation numbers.

 

[crisi]

Yes, but in the case of DU, you aren't really doing your PSs online. You are giving your preferred PSs to a travel agent who then makes the appropriate phone call(s). That is a much less complicated system to set up than a dynamic real time reservations system.

I think there are probably several issues. Zulaya has a big one. Another one may be concern over more customer dissatisfaction than satisfaction - if the system goes down, if a PS was available at 2:00 pm, but not available at 2:15 - people will complain. With systems that work, no one is appreciative, but when they don't work (or don't deliver the results you want) people complain loudly! Another possible concern is that if they make it very easy, they may end up throwing the system out of whack - people may make more PSs than they possible can show for. I suspect no shows right now are not insigificant for many venues - but might go through the roof if it were very simple to make PSs and no human being ever looked at them (as a Disney reservationist does now). Its still possible to cook the system - but online makes it easier to do so.

 

[missypooh]

I am glad others have thought about this, too. To limit how easy it would be for people to keep making changes, you could have to enter a room confirmation number and then only be able to hold one dinner and one lunch per room per night and only for a night when you had an on-property reservation. True, this would only work for disney resort guests, but that might not be so bad for them - it would be another benefit of staying on property. Others could still get ps - they would just have to call. And if certain "hard to get" ps like CRT would be an issue, those particular dining choices would be excluded from the on-line system, at least initially.

I don't see why it would be so difficult to manage on-line. When you call up, they must be pulling up a database anyway to view availability, and entering in the reservation to the system right now.

Thanks for sharing your ideas on this.

 

[crisi]

Generally, there is some difficulty in real time lookups to databases from websites - its just the delay in communication. The data transfer can be quirky - sometimes difficult to set up - but long term and more importantly - difficult to maintain. As systems talk to each other they add layers of complexity - and a change far down the backend can end up messing up the front end systems.

In other words, its often harder than it looks. Not impossible to overcome, but not as simple as it sounds.

Disney floated a balloon a year or so ago about PS for onsite guests - but AP owners and DVC members - who aren't hooked up into the CRO system - had been left out and got quite angry. The change was never implemented (if it was anything other than a rumor to start with).