Disney randomly cancelling dining reservations? [Archive]

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MarkP

01-01-2007, 08:57 AM

I've heard, because guests are double and triple booking dining reservations for the same day, that Disney is randomly cancelling the excess bookings. Moreover, they are not informing guests of the cancellations (unless they happen to call Disney and find out). If you have more than one reservation booked for dinner on any day, you may want to call Disney and cancel the one you don't want.

Has anyone else heard about this?

bradk

01-01-2007, 09:07 AM

i've heard rumors, but so it goes. no doubt stemming from one board in particular.

bottom line is disney does have a tedency to notify people when things get canceled and when you make your ADR, you are given a confirmation # that you can walk into any restaurant with and i've yet to hear of a restaurant refuse. if anything, there is accountability when a reservation is canceled (never deleted) in the system, so they can see who and why.

disney allows you to multi-book. sometimes you may get a CSR who notes it's a double booking and refuses, but disney's system allows it. this is why certain restaurants have penalties.

now i do know there was an issue when the +10 policy first started because the system was letting CSRs book +10 for anyone and when they first initially caught the problem, they started deleting ADRs, but they then stopped when they realized they were looking at a much larger customer service issue by doing so.

Klutch

01-01-2007, 09:26 AM

This sounds like it falls into the same category as the, "Disney is going to cancel the dining plan!" rumor of several months ago. Obviously, it started, and is being repeated, by people who have no idea how restaurants are run.

What would be the point of Disney cancelling reservations, even if people are double or triple booked? The restaurants at Disney World are popular enough that if someone doesn't show up for a reservation, it means almost nothing. There are always plenty of people waiting for a table. It's not like Disney is setting aside tables and putting out "Reserved" signs. A Disney reservation is still more of a "Priority Seating" than a reservation. After all, these aren't tiny bistros with limited seatings for meals.

Dinner shows are a different story. These venues do have limited seatings with have a hard limit. This why a penalty is involved if you cancel a dinner show reservation.

MarkP

01-01-2007, 03:41 PM

This sounds like it falls into the same category as the, "Disney is going to cancel the dining plan!" rumor of several months ago. Obviously, it started, and is being repeated, by people who have no idea how restaurants are run.
.

Well, I will admit I have no idea how to run a restaurant, but this may be more than just a rumor. I was told this by Disney today when I called to change a dining reservation. She told me Disney has just installed a computer program that will delete over-booked dining reservations at random. Perhaps she was just saying this to encourage me to cancel my excess reservations, but perhaps there's something to it.

pirateship

01-01-2007, 06:24 PM

I went to WDW in November using the Dining Plan. I had numerous reservations and I did have double reservations cancelled. It happened twice, once I knew about it because the CM told me. They said they weren't allowed to accept two reservations for the same day/time. The other time the CM cancelled one without telling me (they kept the newest reservation). So I ended up having all single reservations. They pull the reservations up by a phone number and that is how they can tell.

I love Disney and love the CM's. They are always very nice. But my experience with finding out correct information over the phone has never been easy. I have gotten many different answers from different CM's asking the same question. Disney is very large and I don't think the correct information, or up-to-date information always reaches everyone. So the best thing to do is ask questions and double check reservations.

bradk

01-01-2007, 06:26 PM

see, that's different. that's the CM noting it themselves and making that decision. it's not a 'random' thing done in the background.

GusMan

01-01-2007, 06:32 PM

In hopes that I dont get flamed for this... I think that having a system that does not allow you to "double-book" (sort of speak) is a very good idea. I mean, I know that the TS places are all busy and they dont have any problem filling the spots, but booking only the places you plan on going to for that evening is the courteous thing to do. I know it requires some extra planning and takes away last minute choices between "A" and "B" for dinner, but it may make getting into some of the places a little easer.

Keep in mind, I said may. Your mileage may vary big time on this one.

TempoNZ

01-02-2007, 02:07 AM

I totally agree with GusMan. I don't think you should be able to book at mroe than one place for the same meal. Taking it to its extremes if you could do that people just book all 10 of their favourite eateries and only turn up to the one that suits.....

At the very very very least there should be a limit of 2 and if you are allow more than 1 I think they should be very strick on reporting times and I certainly wouldn't complain if they increased the percentage of airline booking they use so waits for PS would be longer.

disnut8

01-02-2007, 06:10 AM

I agree with GusMan and Tempo. How many times have you've seen posts such as "called for seatings X amount of days in advance and everything I wanted is booked"? We know from the boards to keep calling because something might be cancelled. But what about first timers who have no clue? I know the double and triple bookings are because people don't know which park they will be at for dinner or lunch or whatever. So dinner gets booked at each park possible. Deal with it if you are at Magic Kingdom and your seating is at Boma. Make one seating and if you can't make it, pick up the phone and cancel it. And then figure out something else for dinner.

tjrj

01-02-2007, 06:36 AM

What I'd heard-admittedly on another board-was that there were TA's that have access to the system cancelling ADR's so that their clients could get into the restaurants that they wanted. How true that rumor is I have no idea.

I also agree that there should be some sort of limit on the amount of double booking or triple booking that one can do. I actually consider it extremely rude that one would even attempt to do so. Make your plans; make your ADR's and if you can't make it to one-cancel the thing.

But I want to be clear-if this "random canceling" is happening-it's to reservations that are at the same time(or close to it)? I have 2 ADR's for several days-lunch/dinner or breakfast/dinner-those shouldn't be canceled, right?

In any case, I have my confirmation numbers and will be taking them with me-and those should be honored from all that I've read.

Klutch

01-02-2007, 10:08 AM

If a computer system is doing the cancelling, that's a different story. I was under the impression the rumor was suggesting CM's were randomly cancelling ressies.

I got this impression because computers don't do anything randomly. I know many people claim their software truly is random, but it's not. Therefore, if Disney's computer system is actually cancelling ressies for one party at more than one restaurant at the same time, there's some logic involved. Even if the logic is "if more than one booking, cancel first on list".

Thus, this I can accept. Now my question would be; if Disney doesn't want people over booking, which seems reasonable, why do they allow it in the first place?

bradk

01-02-2007, 10:44 AM

THpoohbear

01-02-2007, 08:52 PM

When I was planning for my trip over November and early December, I had a couple of near double bookings (one at 4:30 and one at 5pm, for example). I was very concerned that something would end up canceled, not by my doing, because I had read about such on discussion boards. Now, I never double booked with the intent on keeping both until my actual trip. My reason was because things do fill up quickly, and I was planning as fast as I could, but as a newbie, it was quite difficult to immediately plan everything out and have the whole trip itinerary set in stone. And I'm an extreme planner! And I had done a couple years of research before booking my trip!

Due to my hubby's hesitancy, I booked only 3 months before my trip. At that point, some ressies were already hard to come by. I booked what was available as soon as we had our hotel booked. Then I went back through and set our itinerary, and then called to cancel the couple of double bookings. That process took about a month, maybe about 6 weeks. I feel I that I moved as quickly as possible while planning, and then was courteous as well by cancelling the doubles as soon as possible. If I had waited until everything was set, I wouldn't have gotten half the restaurants I wanted to try. I know a lot of people are WDW veterans and you know what you want to try and where you want to go, but for newbies, it takes some debating and second guessing and more research to finally nail things down. Having a couple a double bookings helped me relax just a little while I could think things through and make a final decision.

I may be splitting hairs, but I too agree that double bookings should not be allowed during one's trip. BUT, during the planning process it is helpful to have the ability to do so. I cancelled well before my trip and thus someone else was able to book my previously booked spots.

Maybe Disney could institute a system where double bookings are tolerated until, say, 30 days before check-in? At that point you have to decide or Disney decides for you, thus freeing up the ressies for others? I know others disagree, and that's okay. But it would give planners time to iron out details, but prevent those who abuse the system from repeatedly double booking just so they can have ultimate dining flexibility during their vacation.

GusMan

01-03-2007, 04:21 AM

Im going to speculate here for a moment...
I dont think that the case is that Disney condones double-booking, but that such bookings may not be all that easy to track, or even better, dont get flagged if a guest tried to double book. Now, if the supposedly new system does do a better job at flagging such double bookings, then a lot will probably change. Again, this is all speculation - I have no idea how "smart" their old or new software is for their ADR's. At the same time, if the system is not automated to catch double bookings - you have to admit that with the volume of people calling for ADR's, chances are the typical CM taking the calls dont have a lot of time to cross check to see if there are double bookings.

The thing is that, sure, it is convenient to make different bookings as you are planning a trip with the intent that you will cancel them if you do not need them. I can work with that idea. However, with people trying from that 180 day mark, if people continue the habit of double booking, and then possibly not canceling what they dont need, then it can make other guests trip planning more difficult.

I know that some people like to be spontaneous and some people cant plan more than a couple months in advance - these I completely understand. But it also makes a good point that planning meals / ADR's is just as important as planning the rest of the trip.

JeffG

01-03-2007, 08:01 AM

if disney didn't condone it, (1) the system itself wouldn't allow it; and/or (2) they would require deposits or security, just like they've done with CRT (which used to require a deposit prior to the big change because people would make ADRs day after day for it) or some of the other dining experiences.

Just because they don't put in an automated system to prevent something doesn't automatically mean that they "condone" it. In fact, it is all the more likely that they simply don't yet see it as a big enough problem to justify the expense of re-designing their reservation system to prevent double bookings. It is certainly completely feasible (even likely) that they would see double bookings as a problem, but still view it as one that can be managed by manually canceling double-bookings when noted.

If it reaches a point where it is a bigger problem, they certainly can and will modify the system, as they did with CRT and other high-demand meals.

-Jeff

danyoung

01-03-2007, 08:44 AM

Thanks, Gusman and JeffG. I think it's a total abuse of the system to double book dining. I plan my dining choices, and then make sure that I'm in the area when lunch or dinner come around. To say that you don't know where you're going to be at a given time is irresponsible, IMO. It's a loophole in the Disney reservations system that has been abused for years, and now it seems to be getting some long overdue attention.

vamassey

01-03-2007, 11:34 AM

bradk

01-03-2007, 11:42 AM

well. i don't really wanna continue a moral debate here, but... FWIW, there are 2 things that can link you to your ADRs and thus together. first is your reservation # which you only need to provide during a 180+10 booking. second is your home phone number (which is the primary key). use different phone numbers and there's really nothing to worry about.

MarkP

01-03-2007, 01:29 PM

Now I'm worried. For our upcoming trip I haven't done any double booking. But one day may look lilke double booking. We have two reservations because we are taking my DS and his wife. We're going for 9 nights and they are going for 5. For the 5 nights they are with us we booked on meal together each day except for 1. They are going to have dinner at the castle while we have dinner at Tony's. Both reservation will pull up on the same phone number, but his reservation is under his name with my credit card holding it. The reservations are a couple of hours apart, ours is at 6:30 and theirs is at 8:50. I made the reservations at the same time with the same CM. So do you think I'm safe?

Vanessa
Vanessa--I think you're probably safe, but it wouldn't hurt to call WDW-DINE to reconfirm. We're going for 10 days in June, with the dining plan. On 4 nights, we double-booked dinner, because we hadn't yet finalized our plans. When I called to change one of our reservations, the CM said that her screen was flashing when she pulled up my phone number, because the number of reservations we had made exceeded the number of meals covered by the dining plan. It was then that she mentioned that very soon Disney would be installing a computer program that would monitor double-reservations and begin cancelling them. She mentioned that people were taking advantage of the ability to double-book and that it was causing scheduling problems, especially with popular restaurants like Le Cellier. Now, I'm not entirely convinced she didn't just tell me this to encourage me to cancel my double reservations (which I did), though I doubt she would have said this if Disney didn't instruct her to do so. For what it's worth, I agree with the sentiments expressed in this thread that people should be mindful of the reservations they've made, and cancel unnecessary ones within a reasonable time.

vamassey

01-04-2007, 11:38 AM

I called Disney Dining and everything is okay. When I made the reservation I used my phone number but his name because you have to check in with ID. I was assured that there would be no danger of it being cancelled. She asked for my name not number and his CRT didn't even pull up until she looked under his name. Catastrophe avoided. I feel so much better. Thanks for everyone's help.

I'm not trying to double book either. Some of our party will be in one place and others at another.

Vanessa

LeslieM

01-04-2007, 05:35 PM

What I'd heard-admittedly on another board-was that there were TA's that have access to the system cancelling ADR's so that their clients could get into the restaurants that they wanted. How true that rumor is I have no idea.

Travel agents do not have access to the system that would allow them to make the ADR changes that you suggest. I call a Disney agent on a line dedicated for "Earmarked" Agencies to give me quicker access but that Cast Member then goes through the same process that y'all go through to make ADRs.

Another wild rumor started by someone out there who doesn't know what they're talking about or trying to stir up trouble. :rolleyes:

tjrj

01-05-2007, 06:25 AM

That's good to know Leslie.:)

mom22gls

01-05-2007, 08:25 AM

One could, legitamately, book two TS meals on one day, whether on the dining plan or not, if say, you wanted to do a character breakfast, and then a TS dinner later the same day. The system would, therefore, probably have to be set up not to allow two TS reservations within a certain number of hours (2? 4?), to address booking reservations for the same meal at two different places. The only way to "double book" would be to make the two reservations far apart, if one wants either the option of, for example, a 5 PM dinner at one place, or a 9 PM dinner at another. The other option would be to only allow one reservation within a set block of time, corresponding to the hours for a certain meal. I have never double booked, nor would I just show up at a busy restaurant, with hungry children, hoping for an available table. In November, we had an early dinner at Flying Fish, and someone dropped in to tell the CM's that his party of 13 was cancelling. There did not appear to be anyone there who did not have a reservation, so they probably did not fill the tables.

MarkP

01-06-2007, 05:30 AM