Disney to expand cancellation fees to all table service restaurants at Walt Disney World

[biggy H]

Interesting position '74. You and I agree on most things over the past couple years here. I do see your side of this, and agree that you should at least always be able to have dinner at a restaurant in the hotel you are staying in when it comes to the Deluxe category. If I'm staying at the WL and I want to eat at Whispering Canyon or Artist Pointe that night, it shouldn't be an issue.

So how will that work when the whole restaurant is already full of people staying at that resort and then another guest wants to eat there and they cannot get a table? They can only realistically set a side a few tables and once they have gone you are back to the original problem of not being able to get a table.

Personally I think this charge is a good idea, if people cannot be bothered to cancel then they should be charged for a no show. If people have genuine reasons they won't charged, that's my experience of cancelling within 24hrs has been.

 

[ToTBellHop]

So how will that work when the whole restaurant is already full of people staying at that resort and then another guest wants to eat there and they cannot get a table? They can only realistically set a side a few tables and once they have gone you are back to the original problem of not being able to get a table.

Personally I think this charge is a good idea, if people cannot be bothered to cancel then they should be charged for a no show. If people have genuine reasons they won't charged, that's my experience of cancelling within 24hrs has been.

That has, unfortunately, not been everyone's experience.

 

[Figaro928]

We were able to book FP+ that overlapped our dining. They don't know how long you'll be dining for. We had a FP+ for Ariel at 11:55am and lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern at noon and it let us book them both.

Oh, we were able to as well, but it does notify you about the overlapping

 

[devoy1701]

So how will that work when the whole restaurant is already full of people staying at that resort and then another guest wants to eat there and they cannot get a table? They can only realistically set a side a few tables and once they have gone you are back to the original problem of not being able to get a table.

Personally I think this charge is a good idea, if people cannot be bothered to cancel then they should be charged for a no show. If people have genuine reasons they won't charged, that's my experience of cancelling within 24hrs has been.

Realistically, It is not an absurd expectation to be able to eat in a restaurant located inside the resort at which you are staying. It may be unrealistic at Disney World but only because they have made it so. I'm not expecting to be sat with no wait...but I should be able to get in nonetheless.

 

[Figaro928]

Got a few extra minutes to rant ... so ... understand that this is all tied to saving on labor. They want to know EXACTLY how many meals they will serve at every locale on every evening. (some moron please come in and remind us that Disney is a business and has responsibilities to increase shareholder value by ANY means they feel fit and blah, blah and BLAH!)

That means that, as others have mentioned, you can be paying $400-plus a night for a room (you likely have too much money if you are, but that's another subject), walk up to what amounts to the coffee shop of your hotel, like the Grand Flo Cafe, the Kona Cafe, Captain's Grille, Olivia's etc. and be told 'we're booked for the night' at 6 p.m. with a location that is 40% full. You should ALWAYS be able to get into a deluxe resort's coffee shop, even if you have to wait a bit.

They just flat out are so money-obsessed that they do not want to properly staff the locales.

stupid question... wouldn't they be better off increasing labor costs and having dining rooms 100% full?? Especially with a wait staff that works off tips? Wouldn't it be more beneficial for them to charge 50 tables $40 for a steak while paying 20 staff members at low wages vs 20 tables with 10 on staff.

seems like cut your nose, spite your face

 

[Figaro928]

As a side note, I'm curious, do those of you who are staunchly against this put as much emotion into the fact that your Doctor/Dentist etc. do the same thing if you don't give them enough notice that you can't make a scheduled appointment? Or is that different in some way?

My doctor charges $10 for a cancellation within 24 hours, $25 for within 1 hour, and $50 for a no show, AND $75 for a second offense no show

How that for a cancellation policy?!?!?!

 

[dvitali]

I like to see to disney write software where you only book one dinner table service per day of your trip, then if you do not show up within a half hour charge you $10 to $20 for a no show. there is no excuse not to be in line at least a 15 to 30 minutes before your dinner begins.

 

[CDavid]

It's about scheduling. If you don't have a booked room then why would you staff for it. Bringing in the wait and kitchen staff to accommodate some walk ups doesn't make sense, or they would do it

Walk-ups pay just as much for their food, and are just as profitable, as someone who made a reservation a month prior. They are trying to cut back on scheduling, but they are "leaving dollars on the table to save pennies".

You never want to have a completely sold-out,100% full restaurant (hotel, train, plane, etc.). If there are but a couple of seats empty, you know you have sold all the tickets/meals you possibly could without turning business away. In a sold-out condition, there is no way to tell just how much (potential) business you lost. By cutting staffing to the level of advance reservations, if Disney will be unable to accommodate last minute (day of) customers, they are guaranteed to be turning people away to leave empty tables.

As a side note, I'm curious, do those of you who are staunchly against this put as much emotion into the fact that your Doctor/Dentist etc. do the same thing if you don't give them enough notice that you can't make a scheduled appointment? Or is that different in some way?

I've never seen a doctor or dentist do that, but if they pulled such a stunt I think I'd find a new doctor. Hotels do charge you, but that's different for one reason - they hold a CC reserved room all night waiting for you and thus cannot sell it to someone else. You have bought the room whether you use it or not. That's not true of a restaurant, which merely need to ensure they don't get stuck with large numbers of no-shows. To take the hotel example a bit further, hotels often permit cancellation up to 6 p.m. the day of arrival. Providing 24 hours notice to a restaurant is ludicrous.

 

[BrittanyRose428]

I've never had more than one reservation booked for the same meal, I don't understand the process behind this. I guess if you have little kids or something, and you don't know how they're going to be at that certain time of day, but no one in my family has ever made more than one reservation because of that. We've had times when my cousins were younger that they decided they weren't having it for dinner, so we cancelled the reservations and got quick service instead. I'm fine with this, sometimes I go on last minute trips and would like to be able to walk up once in a while.

 

[Jo DeVil]

I think this is a good thing. We book 180 + 10 days and have never missed an ADR yet. If it stops people make ADR's just in case, it means they can be used as walk ups (for those crazy people that don't plan months in advance LOL).

 

[PhotoDave219]

My doctor charges $10 for a cancellation within 24 hours, $25 for within 1 hour, and $50 for a no show, AND $75 for a second offense no show

How that for a cancellation policy?!?!?!

Your doctor isn't giving me food

 

[NowInc]

Here in South Florida, restaurants now instead of giving you one of those annoying buzzing things take your phone # and will CALL you when there is a table available. I feel if Disney could implement something like this (hey..use mm+!), they could pick up a lot of the potential lost revenue. Take your #..you get to walk around, they call or text you if/when a table opens up.

 

[WDWmazprty]

This is good. Yeah, its nice to be spontaneous and all that, but knowing how fast Disney restaurants fill up with so many people in the parks and resorts, Im glad that ressies need to be made along with having this cancellation policy.
We always plan our trips well in advance and think about what restaurants we want to eat at for that particular trip. We've never had a problem and never have to worry about not not getting a table because we're walking up or suddenly changed our minds at the last minute.

 

[WDW1974]

Just received a note from an insider who questions whether this is an attempt to save on labor as an exchange for having to beef up ranks in Guest Relations and front gate ops due to the roll-out of MM+ (seriously, folks going to kiosks to check reservations that were made on smart phones and then waiting in lines of 20-45 minutes for attractions like Mansion and PoC and SW and SSE and Nemo that are usually walk-ons much of the day if you time it right? This sounds MAGICal and logical to y'all? REALLY?!?!) Oops, wrong rant ... sorry.

Anyway, how is it that Disney doesn't simply staff its restaurants based on crowds (like say UNI does and Disney used to) and since ADR's are NOT reservations, if someone doesn't show up within 15 minutes of their time, you simply replace them with a walk in and they move to the end of the line if they show up. No harm, no foul, no godawful guest service.

Only Disney could get away with crap like this ... really. No one else.

 

[WDW1974]

A lot of people would like to try it once, just like you must have.

I tried it twice. For free. I wouldn't go back for a third free meal (even if they threw in a gift card). It is loud. It is lousy. It has insufficient restroom facilities. Enjoy it. I won't be.

 

[Megalodumb]

There are too many people who book multiple reservations, then decide at the last minute which one to use, but never cancel the others.

That's the truth. Not only is this practice a sign of disrespect for the business & clientele that these morons neglect to cancel with, but it also shows sheer stupidity & laziness to not be able to make a 1 to 2-minute phone call (give or take).

 

[WDW1974]

Probably the same low-life's abusing the GAC. Truthfully, I am glad to see this change and I hope they get rid of the DDP whether "free" or not because all it has led to is very expensive and over-rated meals.

Not going anywhere. DDP is a cancer that TDO loves. You wouldn't have this problem (and I hesitate to use the word as I think this issue is only slightly more existent than the soda thivery at food courts) if the DDP didn't put burger, plain pizza and chicken finger rubes into fine dining locales to begin with.

 

[WDW1974]

It's about scheduling. If you don't have a booked room then why would you staff for it. Bringing in the wait and kitchen staff to accommodate some walk ups doesn't make sense, or they would do it.
There is a profitability line and the walk up demand isn't strong enough.
.

And you know this how?

 

[WDW1974]

As a side note, I'm curious, do those of you who are staunchly against this put as much emotion into the fact that your Doctor/Dentist etc. do the same thing if you don't give them enough notice that you can't make a scheduled appointment? Or is that different in some way?

Seriously?!?! That's what you'd compare this to?

God, just bless your heart ... Disney loves guests that think like that.

 

[WDW1974]

Maybe this enforcement is coming out of Burbank then and not TDO??

It is part of One Disney and is coming out of Orlando.