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

rael ramone

Well-Known Member
My thoughts:

On one hand, I have a lot of ADR's for my next trip, and I'm actually :eek: looking forward to them. (Not a coincidence that only one of them is for a theme park TS that's run by the Mouse [Brown Derby - or is that one farmed out too?]). Most of the places are places that I've been to before and I can reasonably expect that I'll enjoy what they have (though I've never done Narcoosee's before & I'm wondering if M.Paul will have more of a resemblance of the fine dining of the old Bistro or the hospital food now served downstairs). And for that reason I play that game with them. I can accept a degree of 'structure' on my vacation.

But two issues come to my mind:

1. Is it really a reservation? Does the fact that they are holding the 'sword of Damicles' above my head to do stick to the time set mean they'll have a table set for me when I arrive? Or is it only a reservation if you are a no show and they can add another $10 per head to their kitty...

2. Being able to make any reservation (whether for a truly rewarding meal like at Jiko or for a ride in a spinner) needs less variables in your schedule, and the more reservations means the less variables. And for many guests, whether it's for Cindy's breakfast or for dinner at the Canadian Dungeon after a day at AK, they have to make their ADR/FP(-) experience/whatever while dealing with the ultimate variable: The Magical Motorcoach.
 

bethymouse

Well-Known Member
Here's a thought, same day ressies. Conduct a test at one of the parks, let's say EPCOT. Maybe they could utilize a section of the post show area of SE to set up kiosks with touch screens to make same day resizes. Or, perhaps video screens so you could talk live with a CM. Nah, probably wouldn't work.
:banghead:
They did this in like 1983 when the new technology came out. As I recall it was set up as you 1st walk in. It was neat back then.;) The same day ressies would be great actually! I just think the ADR situation has gotten way out of hand, but is this really the solution to the problem? We'll see...:hungry:
 

Bigcityblues

New Member
I am saying that if I make a reservation I keep it, if I'm tired, I drink some coffee, catch a nap, or go to bed a little early. And I can make those small adjustments all while having fun and doing what I want without being rigid. It's really not that hard. Besides, if they are at the end of the trip as you say, you will know how tired you feel 24hrs in advance and can make adjustments within the new time limit. Disney isn't Disney without being tired at the end of the trip, but its not an excuse to complain about this new policy, it's not like you didn't know you had the reservations. If you don't like it, plan the breakfast for in the beginning when you are not tired, or better yet, try your walk-in luck, but don't try to justify being too tired as a last minute excuse to dodge out and complain about this new policy. You know you have them in advance, plan accordingly.

Ehhh, as I said, not ed off as we always keep all of our ADR's, except for those 2 times over the last 10 years (and we did call). I just won't make that 8:30 Cape May Cafe breakfast ADR anymore...it's a killer getting there from the GF so early. So many helpful suggestions, though...:rolleyes:
 

Bigcityblues

New Member
We have had this happen, but we feel we made the reservations so we keep them. We get tired, but we manage. If yall not wanting to trek all yhe way in the morning happens (you said yourself on several occasions) then dont make those mornings ressie. Get a snack some where. This is one of the reasons why disney is placing this policy.

Yes, it happened twice in 10 years, other than that, we keep all our ADR's - we are always excited about our next meal! I imagine that the folks who make 2-5 ADR's for the same time to cover themselves have more to do with the new policy than little ol' me, who called to cancel when we weren't making it. I can adjust...as I said, we won't make that far, faraway 8:30 am ADR anymore. Thanks for the advice, though.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
I hope they don't reconsider this. It's the best, most reasonable, and most fair thing to do. I for one love this idea!

I have had that conversation way too many times. We'll just have to agree to disagree. I hope you're right and the new policy (if implemented) actually benefits guests. But based on my own personal experience, I see far more downsides than I do potential upsides for us. Disney, on the other hand, wins big.

I was thinking it may be too much all at once. People are still getting used to planning around all the fp+ stuff, and they are probably missing meals because of it.

A friend of mine just got back from a weekend trip and has started posting his trip report. In the first entry, he talks about some of the issues they had with FP+. Here's an excerpt:

I got up early Sunday morning to try to salvage some use of Fastpass+ for our last day in the parks. A few different Disney employees worked hard to get us up and running. We found out a couple of things. First, they had managed to give us the wrong confirmation number when we had checked in. Secondly, the online features could only be linked through the My Disney Experience account of the person whose name was on the reservation. We were eventually offered a carte-blanche paper pass for any three attractions because the whole system had apparently crashed Sunday morning.

Based on some of his comments and others I have seen here, I can definitely see where they need to fix FP+ before penalizing people for being late for dinner.
 
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prberk

Well-Known Member
OK. I will say it again. WDW used to be fun, and encourage you to, while planning some things, give you plenty of reason to notice new details and follow paths you have never trod before (like taking time to see new things) -- i.e., being spontaneous.

Now you are very likely to be penalized by being spontaneous.

How dare you find something neat and different in EPCOT that might make you reconsider that planned dinner reservation at MK for an hour and a half from now, which you made six months ago, before your neice said that she really liked EPCOT this morning and wanted to see more today....

It's all just gotten beyond rediculuous, especially considering it is supposed to be a place to help you "escape the real world" and to be about hospitality, family time, and discovery. Not to mention pricey.

Maybe that is why they are "delaying" it... to either fix it or reconsider it.

I think they should.
 

Hot Lava

Well-Known Member
I remember eating at the Plaza last year for dinner and people were trying to do walk-ups and were being turned away, even though the place was empty. My guess is that this was going on: The place was booked, but the weather got bad that night, EPCOT had EMH, so people stayed away from the MK altogether and just didn't show up. However, since they didn't show, but their names were still on "the list" for tables, they couldn't take walk-ups to fill the vacant spots.

I have seen this basic scenario over and over on these boards. SO WDW doesn't have a policy to let a reservation go to a walk up after, say 15 or 20 minutes? That seems insane. After 20 minutes, they should let it go. If that party shows up after that, they could try to accommodate them (such as with another no show table), but otherwise SOL. The comment I saw somewhere on this forums which stated that they got into Ohana b/c a party of 26 did not show up was shocking to me.
 

jklakeview

Well-Known Member
I have had that conversation way to many times. We'll just have to agree to disagree. I hope you're right and the new policy (if implemented) actually benefits guests. But based on my own personal experience, I see far more downsides than I do potential upsides for us. Disney, on the other hand, wins big.

You'll have to explain to me what happened in your own experience and maybe it will make me change my opinion. I for one think it is disrespectful and downright wrong of people to make dozens of reservations and then just forget or not care about cancelling them. If they could somehow stop people from making multiple reservations then I'm all for not having a cancellation penalty. I think in MOST (not all, but the majority) cases, cancelling the night before is not a lot to ask. I make a lot of reservations but usually cancel them even before my trip begins. I do the same with cars. NEVER once had I left for a trip with multiple car or dining reservations made.
 

jklakeview

Well-Known Member
I have had that conversation way to many times. We'll just have to agree to disagree. I hope you're right and the new policy (if implemented) actually benefits guests. But based on my own personal experience, I see far more downsides than I do potential upsides for us. Disney, on the other hand, wins big.


You'll have to explain to me what happened in your own experience and maybe it will make me change my opinion. I for one think it is disrespectful and downright wrong of people to make dozens of reservations and then just forget or not care about cancelling them. If they could somehow stop people from making multiple reservations then I'm all for not having a cancellation penalty. I think in MOST (not all, but the majority) cases, cancelling the night before is not a lot to ask. I make a lot of reservations but usually cancel them even before my trip begins. I do the same with cars. NEVER once had I left for a trip with multiple car or dining reservations made.
 

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