Do people actually cancel their dining reservations?

[WaltzingMatilda]

Hi -

Just tried to book a couple of dining "hot spots" for our trip, and was unsuccessful. However, the reservation specialist encouraged me to keep trying back, as "people do cancel". Speaking only for myself, I know that if I made other plans, I (even with the best of intentions) would completely forget to cancel. Do people actually take the time to cancel a reservation if they know they can't make it? I'd love your input on this.

Thanks!

 

[parker kim]

I always cancle before the trip But, I hate to say I have not cancled on days we were in the park and got bussy This happened 2xs on our last trip. But I did not have a cell phone then either. This tip in Oct. I will try to cancle any thing we can't make. Oh and we did the luau and had a great time and we found the food great also. Go and have fun.

 

[IWorkWTeeth]

Because of the problems you are having getting reservations, I have always cancelled mine if plans have changed. Keep trying.....something might open up!!

 

[shoppingnut]

I always cancel mine if we aren't going to go because I feel that this could be someone else's magical moment in getting into this restaurant because I cancelled.

Parker Kim: You don't need a cell phone to cancel, you can walk up to any sit down restaurant podium and have them cancel the ressie for you at any restaurant anywhere on property. Also you can dial *88 (at no cost) from any WDW pay phone to be directly connected to WDW dining.

 

[DisneyMissy]

I had one that I had to cancel because we decided not to wait around at the park for our ressi because we wanted to go to another park. That is what I hate about table service restaurants, too planned out. Anyway, I went to the restaurant and cancelled so someone else could have the spot.

 

[Disneian]

I cancelled 3 yesterday!

I cancelled at Liberty Tree Tavern Character Dinner, Cindy's & 50's Prime Time all yesterday! So - it does happen.

 

[Miss Bell]

We always cancel, and I'll tell ya why. On our very first trip, back when we knew nothing about WDW--we wandered up to the castle and lucked into a PS because someone had just canceled. We had no idea how hard it was to get into the castle, and what a big deal that was at the time. Only later, when we got back and did more research on dining to we realize what a break we caught. For that little bit of magic, I will always cancel if our plans change, so someone else can use our reservation.

 

[Ariellen]

We always cancel when we decide not to use a priority seating arrangement. And I think Disney tries to encourage that, at least at some of the most popular locations, by asking for a credit card # to guarantee your time. If you cancel with less than 24 hours notice, or fail to show up, there's a cancellation FEE that's charged to the card. No fun at all!

When my parents came down in December, we were going to have lunch at CRT, but decided since we were going to MVMCP that night, it'd be too much in a day, so we cancelled CRT a few days before. It was a little sad to do so, but I'll bet some family felt like they'd been sprinkled with some very special Pixie Dust to find out they could eat there after all!

 

[ypcat]

If our plans change beforehand, we will cancel. However I can think of one time that we didn't cancel. Was our first trip on the dining plan and we were still stuffed from lunch. I didn't even think of cancelling since it was so close to our time when we decided not to go. I guess I am just a rude guest :goodnevil

Yes Guest often do cancel their un-need dine reservations so availablitity is constantly changing.

Also, to be fair to all, Guests are not permitted to book two or more reservations for the same date, meal period, and party size. If an Agent retrieves or notes an existing dine booking and the Guest is making a new booking for the same date and time range, the Agent is required to cancel the existing booking.

JP, is this a procedure or built into the system? I called yesterday to make some reservations, and the CM (was it you?) didn't mention the fact we already had other reservations at the same time. Of course, after getting the reservations we preferred, we cancelled the others, but I wanted to make sure I had something before freeing up the other. But it sounded like he had to switch over to a different application to do cancellations. Just curious.

 

[kennygman77]

Hi -

Just tried to book a couple of dining "hot spots" for our trip, and was unsuccessful. However, the reservation specialist encouraged me to keep trying back, as "people do cancel". Speaking only for myself, I know that if I made other plans, I (even with the best of intentions) would completely forget to cancel. Do people actually take the time to cancel a reservation if they know they can't make it? I'd love your input on this.

Thanks!

Yes, we always cancel as a courtesy to our disney world visitor friends.

 

[Senderella]

The only time we cancelled was on our first trip. We had made an early PS for breakfast towards the end of our trip. We were exhausted and didn't want to quite wake up that early. I sleepily called the dining number and had it cancelled when the alarm started going off for us to wake up (to make the PS). LOL We went back to sleep for about another hour & a half. I think instead we hit the Whispering Canyon since it was downstairs.

This past trip I had a brain fart and thought our PS for 1900 was going to run into one of the parades time wise. I called to see if there were any openings at a different time and there wasn't. I explained my concern to the CM and she was very nice. She told me that we would be ok time wise with our current time and left it at that.

We definately call if something comes up.

 

[tink81]

Yes! Please don't think they are blowing smoke up your wazoo, people really do cancel! We have done it several times; didn't want to spend the $$, wanted to spend more time in the parks, etc. You would be suprised! Give a call at least once a day until you get the time you desire. Best of luck!:kiss:

 

[Tigggrl]

Just a tip for those last minute diners.....Do not go to Guest services to see about a reservation opening, Go to the restaurant itself. One year, during MVMCP, We checked at Guest services, to get dining reservations for Liberty Tree, they told us no, and when we walked over to the restaurant, they seated us immediately, with no problems!:wave:

 

[JPVonDrake]

Also, to be fair to all, Guests are not permitted to book two or more reservations for the same date, meal period, and party size. If an Agent retrieves or notes an existing dine booking and the Guest is making a new booking for the same date and time range, the Agent is required to cancel the existing booking.

JP, is this a procedure or built into the system? I called yesterday to make some reservations, and the CM (was it you?) didn't mention the fact we already had other reservations at the same time. Of course, after getting the reservations we preferred, we cancelled the others, but I wanted to make sure I had something before freeing up the other. But it sounded like he had to switch over to a different application to do cancellations. Just curious.

This is a procedure, and the policy is for us to book the new dine reservation first to ensure availability, then cancel the old one. And it is true, we do need to switch screens to change from booking to cancelling so we may not always see that you already have an existing reservation.

Just a tip for those last minute diners.....Do not go to Guest services to see about a reservation opening, Go to the restaurant itself. One year, during MVMCP, We checked at Guest services, to get dining reservations for Liberty Tree, they told us no, and when we walked over to the restaurant, they seated us immediately, with no problems!

I can assure you that the Concierge Lounge Itinerary Planner Desk, the Lobby Concierge Desk (formerly Resort Guests Services), Theme Park Guest Relations, Table Service Restaurant Podiums and Disney Dining (1-407-WDW-DINE, *88 from any Theme Park payphone, or the DINE button on your in-room phone) all use the same DRS (dine reservation system) software with access to the same availability of tables. Booking with any one department over the others offers no advantages to table availability. Being a live system, dine availability is constantly changing as hundreds of Guests are booking and/or cancelling dine reservations every hour of the day.

 

[trr313]

I try my best to cancel if I am unable to keep a reservation. When we were there during Memorial Day Weekend we called to try and get last minute dining almost all day and finally we were able to book Liberty Tree Tavern so yes guests do cancel, just don't bank on it. Good luck:wave:

 

[WaltzingMatilda]

Many many thanks to all of you! As usual you've given great advice and encouragement. I'm going to keep trying for the ressies I want. And, if something comes up that interferes with my existing ressies, I will be sure to remember to cancel!

 

[Woody13]

Just a tip for those last minute diners.....Do not go to Guest services to see about a reservation opening, Go to the restaurant itself. One year, during MVMCP, We checked at Guest services, to get dining reservations for Liberty Tree, they told us no, and when we walked over to the restaurant, they seated us immediately, with no problems!:wave:

That is absolutely correct, and not just for last minute diners either. In all of the many years we have visited WDW, our family has never made an advance reservation and yet we have always been seated at the restaurants of our choice with little wait time.

Frankly, the reservation system at WDW leaves a lot to be desired. In the past, we have called from the resort phone to make a dining reservation, only to be told that they had no openings. However, just as you pointed out, when we appeared in person we were seated immediately. We've made a game of it over the years.

For example, remember when they had those kiosks in the World Showcase at Epcot with the touch TV screens? You could make dining reservations on those devices. I used them several times and always laughed at the results. We requested reservations at the Coral Reef restaurant and the TV screen said it was booked solid. We then walked down to the Coral Reef and found plenty of seating available.

Back in the old days when the breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table was the toughest reservation on property to get, we walked up one morning and were seated without a problem. We did this several times over the years.

Just last year (in the early evening) at City Hall in the MK, they had signs in the lobby proclaiming that the Liberty Tree Tavern was booked solid and they were not serving any more diners. The CM's advised that the Columbia Harbour House was available. When we walked up that way we found that the Columbia Harbour House was closed and that the Liberty Tree Tavern seated us right away.

Another thing is that the WDW reservation people that you speak with on the phone are not located in WDW. Same thing is true if you hit the "front desk" button on your phone at any WDW resort. You end up talking with a CM in a "boiler room" in Tampa or some other location. They have no "local knowledge". They have a computer screen with a script.

I think the bottom line is that WDW reservation services has a big lag in their information. They don't have real time data available for room reservations, restaurant reservations, etc. It's not their fault, but I have found it unwise to trust their information. While I have no proof (only my suspicions), I think that reservation specialists at WDW are duped by their managers to spread the crowds around property.

For example, if a particular restaurant is 75% full and another restaurant is only 40% full, the reservation people will tell you that the first restaurant is booked solid, but redirect you to the other (less busy) restaurant to spread the wealth and carrying capacity. However, if you go to the so called "booked" restaurant, you can indeed get a seat. That has been my experience over the years. :wave: