Free Dining Plans = No avaliability

[AliciaLuvzDizne]

DDP sucks
the servers are miserable
the seaters have to turn walkins away by 3pm (at least at my restaurant we do)
we get yelled at as if it's our fault
DRS over books the tiniest restaurant with 3 or 4 parties of 8, 9, or 10 at a time

BUT
its nice for guests who pre-plan and save money.

 

[Irrawaddy Erik]

Again, you can't blame the free dining. Free dining started on August 13 - September 30. In July, the dining was NOT free.

I'm not complaining about the free dining. It's the new ADRs. I was just stating that it's getting harder for locals to get into resturants without making a reservation almost 180 days in advance. In past years even durring peak seasons you still had opennings almost everywhere. You would be surprised at the amount of CMs that eat on property nightly. In past years it was not uncommon for a group of CMs (10+) from my area to go eat somewhere together once a week. With the new ADRs that is becoming impossible. We tried to get a group to go eat mulitiple times this summer and we were only able to get two seatings.

 

[mousermerf]

DDP sucks
the servers are miserable
the seaters have to turn walkins away by 3pm (at least at my restaurant we do)
we get yelled at as if it's our fault
DRS over books the tiniest restaurant with 3 or 4 parties of 8, 9, or 10 at a time

BUT
its nice for guests who pre-plan and save money.

Your restaurant manager chooses the grid that DRS books, therefor it is his/her fault. If 10 parties are showing up at say 4:15pm, then your manager needs to cut the number of parties booking that slot and push them to 3:45 4:00 4:15 and 4:30 and such to spread them out better.

If you're overbooked by 10 table tops then your manager needs to be pulling up who booked those tables (it cant just be done) and that person needs to be reprimanded. You can't cripple an operation and make other guests wait by just deciding the override the slot limits at random.

 

[AliciaLuvzDizne]

Your restaurant manager chooses the grid that DRS books, therefor it is his/her fault. If 10 parties are showing up at say 4:15pm, then your manager needs to cut the number of parties booking that slot and push them to 3:45 4:00 4:15 and 4:30 and such to spread them out better.

If you're overbooked by 10 table tops then your manager needs to be pulling up who booked those tables (it cant just be done) and that person needs to be reprimanded. You can't cripple an operation and make other guests wait by just deciding the override the slot limits at random.

actually
the grid is created with the thought that the restaurant is empty at that time.
so yeah
we CAN fit 4 or 5 HUGE parties at one time...but only if the restaurant was a complete ghost town at that time

And
you can JUST do it...especially if you tell your family to lie (as in...book a table for 4 but bring 6, or make the reservation for 3 but show up at 6)
these things are done all the time and due to the policy, we have to accomodate everyone on our list

 

[PhotoDave219]

Again, you can't blame the free dining. Free dining started on August 13 - September 30. In July, the dining was NOT free.

Watch me blame disney for this debacle. Ive got multiple sources saying that the main reason all the ADR ressies are gone is because of this dining plan. Which is horrifically annoying when you see Soaring with a 10 minute wait, but Le Cellier and Mexico are turning people away. Less than 10k people in the park and you cant get in as a walkup at a resturant and cant get day before or morning of ressies beyond annoying. Now expand that for a whole week..... As an AP holder and a DDE member, i should be able to get in most anywhere whenever i want. But somehow 9:40 at Spoodles really isnt what i'm looking for. That and Morrocco. We just dont eat moroccan food.... and juding by the availability there, nor do most.

With me, Disney has missed out getting money off of two good meals that ended up going to Levy resturants in Downtown (Portabello, Wolfgang Puck's) where i spent more than what the DDP reimburses....

"I don't understand why there is so much difficulty getting ADRs but when you read the trip reports it sounds like most rides are walk on or minimal wait?

Thats the overall point experienced by myself and Corrus and probably countless others. Its insane, innane and horribly fustrating.

 

[meryll83]

I am the Dining Plan's latest fan, because it's enabled us to go back to WDW a year early!:sohappy:
We were looking at going back in 2008, as we figured this should give us enought time to save. Then when I saw the free dining offer for 2007, the other half and I sat down for a chat, and with the money we will save not having to buy our food for 2 weeks, we can now afford to go and we're all booked!

2 whole weeks of Disney goodness, and free dining for the whole stay - it's amazing! :sohappy:

 

[One Lil Spark]

*Thread Drift Alert*

Holy Campbells Chunky Clam Chowder Batman! DAVE! :wave:

 

[vmkaddict]

The DDP is definitly a money maker for Disney.......here's my example....I was there 2 weeks ago, stayed at AKL:$2300.00, I convinced my parents and 2 cousins to come also because of the DDP:$2000.00, I dropped another $750.00 in cash and I'm sure my parents and cousins were close to that. That adds up to over $6000.00 that Disney would not have gotten had it not been for the DDP. We had planned on skipping this year and they would have gotten zilch. The DDP definitly got us to the park this year. I hope it's available next year also, I'll be the 1st in line and so will 2 other families that I've told about the plan.

 

[New2WDW]

Again, you can't blame the free dining. Free dining started on August 13 - September 30. In July, the dining was NOT free.

True! In the past couple of years it has always been hard for me to get the times and places I wanted, so I think the Free Dining Plan has caused some congestion but not what the OP is complaining about. Also park attendance has gone up tremendously in the last couple of years! They gotta eat somewhere!

 

[PhotoDave219]

*Thread Drift Alert*

Holy Campbells Chunky Clam Chowder Batman! DAVE! :wave:

Shhs!!!! Dont let the Mods notice.... :lol: PM me one o these days....

 

[justavisitor]

What about visitors who don't plan 180 ahead?

Sometimes I visit Disney based on the airfares that Southwest is offering. I eat most of my evening meals at Epcot. Based on the comments if I want to eat at a nice resturant I might as well eat off property during this period.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Good point. I guess the biggest problem about ADRs is that they don't take into account any walk up traffic or people who want to book day of.

My GF has a friend comming in October (they cant get in where they want to), my best friend has a friend comming into town in 2 weeks (we're pulling strings there to get in) and my family sometimes just comes down due to airfare.

In short, why should we be penalized because we don't plan 180 days in advance? I don't live my life that far out; i don't know anyone who does. Granted, its great of you happen to live in ... oh say, London, but if you happen to be a spontanious person, Our needs aren't being taken care of.

I guess the biggest test of all this will be F&W festival... how many locals who make a "Spur of the moment trip" will end up disapointed because everything is booked up by people getting things for free?

 

[meryll83]

I might know when I'm going, but that doesn't mean I know what I'm going to feel like eating everyday I'm there, and when and where. It's still a pain to have to plan so far ahead even if you do know you will be there.....

 

[wannab@dis]

We just got back on Monday from a 10 day stay. I had only made 4 ADR for my whole trip prior to leaving.

We did not use the free dinning but did use our DDE card. I had no problems getting any sit down meals that I wanted. Places we ate with no ADR's, just walked up and got a table within 15 minutes:

Rose N Crown
California Grill
Germany
Hollywood and Vine
Brown Derby
Tony's Town Square
Whispering Canyon

We found that most resturants were not overly crowded and we never had problems with service.

Ive got multiple sources saying that the main reason all the ADR ressies are gone is because of this dining plan.

Something is not adding up here. I've read numerous trip reports of people saying they didn't have any problems getting into restaurants and a few of people complaining there's no availability. Somewhere in the middle is probably the accurate description when you take into account a specific location at a specific time.

The DDP appears to be a good deal for Disney and for resort guests, but probably causes some issues for locals. They are attracting guests to stay on property, spend money at their resorts, entry and on various souveniers, etc. The locals with APs just are not the major money making guests of the resort guests. Many AP holders are paying less than a dollar per gate entry and if they spend anything at all in a visit, it may be for a snack or a meal (which Disney may not see much money from since not all locations are owned by Disney).

 

[The Mom]

Shhs!!!! Dont let the Mods notice.... :lol: PM me one o these days....

Too late!!! :wave:

I've posted extensively on this particular topic. Maybe the fact that I can't get a reservation at my favorite restaurants has absolutely nothing to do with the free dining plan. I just know that last year, and the last 24 years, I had no problem. Now I do. (Or would, if I hadn't cancelled my trip)

My in-laws in the Orlando area have voiced the same complaint.

It appears that WDW doesn't need the local business, as guests staying on site obviously pay more per trip than a local. And that will be fine for WDW as long as nothing happens to affect the tourist industry...again.

 

[ypcat]

It appears that WDW doesn't need the local business, as guests staying on site obviously pay more per trip than a local. And that will be fine for WDW as long as nothing happens to affect the tourist industry...again.

If the tourism industry drops, that will free up slots for locals and other walkups to get in

 

[davinakb]

If a $5 tip is all a server gets, then why does it state that a 18% gratuity is included with the plan?

Interesting, wonder how that's calculated and must agree with other posters who question how WDW doesn't lose money on the DDP.

Agree with everyone about the ADR vs. walk-up debate. I think they overcorrected the problem by opening the reservation window to 180 days. It should really be shorter (30-60 days), as most people don't want to or cannot plan that far in advance.

With the contrasting comments about availability, perhaps WDW has started limiting the number of Priority Seatings available to allow for stand-by diners. I think I'll try the wait list next month at Le Cellier since I couldn't get an ADR.

 

[vmkaddict]

It was stated that the restaurants get $27 per meal.......does that also include $27 for the kids meals?...............not too shabby for mac-n-cheese.

 

[The Mom]

If the tourism industry drops, that will free up slots for locals and other walkups to get in

But the problem is that many of the locals will be out of the habit of "Let's call WDW and see if we can get a seat at_____ and stay to watch________." This is something that my in-laws used to do several times a month (they're retired) but now they just don't bother because they've not been able to get a reservation. People will start dropping it from their mental list of fun things to do this weekend.

 

[Irrawaddy Erik]

If the tourism industry drops, that will free up slots for locals and other walkups to get in

Most of the times when we go to the parks it's not to ride the attractions it is to watch the fireworks and eat. We might hit one attraction and then sit around till dinner, but that seems to be a thing of the past now.