Why is everything booked?

K

kmanship

Member
Original Poster
Is anyone having problems finding dining availability? We are going December 5th - 14th and it seems like just about everything we are looking for is booked. The only thing I know of that is going on is a Pop Warner football event.

We go every year and have never had this much trouble getting reservations. We start calling (180 days out) at 5-10 minutes before they open and still can't get what we want for that day. I understand Cinderella's Royal Table may be booked but I can't even get a 5:00pm show to Hoop Dee Doo Revue... We do have 11 people but they are telling me nothing is available...

They reservation counsellor told us that people who stay on property can book for their whole trip even even if it's more than 180 days out. Meaning if you arrive on December 10th are are staying through December 16th you can book for the 16th even though it's more than 180 days out. Does anyone know if this is a new policy?

Thanks in advance for your time and comments.

Kyle
 
D

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
kmanship said:
They reservation counsellor told us that people who stay on property can book for their whole trip even even if it's more than 180 days out. Meaning if you arrive on December 10th are are staying through December 16th you can book for the 16th even though it's more than 180 days out. Does anyone know if this is a new policy?
Click to expand...

Been that way since October 2005, called the 180+10 rule.
Resort guests can book 10 days worth of dining when its 180 days away from the first day of their trip.

Bookings are strong for December, this doesn't surprise me.
 
K

kmanship

Member
Original Poster
I figured the first week in December would be slow but I guess not... Usually we go end of October early November, one time in January but some of our favorite rides were being refurbed...

Thanks for the response.
 
DougK

DougK

Well-Known Member
One word:

Disney Dining Plan

OK, that's three words but you get my drift.

Thanks to DDP eating at the World has become a major hassle. This is why we now rent a car when we go. It's a shame too because my wife and I really used to enjoy the restaurants there. Now we only book 2 or 3 Disney meals each trip. The money we save on meals pays for the car anyway, and we have use of the car for getting to the parks (if we want to drive), going to the store and SEEING OTHER ORLANDO AREA ATTRACTIONS. I don't like most of those other attractions as much as Disney but it is good to have the flexibility.
 
D

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
I'll give a few more reasons:

- DDP, agreed, has been filling restaurants
- Magical Express keeps people on property
- there is no such thing as a slow time anymore
- Disney set record attendance figures in 2007, and bookings are still fairly strong, despite the economic picture
- many people realize how great Disney is at the holidays, so more and more are visiting
- Pop Warner
- you may be hitting the recording of the Christmas Parade on December 6-7 which brings in a lot of people.
- Mousefest, usually only 1000-2000 people, but some agencies block rooms...
 
DisneyDreamerK

DisneyDreamerK

Member
I had to book everything for 11 people for Nov 29 - Dec 6th...

I called up wdw-dine and since i had 11 people in the party they gave me a special number to call to accommodate everyone. I believe it was 407 827-7600, but I have a million phone numbers written down on this one post-it note, so it might be the wrong one
If you call the Grand Gathering number, they will be able to transfer you...

I got everything I wanted (Even Le Cellier) and I wasn't even put on hold...

Also I got a Grand Gathering confirmation number that I booked everything under and they were the ones who told me to call that number for 11 people.
 
captainkidd

captainkidd

Well-Known Member
My guess is it's your party size. They probably have a very limited amount of tables blocked off for that size. Maybe you should call and ask for 3 tables of 4 or something.
 
Pumbas Nakasak

Pumbas Nakasak

Heading for the great escape.
kmanship said:
Is anyone having problems finding dining availability? We are going December 5th - 14th and it seems like just about everything we are looking for is booked.
Kyle
Click to expand...


Surely not, after all theres plenty of threads on here urging spontaneity and the ease of obtaining walk ups.:shrug:
 
C

chicagochris

New Member
Made reservations on Saturday for our trip that begins on 12/11. Got everything I wanted with no problems, including a table for 6 at Le Celier for lunch one afternoon, which I later dropped because of a scheduling conflict.
 
K

kmanship

Member
Original Poster
I called again the other day looking for Hoop Dee Doo Revue seats (for 11) for the week we are there and all of the 5:00pm shows were booked for the week... I have never had a problem getting HDDR tickets even for a party of 11 in the past... Maybe it's the Pop Warner football event going on and everyone is booking ahead of time in case they make it... who knows....very frustrating though. Oh well, the bright side is we will save a ton of money eating counter service, or off property... thanks for everyone's replies!
 
kangaand2roos

kangaand2roos

Member
We are going Nov 29-Dec 6 and we got everything that we wanted at reasonable times except Crystal Palace which all they had left was 3:50 dinner, b/c it's a MVMCP night. (Do people really eat dinner at 3:50?) I took it b/c I had no other choice and not seeing Eeyore is not an option for me :) But I kept calling and a 6:25 showed up so now we are all set. Keep calling but maybe it would help if you broke up your group into a few tables of 3/4 like some people already suggested.
 
dixiegirl

dixiegirl

Well-Known Member
captainkidd said:
My guess is it's your party size. They probably have a very limited amount of tables blocked off for that size. Maybe you should call and ask for 3 tables of 4 or something.
Click to expand...

Yeah I would have to agree! We are going in Sept a group of 10 (a first) and Although we got the times that were around what we wanted it was still a bit harder being a bigger group....and sadly ....gone are the days of just walking up to a place and either waiting 20 min s or so or just walking in.....I miss those days!!!
 
ClemsonTigger

ClemsonTigger

Naturally Grumpy
kmanship said:
Is anyone having problems finding dining availability? We are going December 5th - 14th and it seems like just about everything we are looking for is booked. The only thing I know of that is going on is a Pop Warner football event.

We go every year and have never had this much trouble getting reservations. We start calling (180 days out) at 5-10 minutes before they open and still can't get what we want for that day. I understand Cinderella's Royal Table may be booked but I can't even get a 5:00pm show to Hoop Dee Doo Revue... We do have 11 people but they are telling me nothing is available...

They reservation counsellor told us that people who stay on property can book for their whole trip even even if it's more than 180 days out. Meaning if you arrive on December 10th are are staying through December 16th you can book for the 16th even though it's more than 180 days out. Does anyone know if this is a new policy?

Thanks in advance for your time and comments.

Kyle
Click to expand...

Have you registered for Magical Gathering? If you do, you will be given a separate number for making reservations which may help. your other best option would be making reservations for multiples of 4 or 6.
 
Cheshire413

Cheshire413

New Member
My husband and I are heading down to WDW Sept 6th-13th which has always been an off season and we've never had issues making any sort of reservations in the last few years we've gone and it's never been busy. Now, I tried making reservations at one of our favorite restaurants and they say it's booked the entire time we're there. I find this impossible to believe seeing as Disney prides in taking care of their customers. I find it hard to believe that they were book up an entire restaurant, not giving any availability to the people who 'walk-in'. I'm thinking that maybe they are taking limited reservations now to make it more fair or equal between the people calling in and the people already at the park ('walk-ins')

What do you guys think? Am I too far off?
 

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