One out of Seven ADR's!

[WDWCrazyKaren]

We are so sad. One out of seven! We actually had to go back to the park hours schedule and rearrange days as we did not get the ADR's we were looking for. DH had to console me saying that "food and restaurants are not the reason we are going to Disney World". Well, maybe it's not the ONLY reason, but it IS part of it. Yes, I'm going to keep on trying, every day, to see if there are any cancellations, but I'm not holding my breath. I just need a few days to get over myself! I do NOT like this 90 + 10 thing. I'd rather have to call every day and at least have an even playing field!

Sorry, didn't mean to whine.:blush:

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

It doesn't help that some people have a 1 hr. advantage by being able to book online.

Keep trying! I've heard of people having luck just by calling the next day. Good luck!

[DizneyRox]

Depending on when your trip is, you might have problems. Nothing opened for our vacation, well, nothing with in reason. Dining at Disney is now a chore with very little, if any ROI. The food is mediocre at best.

[vicster]

I liked the old days when you didn't have to make reservations and could walk in anywhere. This all became worse with the dining plan!

[VWL Mom]

Ouch! I wouldn't give up hope though, just keep trying. Maybe try for some late lunches at your favorites.

One true negative of the online system that I've picked up on is a few people here saying that they have double booked and will cancel later. Not good and not sure Disney can do a work around on that.

[bicker]

There is an underlying message here, besides the obvious: Clearly, the economic down-turn is not adversely affecting Walt Disney World as much as some of the darkest curmudgeons are saying. Folks are clearly still visiting in large numbers, and not even resorting to saving money via switching substantially to counter service in large enough numbers to leave full-service restaurants with open space.

[poeticeclipse]

One true negative of the online system that I've picked up on is a few people here saying that they have double booked and will cancel later. Not good and not sure Disney can do a work around on that.


I'm not 100% sure of this but I know that i've heard of people doing the same thing (double booking) via telephone. It's sad because it really screws other people over.

I'm not sure what angle Disney is going for when they let online bookings occur one hour before phone bookings. Definitely not fair and this is not great timing with Free Dining ADRs upon us.

[Disney Doll]

There is an underlying message here, besides the obvious: Clearly, the economic down-turn is not adversely affecting Walt Disney World as much as some of the darkest curmudgeons are saying. Folks are clearly still visiting in large numbers, and not even resorting to saving money via switching substantially to counter service in large enough numbers to leave full-service restaurants with open space.

I wouldn't say things are on the up and up just yet. People making ADRs right now are fighting for spots within free dining promo. It's always nuts and I'm sure many people eat way more TS meals than they normally would because it's free. We all know that free dining isn't always the best deal going, but I don't think the average person considers that.

This is our first trip during the free dining promo and I think it will be our last. We don't usually eat a lot of TS meals and we don't get free dining with a DVC ressie so it hasn't affected me as much, but yeah many of the popular places seem to be booked. If I were on the free dining plan I would probably be very frustrated. What's the use of free dining when you can hardly get an ADR?

[Saron the Great]

I wouldn't say things are on the up and up just yet..... We all know that free dining isn't always the best deal going, but I don't think the average person considers that.

Why would you say that as we saved over 1K in using the FD offer?? We did book a 4/3 but when the free dining came up we changed, it cost me $300 more PLUS we got 1 more day/night for only $300 more then the 4/3 offer, thats 10 days, 9 nights PLUS the food....

[jrpersinger]

Keep trying! I didn't get a couple of my 1st choices when I made my ADRs. I called in right at 7am and was not even on hold, did exactly what I was suppose to do.... But, I have since gotten them all! Around my 45 day mark it seemed like several things opened up. Not sure if it is from people canceling when they cancel their trips or what, but I was able to snag a Le Cellier and the F! Dinner Package we wanted (we had Brown Derby, didn't want it) and picked up a few extras. And even changed times and days on several. We found Ohanas dinner, Le Cellier dinner, Chef Mickeys dinner, F! Packages, CRT and several other hard to get places at several different times!

Basically, if I had waited until 45 days out and did it all online I would have had better luck then calling in on my 90 days.

edit to add: I had to call in for the F! Package. When I seen all the other openings online, I called about it and sure enough, they had several.

[fupresti]

Ouch! I wouldn't give up hope though, just keep trying. Maybe try for some late lunches at your favorites.

One true negative of the online system that I've picked up on is a few people here saying that they have double booked and will cancel later. Not good and not sure Disney can do a work around on that.

And from what I have read here and on other sites is this new system allows them to cancel reservations if people are double booked. Hopefully this tactic of double booking will go the way of the Dodo.

And also, count me among those who want to see the Dining Plan go away. The quality of the food has suffered tremendously.

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

Honestly I don't mind the dining plan. However I do mind the free promotion. I think they shouldn't offer free dining. It's what cause the main problem with ADRs. I had no problem going in Oct and getting 16 ADRs... all that I wanted (including Le Cellier an CRT).

We go in Sept. because it's our anniversary month and we had a Disney honeymoon so we go back to celebrate. Unfortunately I can't change that date in order to avoid free dining.

[Disney Doll]

Why would you say that as we saved over 1K in using the FD offer?? We did book a 4/3 but when the free dining came up we changed, it cost me $300 more PLUS we got 1 more day/night for only $300 more then the 4/3 offer, thats 10 days, 9 nights PLUS the food....

Because you pay rack rates for your room when you get free dining. Sometimes that's the best deal going, but sometimes not. People don't always consider that free isn't always totally free.

[Saron the Great]

And from what I have read here and on other sites is this new system allows them to cancel reservations if people are double booked. Hopefully this tactic of double booking will go the way of the Dodo.

And also, count me among those who want to see the Dining Plan go away. The quality of the food has suffered tremendously.

How do you figure as it seems to me like with a paying DDP Disney makes out for the better??

Suffering food, others say the BEST they have had, hummmmmm.....

[steamboat willy]

We go in Sept. because it's our anniversary month and we had a Disney honeymoon so we go back to celebrate. Unfortunately I can't change that date in order to avoid free dining.


We also have the September Anniversary Month and will be arriving same date as you this year and staying right across the parking lot in ASMusic. Happy Anniversary! :wine:

I called exactly 90 days out and got all the ADR we wanted. This was back before they started the On-Line ressies.:cool:

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . Dining at Disney is now a chore with very little, if any ROI. The food is mediocre at best . . .

1) With the exception of only a very few eateries.
2) This is why we patronize only fiver sit-down eateries at WDW.
3) And, only two of them are Disney-owned !
4) It is a real shame how bad Disney food has become.
5) I blame most, if not all, of it on DDP
. . . people want to pig-out instead of enjoying goof/fine food
. . . people sacrifice quality for quantity
. . . due to reimbursement amounts, menu items have been standardized
. . . there are few truly exciting menu items at WDW

[mattandmandy]

Yes, keep trying! I am very lucky I got all the ones I wanted and I called withing an hour or so of them opening! I will say last year I don't know what I was thinking but I procrastinated and called just a few weeks before our trip and managed to get all that we wanted. We did have to keep trying though...several times a day when I thought about it.

[betteratmk]

We are so sad. One out of seven! We actually had to go back to the park hours schedule and rearrange days as we did not get the ADR's we were looking for. DH had to console me saying that "food and restaurants are not the reason we are going to Disney World". Well, maybe it's not the ONLY reason, but it IS part of it. Yes, I'm going to keep on trying, every day, to see if there are any cancellations, but I'm not holding my breath. I just need a few days to get over myself! I do NOT like this 90 + 10 thing. I'd rather have to call every day and at least have an even playing field!

Sorry, didn't mean to whine.:blush:

When are you going? We made our ressies yesterday and did pretty well. Tammy at Kingdom Konsultants was awesome! Did you try online? They give alternatives as well.

[eas423]

1) With the exception of only a very few eateries.
2) This is why we patronize only fiver sit-down eateries at WDW.
3) And, only two of them are Disney-owned !
4) It is a real shame how bad Disney food has become.
5) I blame most, if not all, of it on DDP
. . . people want to pig-out instead of enjoying goof/fine food
. . . people sacrifice quality for quantity
. . . due to reimbursement amounts, menu items have been standardized
. . . there are few truly exciting menu items at WDW

Just curious, what are the 5? :)

[DizneyRox]

Doing the math, there is not one day where we would have benefitted with the DDP. Each day, Disney is $5 or more ahead of us on the average.

Quality is not good overall, portion sizes are very small (compared to years past) and menus are just plain boring.

It's looking more and more like we'll be renting our DVC points out more and more, or just using them for trades to better destinations.

[RockinRollerMom]

We are so sad. One out of seven!

Just curious which ones you were not able to get and if they were all booked up or just the times you wanted. I know some-one who is booking there ADR's next week and is a little nervous. I booked my ADR's a few weeks ago and didn't have many problems. We are going during free dining so I got Le Celier for lunch instead of diner. I had to book Cape May 45 minutes later than I wanted, but the rest was pretty smooth.

As other posters have said, keep trying. ADR's do open up!

[WDWCrazyKaren]

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

Here's the rundown (I'm going off memory as I've left my ressie paper at home and I'm at my office right now)

09-26 Teppan Edo
09-27 Cape May Breakfast (BOO HOO-no Chef Mickey's as has been our tradition for lo these many years)
09-28 Princess Storybook (This was a YIPPEE moment just today. When I called on Sunday to make our ADR's there was no space available here so we booked Crystal Palace. I checked online this morning and now all of a sudden-SPACE AVAILABLE! I did do the responsible thing and called Disney Dining and cancelled CP)
09-29 50's Prime Time (For lunch. We wanted Sci Fi for dinner, but no such luck)
09-30 O'Hana's for breakfast
10-01 Chef Mickey's for breakfast
10-02 Whispering Canyon for dinner

As you can see, the McCrankypants family like them their breakfasts! We are early risers and love big breakfasts. No, it's not the "economical" way to use this dining plan as the breakfasts are cheaper than dinners, but hey, it's what we like to do!

I personally use the dining plan for all of our trips to the World. This is our first time for free dining however. We usually pay for the package. We'll see how busy things are.

Funny story-I said to Surly on Sunday just before making the ADR's "Somehow, it just feels more 'real' that the vacation is coming up soon once I have those ADR's made". His response. "What, it didn't feel real to you when we forked over $3,500?"

Men.

[jonahbear2006]

Honestly I don't mind the dining plan. However I do mind the free promotion. I think they shouldn't offer free dining. It's what cause the main problem with ADRs. I had no problem going in Oct and getting 16 ADRs... all that I wanted (including Le Cellier an CRT).

We go in Sept. because it's our anniversary month and we had a Disney honeymoon so we go back to celebrate. Unfortunately I can't change that date in order to avoid free dining.
We went both last year for free dining and will be returning this year and neither time did we have any trouble getting the reservations we wanted. AAMOF, we got Le Cellier both trips, last time WHILE we were there, we got the ressie. The parks were dead, with the exception of night of joy, and we had told several CMs how suprised we were at the low crowds. They told us, people don't come out just for the dining plan alone. If there is an issue, perhaps it is because of the new online system, but I know there are people that book dining that never intend on using it and don't bother to cancel their reservation, as well. Anyways, We got everywhere we asked for. I have never seen a problem with booking with disney dining.

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

We went both last year for free dining and will be returning this year and neither time did we have any trouble getting the reservations we wanted. AAMOF, we got Le Cellier both trips, last time WHILE we were there, we got the ressie. The parks were dead, with the exception of night of joy, and we had told several CMs how suprised we were at the low crowds. They told us, people don't come out just for the dining plan alone. If there is an issue, perhaps it is because of the new online system, but I know there are people that book dining that never intend on using it and don't bother to cancel their reservation, as well. Anyways, We got everywhere we asked for. I have never seen a problem with booking with disney dining.

Well, your lucky. In 07 we had a problem getting ADRs too. Prior to the free dining promotion we never had any problems with getting reservations in Sept. The crowds were less too. We used to never have to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes for rides and since free dining several get to 30-45 minute wait. A friend's mother has worked as a pastry chef for Disney for 15 years and we've discussed this. She's even stated that there are a lot more people than there used to be since Disney started running the free dining promotion.

To OP... glad you got one more of the restaurants you wanted. Hope you can get the others too.

[iceicebritney]

Oh good, I am not the only one!

I also only got 1 of my selections for ADR's, and the reservation is so late that I don't think we'll even be able to make it.

I hate the online booking system and this whole 90 + 10 day system. I guarantee if people had to use credit cards to hold these reservations we wouldn’t have these problems.

[Ian]

We got pretty all the ADR's we wanted for our September trip. I think we missed out on one or two, but that was it.

Oddly enough, we even called back later to add a Saturday night reservation at Cali Grill for Labor Day weekend of all things and we still were able to get in.

I generally agree, though, that the DDP has pretty much ruined not just the dining in WDW but it's dinged the entire experience because you now have to be a total slave to your ADR's and can't just easily wing it.

[TheRustyScupper]

Just curious, what are the 5? :)

The only sit-down restaurants we patronize at WDW are *
. . . Bistro de Paris (Epcot, France, upstairs)
. . . Citrico's (Grand Floridian Resort)
. . . Shula's Steakhouse (Dolphin Resort)
. . . Il Mulino (Swan Resort)
. . . Victria & Albert's (Grand Floridian Resort)

* We did have one other, but have since eliminated it.

[Imagineer1981]

Well, your lucky. In 07 we had a problem getting ADRs too. Prior to the free dining promotion we never had any problems with getting reservations in Sept. The crowds were less too. We used to never have to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes for rides and since free dining several get to 30-45 minute wait. A friend's mother has worked as a pastry chef for Disney for 15 years and we've discussed this. She's even stated that there are a lot more people than there used to be since Disney started running the free dining promotion.

To OP... glad you got one more of the restaurants you wanted. Hope you can get the others too.


Well I think thats the idea behind free dining. While we love Sept because it used to be so slow and empty, Disney didn't love it, because it was less money flowing in, so by offering free dining, more guest flock to the resorts and spend money in the parks

[LibertyTreeGal]

Anyone who frequents DL and WDW would not be so quick to blame the DDP for the lower food quality. Been to Blue Bayou lately? Storytellers at the Grand Californian? Il Trattoria? It is a Disney wide phenomenon, sadly. My only great sit down meal at DL was at Ralph Brennan's in DTD. I spoke with the manager there and he gets the same story all the time, park food quality is getting worse and worse.

[bicker]

I suspect that once we start trafficking in "phenomena" that we'll find that, at the core of if, the mass-market is to blame: So many people so fixated on the lowest possible price, effectively to the exclusion of other considerations.

[DizneyRox]

Interesting re-reading this. I wonder if they actually implemented the tiered ADR system lately? This was rumored previously and the free DDP promotion was rumored to put those people at the bottom of the rung for dning reservations. I see many that are going during that time having trouble getting ADRs.

Hmmm...


My only great sit down meal at DL was at Ralph Brennan's in DTD. I spoke with the manager there and he gets the same story all the time, park food quality is getting worse and worse.
Narcossees over at the grand puts out quite a meal, but at $50+ they better.

I would without a doubt blame the DDP for the lack of quality food at the parks If you're offering two meals and a snack for $40 a day, you had better make sure it's not costing you more than $40 to do it. Otherwise you're losing money.

Disney doesn't like to lose money! Wall Street doesn't like Disney to lose money.

Guess what? They are not...

[LibertyTreeGal]

Interesting re-reading this. I wonder if they actually implemented the tiered ADR system lately? This was rumored previously and the free DDP promotion was rumored to put those people at the bottom of the rung for dning reservations. I see many that are going during that time having trouble getting ADRs.

Hmmm...


Narcossees over at the grand puts out quite a meal, but at $50+ they better.

I would without a doubt blame the DDP for the lack of quality food at the parks If you're offering two meals and a snack for $40 a day, you had better make sure it's not costing you more than $40 to do it. Otherwise you're losing money.

Disney doesn't like to lose money! Wall Street doesn't like Disney to lose money.

Guess what? They are not...

My quote was for Disneyland (DL) not WDW -- I was just pointing out that there is no DDP at DL and the meals are suffering badly at their sit downs as well, so it isn't all the DDP's fault.

[chefmickey3]

Interesting re-reading this. I wonder if they actually implemented the tiered ADR system lately? This was rumored previously and the free DDP promotion was rumored to put those people at the bottom of the rung for dning reservations. I see many that are going during that time having trouble getting ADRs.

Is this why they ask if you are a AP holder on the online reservation system? It is an interesting thought...

[Mom2princesses]

Why would you say that as we saved over 1K in using the FD offer?? We did book a 4/3 but when the free dining came up we changed, it cost me $300 more PLUS we got 1 more day/night for only $300 more then the 4/3 offer, thats 10 days, 9 nights PLUS the food....

It really depends. First of all you are paying rack rate for the room. In my case the 4/3 deal was much better since we stayed at a Deluxe resort. Even with paying for the DDP we saved much more on the 4/3. You have to work out the numbers each situation is different. Have a good trip.

[Mom2princesses]

I would without a doubt blame the DDP for the lack of quality food at the parks If you're offering two meals and a snack for $40 a day, you had better make sure it's not costing you more than $40 to do it. Otherwise you're losing money.

Disney doesn't like to lose money! Wall Street doesn't like Disney to lose money.

Guess what? They are not...

I totally agree!

[WDWCrazyKaren]

If some of you feel that the DDP is the reason behind the lagging quality of the food, do you think this is only during the free dining periods? This will be my first time utilizing free dining, but we do the DDP every time we go and pay for it. We've had decent food quality in the past when we have had to pay for the DDP.

[Stickey]

We have not had any issues with the food quality, with, or without the DDP.

The growth of the DDP has resulted in reduced menu options. The maple-bbq filet was removed from LeCellier, chicken tenders were replaced by nuggets at qs locations, and there appears to be fewer menu choices at ts restaurants.