ADR System Upgrade - History

[mom2rtk]

Well, actually.... the fact that they are releasing park hrs slightly less than 90 days in advance is a logical reason to have the window for dining reservations closer to the same timeframe.

If they change the dining reservations back to 180 days, they'd better go back to releasing park hrs 6 months in advance. (at least I'm pretty sure we used to have park hrs a lot earlier than we do now...) I can plan where I want to eat 6 months in advance, but only if I have some clue about EMH/F!/Spectro scheduling.

Well, I wouldnt' be any worse off at 180 days than I will be already on this trip. I'm going late Sept into Oct, and am already trying to schedule my DHS days (and dining) with no promise of an idea of when Fantasmic will be showing. I won't have the benefit of that information until AFTER I make my ADR's.

And with the speed at which F! Dinner packages (as well as any other popular ARR) disappear, getting that information a week later isn't going to help me much either.

If they were timing dining ADR availability with release of park schedules, they would be releasing park hours a month PRIOR to the ADR window opening (120 day park hours/90 day adr's or 90 day park hours /60 day adr's). Without that, no one staying over a month change will have the benefit of park hours prior to scheduling adr's.

 

[ears2u]

...is that people are allowed to book throught the end of their reservation. This would mean someone booked to stay for 10 days could (theoretically) book 100 days out. Right??!!??

In any event, one of the reasons we go to WDW is to enjoy Ohana and LeCellier, and they are totally unavailable to us.

We are seriously considering cancelling and waiting for a "non ADR" time of year.

 

[doconeill]

...is that people are allowed to book throught the end of their reservation. This would mean someone booked to stay for 10 days could (theoretically) book 100 days out. Right??!!??

In any event, one of the reasons we go to WDW is to enjoy Ohana and LeCellier, and they are totally unavailable to us.

We are seriously considering cancelling and waiting for a "non ADR" time of year.

Not sure what problem you think is caused by on-site guests being able to book +10 days. Yes, an on-site guest could potentially book a seating 100 days away, IF they are 90 days from the start of their stay.

This does not cause problems calling in - it in fact reduces the call volume.

When you say "they are totally unavailable to us", that generally shouldn't be true...I don't know if its true for EVERY dining location, or just the most popular (and I do not know of Le Cellier or Ohana fall into the latter category), but not all tables are released for booking until 90 days from the date in question have been reached. This is to make things somewhat fair for those not only staying off-site, but those staying on site but checking in later than another person and therefore had to wait an extra day.

As for a "No ADR time of year", I don't think such a thing exists.

 

[kristen2276]

...is that people are allowed to book throught the end of their reservation. This would mean someone booked to stay for 10 days could (theoretically) book 100 days out. Right??!!??

In any event, one of the reasons we go to WDW is to enjoy Ohana and LeCellier, and they are totally unavailable to us.

We are seriously considering cancelling and waiting for a "non ADR" time of year.

What is a non ADR time of year? Cause we have gone at all different times and I have yet to get into Le Cellier or Ohana- I am not holding my breath for my trip Labor Day week, I can only hope that we can get one HOPE and PRAY!

 

[miskamouskamickey]

If anyone needs any help getting their ADRs, pm me, I'll help you guys out. I'm usually home after 530pm EST. So I'll get to it!

 

[jcemom]

If anyone needs any help getting their ADRs, pm me, I'll help you guys out. I'm usually home after 530pm EST. So I'll get to it!

Uh oh, I'll bet your PM box is filling up fast.

 

[OatsZoo]

I do agree that when ADR's were at 180 days, you never heard about all the problems getting into restaurants. I am with all who preferred 180 days!

People keep talking about people making "just in case I go" reservations, and not cancelling them. In this day in age, should Disney not be able to attach reservation number to the ADR's so if someone cancels their trip reservation then it automatically cancels the ADR's too and then that opens up more ADR slots???? Sounds good to me......

I will be really upset if I can't get what I want, I mean I am really flexible and would definitely do lunch instead of dinner if I really need to get into a restaurant. I can see if you only want LeCellier at 6pm and are not willing to change alittle. I never had a hard time getting LeCellier last year, at 180days but we are not doing that this year. Our big deal will be to get Chef Mickey, but I have 3-4 days to choose from.

Also, I keep hearing about Ohana being hard to get into? Does that go for Ohana's Best Friends Breakfast too???? My daughter would die if we don't get into that as Stitch is her ultimate fave!

 

[jcemom]

In this day in age, should Disney not be able to attach reservation number to the ADR's so if someone cancels their trip reservation then it automatically cancels the ADR's too and then that opens up more ADR slots???? Sounds good to me......

What if they're still going but switched to an offsite resort?

 

[andrewilley]

Well, actually.... the fact that they are releasing park hrs slightly less than 90 days in advance is a logical reason to have the window for dining reservations closer to the same timeframe.

Quite, although the ADR window changed before they reduced the park hours window - but I'm sure the two were related.

There's still a big problem with the +10 facility which they have not addressed though. As a resort guest, today I can book ADRs up until about 6th September (27th Aug + 10) but the park hours for September, which would allow me to decide what time I can book in-park dining, have not yet been released to the public.

By the time Disney do get around to updating the calendar for September (it was 5th of the month last time, I seem to recall) I'll be able to book ADRs until the middle of September...

Andre

 

[andrewilley]

What if they're still going but switched to an offsite resort?

Or, hypothetically speaking, what if they never actually indended to stay on-site at all, and were just using a dummy booking to provided them with an extra 10 day ADR window....?

Andre

 

[doconeill]

I do agree that when ADR's were at 180 days, you never heard about all the problems getting into restaurants.

Hmmm...I remember hearing that Le Cellier was pretty much impossible to get long before the ADR window changed...It actually doesn't seem any different to me. Problem now is that we are in the Free Dining window now as well, which means pretty much EVERYTHING is hard to get.

 

[marciemi]

Hmmm...I remember hearing that Le Cellier was pretty much impossible to get long before the ADR window changed...It actually doesn't seem any different to me. Problem now is that we are in the Free Dining window now as well, which means pretty much EVERYTHING is hard to get.

I don't think it was ever quite as hard as it is now. But I don't think it's really THAT hard now, if you're flexible, and especially not during free dining. We went last summer and had no trouble getting two separate reservations, different days and times and switching them around until about a month beforehand. I think a lot of the horror stories then were people who were set on a 6pm and couldn't get it (gasp!) on one day. As it became more popular, I think people got a bit more realistic in their expectations.

 

[Kimmy2Disney]

So today was my 90 days, and I've been reading all the horror stories--- I called right at 7AM, was on hold for about 2 minutes, then was able to make 23 ADRs in 40 minutes, with my only problem being that I needed to swap two of my dinners around to find a place where California Grill was open... Everything else I asked for I got within 30+- minutes of what I had asked for
So I just wanted to let everyone who is horrified about when they have to make their ADR's know that it really wasn't bad at all!!
While on the phone with the CM he did say... The good thing about this new system is that soon you will be able to make these online.. and I was yeah, i know.. I thought it would be for now.. and he said the standard.. "they are still working a few kinks out"... But the human intereaction was not as scary as I expected and we didn't "crash" once!

 

[disneygirlsanddrew]

Kimmy2Disney - Congrats! Thanks for giving us some hope! Sounds like you got a great and efficient CM! Did you call right at 7 am or did you start calling a little earlier like at 6:59? To be on hold for only 2 minutes is awesome! Never have had that kind of luck!

 

[Kimmy2Disney]

Kimmy2Disney - Congrats! Thanks for giving us some hope! Sounds like you got a great and efficient CM! Did you call right at 7 am or did you start calling a little earlier like at 6:59? To be on hold for only 2 minutes is awesome! Never have had that kind of luck!

Called from my cell at 6:59 and got the closed msg, and when the clock struck 7 called again and went through the prompts to be put on hold then right through to the CM!
And the only thing that I noticed to be different from the old system was that rather than telling me my confimation number after each ressie, he kept taking them until he got about 8 then "put them through" so they wouldn't be lost and gave me those confirmations before moving on to the next batch, and so on.

 

[Paradise East]

There have been several mentions of the 90+10 day rule as specific for on site guests seen in various threads on DIS.

It seems to me there are several schools of thought on this ...

1. At your 90 day date you can make ressies for a total of 10 days (June 1/June 10). i.e. 90+9 more =10 days total

2. At your 90 day date you can make ressies for a total of 11 days (June 1/June 11) i.e. 90+10 more = 11 days total

3. At your 90 day date you can actually make ressies 10 days earlier than that date (May 23/Jun 1) i.e at 100 days out

I hope this makes some kinda sense as I'm confused too ...

Interpretations welcome.

NASCAR at Dover this weekend. STAY CLEAR !!

 

[doconeill]

There have been several mentions of the 90+10 day rule as specific for on site guests seen in various threads on DIS.

It seems to me there are several schools of thought on this ...

1. At your 90 day date you can make ressies for a total of 10 days (June 1/June 10). i.e. 90+9 more =10 days total

2. At your 90 day date you can make ressies for a total of 11 days (June 1/June 11) i.e. 90+10 more = 11 days total

3. At your 90 day date you can actually make ressies 10 days earlier than that date (May 23/Jun 1) i.e at 100 days out

I hope this makes some kinda sense as I'm confused too ...

Interpretations welcome.

NASCAR at Dover this weekend. STAY CLEAR !!

At least prior to the new system, what you could do seemed more dependent on the CM more so than what the rules actually were.

From my conversations with the CMs, the "rule" as they and I understand it is #1.

Whether the new system still allows the CMs to be "flexible" or not remains to be seen.

 

[dvcdisney]

Hmmm...I remember hearing that Le Cellier was pretty much impossible to get long before the ADR window changed...It actually doesn't seem any different to me. Problem now is that we are in the Free Dining window now as well, which means pretty much EVERYTHING is hard to get.

Last year, we went in August and unfortunately, it was during Free Dining. As a DVC member, I had already booked my resort reservation 11 months in advance. I had booked my ADRs at 180 days+10 in advance. I had no problems getting 2 Ohana ADRs and 2 Le Cellier ADRs for our 2 week trip. Each one was dinner at 7pm. There were never any problems, I was told that both were quite open. This was because Free Dining was not announce until later after the 180 days prior. And I had no wait times. Even when I decided to change one of the days for Le Cellier, at about 150 days in advance, I had no problem.

Now this year, since they changed the ADRs window, it was very frustrating, I was still able to get the Ohana and Le Cellier but not at the time I would like. Yes, I should be grateful that I was able to get it.

I have never had such a frustrating and stressful time calling for my ADRs as I have had this time. If they do go back to 180 days + 10, I for one will be very HAPPY! At least, I can try not to worry about my next set of ADRs.

So Bring Back the 180 Days +10 ADRs!! Please.

 

[Kimmy2Disney]

Don't know if this will help, but Here is what I was able to do--
I called this morning at my 90 days mark.. We arrive on Thursday 8/27- I made 1 ADR for that evening, then was able to make ADRs up to and including Sat 9/5 (we depart on Sun 9/6 but didn't need any for that day)
My interpretation of the rule would be the day you arrive counting as 1 day if you make an ADR for it and then the 9 days following for a total of 10 days-- So for me it was Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun, m, tu, we, thu, fri, sa..
HHmm... I wonder.

 

[doconeill]

Last year, we went in August and unfortunately, it was during Free Dining. As a DVC member, I had already booked my resort reservation 11 months in advance. I had booked my ADRs at 180 days+10 in advance. I had no problems getting 2 Ohana ADRs and 2 Le Cellier ADRs for our 2 week trip. Each one was dinner at 7pm. There were never any problems, I was told that both were quite open. This was because Free Dining was not announce until later after the 180 days prior. And I had no wait times. Even when I decided to change one of the days for Le Cellier, at about 150 days in advance, I had no problem.

Now this year, since they changed the ADRs window, it was very frustrating, I was still able to get the Ohana and Le Cellier but not at the time I would like. Yes, I should be grateful that I was able to get it.

I have never had such a frustrating and stressful time calling for my ADRs as I have had this time. If they do go back to 180 days + 10, I for one will be very HAPPY! At least, I can try not to worry about my next set of ADRs.

So Bring Back the 180 Days +10 ADRs!! Please.

Just as a counterpoint, we tried a few times to get Le Cellier, and never during free dining, at 180+ days out, and never did - until this past trip at the end of April, and got it on the first try at the 90+10 window.