Candlelight Processional Dining packages are posted!

[JoJoGirl]

AND...perhaps the worst, they may release Biergarten at some point but only the ones who “catch it” at the right moment get it. This feels to me like I am in a bad gambling den where there are no clear rules. I HATE this!!!

You got that right! What Disney feels like these days:

Clark and Eddie go to the Wacky Casino

 

[Debbie Jean]

How do you set up an alert?

The two I’m most familiar with are Mouse Dining and Touring Plans. Go to their websites, sign up and set texts and/or email alerts for the restaurants and times you are interested in. When you get an alert that you like, jump fast and book it! There’s been a lot of competition and folks using the websites so you need to act fast!

Dont think you can specify CP packages so it would be regular ressie.

Hope Biergarten will come through for you!

 

[tiana1989]

Btw for the people wondering about Biergarten non-CP reservations, I have a pretty lengthy ADR window (60+7) opening tomorrow, so I can check at the end of my window to see if there’s anything and report back. If there’s nothing for my last two days, which are in January and after CP is over, then that’s very suspicious.

 

[jekomo]

Btw for the people wondering about Biergarten non-CP reservations, I have a pretty lengthy ADR window (60+7) opening tomorrow, so I can check at the end of my window to see if there’s anything and report back. If there’s nothing for my last two days, which are in January and after CP is over, then that’s very suspicious.

Could you please check Le Cellier, too? I have been trying since the 60 day window opened to get a reservation there for my DH’s 50th birthday celebration. He really wants to go there for whatever reason, and Biergarten is his second choice. Haven’t seen either for weeks, at all, even with alerts set at both Mouse Dining and Touring Plans. It has NEVER been this difficult to get something, anything, really, at either place. Need for December 4th.

 

[tiana1989]

@jekomo sure! There was a Le Cellier res for 2:35 on 12/24 today. I know because it was taunting me every time I refreshed for the CP packages lol.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

I think Le Cellier is a different situation. It is often very hard to get, even at 60+ (whereas Biergarten is usually an easy ADR inside of 60 days, even on crowed days). When my 60+5 window opened up a couple of weeks ago, I was able to snag a Le Cellier reservation for 60+4, and I had a choice of times. But there were no Biergarten reservations for my entire length of stay. And people have reported that to be true even at 60+10. Something unique is going on with Biergarten. I thought that maybe they had allocated the entire restaurant for the entire month of December to CP dining packages. But that can't be right, as there is no way they would all sell out in seconds this morning.

 

[jekomo]

I think Le Cellier is a different situation. It is often very hard to get, even at 60+ (whereas Biergarten is usually an easy ADR inside of 60 days, even on crowed days). When my 60+5 window opened up a couple of weeks ago, I was able to snag a Le Cellier reservation for 60+4, and I had a choice of times. But there were no Biergarten reservations for my entire length of stay. And people have reported that to be true even at 60+10. Something unique is going on with Biergarten. I thought that maybe they had allocated the entire restaurant for the entire month of December to CP dining packages. But that can't be right, as there is no way they would all sell out in seconds this morning.

Yeah, you’re probably right about Le Cellier. It must be because our trip is only four days. Still, in my experience obsessing over dining reservations, things pop up here and there, or it would be there at 6 am, 60 days out at least. I don’t know. I’m just very frustrated.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

I don’t know. I’m just very frustrated.

Believe me, I get that!

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I think Le Cellier is a different situation. It is often very hard to get, even at 60+ (whereas Biergarten is usually an easy ADR inside of 60 days, even on crowed days). When my 60+5 window opened up a couple of weeks ago, I was able to snag a Le Cellier reservation for 60+4, and I had a choice of times. But there were no Biergarten reservations for my entire length of stay. And people have reported that to be true even at 60+10. Something unique is going on with Biergarten. I thought that maybe they had allocated the entire restaurant for the entire month of December to CP dining packages. But that can't be right, as there is no way they would all sell out in seconds this morning.

Have there been issues with Biergarten reservations a lot lately? Is it possible they are struggling with staffing and/or capacity issues that they're not taking as many reservations? I'm still seeing local restaurants with empty tables but people waiting - they don't have servers and/or cooks to make it work yet. Perhaps Biergarten is having problems in that area.

 

[tiana1989]

Ok so the system is definitely still glitchy. I hadn’t booked a dinner ADR for Christmas Eve because we were going to spend a lovely evening with our CP dining package (sigh, I was so naive back then). Well, then today happened, so I grabbed one of the million Via Napoli openings for dinner. But then we just realized we’re having too much Italian this trip, so I just went back on to see what I could get and switched to La Hacienda. Well the via Napoli res was for 7:50 and the la hacienda one is for 7:45. I never got the error message asking if I want to cancel, and now both of them are just chilling in my “my plans” 5 minutes apart. Who knows how widespread this is, but some of the dining problems might be exacerbated by people not knowing they’re double booked after making changes since usually it’s not possible.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Ok so the system is definitely still glitchy. I hadn’t booked a dinner ADR for Christmas Eve because we were going to spend a lovely evening with our CP dining package (sigh, I was so naive back then). Well, then today happened, so I grabbed one of the million Via Napoli openings for dinner. But then we just realized we’re having too much Italian this trip, so I just went back on to see what I could get and switched to La Hacienda. Well the via Napoli res was for 7:50 and the la hacienda one is for 7:45. I never got the error message asking if I want to cancel, and now both of them are just chilling in my “my plans” 5 minutes apart. Who knows how widespread this is, but some of the dining problems might be exacerbated by people not knowing they’re double booked after making changes since usually it’s not possible.

That's very interesting. Normally, that shouldn't happen - it would warn you about the 'other' reservation. You might be on to something - or at least another potential issue.

 

[emilymad]

I absolutely have not seen anything for certain, but while wrestling the system for a CP package this morning, it appeared to me that they are offering 2 shows - a 7PM and an 8:30PM. Again, that's just based on what I was seeing. Even with a lunch reservation, the package was for a 7PM show, so I'm expecting that's the early show. Many of the dinner people are saying 8:30PM show. It's very difficult to tell you when to get in line. Early is the obvious answer. We have already been in line an hour before one show, missed out on seating and stayed in line for the next. It really could depend on how many packages they actually sell. Theoretically, with only 4 restaurants participating, they might have less in the package line. Hope it works out for you. I also would not give up on watching now and then for a package to open up if they release more seats. Good luck!

Thanks! We may just end up skipping it entirely this year. We love it but it is seeming like this whole trip becomes more and more of a hassle each day.

 

[Temp77]

I'm sorry so many people have had difficulties securing CP packages.

I'm in the UK and have a Christmas trip booked from 14 to 27 December. Fortunately I was working from home today and was able to take a break from work to book the packages this morning. I went into MDE on my iPad just before 11am UK time (we're 5 hours ahead of Eastern Time) and logged into my account via the website rather than the app. I initially tried booking directly from the packages page and after getting error messages I tried searching for Epcot reservations from the dining page for our dates. We were wanting to book 2 packages - one on 18 Dec and the other on Boxing Day for our last full day. I was able to secure Garden Grill for 1:45pm on 18 Dec with an 8:30pm show time and Rose & Crown for 2:45pm on Boxing Day with a 5:15pm showtime, which were the two restaurants we wanted to book packages at. Garden Grill was the only restaurant with availability on 18 Dec when I booked that day and Boxing Day had availability for GG, R&C and Coral Reef. I didn't see Biergarten show up at all when searching for available times.

I guess I must have been really lucky securing the reservations I did as I wasn't aware of the difficulties everyone else has had until I finished work a short while ago.

If it helps anyone I'm still seeing CP packages available for 27 December at Coral Reef, which is obviously currently outside the 60 day window.

 

[tiana1989]

Congrats on getting 2 reservations! The CM I talked to this morning clearly had no clue what she was saying. She said there was no 60 day window for this, but I was never able to get past the 60 days (I’m doing a split stay and my next set of ADRs starts tomorrow). I hope those 12/27-12/30 slots stay available for the next few days so more people have access to them. I’m definitely going to check when my window opens tomorrow morning. I can take the skyliner over to EPCOT on one of my Hollywood Studios days to see the show if necessary.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I didn't see this thread until now, man, this explains all the issues I was having! I was like, maybe I just got the wrong date? I've never had an issue previously booking CP packages after the release date. Sure, stuff like NPH goes fast, but I do last-minute trips and I've never done the 5am thing for this. I hopped online around 7:30am when I logged in for work and just assumed I got the date wrong.....now I see. :/

 

[MissionMouse]

Btw for the people wondering about Biergarten non-CP reservations, I have a pretty lengthy ADR window (60+7) opening tomorrow, so I can check at the end of my window to see if there’s anything and report back. If there’s nothing for my last two days, which are in January and after CP is over, then that’s very suspicious.

We too had a long window longer than yours, and there were never any Biergarten ADRs available during our entire vacation and we were checking within the first 30 seconds for the end of our trip. Nothing, even this morning the availability short lived... we are suspicious

 

[FBDM66]

This was just beyond disappointing! I checked at midnight and got the message others did. I got up early and made sure I was on the website at 5:45 AM- same message. Again at 6:00 sharp- same- not even a hint of availability. Checked every 15 minutes until 7:00 when I finally got the message that no seats available between such and such times. I checked all morning- all four restaurants all times - no seats available. I just don't get how a few folks online same early time as me were able to get something (I am glad for you- and I do hope you have a great time!). How can a company that is so media driven have such an incompetent IT!
And to add to the joy (not) of the morning- I tried to get a reservation somewhere for anything on the day we're going- not a table to be found. I guess it'll be the food booths- here's hoping for a warm December - but I'm a Floridian- 60 is freezing for us.

 

[blrem]

Same here.

Disney outsourced their IT department years ago to overseas contractors.

The people responsible for our grief are not Castmembers and are not committed to the brand or customer experience. It was totally predictable that people like you and I would be up all night trying to make a reservation using the webpage that Disney provided for that purpose.

Sure, someone could have checked to make sure the main webpage actually worked but...they didn't. Someone would have actually had to give a sh*t about us and be willing to make an effort on our behalf. But clearly nobody did.

So, here we are, after months of waiting and anticipation, and an entirely sleepless night with nothing to show for it except a whole lot of anger and frustration.

This isn't the first time and it won't be the last, either, because Disney doesn't have to care. All of the reservations are gone regardless, so what difference does it make that the reservation system failed a lot of folks like us? None. From Disney's viewpoint, this was a huge success.

Just wanted to give a HUGE THANKS to those posters that came on immediately to tell us the go to the main ADR page and not the "candlelight page" itself. I, too, had been trying - got up at 5:30am and clicked repeatedly to refresh and got the same error message you all spoke of. I then thought to check in here to see if anyone was successful and shortly after 6:00 I got my answer - I immediately went to the ADR page and BOOM - got it! I never would have gotten this for my DD and I if not for all of YOU! I would have kept clicking on the main Candlelight button "assuming" it would work. So please know how much your stories, experiences and anecdotes help other out here! We can't thank you enough! And for those still searching - yes, keep looking, especially as the dates get near - because often people will overbook to check weather, or narrators, etc. then drop an extra ADR they don't want - usually a week or closer to the date it's for (not sure if these ressies are 24 hours or 5 day cancellation requirements) - you might just get lucky!

 

[whiteness]

How can a company that is so media driven have such an incompetent IT!

Disney's data modeling departments are considered to be core and are still in Team Disney and Burbank.
Their IT was largely outsourced to overseas contractors years ago.

Essentially, they don't care about your actual experience as a user or "guest." They just want to know how to milk you for every possible penny as efficiently as possible. You are just a wallet to them, nothing more.

 

[blrem]

The two I’m most familiar with are Mouse Dining and Touring Plans. Go to their websites, sign up and set texts and/or email alerts for the restaurants and times you are interested in. When you get an alert that you like, jump fast and book it! There’s been a lot of competition and folks using the websites so you need to act fast!

Dont think you can specify CP packages so it would be regular ressie.

Hope Biergarten will come through for you!

Yes this works for regular dining ressies only - NOT the CP or any dessert party or any "special dining experience" though. Also, they only check like every 20 minutes and many, many people get those text messages so you need to be literally holding your phone or on pc when alert comes in to pounce - especially for hard to get ressies. I've been trying to get Topolinos and even holding my phone when I get a text alert it is often gone by the time my phone connects to Disney. Note, the free version of Mouse Dining will only send emails for alerts which usually aren't fast enough to receive and log on before they are gone. If you do the paid version you will get text messages which work much better. Touring Plans gives you 2 free ones and will text you!