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.

[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!

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

[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.

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.