Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<50 pounds too heavy? You call that a weight problem? I need to lose about 20 pounds to be only 50 pounds too heavy! Someday . . .>> It all starts with a pound, Dan. My always on the go lifestyle -- and love for food -- doesn't help. Right now, I'd love to drop 35 pounds, which would put me right around my perfect weight. But it isn't easy ... my body expects a certain level of calories and after I drop 10-12 pounds, it is very tough to not plateau. <<As to the DDP thing, my major beef is with the way reservations are now booked. Restaurants are booked solid months in advance, leaving very little alternative to someone who doesn't get his booking in a full 6 months early. And they don't leave any of their inventory for either same day bookings or walk-ups, like most restaurants in the country. Disney is totally happy witha 100% booked restaurant, even if it's at the expense of a large part of their clientele.>> That's a major problem of it and, make no mistake about it, one Disney wants. They don't care who they alienate as long as they are able to guarantee full dining rooms while serving lower quality items ALA cruise lines. <<The DDP also promotes a lot of people to book the nice places when they'd be just as happy with a burger and fries. Which again allows Disney to dumb down their menu's, as you've pointed out. Not a good program, even though I'm using it this time around.>> It's hard to say no to it when they are throwing it out for free (or even next to nothing). But to see how 'streamlined' the menus are and how similar they are from place to place, it shows Disney isn't concerned with providing a high quality product. And you make a good point about many of the folks buying the package. They're often the types who will show up at the Cal Grill and wonder where the burgers are to begin with.
Originally Posted By hopemax > That's a major problem of it and, make no mistake about it, one Disney wants. They don't care who they alienate as long as they are able to guarantee full dining rooms while serving lower quality items ALA cruise lines. < Which makes me wonder what happens the next time the world ends up in a post-9/11 economy again: middle east goes boom, oil keeps doing what it's doing, or something else we just can't see. WDW seems to be doing a bang up job of training the locals that it just isn't worth a meal on property anymore.
Originally Posted By danyoung >They don't care who they alienate as long as they are able to guarantee full dining rooms while serving lower quality items ALA cruise lines.< I'm not sure I totally agree with the "they don't care" part. I think it's more a matter of they don't know how many they're alienating. All the spreadsheet jockeys understand are numbers. And as long as the numbers are up and the seats are filled, then life is good and the company is healthy. Pleasing the customer just doesn't enter into it. And that's very sad, and very short-sighted.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 The only thing I can comment on is the priority seating...since I've yet to try the DDP. I wish they would truly do away with PS, since it takes all spontenaity out of a trip. So, now I have to know where I want to eat months in advance? I would love the days where you could walk up to a restaurant and ask for a table and maybe wait 30 minutes. Thank goodness restaurants in the real world don't use PS for every single table. yeah, good ones have waiting lists, but when all full-service places at WDW are unavailible beause of PS, that really puts a damper on my experince, that's for sure. I can only suffer burgers and fries so much!
Originally Posted By brick74 Or they could keep Priority Seating, but have less of it (ie, allow some tables for walk-up guests) and only open it up, say, 30 days in advance. Being able to make a PS for 6 months later really puts guests who make last-minute reservations at a disadvantage, dining-wise.
Originally Posted By danyoung brick74, I could not agree with you more. Filling the tables 100% in advance looks great for the Disney spreadsheet jockeys. But it really sucks to have to plan that far in advance, with no real options to just walk up and maybe wait 30 to 60 minutes. Totally booked is totally booked, and that totally sucks.
Originally Posted By demderedoseguys ^^ Add to that the fact that lots of people book 2 different restuarants for the same night and pick the one they want the day of the reservation and it really jams things up. I would think there would be a way to detect this on the computer system as it is occurring but evidently this is not the case. People would just book under different names anyway.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Add to that the fact that lots of people book 2 different restuarants for the same night and pick the one they want the day of the reservation and it really jams things up.< wouldn;t that make the stand by line quicker if there were open tables because of double booking ?
Originally Posted By demderedoseguys ^ I was thinking in terms of trying to get priority seating ahead of time. For the stand by seating,I have had instances where I walked up to get a time and was told that there was no dinner seats available for 2-3 hours later and simply walked away. Whether that seat becomes available sooner is anyone's guess because the computer doesn't know that the people that booked the time aren't going to show. In theory you are correct, but in reality, I don't think it works because most people are going to walk away if told they have a long wait or if they are totally booked.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 for the record...I have no problem with booking 6 months out and always have booked out at the maximum allowed ahead of time-- but I do believe some % of seats should be left for walk up ( 25% ?) - and I also believe that their should be some record keeping recon tool to prevent double booking. You have to give yor resort and check in date, or home phone -- make one item a standard and check against it - all the time. yes, i realize someone will always find a way to beat the system, but it will eliminate a lot of the double booking ( not sure how big an issue that is or isn't) - or like Cali Grill - deposit required with 48 hr window for cancelling...
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Once again vbDad - I agree with everything you have said. I don't believe getting rid of Ps is a good idea as some of us travel vast distances, or only go to WDW occassionally but want those table service experiences, therefore pS are perfect. But I also agree, a percentage, 25% sounds about right, of tables should be ear marked for walk ups - especially as one is relegated to counter service or off site if a last minute trip comes up.
