Originally Posted By sjhym333 Beginning October 31, ALL sit down restaurants will require a credit card to hold the reservation. If the reservation is not cancelled by 11:59 pm the night before you will be charged the $10 charge like some of the higher end restaurants are currently charging. The hopes is that this will prevent guest from making multiple reservations for several restaurants and then no show for the ones they decide not to use. I think it is a great decision.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I appreciate the intent, but I'm not sure if I'm a huge fan of it in reality. Theoretically, you'll know the day before whether or not you'll be in that park, but sometimes it's fun to get distracted by the park and just do whatever you want (like playing hookey from your dinner reservation). I guess with FP+, that style of vacationing is becoming a thing of the past, but I'd like to pretend like it's still a possibility At the same time, I appreciate the effort to reduce multiple bookings. Hopefully this will mean that there will be more walk-up spaces available at table-service restaurants, rather than staffing them based purely on the reservations ahead of time.
Originally Posted By Indigo I think they want you to use a mobile app or kiosk to do any last minute reservations.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I think it must be a huge problem for Disney. People making multiple reservations for the same evening at multiple locations.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I wonder how big of a problem it really is. With the 'old' system, you need to put in an email address linked to a Disney account to make a reservation. Yes, most people have multiple email addresses, and most dining reservations are for multiple people each with multiple email addresses, but I doubt that there are a whole lot of them who go through the hassle of creating another Disney account just to make a backup dining reservation. I'm sure it's a problem, but I'm a little suspect about the degree to wich it exists. Worst case scenario, it opens up a table for walk-up guests in the park that day, which is never a bad thing IMO
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I am not sure Disney would go through the trouble of requiring a credit card to hold a reservation if they didn't perceive it to be a problem. Since the advent of the Disney Dining Plan we have not eaten out at a nice Disney restaurant at the parks because we mostly do things like that on the fly and most places were booked months in advance. And the few times we have tried to plan meals we find many places are already booked up. Hopefully this will help some.
Originally Posted By dizneed <<I think they want you to use a mobile app or kiosk to do any last minute reservations.>> I tend to agree indigo. I also think that once the FP+ and My Magic will be up and running fully, the same options as offered for FP+ may apply to restaurant reservations as well, among other options. Hmmmmm, I seem to remember a similar kind of interactive experience way back at EPCOT. Only these were actual kiosks that you could walk up to, see and speak to a live person to make dinner reservations and get general information about EPCOT as well as the MK. Today, it’s all on an app. on your phone!!
Originally Posted By danyoung More than once I've approached a dining time and just decided to blow it off, for reasons of being tired or maybe just not being hungry. Now I'll have to decide if it's worth 10 bucks to do that. I think it's a terrific policy that will result in many more seats being available.
Originally Posted By demderedoseguys I don't like it. Things change all the time at WDW. Bad weather makes people blow off dinner reservations all the time, people get sick and here's Disney trying to take advantage of their guests. Just great. I don't even like to eat at their crappy restaurants anymore because the food quality is so poor, but now it's going to cost $10 a reservation to change my mind or get sick, or decide not to go out during a lightning storm.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance You could eat some where else non Disney or quick service stuff that doesn't require reservations.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>You could eat some where else non Disney or quick service stuff that doesn't require reservations.<< Going to a non-Disney restaurant would easily add an hour of travel time to/from the parks for any meal, so I'm not sure it would be worth it. And unlike DLR, the counter service options in WDW tend to be much less exciting. Epcot has a lot of great quick options, and each park has 1 or 2 really good places, but most counter service locations are forgettable burgers, chicken, and pizza; even though DL has a lot of burgers, they've greatly improved in quality in the last 4-5 years
Originally Posted By danyoung I'm guessing that it's pretty easy to call Disney Dining and explain a situation and get a refund. But I'm also betting that far more of these no-shows are due to multiple bookings, for which people really should be penalized.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost >>>sometimes it's fun to get distracted by the park and just do whatever you want (like playing hookey from your dinner reservation). I guess with FP+, that style of vacationing is becoming a thing of the past<<< That kind of vacation actually ended when ADR's became a normal required way to do business in WDW. Anyone that "just played hookey" were screwing other guests that tried and failed to get a reservation. That may be fun to you, but it's fun at someones expense. Not much fun for them is it. Playing hookey now means that a $10.00 truant officer is about to knock on your door.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I agree. A guest could have made a reservation a Le Cellier, California Grill and Prime Time Cafe for the same night taking up 3 reservations at some of the busier restaurants on property.
Originally Posted By juicer Is'nt the $10 charge per person on the reservation? Like if the reservation is for 4 people the no show cancelation charge will be $40?
Originally Posted By tonyanton Hopefully this will lead to a return of the ability to walk up to a sit-down restaurant and get in without a ressie.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I have a question for those of you who visit WDW from out of town. Is the Disney Dining plan a deciding factor in your coming to Disney? I am curious if it didn't exist anymore would that affect your decision to visit?
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance It definitely could or would be a deciding factor when they offer the Free dining. It could be the difference in being able to afford a trip or not.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Is'nt the $10 charge per person on the reservation? Like if the reservation is for 4 people the no show cancelation charge will be $40?<< That is my understanding of it as well. However, I believe they will also keep the old policy, where if anybody shows up for the reservation you're okay. So you could have a reservation for 4 people, and only have 1 person show up, and you wouldn't get charged the penalty >>Is the Disney Dining plan a deciding factor in your coming to Disney?<< For me, no. From what I've seen of it online, it looks like it would be nearly impossible to get your money's worth and actually enjoy your vacation. If I had it for free it would be a really nice bonus (though I've never managed to time it right), but as an add-on it serves more as an impediment than a benefit
Originally Posted By tonyanton I've never used it and all I've seen it do is make it harder to get a reservation (though maybe this new policy will help) and lessened the amount and quality of food on nearly every menu. And despite this there are still locations sitting empty (or not being used as designed) most if not all of the year: Odyssey at EPCOT, Adventureland Veranda, Tortuga Tavern, Tomorrowland Terrace, Aunt Polly's, Diamond Horseshoe, etc.
