Disney website - someone should be fired

[That Mom]

Since I asked a question on a previous post and received the answer I was hoping to hear, I have another question. I hope it's not already been posted on this thread but here goes.. When making a dining reservation, does anyone recall the page on the old site that pulled up all restaurants, in alphabetical order, with available times for the window you were searching? Then there was a line and below that all restaurants, in alphbetical order that had no times available. It made checking for a specific/different restaurant or another time so EASY! I can not seem to duplicate finding it anywhere . Also, is there an easier way to book, say a Fantasmic! dining package? It seemed like I had to take three steps to get to the page to try and book it! I find it all too tedious when trying to book ADR's at 180.

Is this the one?
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/reservations/dining/

 

[juliehoey]

Thanks! I did figure that out after investing enough time playing around on the site. The old site had a better layout, it was just a list. This takes a longer time to scroll down.

 

[juliehoey]

And, for the poster defending Disney saying they can't possibly beta test the volume, I call " foul". Maybe they couldn't replicate volume and predict a crash but they certainly could have worked out the bugs people are having with duplicate accounts, system not recognizing manually entered reservations and user feedback would have easily told them how awful just booking a dining reservation is. It is 10x harder to book a dining reservation under the new system than it was before ( and it wasn't even easy before)

Agreee on the reservation snafu! The longer it takes the quicker they go on your 180 mark! We are all either using it incorrectly to book them or this is a complete disaster

 

[OklahomaTourist]

And, for the poster defending Disney saying they can't possibly beta test the volume, I call " foul". Maybe they couldn't replicate volume and predict a crash but they certainly could have worked out the bugs people are having with duplicate accounts, system not recognizing manually entered reservations and user feedback would have easily told them how awful just booking a dining reservation is. It is 10x harder to book a dining reservation under the new system than it was before ( and it wasn't even easy before)

That was yours truly, and I wouldn't necessarily say I was "defending" Disney - as a software developer myself, I can appreciate the immense difficulties in rolling out a new site like this. I do think they needed to do a better job, but I suspect they were pressured by higher ups to get this new system out ASAP.

I will definitely agree with you that the overall UI experience of the new site leaves a lot to be desired, and I've sent them feedback to that effect. I hate all the large fonts, the waste of screen real estate, and how every interaction seems to be met with at least a ten-second pause before, well, anything happens.

What might interest you is that the very problems with which you're most frustrated (and very understandably so) could very well be tied back to that volume problem. In a test environment, making an ADR may have worked 1000 times out of 1000, but with little or no load. But once the system is rolled out, and you've got tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people hitting the site simultaneously, it could easily magnify problems, errors, or delays that might never be properly communicated to your browser or phone client app. And tracking down exactly where the failures lie is a decidedly non-trivial task.

 

[ParrotBill]

I got a random survey to give feedback on one of my recent attempts to make dining reservations.... gave very low marks on the dining reservations sections and indicated I could not do what I wanted to there.

They must be getting hundreds of complaints. I cannot believe we have heard nothing about fixing this or apologizing for it. I was unable to get numerous dining times until I gave up and started calling instead.

 

[3girls4me05]

My SIL is a Disney Travel Agent. She has made all of our arrangments.

Me: Is it ok for me to make a ADR or do you have to do it?
Her: Either
Me: Ok cause I got one for our last day at Crystal Palace
Her: Sounds good
Me: Well nevermind, site crashed as I was doing it
Her: Let me call. Hmm..they say there is no open ADR for that time
Me: Oh well
Me about 10 minutes later: Hey, tried one last time and now the ADR is there again. I got it and here is the ADR number
Her: How infuriating! I was on the phone for how long and they assured me there was no opening!
Me: This My Disney Experience is crappy huh?
Her: You have no idea. Get a few of us TA in a room and bring it up and your ears will be burning. We all are being driven crazy by it.

 

[letthewookiewin]

What might interest you is that the very problems with which you're most frustrated (and very understandably so) could very well be tied back to that volume problem. In a test environment, making an ADR may have worked 1000 times out of 1000, but with little or no load. But once the system is rolled out, and you've got tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people hitting the site simultaneously, it could easily magnify problems, errors, or delays that might never be properly communicated to your browser or phone client app. And tracking down exactly where the failures lie is a decidedly non-trivial task.

I'm not sure if they did this or not. If they did, they obviously didn't do an effective one. They should have done what any MMO game does before launching, and should have done a beta test. Between normal Disney fans and TAs, I'm sure there would have been enough people willing to be a beta tester.

 

[seadd67]

I got a random survey to give feedback on one of my recent attempts to make dining reservations.... gave very low marks on the dining reservations sections and indicated I could not do what I wanted to there.

They must be getting hundreds of complaints. I cannot believe we have heard nothing about fixing this or apologizing for it. I was unable to get numerous dining times until I gave up and started calling instead.

How did the calling in go?, I remeber doing it over the phone not huge problem,but are CM haveing the same Issue. I really do nt want my Debt card floating around on canceled ADR!

 

[Princess Marsha]

I have been all over the new website and can not figure out where to make a payment on my vacation package that I booked on the new site. I don't even see where my balance is. Can anyone point me in a direction other than calling?

Thanks for any help and have a magical weekend!

 

[amydeich]

I've been trying to get my personalized maps done, and keep getting stuck at the confirm and order page, after doing all the choosing of attractions for each park, etc... Anyone else have this issue? Any suggestions? Tried it and failed, waited a few weeks, and tried again just to get stuck at the same point. Grrr... Really would like these for my girls first trip coming up next month! Probably just to keep as a souvenir, not to actually use, but still...

 

[nonstopdisneymom]

I have been all over the new website and can not figure out where to make a payment on my vacation package that I booked on the new site. I don't even see where my balance is. Can anyone point me in a direction other than calling?

Thanks for any help and have a magical weekend!

Go to "make personalized maps" that will take you over to the old website then under "my disney vacation" click on "my reservation" you will be able to sign in and your balance will be there as well as payment options

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

That was yours truly, and I wouldn't necessarily say I was "defending" Disney - as a software developer myself, I can appreciate the immense difficulties in rolling out a new site like this. I do think they needed to do a better job, but I suspect they were pressured by higher ups to get this new system out ASAP.

I will definitely agree with you that the overall UI experience of the new site leaves a lot to be desired, and I've sent them feedback to that effect. I hate all the large fonts, the waste of screen real estate, and how every interaction seems to be met with at least a ten-second pause before, well, anything happens.

What might interest you is that the very problems with which you're most frustrated (and very understandably so) could very well be tied back to that volume problem. In a test environment, making an ADR may have worked 1000 times out of 1000, but with little or no load. But once the system is rolled out,
and you've got tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people hitting the site simultaneously, it could easily magnify problems, errors, or delays that might never be properly communicated to your browser or phone client app. And tracking down exactly where the failures lie is a decidedly non-trivial task.

All true but they should have foreseen these types of issues people are having. Perhaps it was known and pressure came from the higher ups.

Regardless, the ball had been dropped.

 

[pmaurer74]

I am very worried as I have a bunch of ADRs on the old system and I cannot bring them up. I need to cancel some of them and I am worried I am going to miss some that I made several months ago and be charged for them. If I call do they have all reservations connected to my email address?

 

[bumbershoot]

I am very worried as I have a bunch of ADRs on the old system and I cannot bring them up. I need to cancel some of them and I am worried I am going to miss some that I made several months ago and be charged for them. If I call do they have all reservations connected to my email address?

They will definitely have them linked to your phone number, so try that first.

Did you not get emails with the confirmation numbers? I take notes as I go (in multiple) places to make sure I always have *something* with my #s on it.

 

[KYDisneyDad]

Just hit our 180 day mark for ADR's couple days ago. Gave the website a full 15 min of crapping out before giving up and calling like we usually do. Got every ADR we wanted, but don't even want to try to link them to MDE for fear of making a huge mess of things..

 

[Princess Marsha]

Go to "make personalized maps" that will take you over to the old website then under "my disney vacation" click on "my reservation" you will be able to sign in and your balance will be there as well as payment options

You are the best!! Thanks! 62 more days!!!!!

 

[italia218]

The mydisneyexperience section of the website won't even load at all on my computer. Its the only website that I am having issues with too. All I want to do is pay off some of the balance on my upcoming trip and that isn't even an option. Grr!!

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

The mydisneyexperience section of the website won't even load at all on my computer. Its the only website that I am having issues with too. All I want to do is pay off some of the balance on my upcoming trip and that isn't even an option. Grr!!

Perhaps call CRO -- much easier.

 

[italia218]

Perhaps call CRO -- much easier.

Yes, you're right..I will do that but no part of the website is working for me now and I am quite frustrated! I like going on and looking at my dining reservations and making changes and what not. I haven't been able to do any of that for about a week now.

 

[firsttimer2007]

It's probably no consolation, but their websites have been notoriously terrible for as long as I can remember-- including the inception of the go.com debacle.

Chances are, though, that your actual trip will go off with far fewer hitches. Have fun.

completely agree!

Several years ago we stopped staying on site and making reservations for dining because their website was so ---well----awful!

Now planning a trip to disney is easy. we start with VRBO and then eat at quick service or snack places until we get really hungry, we then leave the park to eat at an off site table serve place. IT HAS BEEN GREAT!

The only hard part is telling the kids we are not eatting at any table service places in Disney.

As for the disney website, they need to just click around on the internet, see how other places set up their website and copy!!!! There is NO magic on their website.----or maybe figuring it out takes magic