Do people really do this?

[Jimmy Mouse]

I noticed that people actually book dining at many places for the same time and I have even heard of people booking 10+ TS restaurants a day and cancelling the ones they don't want the day before. I know I will get some backlash but that really sucks! Greedy people take away a possible hard to get ADR for those that only want one. Personally I cannot do that. I book what I can find for the day I am at my park of choice. I guess my morals won't let me take away a chance of magic for some family frantically searching for that special meal.

 

[SinCityMMAFan]

It's unfortunate but yes people do in fact hoard ADR's then as time gets closer and they plan each day carefully they'll cancel ADR's once the time gets closer. I've seen many cases with people booking the same restaurant multiple times a day or even the same restaurant over the course over many days. That's why I always suggest to people who can't get the ADR they want to continue to check as people cancel every day. Over the last week I was fortunate to pick up a few ADR's for the harder restaurants to obtain like Ohana and 1900 Park Fare's Cinderella's Happily Ever After Dinner because people cancelled their ADR's.

 

[Quellman]

I've found that travel agents (sorry guys) may do something similar and I know why they do it. Many guests just can't plan 180 days out. For example, a travel agent makes multiple reservations and then at about 60 days out offers a selection to the client, cancelling the unneeded ones back into the wild. They have now provided a good customer service.

 

[DISNEYSQUIRRELS]

I truly wish Disney would do away with any type of reservation system for dining & handle all of it on a first come, first served basis. All of the shenanigans that take place over trying to have something to eat is crazy town to me... & I LOVE food...eating it, cooking it, shopping for it, all of it!

 

[supersnoop]

I truly wish Disney would do away with any type of reservation system for dining & handle all of it on a first come, first served basis. All of the shenanigans that take place over trying to have something to eat is crazy town to me... & I LOVE food...eating it, cooking it, shopping for it, all of it!

I don’t think that would result in a good experience. I have to take two buses to get to Chef Mickey’s only to find out there’s a 3 hour wait? You need some sort of reservation system so that you can set reasonable expectations.

 

[Destinyz12]

I think a lot of the reservation hoarding would be cut down if they didn't allow dining reservations until around 30 days out from your trip. That way everyone will have their FP's made and it will be much easier to plan where to eat.

 

[DISNEYSQUIRRELS]

I don’t think that would result in a good experience. I have to take two buses to get to Chef Mickey’s only to find out there’s a 3 hour wait? You need some sort of reservation system so that you can set reasonable expectations.

I would imagine the MDE ap could be modified/updated to provide dining wait times in the sit down restaurants & maybe at the time you look, you could add your name like a call ahead seating place does. Perhaps character dining, dinner shows, etc would need to be excluded & require reservations. I feel that this would level the playing field for everyone & relieve some of the anxiety & reservation hoarding that does go on.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I’ve accidentally tried to book two restaurants at the same t8me and the system doesn’t let me before I cancel the first one. So how is this possible? Also I’ve found it much easier to book some restaurants via Open Table and there is no cancellation fee if you can’t make it.

 

[bbak30]

It's really crazy. I don't mind having to book 180 days out cause I'm a planner and it's fun--but it's confusing for a lot of people! And its getting overwhelming. I have people ask me often "Tell me everything I need to know about Disney!" and I don't even know where to start....

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

I’ve accidentally tried to book two restaurants at the same t8me and the system doesn’t let me before I cancel the first one. So how is this possible? Also I’ve found it much easier to book some restaurants via Open Table and there is no cancellation fee if you can’t make it.

Not at the same time... something like this:

8:00 BOG , 9:00 Chef Mickeys, 10:00 Akerhaus, 11:00 Sci-Fi , 12:00 50's prime time , 1:00 Tiffins, 2:00 CRT. etc. etc... Get the idea? or better yet, BOG at 8,9, 10, 11 .... and so on. They do this every day for a whole vacation then once they decide what park they will be at they cancel at the last minute. Totally screwing up any chance of good ADR's for the people that don't abuse the system. I know I will have 180+10 but if someone staying when we will be there and their 180+10 starts just one day before ours, it really takes a lot of options off the table. Now take in the fact that thousands of people are doing this and you can see how it screws up ADR's.

 

[Dakota731]

I’ve accidentally tried to book two restaurants at the same t8me and the system doesn’t let me before I cancel the first one. So how is this possible?

I’ve heard people have several accounts to book mutiple reservations. I think Disney should have some kind of system that would only allow three meals a day for each hotel reservation. I’m not nearly technical enough to pull off all this hoarding!

 

[Monoxide]

Just read this thread, just checked a BOG for our party night SCORE!

 

[scrappinginontario]

I have occasionally booked an extra reservation or 2 but not tons. Tonight I double booked a meal because we have a Chef Mickeys reservation in Jan. If it’s still in the convention center we’ll cancel it but if it’s moved back to the Contemporary we’ll go and cancel the other.

I don’t agree with hoarding but understand there are times when booking extras until closer to a trip can be a good choice for a person.

 

[Shanti]

I've found that travel agents (sorry guys) may do something similar and I know why they do it. Many guests just can't plan 180 days out. For example, a travel agent makes multiple reservations and then at about 60 days out offers a selection to the client, cancelling the unneeded ones back into the wild. They have now provided a good customer service.

Each ADR must be reserved with the guest's own name and credit card info. It isn't possible for travel agents to be making & hoarding generic ADRs without that specific data.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I think a lot of the reservation hoarding would be cut down if they didn't allow dining reservations until around 30 days out from your trip. That way everyone will have their FP's made and it will be much easier to plan where to eat.

I agree. The 180 is really ridiculous! Even 90 days would be an improvement.

We had two complete sets of dining reservations reserved back in July for our January trip because we were debating a split stay (BC and Poly) vs one resort (WL) depending on the discounts. This resulted in 2 completely different park agendas. Until the StayPlayDine came out (yuck) and we decided to go with the Travel Agent split stay deal (yay) we had 16 ADRs when we only needed 8. As soon as we knew what we were doing we cancelled but a 90 day booking window would have avoided all of that.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I'm doubled up for Monsieur Paul's as they still, still haven't released the menus for New Year's Eve. I'll release one when they post the menus for both seatings and not a moment before.
All my ADRs are firm and in place otherwise.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

It’s intersting to me that people overbooking then cancelling ADRs, which in turn might help someone that booked a last minute trip because maybe they’re not able to plan a vacation 6 months in advance, is often vilified by many on here.

At the very same time Disney intentionally withholds popular FastPasses and releases them 30 days in advance (like the recent January FP drop) and it’s celebrated by many on here. Sometimes they even withhold them until the very same day in an effort to create magical moments of pixie dust for those that happen to be in the parks.

I smile when I imagine the possibility of someone scoring an unexpected FEA FP while strolling through Epcot checking for availability. Just like I smiled at the good news of @Monoxide scoring that hard-to-get BOG upthread.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

I would love it if they moved the ADR date to 60 days! At 6 months out, no one but us uberplanners is ready to make such specific plans. The park hours and parade/fireworks information isn't even available. We're usually travelling with extended family and I feel like I have to book those ADRS right at 6 months to have a prayer of getting them for 10+ people. I don't double up on the same day, but I have, for example, booked a Be Our Guest reservation early in the trip and also later in the trip because I didn't know which park we'd be in because there were no park hours or I didn't know when we'd be able to get FP etc and then I drop one of the ADRs at 60 days. I do admit I get steamed when I see people dropping 2, 3, or even 4 ADRs for the same restaurant on the same night.

Laurie

 

[Quellman]

Each ADR must be reserved with the guest's own name and credit card info. It isn't possible for travel agents to be making & hoarding generic ADRs without that specific data.

Anyone can make a reservation in advance with only a few places being pay in advance. The charge occurs for no shows. Agents can still make multiple reservations either with the clients card, or on risk - use their own.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Anyway you slice it, the whole thing is cray cray

Who wants to plan their whole vacation this way?