Do people really do this?

yes agreed everyone!! I planned my trip late in the game and now instead of shopping online for christmas presents I'm constantly checking MDE for open reservations!!
 
I imagine that there are many people that make ADRs for the same time at different restaurants.....probably in different parks too

and don't get me started on my struggle to find a campsite (tent) with all the people doing throw away reservations there so their can do ADRs and FPs....
 


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.

No TA is using their own CC and risking no-shows with clients. And if TA's are hoarding reservations at 180 and then offering them to clients at 60 days, as you claim, how would they know how many people to book for? And in who's name? In order to "hoard" ADR's in the way you claim, a TA would have to have multiple upon multiple MDE accounts. I know MANY TA's and none of them do this.
 
I honestly have no problem with people booking multiple reservations. WDW puts us in a position where it's nearly impossible to plan exactly where we are going to be 180 + days prior to our trip. When they keep releasing details on events later than 6 months out or change park hours, how can one possibly know. I don't hoard reservations. We've been so many times I know, typically which restaurants we want to go to and none of them are hard to get. I did double book dessert parties for our upcoming trip though because I was unsure of our night plans. About a month ago, I finalized our DHS plans, so dropped our extra Star Wars parties. I also just dropped a Holiday Wishes terrace dessert party two days ago. I agree with the PP. I dropped everything within the WDW cancellation period and gave someone else a chance to book the reservations. I didn't take anything away from anyone. I'm a huge fan of the touring plans reservation finder (just scored Cali Grill yesterday!) and love finding last-minute ADR gems when we are on our trips. I have never NOT gotten a reservation I've wanted.
 
No TA is using their own CC and risking no-shows with clients. And if TA's are hoarding reservations at 180 and then offering them to clients at 60 days, as you claim, how would they know how many people to book for? And in who's name? In order to "hoard" ADR's in the way you claim, a TA would have to have multiple upon multiple MDE accounts. I know MANY TA's and none of them do this.
Seems like you got angry. Sorry. I'm not disparaging travel agents or the hard work they do. Like anything, there are loop holes for exploitation, and some will do it. Just sharing my experiences. I know 2 TAs who DO NOT do as I described, but I have 3 colleagues who have booked trips (not with my Travel Agent friends) and mentioned the above. They simply gave the name of the Travel Agent who was the person who booked the reservation. And you can own multiple MDE accounts, that isn't a big deal either.

I don't know the logistics of the way things run, and I am not a travel agent, nor would I want to be. This conversation for me is now complete and I hope your day and holiday season are bright and magical.
 


Seems like you got angry. Sorry. I'm not disparaging travel agents or the hard work they do. Like anything, there are loop holes for exploitation, and some will do it. Just sharing my experiences. I know 2 TAs who DO NOT do as I described, but I have 3 colleagues who have booked trips (not with my Travel Agent friends) and mentioned the above. They simply gave the name of the Travel Agent who was the person who booked the reservation. And you can own multiple MDE accounts, that isn't a big deal either.

I don't know the logistics of the way things run, and I am not a travel agent, nor would I want to be. This conversation for me is now complete and I hope your day and holiday season are bright and magical.
But, when was that? Disney has taken steps in recent years to prevent that type of prospective booking. If this was more than two or three years ago, it’s likely been stopped.
 
But, when was that? Disney has taken steps in recent years to prevent that type of prospective booking. If this was more than two or three years ago, it’s likely been stopped.
Last month was my colleagues trip.
 
I actually like how the system results in so many last minute cancellations as it allows me to be more spontaneous, and I’ve used the TP finder or just checked diligently to get the reservations I know I want. But it’s usually just me or a party of 2-3, I can see how it would be frustrating for families.
 
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.
.

Luckily they have penalty if you don't cancel on time. We didn't have many adrs October 2016 and we looked the night before or the morning and we found everything! It was amazing

At 8 am I found 9 am Chef Mickeys breakfast - day we fancied a character breakfast
We found BOG, Ohana - everything we wanted at times we wanted it

It was October, but it was clear to me that people hold ADRs until the day before. I hope we are as lucky next summer as I am leaving good few days without ADR booked

It will be better if the period was less, it's just madness! Of if they put a hold on a card, even it its dollar or two only to avoid people going crazy.
 
I agree. That really stinks. But I just keep checking and hope I can grab one of those that someone drops.
 
And let me tell you why people simply can't just book "one' spot when they want a particular restaurant and are booking 6 months out. Dh and I have been planning to try BOG for dinner for our last 2 trips. First time, we simply booked too late to get a time that would work, next a change of plans wouldn't let us fit it in, and for our upcoming April trip we were all set with the perfect 5:30 dinner reservation allowing time for the dessert party. Only problem ...we've changed out MK day to the day before. Had I used my head I would have booked more than 1 dinner when I had a chance. I knew from the past that I should but felt I shouldn't and now for the past 4 weeks I've been trying to get the coveted dinner. We've managed to book breakfast at a not perfect time but dinner NADA !

In the future I will book popular restaurants for more than one day .Sadly there is not an alternative if you have 'must have" choices and the possibility of changes exist
 
Yes, people really do this. I think it is nuts. I would like to get the perfect reservations set up for every trip. But it is frequently difficult. So sometimes I need to settle for a different restaurant or a less than ideal time. Life goes on and my trip is never ruined-even when I do not get something I want. :-). I wish Disney would just allow 1 ADR per party, per meal type (lunch, breakfast, dinner) and be done with it. But then people would just make the ADR using a different party member’s name and credit card. At least it would be more difficult for people to tie up multiple reservations.
 
I am old fashioned. I ask the girls where they want to eat and based on that I book one TS ADR (or 2 if its breakfast and dinner) and that's it. I did find it strange that for our 1st MK day the only open ADR for BoG was at 20:45 hours but I booked it. I do wish Disney would tighten up on the ADR thing. Maybe charging a restock fee so to speak if you cancel multiple ADR's per day. And as to things changing you can track fairly easily most of Disney's activities 180 days out.
 
so, if you can't get something, just keep checking.

At least now they have to cancel or be fined, used to be they just wouldn't show up.
 
I am old fashioned. I ask the girls where they want to eat and based on that I book one TS ADR (or 2 if its breakfast and dinner) and that's it. I did find it strange that for our 1st MK day the only open ADR for BoG was at 20:45 hours but I booked it. I do wish Disney would tighten up on the ADR thing. Maybe charging a restock fee so to speak if you cancel multiple ADR's per day. And as to things changing you can track fairly easily most of Disney's activities 180 days out.

Well it hasn't worked that way for us. We wanted to book 3 different dessert parties (mainly for the views and the removal of lengthy waits Easter week) and the Animal Kingdom VIP tour.

Only 1 of 3 dessert parties (MK) was available at the 180 mark. The HS one was avail about a week later, we're still waiting for the Frozen one and again it may require a complete revamp once it comes out. The AK tour was available a few weeks ago and again not at the 180 mark..

And....our flights have changed so much that we actually chgd our arrival date.
 
I downloaded one of the cancellation apps and I have gotten numerous texts about openings for reservations at chef mickeys, ohana and BOG! As lug as you log in quick enough you can snag it!
Our trip is about a month away
 
I definitely don't think you can plan everything at 180. Many times park hours are not even accurate yet. We have an early BOG breakfast. I plan to drop it if park hours change.

I also think people get too worked up about this. In my experience, sometimes Disney does not release everything at 180. There were chunks of times that became available for at least two restaurants (BOG and Via Napoli) on a previous trip.

I think some people book multiple things until they can get a better idea on their days. A couple overlaps here or there are not really a big deal to me. I think the person booking ten a day is rare.

Sometimes you may need to check back or keep trying for a ressie. Sometimes you find everything you want. It is nice that there are day of options available, we have taken advantage of that in the past. I have also booked after 180 because the trip was not planned before then. I found there were options to work with. I was actually surprised how easy it was to get almost everything we wanted for our upcoming Spring Break trip at 180. I was nervous since it was a busy time, but things worked out great. I have never not been able to find any available ADR for when we wanted to eat. Is every ADR perfect every time? no. but we make it work.
 
didn't disney used to cancel double bookings if they weren't a certain amount of time apart? i am thinking i remember something like 2 hours but i could be wrong on that.
 

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