Some Walt Disney World restaurants will start charging reservation cancellation fees

I'm basing that on the opening line of the article:

"A fee of $10 per person will be charged to guests who reserve a table at specific Walt Disney World restaurants and do not show up, or cancel their reservation a day ahead of time."

^Ooooh, my bad. Somehow I thought it was 10/table reserved. $10/head would be punitive enough to keep most people from over-reserving, IMO.

Good question about large parties though. Who foots the bill if only 6 out of 10 show up? That can easily happen when people are separated during the day. Maybe they just eliminate the charge as long as the majority in the party show up.

I would think that there would be no penalty, as you're not ditching your reservation. There is no change fee, just a no-show fee.

But, Disney could make a case that if a part of 10 becomes a party of 6 they have tied up seats that will not generate revenue during the hour they are dining.

Someone on another board reportedly called in to ask about a situation such as that, and was told they would be charged the amount for absent guests. Now if that actually happens...I highly doubt it, but it is a possibility. I think this will have just a bit more teeth than the FastPass return time, honestly.

Lord Gonchar said:

Neuski said:

Those tables aren't going to go empty.

Exactly. This isn't about Disney losing money,

Well, it certainly negatively affects the experience of guests who didn't get reservations because all the slots were taken (whether or not they actually ended up being used). And especially at Disney, guest experience = $$.

Ehhh, that feels like a stretch.

Not getting in to a certain restaraunt or not getting a certain time isn't killing anyone's vacation any more than not getting a fastpass because someone else grabbed a couple and never used them.

Plus, what about the improved satisfaction of the guest able to snag a last-minute table at a hard-to-get restaraunt?

If anything, I'd argue that the new policy reduces more guest satisfaction (in that there must have been a lot of people doing this for a policy to be needed) than it improves (people seriously slighted by not getting a certain table). But I'm not sure I really believe that - if I start to overthink it, I could take that side. :)

I still say this isn't about the guest experience, it's about stomping an issue that's finally become a big enough thorn in Disney's side.

Gonch has a point. While this may make for some small operational benefit (and extra cash) for Disney, I think it could be argued that the guest satisfaction is less. The guest now has money at stake (steak?) for their structured vacation, while the few folks who snag those cancellations and no-shows no longer have access to those tables. There really isn't any winning going on here.

If the problem is multiple bookings for the same slot, than use some mechanism that prevents people from doing multiple bookings.

What would that mechanism be? I can invent email addresses, or phone numbers, or ... as often as I need to. In my world, we call this "the Sybil attack." It's shockingly simple to concoct an "identity" for most purposes. Indeed, Disney did change their reservation system in the past few years to tie it to your email address and/or phone number, and they would not allow you to double book. People just booked under more than one address/number.

On the other hand, Disney's reservations aren't "reservations" in that they hold you a specific table at a specific time. They work more like the mid-market chains and their "call-ahead seating". Your "reservation" time just puts you on an ordered list. When you check in, your name is activated. When a table comes open, the next party on the ordered list that has checked in gets it, more or less. They used to actually call the scheme Priority Seating, which was more descriptive, but they changed the name to Advanced Dining Reservations years ago without changing anything else.

They *also* routinely over-book the restaurant based on historical no-shows for that location, meal, and time of year. Disney being Disney, they are fanatical about measuring this sort of thing, and they have a pretty good idea what the no show rate will be. As long as people are predictable (and, people being people, they mostly are) Disney can get it pretty close to correct. Not perfect, but close.

What this $10pp scheme really does is reduce the variance in expected no-show rate, but perhaps more importantly, it reduces chronic late-arrivals. Unless you are an old hand, everything takes longer than you think at WDW. "We'll just go on one more ride." "We need to leave for the park at 5:30 for our 6:00 meal time." People *always* show up late for their reservation times. This mechanism might well encourage people to be a bit more diligent about getting there on time, and that might actually matter.

As for partial groups: I haven't done this in many years, but back in the day when Cindy's breakfast had a $10pp no-show fee, the grandparents did not join us, but the server told us not to worry about it, in a way that made it sound pretty routine. I suppose things may have changed, but it would be consistent with Disney's general approach to customer service to have a rule that they bend often.

A number of other institutions use credit cards simply as identity confirmation, and I would assume that most people aren't going to rampantly give that number out freely and repeatedly. In other words, what they're doing now is adequate, just don't charge people. I suppose you can book three restaurants if you have three cards, but would you? My guess is that most consumers would not.

We went to Disney the first week of October, and laid our plans about 30 days out. To our disappointment, favorites like California Grill and Le Cellier were sold out for the week and we were somewhat uncertain about alternatives and what our theme park schedule would permit. We also didn't want to risk further disappointment by opting for stand-by. So, at her suggestion, the reservationist loaded us up with multiple reservations, either several locations for a certain night, or in the case of our "double swipe" dinner, several different times at Grand Floridian's Citricos on the same night. (which, incidentally, I would recommend as a lovely alternative to rooms like CG)

Anyway, I thought it was nice that they were suggesting such a strategy, but strange at the same time...she assured me that this was the best way to keep it flexible and there would be no charge or penalty for a no-show. Now, mind you, as we got closer I tried to be a good citizen and cancel reservations that we knew we wouldn't need, but didn't worry about it if for some reason it slipped our minds or we were still uncertain.

Well!...Looks like we just squeaked by on that one! Maybe my desperate call was the one "monitored for quality purposes" and they decided then and there to put the kabosh on all that nonsense.

Slightly off subject, but I also highly recommend the Disney Dining Plan when staying on property. That and the 15 buck resort sippy cup was some of the best money I every spent!

Way to go, Mac. Ya ruined it for everybody else. ;)

You mean because I whined and cried and said we HAD to get into California Grill because it was my birthday? Because she just plugged me into anywhere and everywhere hoping that I would shut up and hang up? Because they're sick of Ohioans and our strong sense of entitlement?

Um,... yea, well... I guess maybe I mighta ruined it just a little...

Lord Gonchar said:
Is there any issue/decision at an amusement park that isn't a moral thing to someone on these forums?

Heh. If we were talking about small, independent restaurants there would be a case to be made. But we're talking about Disney and I could give two poops if they lose a reservation. I wish they would just leave a few more seats open for standby guests.

I'm not saying this is good or bad, but my Tampa native cousin's solution to overbooked Disney eateries involves a $50 and gets a table anywhere at any time.

Ah, the Ferris Bueller method.

Wait a minute... I thought Dining at diznee was supposed to be smooth sailing LOL.