180 Day Dining Reservations will benefit DVC Memebers?

[Happy Birthday Cat]

I think it will since DVC members are for the most part people who plan far in advance. If you generally make reservations from 11 to 7 months, I think this new policy may end up benefitting DVC members who already have their rooms booked and aren't sitting around waiting for codes or making last minute plans.

What do you think?

HBC

[DarthGoofy]

I agree.

I was thinking the same thing when I read the announcement. This should be great for us. I mean, I already have reservations for our trip in Sept. '06. I doubt if very many non-DVC members have ressies that far out. It should make it much easier for us to get the places and times that we want.

[cobbler]

I also think its great!! I love to plan and honestly I never give much thought to park hours when I do my reservations.

But with the new 6 month out calendar that they are supposed to publish (that isn't out yet :Pokepoke: ) I might start.

[UsedtobeSmith]

I am excited about it. I booked both CRT and PBS with the sun shining. I know that is becasue no one but us loons know about the 180 expansion yet, but still it was nice.

I wish Dining plan people had to wait until 100 days out though... (is that mean?? Sorry)

[DarthGoofy]

I wish Dining plan people had to wait until 100 days out though... (is that mean?? Sorry)

I don't think so. Since we cannot book a dining plan, I think it would be nice if we could have a few extra days to book. That being said, I would never ever ever trade my DVC membership for the ability to be on the dining plan.

[jiggerj]

Well I know that I am happy about it right now and will be even happier on Tuesday when I start making our ADR's for our APRIL/MAY trip! http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/ernaehrung/food-smiley-002.gif

[crisi]

DVC members have a couple advantages:

We go often enough that we have a pretty good idea of where we might want to eat.

We got often enough that its rare that if we miss somewhere we will be heartbroken. There are exceptions - family traditions, special events. But since we know those are coming, they are easy to plan for.

We are past the commando stage (for the most part) and not victim to park hours. So what MGM closes at 7:00 and you've wasted precious park time eating at the Brown Derby?

I don't see a lot of disadvantages to 180 day bookings for people who tend to plan eleven months or longer in advance.

Which makes me wonder....I wonder if as a result of this Disney may not offer the dining plan if you book late if restaurants are at a certain capacity. Say you want to book a trip in March in early Feburary. If the restaurants are already at say 70% capacity on any given day, they may tell you the dining plan isn't available for your trip. I still suspect they've been taking a lot of flack from people who paid for the dining plan and get frozen out of restuarants - I think in particular they oversold the "free dining" promotion, this might give them more control over the situation.

[keishashadow]

I don't think so. Since we cannot book a dining plan, I think it would be nice if we could have a few extra days to book. That being said, I would never ever ever trade my DVC membership for the ability to be on the dining plan.No dining plan yet! I haven't given up the ship on this yet.:goodvibes . The 180 days out will benefit both DVC'ers & folks who plan "way out" for their Dis trips.

Here comes the whining:

*have to book my June trip ADR's the last day of my Dec. vacation...guess I'll do it while waiting in line for Space Mt. &

*have to book my Dec trip ADR's before we take our June trip.

*unless WDW gets on the stick with park hours & keeps to them, this will be a bust.

We have a few favorite restaurants we stick with and usually find at least 1 new fav out of each batch we try/each trip. Sort of hard to schedule in advance when you don't have all the info you need to make a good choice. It was horrible trying to change a few of our ADR's the last month for our Dec. trip.

Don't get me wrong, in the great scheme of things, these are nice dilemmas to have; but still frustrating to deal with...

[dianeschlicht]

I really don't like to make plans for dining that far ahead. We really like to be more spontaeous than that, and 180 or 90 days out is NOT spontaneous! I asked our adult "kids" what they wanted to do and when, and both wanted to wait and plan the day of except for NYE and NYDay. I went ahead and got 4 ADRs for our trip anyway, but I really hate this! Oh, and this morning, MS still didn't know about the 180 day window. They are still saying 90 days ahead of check-in.

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Oh, and this morning, MS still didn't know about the 180 day window. They are still saying 90 days ahead of check-in.

Why does this NOT surprise me. They still get all confused with Magical Gatherings reservations too. They often act like they've never heard of them.

HBC

[Colorado Belle]

The Wishes and Illumination Cruises are still on the 90 days out.
But I'm excited that I'm meeting two other Disney freaks there, and they both like to plan ahead....so now I feel confident that I will get to eat dinner at Cindy's Castle and watch Wishes...SIGH!

With all the crowds from the Dining Passes, I think it great that the 180 advance benefits DVC owners!

[dianeschlicht]

The Wishes and Illumination Cruises are still on the 90 days out.
But I'm excited that I'm meeting two other Disney freaks there, and they both like to plan ahead....so now I feel confident that I will get to eat dinner at Cindy's Castle and watch Wishes...SIGH!

With all the crowds from the Dining Passes, I think it great that the 180 advance benefits DVC owners!
I guess I doh't understand how the 180 advance ressies benefit us over all the folks making Disney Dining ressies. How is it that much different than the 90 days? Sure, most of us plan our trips quite a bit farther ahead, but we also aren't into commando, so our trips tend to be less structured.

[jiggerj]

The Wishes and Illumination Cruises are still on the 90 days out.
But I'm excited that I'm meeting two other Disney freaks there, and they both like to plan ahead....so now I feel confident that I will get to eat dinner at Cindy's Castle and watch Wishes...SIGH!
!

Anyone I know? :)

[Happy Birthday Cat]

I guess I doh't understand how the 180 advance ressies benefit us over all the folks making Disney Dining ressies. How is it that much different than the 90 days? Sure, most of us plan our trips quite a bit farther ahead, but we also aren't into commando, so our trips tend to be less structured.

I think it does for the reason you stated. Most of us have reservations at between 11 and 7 months. If we want to take advanatge of the 180+10 day window we can. That benefits those who want to use it. Many others visiting WDW don't even have reservations at that point, let alone the opportunity to make ADR's.

HBC

[dianeschlicht]

I just think the dining plan has made things a lot more difficult, and I don't see doubling the amount of time to reserve making THAT much difference. I guess I am just bummed that I couldn't get what I wanted for NYE even though I called right when the phones opened at 90 days out. I still can't understand how that happens.

[DSNY FN]

Our family thinks this is great mind you in Dec we seldome have a problem booking Le Cellier or Chef Mickeys.

[WDWSTAR]

AHHh 180 days out for Chef Mickeys now you are talking, although i booked at the 90 day mark for Chef Mickeys for our Dec. trip and didnt have a problem. But the funny part is ... we will be at BCV for a few days before our cruise and a few days after and just thinking about all the food on the Magic for 7 nights i couldnt decide which restuarants to eat at while we are in WDW, i just kept think are we going to be to tired of eating after the cruise, LOL