Hot take debate: Disney should get rid of dining reservations

Bring back the Epcot kiosks!!

I think you convinced me. Make it like getting a virtual queue space on a FancyRide (tm) in that you have to be on WDW Property somewhere on the day. As its all phone there's no need to queue up (still allow some kiosks, and allow for GR and the concerges to book as well for less tech capable people and for offline backups), it might even open up some walk in opportunities as people now plan where they're eating around what they're doing instead of vice versa.

Even if the system remains as is I think that the early reservation window for hotel guests should be drastically shortened.

"There's no trade-off anymore, like there was when you had to give up a shot at an empty ride queue to try for a desired lunch or dinner time. So more people now give it a go on dining reservations, making them even harder to get."

Isn't this... good? No tradeoffs, more people have access to both reservations and desired attractions... seems like the system working to me!

As someone who dislikes G+ and hated FP+ but loved FP, I like the dining reservation system. Food is a huge component of a vacation, and with the current system I can always get what I want. We have regular spots, and they don’t tend to be the most popular. For example, the Biergarten is one we always do. Loved the Moroccan when it was open. At MK we typically only do the Crystal Palace, and we then branch out to new things. If we need to cancel no big deal. DHS is another we branch out at, but the Sci-fi theater is another must do. I say keep it as is. Now my kids are older, and I admit I am unaware of the spots that go in seconds.

I think absolutely no reservations in this day and age is probably not practical for Disney, but I do think the current system is a bit of a mess. So, here's what I'd propose...operate reservations the same as VQ attractions.

Here's how it'd work: Beginning at 7 A.M. in the morning, guests may join the virtual queue for any one table service restaurant their tickets are valid for. If they have a single park ticket, it must be at the park they've made a reservation for. If it is a park hopper, they may enter at any restaurant, but may only enter one.

Now, since mealtimes aren't quite as flexible as ride times, guests would be able to specify the range of times at which they're willing to dine. They will not be called before the start of this window, and if they can't be accommodated before the end of the window, they'll be notified so they can make other dining plans. In the event a guest cannot be accommodated, they're welcome to join the virtual queue for another restaurant and try their luck there. If they get tired of waiting, they're also welcome to leave the virtual queue (and may then choose to enter another).

Once called, guests have 30 minutes to report to the restaurant in question and check it, at which point they'll be added to the wait list and remain on the premises until their table is available. The idea behind this system is that once a table is seated, the restaurant can call the next party suitable for the table so that they're present before it's ready, minimizing the period during which tables are unoccupied and maximizing the number of guests that can be served. As with current reservations, there's no issue with downsizing the reservation if some in the group get hungry and want to eat earlier, but it's not possible to increase the size at the restaurant.

What if there's a particular restaurant that guests absolutely must enjoy during their visit and it will ruin their trip if they don't? Well, for only ~$20 per person, guests can purchase a guaranteed spot at the restaurant and time of their choice up to 30 days prior to their visit (subject to availability). Need to cancel or change plans? Unfortunately, the reservation fee is non-refundable, but it can be applied to a reservation at a different time and/or different restaurant. It might not be popular to have a charge like this, but it'd significantly cut down on the number of guests making reservations as only those who absolutely must dine somewhere would do so and it would also provide an additional revenue stream for Disney, which we know they'd never turn down. Plus, when you're already spending four figures per day to take your family on a Disney vacation, isn't the certainty of knowing you'll be able to experience what you want worth a couple percent more?

This is absolutely NO from me. The way I look at it, guests are already paying well over $100/person/day just for the privilege of walking into a Disney park gate, and have to pay an upcharge if they don't want to wait hours of their day in line for attractions. The last thing I want to do is spend another hour or more in line to have a nice meal, which is the perfect way to get away from the chaos and blur of touring a Disney theme park.

Also, making dinner reservations has been engrained in society at large. If you want to eat at any exclusive restaurant around the world, you need to make a reservation far in advance. Some restaurants have tried to spur convention by seating guests on a first come first serve basis, but the advent of services like Task Rabbit and others have created a secondary market where guests are essentially paying others to stand in line for them, and creating massive queues outside of high demand eateries - some restaurants still do this, but others have tried to use other systems to cut down on the professional line waiters or have just thrown up their hands and gone back to traditional reservations.

When we started planning our upcoming summer trip to Europe, I tossed around the idea of getting reservations at Noma in Copenhagen, which is regarded as the #1 restaurant in the world. However, even 5+ months in advance was not enough to secure a seating despite the flexibility we had early in our planning in terms of timing (lunch/brunch would have been fine and we could have shifted days pretty easily within the week we're in the region).

Booking the best Disney restaurants should be no different, and while there is an element of "pay to play" needed to get a head start for the most in demand places, there are ways around it - for instance, when we booked the V&A's Chef's Table, the most exclusive dining experience in all of WDW, we did stay on site to allow us to have an additional head start on making the coveted ADR and we deliberately built some flexibility into our itinerary so we could have multiple potential days to get the Chef's Table. Obviously, if we were staying off site or only staying on-site for a day or 2 we probably wouldn't have gotten the reservation, but we also didn't stay in Disney's most expensive hotel (Grand Floridian at the time) or leverage a concierge or other reservation service to score the 1 party per night (only 5 nights a week) experience.

I'll also add that many restaurants in and around Disney parks are not designed to have masses of people waiting outside. Back when you used to be able to walk up to top EPCOT restaurants and get placed on a waiting list, there would be just a few dozen people milling around outside the entrance and even then, the crowds were almost unbearable. I can only imagine what the entrances to these restaurants would look like if there wasn't some semblance of order provided by checking in with the host with an actual reservation. Where would people line up if there were 1,000 people wanting to eat at Cinderalla's Royal Table? While some high demand restaurants do have some room outside their entrances, there still would be some inevitable confusion as to what line people were getting into - think Space 220, which would almost certainly bleed into the Mission: Space line on most days with hundreds of people waiting to eat. ADRs are a great service that Disney provides for sit down dining, and conforms to the convention used at every other popular restaurant around the world.

I want to purchase an ILL of $40 to eat at "Be Our Guest". No reservation for me, no sir ree! I want to buy my way into dinner....and then buy dinner.