Whoa - did the system just change??

[cigar95]

I was just booking a couple reservations - first one at SciFi, and all was normal - looked like it has pretty much since on-line reservations began. I didn't search for this, but just used a link stored in my browser history.

then I went to book Olivia's and the dining search took me to a page that looked very different. Went back to search for SciFi, and now it took me to the same new page layout.

Did the system just change while I sat here, or did it change a while back, and it just happens that my old URLs are still valid? It seems I get the old page layout if I just use the URLs in my history.

I will say first that I haven't tried to make any reservations in several weeks, so maybe this is all old news to the regulars here. But one thing I noticed is that the new setup doesn't seem to allow to search over a range of dates. Also doesn't ask me to associate it with a resort reservation.

Just curious what's up, thanks.

 

[Inkmahm]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2474755

 

[cigar95]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2474755

That thread seems to be about the dates for which reservations are available - although I admit to reading only the first and last pages. What I'm seeing is an entirely new interface. Is that buried somewhere in the middle of the thread?

 

[Cafeen]

That thread seems to be about the dates for which reservations are available - although I admit to reading only the first and last pages. What I'm seeing is an entirely new interface. Is that buried somewhere in the middle of the thread?

The interface is part of it yes. It's the result of about 3 threads merged together, one about the dates, one about the UI, and the third about the system in general.

 

[Tricia1972]

There was a fourth one merged in too, about the fairness of it

(It's a poke at Cafeen, check out the last pages of the thread to find out why we're teasing )

 

[Inkmahm]

There was a fourth one merged in too, about the fairness of it

Yeah, that was MY thread. I didn't think it was the same topic as discussing the mechanics of the 190 day issue. I wanted to know if people liked the new 190 day "policy" or not. I personally like it and think it is more fair with everyone on a level playing field for a given day of ADRs.

 

[cigar95]

OK, I read it - boy, what a circus!

 

[Cafeen]

There was a fourth one merged in too, about the fairness of it

(It's a poke at Cafeen, check out the last pages of the thread to find out why we're teasing )

I, uh, it... um... A-ha! It must have been created and moved between visits so I just thought it was part of the original(ish), yup, that's gotta be it!

And seriously, these people expect me to read everything? I mean, I post books as it is, I don't even have enough time to read those, never mind other posts (and threads).

But, yup, at the risk of this one being merged and me sounding like a dummy (no Tricia, that's not an invitation! I do just fine enough on my own ), I really like a lot of the functionality and UI changes present. The ability to just select a meal on a date and see what's open is pretty amazing. I do miss the "date range" though, and hope it'll make a comeback, but I would suspect that the database overhead on such a query ("Hey, show me all the restaurants that are available on all of these days!") could be a big high and degrade performance a bit.

And circling around to the start of the thread, when you used your bookmark, it went to the v1 page. When you finished with that restaurant you were automatically moved to the v2 site. Hence the appearance that it changed right under your nose.

 

[Tricia1972]

Yeah, that was MY thread. I didn't think it was the same topic as discussing the mechanics of the 190 day issue. I wanted to know if people liked the new 190 day "policy" or not. I personally like it and think it is more fair with everyone on a level playing field for a given day of ADRs.

Unfortunately your thread had enough "There's a change to the system" that it was starting to go off topic already. So it got moved too (sorry )

 

[cigar95]

And circling around to the start of the thread, when you used your bookmark, it went to the v1 page. When you finished with that restaurant you were automatically moved to the v2 site. Hence the appearance that it changed right under your nose.

Thanks for the explanation - maybe I should take those restaurant sites in my history and make them actual bookmarks, since I do like the previous interface.

Is there a thread here that discusses the differences between v1 and v2? The two things that I've noticed are

1 - you don't automatically get the option to associate your reservations with a resort reservation with the new system (although it sounds like you're asked if you try to open up the "+10" days), and

2 - you can't request a range of days when searching for seatings.

I'm sure there are numerous changes under the hood - one of which is laid bare in the other thread.

 

[Cafeen]

Thanks for the explanation - maybe I should take those restaurant sites in my history and make them actual bookmarks, since I do like the previous interface.

Is there a thread here that discusses the differences between v1 and v2? The two things that I've noticed are

1 - you don't automatically get the option to associate your reservations with a resort reservation with the new system (although it sounds like you're asked if you try to open up the "+10" days), and

2 - you can't request a range of days when searching for seatings.

I'm sure there are numerous changes under the hood - one of which is laid bare in the other thread.

I did just (well, this morning) post a "summary so far" of the stuff in the other thread. I probably left out a piece or two though.

Basically:

1. Reservation linking method change (as you describe) - Select an ADR date, if more than 180 days out it then asks you to confirm your reservation before it allows further progress. Note that this is only required once per session
2. Date range is no longer available (may be temporary)
3. Results list is improved and displays all restaurants matching your parameters (rather than just a couple at random)
4. Search parameters selection is streamlined. No more adults/children and ages, just a simple 1-10 people.
5. "Search Again" is streamlined, no more refreshing that big annoying poorly coded list after each ADR, you can search right after processing one. (I forgot to mention both of these in the other summary thread!)

I'm sure there's quite a few more "under the hood" improvements that no one else (other than me) would particularly care about (code optimization, database performance, all that fun stuff)

 

[cigar95]

And circling around to the start of the thread, when you used your bookmark, it went to the v1 page. When you finished with that restaurant you were automatically moved to the v2 site. Hence the appearance that it changed right under your nose.

Checking back in as the OP, and admitting to not keeping up with all the latest news, my V1 bookmarks now take me to the V2 interface. I've only tried a couple locations, so exceptions like CRT may remain so.