Why, oh Why Dont they Listen???

[Sparkie]

It has happened again.

Co-worker planning a trip over Veterans Day. This is not her first trip but it has been awhile. She is staying offsite and using a travel agent- not very well Disney versed- IMO.... She is telling me tonight (sept 8) that her travel agent says she can make her dining reservations when she is 30 days from her check in of Nov. 7th. OH MY! Then coworker says, "I want to eat in the Castle, Askersus, Chef Mickey and Ohanna"- they are also a party of 6. Yep, I did it, I burst her bubble and told her it was unlikely that she would get all or any of those reservations at this point in time. Not impossible but unlikely. Her response, "Im sure they hold some reservations back for the travel agents" .... I could be wrong but I dont think so.

Another coworker then chimes in about going Dec 28 to Jan 5 with her 4 small children. No they dont have a hotel reservation yet or anything else for that matter. And she says, "do you think there will be any discounts for last minute bookings?".... Nope.

They all know I have gone numerous times and sometimes more than once per year. They all know I spend all year planning and organizing and replanning and reorganizing my trips. They all know that I would gladly help them plan their trip too. So, why, oh why dont they listen?

 

[DLM1980]

you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink!

 

[Robo]

Her response, "Im sure they hold some reservations back for the travel agents" ...

That would be a, "No."

 

[JRennie]

Then these same people come home and tell you and everyone else they know that Disneyworld is the absolute worst place to vacation and they didn't enjoy it one bit.

 

[Robo]

She is telling me tonight (sept 8) that her travel agent says she can make her dining reservations when she is 30 days from her check in of Nov. 7th.

If true, the TA is simply incompetent to arrange a WDW trip.

 

[Sparkie]

That is exactly what I tried to tell her Robo. I asked if her travel agent had ever booked a Disney vacation or been to Disney. Its going to be a sad day in Mudville for her I'm afraid.

 

[amok409]

Haven't been to Disney in 5 years, Planning a trip for July 2016 and this is my 1st time back on the boards. I plan to do a lot of reading but since i saw this post. What is the current rule. How far in advance can you make dining reservations?

 

[Robo]

Haven't been to Disney in 5 years, Planning a trip for July 2016 and this is my 1st time back on the boards. I plan to do a lot of reading but since i saw this post. What is the current rule. How far in advance can you make dining reservations?

180 days. (Plus, the length of your stay, if on-site.)

 

[Robo]

That is exactly what I tried to tell her Robo. I asked if her travel agent had ever booked a Disney vacation or been to Disney. Its going to be a sad day in Mudville for her I'm afraid.

OK.
I just NOW tried to BOOK the list of restaurants you posted, for a week in early Nov.

Castle, Nov 9-14: Nothing available all day.
Askersus, Nov 9-14: Nothing available all day.
Chef Mickey's, Nov 9-14: Nothing available all day.
Ohana, Nov 9-14: Nothing available all day.

 

[amok409]

Thank you, Robo

 

[Sparkie]

I did the same and got the same results. She has now created her MDE account and is searching for herself. She asked me about DisneyDiningBuddy. I just cant justify paying $8 per reservation you want searched when you can search for free yourself. Guess I need to fill her in that you have to have your tickets purchased and linked in order to book those fastpasses at 30 days.

 

[jerseygirl82]

These ADRs for the week before were slim pickings even at 180 days.

 

[Sparkie]

Her DH also wants to fly- just decided that today also. She asked me about finding good airfare prices. Well.... first fly from atlanta instead of birmingham, fly on a tuesday or wednesday and NOT saturday, and should have been looking as soon as the fares opened for her dates. From bhm it was $1758 for 6 of them on southwest saturday to saturday, $1238 from atlanta saturday to saturday, and $588 from atlanta tuesday to tuesday. We are only 2.5 hrs from atlanta. Well worth the effort in my book. My DH and I are flying from atlanta in september for $196 for both of us round trip.

 

[Nancyg56]

You can't make people listen. A coworker of my DH told me that they are going to FW the week of the Daytona 500. They will get their park tix when they arrive. They do not worry about dining. ANd when they pick up their tickets, their FP will be all set as will their magic bands. Just like two years ago. WHAT????? I tried twice to tell them things change. After the second time I let it go.

DH cousin is going in October with her stepchildren and staying at WL. No reservations made at all. Do you want to eat at any TS restaurants? Yes. Did you make any ADR's? No....we will eat. FP booked? No. Okay. have a great trip!

SOmetimes it is best to just let people plan their own trip and hope they have fun.

 

[Tash87]

I have had a similar situation....

A friend of a friend is planning on buying their park tickets when they get to Orlando from a booth ( not a park ticket centre ) We are from the UK and usually it works out cheaper to buy a 14 day ticket off the Internet from a UK site before travel. They will obviously not have any fp's and face a huge risk imo!

Why do people not listen???

 

[ArwenMarie]

This is why I try not to get involved when people are planning a trip to Orlando (Uni or WDW). If anything, I will recommend the Unofficial Guide and that's it.

 

[disnut8]

Then these same people come home and tell you and everyone else they know that Disneyworld is the absolute worst place to vacation and they didn't enjoy it one bit.

Yep - had that happen with a friend of ours a few years ago. They were taking his father who HAD to stay at a Howard Johnson's. He HAD to stay there, HAD to. I knew there was a Howard Johnson's down on Irlo Bronson Blvd so assumed that's where they were staying. Nope - they stayed almost at Universal. And the friend and his wife had two smaller boys and they wanted to go back to the hotel during the day for breaks and they couldn't because of the drive back and forth. The father wanting to stay in the parks all day. None of them wanted sit down meals but didn't look at counter service places so ended up eating burgers all the time since they didn't realize the other choices. Friend now says he will never return to Disney World.

 

[Aurora0427]

I'm shaking my head in disbelief at the people going the week between Christmas and New Years with small children who have nothing booked.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Folks, the reason people don't listen is because they probably have heard too much.

Seriously, I can say that none of my coworkers have a clue how often I go to Disney or what I do when I am there.

If someone does tell me they are going I say "have a good time" If they ask a SPECIFIC question I try to assist. I never give unsolicited advice (FOr example I would feel no need to "burst their bubble" about reservations!)

And while you may not believe it, people go all the time and have a great time without spending inordinate amounts of time planning (Heck I am going next month. No FP reservations, no meal reservations and no worries LOL!)

 

[nilla]

We have a friend who was driving to Florida for a weekend. She was meeting friends who were in from Australia. Her friends wanted to visit Disney - specifically, to ride the Mad Tea Party (I'm not making this up).

Due to timing, they would only get one day in a park. They would also be arriving in the middle of the night. Our friend asked if she'd be able to get a room at a Disney resort for only a couple of hours, and since the stay would be abbreviated, at a discount rate. Yeah, good luck with that. To top it off, they were visiting during peak season.

In spite of numerous warnings from my wife and I, she went ahead with the "plan".

Long story short, they got to MK with one of the shakiest plans I've ever seen, and needless to say, had a horrible time. Who would've guessed that the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-teacups-vacation would be less than stellar?