New policy for single players at Disney golf courses...and its not good.

[PleasejointheFarque]

Perhaps we should consider a single golfer disboard web site...hook players up with another single to book.

My hubby is a single player and always tries to book the first couple of tee times in the morning. He has zero desire to play 9:30 or later.

He has been paired with Disney executives and cast members; are they going to have the same restrictions? He has always been put in a foursome, not sure what game Disney is playing.

Great minds think alike.....the things we do for our husbands lol... I just dont want to give up my "me time" in the parks every morning...where I can shop and ride rollercoasters in peace

 

[Simba's Mom]

Perhaps we should consider a single golfer disboard web site...hook players up with another single to book.

My hubby is a single player and always tries to book the first couple of tee times in the morning. He has zero desire to play 9:30 or later.

He has been paired with Disney executives and cast members; are they going to have the same restrictions? He has always been put in a foursome, not sure what game Disney is playing.

Great idea! DH is also an early morning golfer. I don't envy the person for whom bringing golf clubs is iffy at best, not very convenient. Fortunately we're driving, so it's OK for us. Back in the days of 5 golf courses, DH would golf every morning of our trip and we'd meet up at lunchtime (hence the early morning golf). We leave in 3 days, so I'll report back how this trip goes golf-wise. DH is NOT happy that we can't plan!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Well! This is an unwelcome change! My husband is a golfer, I am not. We book his tee times about 60 days out, per the DVC Member rules. Now, availability for single golfers online is not always what we want but I have always been able to call and book whatever time we were hoping for. Like others have said, he usually plays early AM so he can get back to the villa and shower before lunch. I will be irate if they give me guff about this for his tee times in September. We are going next week and his golf has been booked for months.

EDIT: Oh, nice! Now they have removed the option of "1" player for online booking, even if I was trying to book for TODAY! That makes me extremely angry!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Maybe we should start a thread on golfers at WDW and see if anyone wants to play/book together to overcome the single player restrictions.
My DH is wanting to play Sept 6-17, early morning, staying at BLT, if anyone is also there this time.
Thoughts?

We don't arrive until September 16, so I am not sure if we could sort something out for the 17th?

Perhaps we should consider a single golfer disboard web site...hook players up with another single to book.

My hubby is a single player and always tries to book the first couple of tee times in the morning. He has zero desire to play 9:30 or later.

He has been paired with Disney executives and cast members; are they going to have the same restrictions? He has always been put in a foursome, not sure what game Disney is playing.

My husband prefers to play early as well, because sometimes he plays 2 rounds back to back. If he is just playing 18 he still goes early so we can do other stuff when he gets back!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Is everyone letting them know that this is not an agreeable change? Feedback to them is the only reason that they might revisit the decision.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Is everyone letting them know that this is not an agreeable change? Feedback to them is the only reason that they might revisit the decision.

I called. The manager who makes the decisions called me back and assured me that this change is going swimmingly, and he has no reason to believe they need to change it back.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I called. The manager who makes the decisions called me back and assured me that this change is going swimmingly, and he has no reason to believe they need to change it back.

Since it's very new and very few would have even run into it of course it's going swimmingly! In fact haven't several here posted that they already had the reservations for their next trip and won't be affected until the following? That's why the continued feedback is important - including letting them know you'll be golfing elsewhere because of the change if that's the decision. Very nice you took the time - even if you got that particular response.

 

[IrishEye]

Again remember the decision was made by Arnold Palmer Golf Management not Disney Management. Since single golfers are the minority it is going to take hundreds of calls to APGM as well as Disney Guest Services to actually impact any reversal decision.

 

[iheartglaciers]

My sister will be upset! She wanted to golf one specific morning of our trip in September (the morning we are planning on going to the Halloween party in the afternoon). Since you have to book everything else at Disney in advance, it would be nice to not leave this until 3 days before...

 

[Sweettears]

I am a frequent golfer and have golfed at WDW several times. I have also golfed at similar courses throughout the country. I have never been at a course that was in a vacation setting that wasn’t able to accommodate single golfers in a relatively timely manner. In fact I am not aware of too many upper end courses that accept single player reservations unless they already have a threesome booked.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Well, used it today(for play Saturday) and it went pretty well, except for me dropping the credit card in the car while DH drove at 70 mph. He got his first choice of course at 9:00am. He’d asked for “before 9:00” and she offered 9:00. Tomorrow he’ll try “before 8:30” and see what happens.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We are going next week, so all of those tee times were booked prior to the policy change. Of course, now it looks like he will be playing in monsoon conditions every day.

I did tell the guy that in September we will have NO flexibility due to F&WF events. I told him we are debating not even bringing the clubs. He said it will be absolutely fine, even with only 3 days notice. I put his number in my phone. If we have problems I will be calling him back and reminding him of this conversation.

The line seems to be that if you call 3 days before they can get you in either + or - 30 minutes. But really, 30 minutes can make a BIG difference if you have to be at an event! We had a wine thing at Epcot last year. My husband was able to tee off early, get to BWV, and walk to Epcot with me in time for the lunch. 30 minutes later would have been a problem. That is why we booked the early tee time at 60 days.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Another update. Worked today! The weather forecast for today was rain so DH hadn’t made a tee time. Woke up and suddenly it’s changed-no rain until this evening, so he called for around 9:30 at LBV. At 8:15 he got LBV for 9:27. Luckily we’re at OKW with a car.

 

[Bruce Gerlander]

Good afternoon everyone! I am the General Manager of the WDW Resort Golf operation - managed by Arnold Palmer Golf Management. Hopefully I can add some clarity here and relieve everyone of your fears and worries.

This policy was implemented as a benefit to single players as we were receiving many complaints about singles showing up to play on busy days and being stranded as their assigned partners changed plans. The more we looked at this, the reason was due to the many changes that our guests make well in advance as the make itinerary changes. By deferring the booking window to only a few days out, we are better able to pair players with groups that have a higher percentage chance of not amending their schedule. This also provides us the opportunity to pair DVC members together, couples with other couples, etc. in a much more efficient manner than we were able to previously.

Now that our WHY has been explained, lets get to the good news! On any given day, even in peak season, even early in the morning, we generally have about 50% of our starting times available to accept a single player who just walks up on the same day. If you move out to 3 days, the chance of being plus / minus 30 minutes is 99% with it often being much closer to the requested time. While this may not be "exact", it is close enough for planning purposes as the time to play a round of golf can easily vary by 30 minutes depending upon the level of business, weather, difficulty and other factors.

The only days that may be problematical reserving a specific course at a specific time is when we are hosting a large tournament or performing course projects requiring us to close a course, making the issue a moot point.

I have spoken to many people and assured them that I would indeed "guarantee" that we will make sure that they are taken care of if they call 3 days in advance. Everyone has understood our reasoning after we have talked but kept my name and number "just in case". To date, I have not had to assist anyone and in fact have been told by a few people that everything worked out great and they should have listened to my suggestion to not worry.

Bring your golf clubs and expect to play when your plans allow it, all will be fine at The Happiest Place on Turf!

Should there be any issues with tee times or any other golf related issue, feel free to contact me at any time. Bruce Gerlander bgerlander@palmergolf.com 407.454.5002

 

[Jennny]

Than you for taking the time to comment - makes sense!

 

[Dtw002]

Thanks Bruce, appreciate the response and stepping up to assure things go smoothly.

 

[tidefan]

Thanks Bruce! Can I expect Oak Trail to have pretty good walk-up availability, or is it better for a single to call in advance (I am flexible, so I am thinking it's the walk-up)...

 

[PleasejointheFarque]

Thanks Bruce,

With all WDW vacations, the planning is everything, we are not "fly by the seat of our pants" DVC type vacationers, these trips are planned 11 months in advance. And as previously mentioned by another poster, F&W will be on at the time we travel so we have multiple events booked and paid for and tee time is crucial that the DH gets an early tee time and be back in time for the days events.
The golfing a huge part of most of our vacations, and it helps if we can do the bookings before we set foot on property.
Have a magical day.

 

[disneyw0rldgirl]

I was wondering if there were any single golfers out there that were down to play with my BF on Sunday, October 12th, at Magnolia? Please let me know! I'm not a golfer and he's super disappointed we can only book 3 days in advance

 

[RumpleMom]

Just a suggestion, for those of you worried about transporting your clubs,Owner's Locker will store them between your visits.