3:00pm UPDATE:
We’re being told by readers that at this point, reservations made for Be Our Guest via the automated system that do not have a credit card guarantee will not be cancelled (thank goodness). It’s still a roller coaster ride, my friends. I was told this morning that they would be cancelled, but many readers have written to let me know that the tune seems to have changed this afternoon. Call to be sure, but it looks like we’re out of the weeds.
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Well, what a morning it’s been! For those of you who have battled the phone lines as I have, I feel your pain. Here are a few learnings and warnings from this morning…also some action steps:
Automated Booking Service and Credit Card Numbers
For those who booked reservations for Be Our Guest Restaurant through the automated booking service this morning (i.e. you did NOT speak to an actual human being), these reservations have not been held with a credit card guarantee and may be cancelled today due to a glitch. You will need to call back on the dining line today and modify your reservation, adding a credit card number guarantee.
My personal experience: I booked via the automated line and ended up battling busy signals for over an hour before finally getting back through to the system. The dining reservation agent I spoke to put me through to the Dining Help line. The Dining Help line agent added my credit card number to the reservations and gave me new confirmation numbers.
If you do this, continue to confirm your reservations today and tomorrow as a precaution.
Current State of Reservations
Currently, I’ve heard nothing negative about reservations that were booked through an actual agent today. Those should still be in place.
For those of us still trying to get reservations, from what I can tell many Disney dining and reservations lines are still busy, and many dates in November and December are booked up. Depending on how many of the automated reservations are cancelled today and tomorrow, there may be slots opening up.
Keep calling, and if you’re a DVC Member or Annual Passholder, you may have better luck getting through by using those dedicated service lines. If you can’t get through, online reservations open up on Wednesday — keep checking for cancellations.
I’ll update this post as I hear more information.
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There is a mistake in this article. The reservations are not being canceled because of a glitch in the system. That is standard. It will clean out ADR’s without a CC# attached for certain restaurants. The glitch was the automated system accepting ADR’s and doing it without Credit Card.
When you have a system like this here’s a thought for the future. For those calling to reserve a dining time you should be put on hold w/an automated system saying “you’re call will be answered in 5 or so minutes. ” That way you know there will be an agent on the other end to take your call and make your reservation. I’m sure many as my husband and I have been calling and cannot get thru and we’re retired. (recently this past yr) This is a suggestion for Disney to think about. I can try later on since I must do some errands although I was up before 7 am and my husband was on the cells for a few hrs. Thank you. Maybe in the future there will be a better way to handle Disney’s dining system for reservations.
I usually adopt the attitude that if I can’t get the reservation I want we will do it another time. However, my daughters and I will be there in January, and this seemed like something we’d like to do. I’ve been up since 6:30 a.m., tried continuously from 7 til 8:15 a.m., and have been trying 6 or 8 times an hour since. No dice. This is ridiculous customer service. I have not even had a call answered yet, let alone waiting in a queue. Thank God I am not on day 180 trying to get my vacation organized!
I called non-stop from 7 in the morning until 11:15. Over 4 hours! I FINALLY got into a waiting line and then eventually talked to an agent, just to find out that no times were left! Here’s hoping that there are some cancellations and we can grab a time! So sad, as Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie and I was so looking forward to eating dinner here!
My husband and I spent five hours getting nothing but a busy signal. Finally called DVC and were told the entire week of Dec. 8 is booked. Bummer. I’m consoling myself with the thought that I’d rather have croque monsieur at lunch than most of what’s on the dinner menu.
Thanks for the heads up. Finally got back through to add a CC# to my reservations. The first agent I spoke with had not even heard that this was happening, but she confirmed that I needed to add the CC# and connected me through to dining guest services who took care of everything quickly. I checked online and the reservations are on there with the new confirmation numbers already.
Took me about 30min or so this morning (starting at around 8:30am EST) to make my reservation through the automated system and then another hour (starting around 11:15am EST) to call back, wait for a CM, talk through the problem and have her attempt to make me a new ADR on the day/time that I wanted, then call over to the Dining Help group and wait on hold to get one of them.
Once I was transferred to the Dining Help CM everything moved quickly except for getting disconnected. Thankfully the CM called me back!
Interestingly, even though my original reservation was edited…the CM gave me a brand new confirmation number.
How long have people been on hold recently? I’m coming up on the 10-minute mark to add my cc number.
@Lynne…I was on hold for close to 40 minutes to add my CC#. At least the music is entertaining!
@Elizabeth – Thanks so much! At least I know what I’m during my lunch break. Ha.
Just got off the phone. Call was 46 minutes. Agent I got was confused and unaware of this issue. Put me on hold twice trying to figure it out. I was transferred and added a credit card & got a new confirmation number.
WOW! I got through to the automated system early this morning at 8:30am and made two reservations but it never asked me for a CC#. I checked online and there reservations were there. But then when I saw this post I called back immediately. After the 50th or so straight busy signal I finally was connected and waited about 25-30 minutes for a rep to come to the phone.
She cancelled my previous reservations without a CC and added a new one for the same time.
THANK YOU FOR THIS POST
AJ – cannot thank you enough for this update – I made a reservation this morning after dialing-in for over 2 hours. I booked with the automated system that did not take my credit card, and if I didn’t check your blog several times a day, I would not have known about this issue with having to call back, and frankly I’m not sure how else I would have discovered that. The WDW-Dine person I spoke with did say I would have received a call from them to add my card, but glad I didn’t take any chances.
Boy would I have been upset if I had spent 2 hours trying to call-in, finally landed a reservation, and then later (perhaps not until I got to WDW?) found out that I no longer had the reservation. Super-excited and feel very fortunate to have snagged a reservation, but a little irritated that I had to spend another 20 minutes trying to get back through and then a total of 45 minutes on hold just to add my credit card number to confirm my reservation. Worth it of course, but quite the hassle.
Thank goodness I can shut my office door – while I appreciate the hold music, I’m not sure my coworkers would…
My husband and I tried and tried for 3+ hours or so this morning and we didn’t even get through to be put on hold. It’s a funny thing when you *want* to be put on hold.
Our travel agent also tried for us, once she was awake (she’s on the west coast). She at least eventually got through, but by then, all reservations for the week we’ll be there (first week in Dec.) were gone. So we’ll just make sure to go one day for lunch. (even if the lines are crazy long, which I assume they will be…)
Anyway, we’re trying to look at the bright side of it, which means we had an extra dining credit to use! So we booked Coral Reef one evening. We’ve never been there, so we’re looking forward to it. 🙂
So, if we made a reservation at 6:15am CST through the automated line, and then called back around 9:00am CST to verify the reservation was secured to our resort package (they never asked me for a credit card #), and we can see the reservation online with our other reservations (with the new reservation # they gave us once they did whatever they did to secure it for us), are we OK, or should I still be worried that the reservation is going to fall out of the system later?
I wanted to celebrate my 70th birthday in Disneyworld…One of the dinners I planned on was at “Be our Guest”. I called everyday for a month to find out when they will taking reservations..Found out it was today 8/20/12..I had begun to call every 5 minutes from 9:00am to 1:00 . When I finally received an answer, I was told Sunday 12/9 was all booked up. So I said how about any day 12/7 to 12/10? They said all were booked up. How could that happen? I never stopped calling..no one answered! It would be so wonderful to celebrate my 70th at “Be our Guest”. I will keep on trying in hopes of someone canceling.
@Victoria – My partner and I will be there in December and will be going to Coral Reef for the first time during our trip, too. It was her choice, but looks pretty interesting.
…still on hold
I have been trying the 407 WDW DINE number all day are there any other numbers to try …
le sigh. I have no problem with the fact that I have blisters on my fingers from redialing this morning – that was my choice. I do have major issue with Disney canceling reservations due to THEIR error. ESPECIALLY considering they have my contact information. I have since reading about the issues, spent another hour calling to no avail. Although I will be frustrated to lose my reservation, no one dinner is worth this much stress.
I tried to get through for two hours and six minutes this morning (yes I was seriously watching the clock :)), then sat on hold for an additional 55 minutes. However, it looks like I may have been one of the fortunate souls who managed to get in for their preferred slot (12/23 at 6.00pm). I’m not surprised the beginning of December filled up FAST because based on the DISBoards, there were a huge number of people heading that way those first two weeks. If you haven’t gotten through, hang in there and I wish you good luck and patience! I wish Disney had done the online and the phone at the same time. I think it would have made life a lot easier for some people and probably for their CMs at the call center.
I posted this on another post, but…
I’m all set! I called 407-939-2625 and got through after a few tries, and only had to wait a few minutes to talk to someone. They had to transfer me to their help department, but it only took a couple of minutes to get my credit card added. My new confirmation number is all set, too.
@Jeramy – You will need to call. I read that your reservation will be cancelled at midnight tonight if you do not add a credit card number.
I booked for the day after the marathon (Jan 14) and was told I got one of the last dinner spots. Calling DVC members as the only way I got through. Good luck to everyone!
Stupid Me. I was up at 0700 and called continuous for almost 4 hours straight with solid busy signals or all circuits are busy notifications. I thought I had read somewhere that they were taking ADR for the lunch portion even though it was a Quick Serve, I thought was strange, but I figured it was for crowd control until the hype died down. Well, finally at 1350 I got through and waited on hold for 30 minutes before a wonderful woman came on and let me know that they are only taking ADR’s for dinner, NOT lunch. So I feel a fool. :o( I hope those of you who got your reservations really enjoy, I may or may not decide to waste my time on waiting in line for a quick serve while there in December. I haven’t decided yet.
This is on the FAQ page of Walt Disney World’s Dining Reservation page “contact the Disney Reservation Center at (407) WDW-7933 (939-7933) for assistance”. It was talking about combining reservations but I took a chance and while one cell was still on hold with WDW DINE, I dialed that one. Got through in less than 10 minutes. He charged my credit card one penny. By doing that, he didn’t have to transfer me back to the other Dining line, which he said would take 1/2 hour. (I had the option and picked the penny).
Just got Feb reservations! She confirmed the glitch with the system
After 30min on hold, the cast member informed me that they we just informed that the reservations made this morning via the automated system would NOT be canceled. I was assured that there is no reason to make a new reservation, “all is well”. Has anyone else been told this?
I am a travel agent and used the automated service this morning to book reservations for my clients. I just got off of the phone with Disney Dining Help and was able to secure the reservations with a Credit Card and I was also given new confirmation numbers. At times I don’t think Disney understands the loyalty of its consumers. A tip would be to check as early in the morning as you can to see if anything new has opened up and also call in the morning before the day you would like to go. Reservations need to be cancelled 24hours in advance in order to not be charged a fee. Thanks Allears for being such an awesome site and keeping us all informed!
I was lucky enough to get through and only spend about 25 minutes on hold to change my reservation to add the CC#. It seems like what CMs are doing is checking to see if by some small miracle there is still an opening for your date/time/party size so they can re-book with the CC# and cancel the old one. I was lucky enough to have this happen (night of the half marathon, 1/12) so it was relatively painless. If there’s no availability they have to transfer you to someone else to modify your existing reservation. Good luck to all!
I made my reservation this morning before I went to work on the automated system (no credit card #) then I went on-line and linked it to my other ADR’s and forgot about it. When I came home I decided to check in here to see how everyone was doing and saw that I needed to call.
I just hung up with the dining CM (I was on hold for 20 minutes) she had to cancel my first ADR and rebook me to add my credit card. I couldn’t get the same time but only had to change it by 5 minutes. I did get a new confirmation number.
I actuall felt sorry for the poor CM, she said people are very upset about having to call back, I said imagine how upset they will be when their reservations get canceled tonight!
Thanks for the heads up!
@Ben – That is the first I have heard about them calling everyone that booked via the automated system. Logistically that sounds almost impossible. With the headache this has turned out to be, it may be true but you are the first that has posted that.
I got through on the 407-939-2625 successfully this morning TWICE after trying the DINE number for two hours straight. First time, I was finalizing the reservation when the system crashed. She got it to come back up and we began the process again AND I LOST THE CALL as I was giving her my phone number. After I picked myself off the floor, I tried 2625 again and got back in after about 10 minutes and booked it without problem.
Thank goodness for your website and the DIS. I never would have realized that the two ADR’s I booked for BOG on December 28 and 29 would have been poofed overnight if I hadn’t seen it on those two places. So, I called back (dialed a million times again to get on hold), then waited on hold for 20 minutes, then re-booked for the same days and slightly different times and put my credit card down. At one point, Disney’s site showed me having two reservations per day at BOG! But only one of those will stay. I will be goign online every day to make sure they don’t disappear! 🙂 Also, do you think that some of the “full” dates will open back up after they “poof” all the non credit card ressies tonight? Maybe there is still hope for those late November /early December dates!
Well… I’m on hold right now…
I got about 1/2 way through in the automated system before I got the option to talk to live help… fingers crossed…
AJ, I owe you a margarita at Reunion!! After hitting redial for over an hour (as so many did), I was able to make my ADR by an automated “cast member.” It was so weird not to give my credit card, and I was going to call back in a day or two when everything had settled down. I would have been SO PO’d if my ADR had been cancelled! I called DVC, and she put me through to her manager, who said Disney might be actually calling people whose reservations lacked a credit card! So thanks big time. See you at Reunion!
I called this morning as soon as I got into work (after Hubs tried for over an hour to get through) and immediately got the automated system. I made a reservation-not having any idea at the time that this could be a problem-for a Jan. 2013 date and felt pretty good! After I hung up my husband asked about the CC# and relayed several tweets and posts to me. I tried to call the dining number back for 30 min and never got through so called DVC next. I was on hold for about 15 minutes then got a live person who was not able to modify my res by adding my CC. She suggested trying back in a couple of days and would never confirm or deny that the reservation I had made would be canceled without a CC#. All she said she could do was to make me a new res and cancel the old one. I was able to make a new one for same date, better time and leave my CC#.
I just got off the phone with Disney Dining and the agent said the reservations have been flagged not to cancel with no cc on file. She said to add the cc they have to cancel the other reservation and there is no availability to rebook.
A little nervous about that. Don’t know if I should try another agent. Of course I was on hold for about 45 minutes just to talk to her. That was after 2 -3 hours this morning initially.
UGH!!
Just called via the AP line, got the automated system and made my reservation for late January, and wasn’t asked for a CC #. I took the option to ‘speak to an agent’, waited on hold 25 minutes, then got through. As we talked, she got a message saying that reservations booked through the automated system without CC # would NOT be cancelled–I guess the blogosphere rumblings got through to them.
Since I had an agent on the line, I re-booked with a CC # anyway. 🙂
I just got off the Phone with WDW DINE and they told me that they would NOT cancel my reservation because I made it with the Automated System and did not give a CC#. They said it was their fault and that I just needed to have my reservation number when I get there Christmas Day! I tried to give my CC# just to be safe so that I don’t lose the reservation and she talked to a manager who told her that I would be fine and do not need my credit card number. I would advise people that it is better safe than sorry but even when I tried to add the CC #, they wouldn’t let me.
I don’t fault Disney on this one… Between 7-8am on just their main dining line, not including the dedicated travel agent line, the DVC and AP lines, and the folks like me who took the “back door” and called The Disney Store 800 number and asked to be transferred to the Dining Line, they had almost 60,000 dial-in and dial-in attempts to the main line. Just the main line in the first hour. The second hour they had 13,000 dial-ins and dial-in attempts and that was AFTER the phone company had to throttle the line (code for decrease line demand capacity and increase the frequency of busy/circuits are busy messages). When I last checked around 1pm EST, the main dining line was still averaging 15-20k dials per hour.
When you have a volume of that magnitude, issues are bound to come up.
I was also told by an actual person my reservation would not be canceled. When I said I don’t trust you and would like to cancel the reservation and add the credit card, the agent said I would certainly lose my reservation if I canceled it. Now I have no idea what to do. I am gonna call back later and hopefully get someone a little more helpful.
@Lynne – Awesome! How funny is that? We’re looking forward to it. Never been and I’m not the biggest seafood fan, but I thought the atmosphere would be worth it. I just read the DFB review on it and it looks pretty neat. 🙂
Just made two reservations for 12/28 and 1/3. Tried off-and-on all morning (had to go back to work today), and I finally got through on the first try when I got home this afternoon. Right now, after making the reservations, I am on hold to add CC#. Glad to see this update before I got through.
Just got off the phone and the CMs are advising everyone that Be Our Guest (only this restaurant) will not have their non-CC reservations cancelled. This does not apply to any other restaurants who have the same cancellation policy.
FYI: I’m reading on here and on Facebook that people are having to CANCEL their existing reservation and book a NEW RESERVATION. That is not required. I just added my CC# to my existing reservation, no problem. If your CM tells you otherwise, ask for a manager.
I guess it’s lucky that I needed to talk to an agent after going through the automated reservation system this morning. My son has a serious dairy allergy and the automated system didn’t ask about allergies. So after I made the reservation, the system transferred me to an agent to have the dietary issue, as the system called it, taken care of. After waiting 30 minutes I got to talk to a live person and she noticed the issue with no credit card and booked a new reservation for the same day and time and cancelled the incomplete one. It’s one of the first times my son allergy could be seen as a blessing. I wouldn’t have known in time to fix it if it had be for the allergy and I didn’t have to try calling back over and over again to get it fixed.
So just got off the phone with WDW-Dine and got a reservation for Christmas Eve.
The excellent CM, Mark, said he had made only reservations for Be Our Guest today, no other restaurants.
They are trying really hard and I greatly appreciated his assistance.
We were some of the first to actually get a reservation (had three phones redialing starting at 6:58am). About 5 minutes of busy signals, then got through on two phones at once. Completed the full automated system by 7:10am. 4:45pm seating on November 21st.
Luckily, my wife saw the article about the CC# issue around noon. She called and was on hold about 20 minutes for dining, then transferred to guest services to add the CC (just another couple minutes on hold). She had great success with everyone she talked to and would like to plug for Angelina at Guest Services.
It’s all about luck as to how long it is taking to get through and on hold. Good luck to everyone.
Hopefully no one else has this issue when speaking with a castmember, but a heads up just in case –
The castmember i spoke with originally refused to look up reservation availability – he insisted that from Nov 19 – Dec 6 reservations were allowed only for castmembers and TIW members. It took talking to a supervisor and being on hold twice to be allowed to even find out what times were available for the date requested (11/28). Thankfully with the great info posted on the DFB I was impowered to state my case that I should be allowed to make a reservation! Even after all that, though, no reservations available that day 🙁
To those of you who’ve been saying a CC is not needed for Be Our Guest, that was the same answer I got around 1 PM after making my 1/10 reservation at 9 AM. I’m currently on hold to double-double-check (crazy, I know), but I’ve been waiting for this restaurant forever, and I’m praying my reservation won’t go *POOF* or whatever everyone’s saying. The CM I spoke with said that my reservation was “confirmed and booked” in the system. I really hope I don’t have to go through this again after midnight. I need to get some actual work done!
After waiting on hold for a good forty minutes, I was told there are no dinner reservations available the week of December 10th. 🙁 BUMMER!!
UPDATE! Spoke with another CM who said all reservations made without a CC will be flagged and saved in the system; Disney’s aware of the issue and has noted the date of the reservations to save them. Fingers crossed, and if this doesn’t work there’s always lunch!