Annoyed, charged out of pocket for CRT on the dining plan

[sbd78]

So my 180 opened today. I made all my reservations and was happy with them, until my husband called wondering why we had a few large charges from Disney? After calling and inquiring, it turns out there is a glitch in the system. Guests on the dining plan will be charged immediately for CRT bookings made online, the only way to avoid this is to call in your reservation. The cast member stated that there was a warning on the Disney website. There was a warning, but all it mentions is that reservations are unavailable for guests on the dining plan. There is no mention of your credit (or in my case, debit) card being immediately charged. This is the message on the Disney site:

Guests are temporarily unable to book pre-paid dining experiences with dining plans online. To book a pre-paid dining experience with your Disney Dining Plan, please call the Disney Reservation Center at (407) 939-3463.

I saw the message when booking and assumed that since the website allowed me to book, all was well. The Disney website is very often wonky, after all! I feel the warning should have been more clear, that if booking with a dining plan, you will be charged out of pocket. Since I was holding the reservation with a debit card and not a credit card, and I booked both a breakfast and lunch because I wasn't sure yet which time would work with BBB, that is a good chunk of change. They did fix it and refund us, but since it was a debit card and not a credit card, it will take several days for the money to show back up in our account. Anyway, I just want to warn others on the dining plan!

 

[Calee]

I thought this was how it always was with this one and the dinner shows like Hoop Dee Do and Aloha. And then when you arrived it used your credits and refunded your money. Interesting.

 

[sbd78]

Nope, with the dining plan, that is supposed to hold your reservation. And then you "pay" with your dining plan when you arrive.

 

[Dug720]

I thought this was how it always was with this one and the dinner shows like Hoop Dee Do and Aloha. And then when you arrived it used your credits and refunded your money. Interesting.

This is how I have always understood it as well. And then it is refunded once you pay with your dining plan credits.

 

[sbd78]

Nope, normally the dining plan holds the reservation.
https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney...-pre-pay-cinderellas-royal-table-work-220670/

 

[Calee]

Same source, more current answer says the complete opposite, lol.
https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney...-cinderellas-royal-table-charged-card-325016/

 

[sbd78]

I've booked in the past, multiple times with the dining plan and was not charged in advance. And since Disney has a message on their website that you have to call in your reservation if you are on the dining plan (and we were refunded and told it was a glitch by a cast member when we called after the fact) I'm pretty sure that is not accurate. If everyone has to prepay, there would be no need for a message on the Disney website for guests on the dining plan.

 

[sbd78]

Here is the Disney website with the message:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/magic-kingdom/cinderella-royal-table/

 

[plutolovr]

The warning is pretty self-explanatory, not sure why you went ahead with the booking. It says you need to call if you want to book and are on the dining plan.

 

[sbd78]

The warning is pretty self-explanatory, not sure why you went ahead with the booking. It says you need to call if you want to book and are on the dining plan.

I feel they should add to the message that guests on the dining plan will be charged if they are on the dining plan and make their reservation online instead of calling in. When I logged in this morning to make my initial dining reservations, there was a message that the website was down, yet it still allowed me to make my dining reservations. The Disney site is very glitchy, and I assumed that since it allowed me to make the reservation, all was fine. No harm in adding a disclaimer ahead of time that guests on the dining plan will be charged!

 

[sbd78]

Also, why did I go ahead with the booking? Because CRT is a hard to get reservation. Why else did I wake up at 5:00 a.m. to make my 180 + 10 dining reservations? LOL. Just trying to let others know that this is the current policy.

 

[cassie58]

I was able to help a friend on DDP book HDDR last month online with no prepay needed, so this is new, if not a glitch of some kind - not a surprise with the lovely Disney tech system!

 

[Dug720]

How much clearer do you want it? It says if booking with the dining plan you need to call.

"Guests are temporarily unable to book pre-paid dining experiences with dining plans online. To book a pre-paid dining experience with your Disney Dining Plan, please call the Disney Reservation Center at (407) 939-3463."

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

That's how it works now when booking online.
I believe this new policy has been in place since the CRT refurb.
You will be refunded once you go.
I'm sure too many people would book and then drop it or just not show and Disney got tired of it so I can understand the reasoning and I could even understand if Disney starts doing it for all ADR's but it has made me not book an ADR at CRT because I don't want to be charged up front and refunded in 6 months.

 

[Haley R]

I booked ours online in August and we are on the dining plan. I had no trouble making my ADR and I don't remember being charged for it.

 

[sbd78]

How much clearer do you want it? It says if booking with the dining plan you need to call.

"Guests are temporarily unable to book pre-paid dining experiences with dining plans online. To book a pre-paid dining experience with your Disney Dining Plan, please call the Disney Reservation Center at (407) 939-3463."

As I said before, when I logged on this morning to make my 180 + 10 dining reservations, there was a message that the website was down. Yet it still allowed me to make them. And I sure hope the reservations I made are legit, LOL! The Disney website is very glitchy, I don't know how often you go on there, but I've said many times that I'm surprised that a company as rich as Disney has a website with so many...issues. I just think they should add that your card will be charged if you are on the dining plan and you book online. Because the message they have now does not scream that to me, and I've booked prepay reservations in the past with the dining plan and was not charged.

 

[sbd78]

That's how it works now when booking online.
I believe this new policy has been in place since the CRT refurb.
You will be refunded once you go.
I'm sure too many people would book and then drop it or just not show and Disney got tired of it so I can understand the reasoning and I could even understand if Disney starts doing it for all ADR's but it has made me not book an ADR at CRT because I don't want to be charged up front and refunded in 6 months.

If this is the new policy, that is understandable. I just think the message they have now does not convey that.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

As I said before, when I logged on this morning to make my 180 + 10 dining reservations, there was a message that the website was down. Yet it still allowed me to make them. And I sure hope the reservations I made are legit, LOL! The Disney website is very glitchy, I don't know how often you go on there, but I've said many times that I'm surprised that a company as rich as Disney has a website with so many...issues. I just think they should add that your card will be charged if you are on the dining plan and you book online. Because the message they have now does not scream that to me, and I've booked prepay reservations in the past and was not charged.

Its possible that just parts of the website were down for maintenance and ADR's were not one of them.
BTW what is glitchy is the app.
While there are days when the website is wonky the app is pretty much daily.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

If this is the new policy, that is understandable. I just think the message they have now does not convey that.

As a PP said how much clearer does it have to be?
It says if you want to book with a dining plan CALL.
You didn't therefore it charged you out of pocket because it didn't know you were on the dining plan.

 

[Haley R]

I thought I would upload a picture of how my reservation looks. They must have changed their policy recently because I made my ADR at the end of August.