Disney testing improvements to the online ADR system

Today the official Disney Parks blog announced some new changes to the online Advance Dining Reservation (ADR) system. With these new changes, guests can now select the type of dining they are interested in (i.e. character dining) and then see what restaurants are available on the date and time preferred. I assume Disney still is searching a window of time (something like two- to three-hours) based on the time desired.

This is a huge improvement over the previous system, which required guests to search for ADR's one restaurant at at time. The new system provides a detailed list of which restaurants are available that meet your criteria, and a list of restaurants meeting your criteria that are not available. I like that the list of restaurants with no availabilities is included as a way to remind guests which restaurants meet their criteria so guests can modify their dates to see if a certain restaurant becomes available.

While these are welcome changes, I personally still would like to see some additional flexibility in the system by allowing guests to search a range of times and dates. For instance, if I am interested in breakfast at 'Ohana, I'd like to see which days might be available over the course of my stay (or at least over a three-day span). Similarly, I'd like to have the flexibility to search a range of times. Perhaps, to continue the previous example, 'Ohana is available at 7:30 a.m. I'd like to be able to search a three- or four-hour window to see what other times are available without having to go back and run multiple searches.

Disney's online ADR system being upgraded?

4pm UPDATE: The online system is up and running again.

In my apparent never ending attempt to book some ADR's for an upcoming WDW trip, I happened to check to see if the online ADR system up and running again. What I found was something a little surprising. I got the following message:

"We are currently rolling out a *NEW* online dining application to make your reservation process even easier. Please come back and try our new system when it is available. To make a dining reservation at this time, please call (407) WDW-DINE or (407) 939-3463."

Hmm... I have to wonder if the timing of this new announcement is a coincidence, was intentionally planned or a reaction to yesterday's onslaught of bookings that apparently shut down the online system and totally overwhelmed Disney's ADR phone lines.

Unfortunately, the message didn't give any indication as to when the online ADR system would be live again. As more information becomes available, I'll pass it along.