Disney Cracking Down on Free Parking (Again), and an Awesome Review!

So, last week I announced that Disney made some lame half-assed attempts to crack down on Free Parking at the resort hotels during Food and Wine, and how those efforts would be completely ineffective. Well, they’re at it again, this time in a more subtle manner that might actually be somewhat more effective.

Here’s the news, from LaughingPlace.com:

Change to Disney World Restaurant Cancellation Policy

Starting October 26 Disney has an adjustment to their restaurant cancellation policy for certain popular restaurants. Guests will be required to provide a credit card to hold the reservation and there will be a $10 per person charge if the reservation is not canceled at least one day in advance. The list of restaurants is:

• 1900 Park Fare
• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
• Artist Point
• California Grill
• Cape May Café
• Chef Mickey’s
• Cítricos
• The Crystal Palace
• Flying Fish Café
• The Garden Grill
• Hollywood & Vine
• Jiko – The Cooking Place
• Le Cellier Steakhouse
• Narcoossee’s
• ‘Ohana
• Tusker House Restaurant
• The Hollywood Brown Derby
• Yachtsman Steakhouse
• Victoria & Albert’s (cancellation policy is $25/per person)

How does this have anything to do with parking? Well, many of these restaurants are ones that I would make fake reservations at in order to get Free Parking at the resort lots during the busy times of the year. I’d make a reservation for late in the day, show up in the morning, give the guard at the resort’s entrance gate my reservation number, and they’d let me through, no questions asked. Then, of course, I wouldn’t show up for the meal. Yes, after I parked I would always call and cancel the reservation, but now the reservation has to be cancelled 24 hours in advance, which throws a wrench into this scam. Now I’d have to cancel the day before I parked, which is obviously impossible, or get charged $10, which is almost as much as just paying for parking at an “official” lot.

Granted, during non-busy times of the year this is completely unnecessary, as the guards just let you in for any random reason. “I gotta take a shit!” you could say, and they’d wave you through. But not so during Food and Wine, over holidays, or during the busier Summer weeks.

Luckily, they didn’t clamp down on all of the resort restaurants, but some of these were my go-to’s. I’ll leave it to you to research the other places you can still skip reservations at without penalty, but this is definitely a significant step towards stemming Free Parking at the resorts, especially if they roll it out to all on-property restaurants. Well played, Disney. Well played.

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In other news, The Dark Side of Disney just received an awesome review at Imaginerding.com! George Taylor, the author of the review, is likely the most knowledgeable person alive today on the subject of Disney-related books. The guy has probably read every book written about Disney (the man and the company) and has probably reviewed most of them on his site, too. Seriously, look at the site. It’s about as comprehensive as you can get on the subject.

So it was with much trepidation that I submitted DSoD to him, knowing that he, more than anyone, can sift through the shit when it comes to Disney books. Luckily, he really enjoyed it and gave it a great write-up, concluding with:

“This is a title I would recommend for someone who has seen it all and is looking for something different. It is also a great read for anyone that wants more than just the regular theme park experience. Or someone who thinks Disney is only for kids.”

Check out the rest of the review here and be sure to browse the rest of the site for recommendations for other great Disney books!