[Park Hopper]

While making a dinner reservation this afternoon for the California Grill, I was told by the WDW-DINE cast member that my reservation needed to be guaranteed by a credit card. She told me that if I cancelled the reservation less than 24 hours from the appointed time, my card would be charged $20.

A long and heated discussion followed with a supervisor, who was perhaps the rudest CM I've ever spoken to. She gruffly explained that the new policy is designed to prevent guests from double- and triple-booking reservations. I certainly understand the problem, but people who double-book reservations are a fact of life in the restaurant business and certainly not unique to Disney. There's no other restaurant in Orlando that I know of -- not even wildly popular Emeril's -- that has such a restrictive reservation policy.

DW and I love the California Grill and eat there fairly often, but I don't love it enough to allow Disney to charge me if I have to cancel a reservation if something unforeseen happens.