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Still haven’t made my Algonquin reservation but I did make one for Kawartha highlands and that actually was pretty smooth. Also, KHPP permit was emailed to me and I just print and carry with me which is nice. Not sure why they can’t do that for Algonquin. Going to try again shortly for my Algonquin permit.
Also John, your situation is different than most. Glad it works for you.
IanTendy wrote:
I just wanted to be able to print out my permits at home...
Then welcome to Temagami parks. Unless you are single boat of course.
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At least they kept their wonderful algorithm that tells you can't book because your 3 hour paddle is too far.
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John I absolutely get where you’re coming from. You will live a lot longer just going with the flow and I let very few things upset me but people messing with my backcountry trips is on that short list.
I wish I was enjoying the park when users levels where much lower and things were much simpler. I just think 2020 user levels demand well functioning self- serve options. Improves everyone’s time out there. Time for me like many on here that is far more limited then we would like. I want to make the most of it not only for me but for the people I’m bringing with me.
Making the most of it is significantly helped by having access to as much information as possible.
At the end of the day it is for sure a First World problem and I already have 3 trips planned and booked with more on the way. All of which I’m sure I will thoroughly enjoy. Excited to get paddling again and let’s hope it is early this year.
Last edited by ShawnD (2/23/2020 8:15 am)
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John - If I may... Successful IT solution implementations serve to streamline processes and reduce costs - not to simply provide additional options to would-be users. That said, despite being a (very hands-on) director of IT for a manufacturing company, I have never been able to use the self checkout counters deployed at certain stores without some help or intervention. And so, to apply the philosophy of Mr. Miyagi - do IT "yes" or do IT "no". Do IT "I guess so" - squish, just like grape. In other words, crappy IT solutions can easily be worse than none.
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So what happens then when those that don’t want a new horse, never asked for a new horse and felt that the old horse wasn’t too bad have their horse slaughtered for really no good reason?
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So what happens then when those that don’t want a new horse, never asked for a new horse and felt that the old horse wasn’t too bad have their horse slaughtered for really no good reason?
Exactly! It was a fine horse!
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So what happens then when those that don’t want a new horse, never asked for a new horse and felt that the old horse wasn’t too bad have their horse slaughtered for really no good reason?
To be fair - we aren't the horse owners - we are the beneficiaries of the plowed field. The horse owner was promised a stronger animal that consumed half the feed, thereby freeing up capital to fix the barn roof. They got screwed and we got a half-plowed field.
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Ontario Parks processes over 300,000 pony rides a year. Right now those rides are scheduled online, over the phone or at an access point. Online is incentivized by lower fees as that is most assuredly the cheapest channel.
I’m guessing that phone is likely the most expensive. $10-12 a call is my guess Would be somewhere in the $4 million range if every reservation was booked that way.
In comparison setting up an online system once with some maintenance fees every year would be no where near a reoccurring $4M fee. Sounds like we have some IT professionals on here that could venture a guess.
Suffice to say from a cost perspective you want as many people booking online as possible.
Now we had an ok reservation system already. Better than the new and improved one because of all the issues we don’t need to rehash.
In fairness they were trying to reduce costs even further by doing such things as.
- Taking full payments up front, getting all our money sooner. Time value of money and all that. ...Means more money and quicker check ins as no payments need to be processed at the access points. Shorter check ins means they would need less staff further benefiting costs.
- Collecting your answers to all the mandatory questions up front. Again speeding check in and reducing staffing needs.
Once they get it all fixed I think it will be about the same customer experience, for me anyway and they will start to see some cost benefits from the above.
I would not be using words like “flawless execution” in the post implementation review though.
Last edited by ShawnD (2/24/2020 7:39 am)
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I've been reading this and trying not to comment. Failed.
I have used the new system to make a reservation, it worked. It warned me 6 out of 8 days were too far to travel but I was able to book the lake. 1 out of 8 it refused to book because it was too far. I had to choose a different lake closer to my starting point. And yes, I too would like to see the number booked on a lake.
The only thing now is to see how it speeds up getting the permit when I arrive. Overall I give it a passing B grade.
I resisted commenting because I too am in IT. At the end?? of a multiyear, multi-million dollar IT project. I missed out on a trip of a lifetime because said project was at a major milestone and could not get the time off. Now, three years later, it has yet to be fully implemented or do what it was supposed to do properly. It is at great risk of being scrapped entirely, losing upwards of $11+ million. Luckily I am not high enough up the food chain for my head to roll.
So my point (finally) is that despite all the best intentions, shit happens.
Iron out the wrinkles and I think the reservation system will be fine, we'll all get our permits and be able to go camping.
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So, I am new here. Do the horses help with portaging canoes? They could be a real game changer.
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... It warned me 6 out of 8 days were too far to travel but I was able to book the lake. 1 out of 8 it refused to book because it was too far. I had to choose a different lake closer to my starting point..
Hi Smedley, Do you mind sharing the route you booked? I'm curious about the distances that the reservation system considers as too far.
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I'd be surprised if they reinvented the wheel when it comes to travel times/distances. I imagine the old system is the same as the new one, which is to say, more than anything, the total portage distance seems to be the biggest factor in determining if it's "beyond a reasonable travel time" (and probably number of portages worked in there as well, otherwise it might never let anyone cross the Dickson-Bonfield).
One of the ones I laughed at when booking last year was that I wasn't allowed to book Misty to David Lake and had to call in instead. I just tried the new system, and it's telling me the same thing: 43 - Misty is too far away from 78 - David. Select a different site..
... it was less than a 4 hour travel day.
Last edited by Uppa (2/24/2020 12:52 pm)
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So what happens then when those that don’t want a new horse, never asked for a new horse and felt that the old horse wasn’t too bad have their horse slaughtered for really no good reason?
To be fair - we aren't the horse owners - we are the beneficiaries of the plowed field. The horse owner was promised a stronger animal that consumed half the feed, thereby freeing up capital to fix the barn roof. They got screwed and we got a half-plowed field.
That was good!
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The new online reservation is a real shit-show, no doubt about it.
But to be fair, we've only been able to make online reservations for a few seasons now (I think since 2015 or 16 IIRC) so it's basically back to the 'old usual' of calling in to make your reservation - at least until they get this fixed. Is booking online or saving the buck fifty really worth the hassles and headaches mentioned in this thread? Not to me - but even still, I do prefer to make my reservation online. That said, the big reason why I prefer to make reservations online is the ability to gauge how busy the area is. Now that the occupancy feature has been removed, and you still have to 'check-in' on arrival anyway, (despite paying 100% up-front and answering all q's) it's almost as if the online system is... completely pointless (Esp. given travel distance restrictions). The features that were important have been removed, travel restrictions have remained, thus the system is useless (to me).
Need a reservation without any travel distance limits or other errors? Call (888) 668-7275 and you'll get what you want in just a few minutes.
It sucks they couldn't successfully pull this off - but at the end of the day we still get to go camping 
Now... if they do some REALLY stupid such as change the fee structure to a per site per night system and priced similarly to car campgrounds.. my tune will change and it will change mighty quick.
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... It warned me 6 out of 8 days were too far to travel but I was able to book the lake. 1 out of 8 it refused to book because it was too far. I had to choose a different lake closer to my starting point..
Hi Smedley, Do you mind sharing the route you booked? I'm curious about the distances that the reservation system considers as too far.
it would not allow me to book Burntroot to Lynx but would allow me to book Perley to Lynx with a warning about the distance. That is the only time I was not allowed to book a route.
