Disney Dining Reservations: Pro-Tips and Troubleshooting

So, you’ve booked your vacation package and you are approaching your check-in day quickly. You’ve been dreaming of all the fun times ahead with your family and thinking of all the exciting restaurants and foods you want to try. Then it hits you, you’ve got to make reservations for some of the things your family is looking forward to most. You (like me) are probably stressing about making this the “perfect” trip and don’t want to let anyone down. Take a deep breath. The idea of advance dining reservations (ADR’s) can be really overwhelming. But no matter where, what, or who you eat with – your trip is going to be memorable and fun! Don’t let this part rain on your planning parade. I’m going to give you my top 3 tips for snagging reservations you want and tell you what to do if you can’t get something.

  1. Log in to your My Disney Experience account a couple of days ahead of your 60 day window opening. Make sure you have your resort reservation linked if you are staying on site. Save a payment method to your profile. Most reservations do not charge you anything at the time of booking (be sure to check for exceptions like Cinderella’s Royal Table or specialty dining packages/shows). You are required to have a credit card to guarantee all bookings. If you have it saved already, this helps expedite the process when the time to book arrives.
  2. SET AN ALARM. Booking for dining opens at 6am EST. Popular things will book quickly, so if there is something you are really wanting the early wake-up call is a must! If you are trying for something very popular like character meals or specialty dining packages, try to book those first. To really maximize your chances, try booking them towards the middle/end of your trip. This is where on-site guests really have an advantage because they are able to book for their entire trip on one day. Example:Let’s pretend I am staying on-site May 1-7 and am trying to book Topolino’s breakfast and dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I am going to follow steps 1 and 2 first. Then, I am going to look for Topolino’s and Cinderella’s on May 5 and 6. This will allow me the best possibility of booking. I’m not saying there’s never going to be availability at other times but this is my tried and true method of getting highly sought after reservations.
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Alright, let’s say the booking day has come and gone and you missed out on something you wanted. What do you do now? Starve? Cancel the trip? Not a chance! Here are some great ways to grab reservations even if they were filled on your booking day.

  • Keep checking! I don’t mean obsessively or anything but every few days when you have a few minutes on the couch or you’re waiting for the end of ball practice, login to the app and search. I have had a great deal of success grabbing reservations at the last minute (like 24 hours in advance!) so don’t give up.
  • Another excellent way to snag those openings is to sign up for a service that monitors availability constantly. If your desired reservation becomes available the service will send you a text or email immediately. My personal favorite is MouseDining because you can sign up for a FREE account! I use them for all of my own trips and they have helped me get reservations time and time again.

Hopefully by now you’re feeling a little more at ease about those dining reservations. On the other hand, if all of this sounds stressful and overwhelming and you are thinking “What have I gotten myself into?!” Did you know when you book with a travel agent they can make reservations for you at no additional cost?? If you already booked and didn’t use an agent and are wishing you had – you might still qualify for free help. If you’d like to know more, just shoot me an email!