Some Disney World Reservations Now Open!
Per updates to Walt Disney World’s official reopening update pages, select guests will be able to book Experience and Advanced Dining Reservations beginning June 30, 2020. In this post, we’ll cover the details and offer some advice if you’re eligible to make ADRs.
By way of recap, Walt Disney World previously cancelled all existing reservations, including Advance Dining Reservations. Going forward, Disney will shift from a 180-day booking window to a 60-day booking window for dining and experience bookings to allow guests to make their plans closer to their visits, which will work better with the new Disney Park Pass theme park reservation system.
At present, guests with Walt Disney World hotel reservations for arrivals through July 10, 2020 can make dining reservations for select restaurants in the Disney Vacation Club/Deluxe Villa Resorts that are presently open. Additionally, anyone can make reservations for operational Disney Springs restaurants via Disney, OpenTable, or the locations themselves…
The new addition to the booking options will be this List of Reopening In-Park Walt Disney World Restaurants (table service only) for July and August 2020. However, this option will only be available to guests who had an active dining reservation on or before September 2, 2020 that was cancelled as of May 28 due to the temporary closure of Walt Disney World Resort.
If that describes your circumstances, you’ll have the opportunity to make new dining reservations beginning on June 30, 2020 up to 60 days in advance of your arrival.
June 30, 2020 Update: Advance Dining Reservations reopened for select guests and the system…worked correctly?!
After a few minutes waiting on the “We’re Almost in Orbit” page, we were able to search for restaurants, and go through the motions of the process. Every date we spot-checked had full availability. (While eligible to book, we opted not to, as we have no desire to do indoor dining at this point.) It’s possible others had issues, but we had none.
After being skeptical that online booking would work, we’ll admit to being wrong on this one. “Kudos” to Disney IT on a job well done. Batting .200 isn’t totally terrible…if you’re a pitcher!
June 29, 9 pm UPDATE: Literally 30 minutes after we published this, a new banner appeared at the top of DisneyWorld.com with the heading: Dining Reservations Available Online Beginning June 30 for Select Guests with Cancelled Reservations.
“Beginning June 30, Guests who had a dining reservation on or before September 2, 2020 that was cancelled as of May 28 due to our temporary closure can begin to make dining reservations online for select Walt Disney World dining locations up to 60 days in advance. New reservations will be available to all Guests at a later date.” (Emphasis added.)
Well, that answers that question about online v. phone, and renders most of the below commentary moot. Here’s hoping the online ADR system works tomorrow!
Note that when Walt Disney World in-park dining initially becomes available, you’ll need valid park admission, a reservation for park entry and a dining reservation to dine at an in-park, table-service restaurant. Dining reservations do not guarantee admission to the park.
Here’s what the email says that went out to guests who are eligible to book:
If there are restaurants for which you absolutely must-have Advance Dining Reservations, our advice would be to log on to DisneyWorld.com tomorrow morning. If the system is working, awesome. Book your ADRs.
If it’s not working, check back at 8 am. If it’s still not up…wait. Do nothing. We would not encourage calling to book over the phone.
Obviously, waiting and doing nothing is a gamble. When resort restaurant bookings opened, we (Sarah) called bright and early on the first day–it was a frustrating experience detailed in our post: Advance Dining Reservations Now Open in Part.
Had we held off on calling until later in the day, or even the following day, we could’ve waited on hold for 10 minutes instead of 2 hours. (Lesson learned–we will not be calling tomorrow morning, or at all in the next several days.)
Most importantly, the results would’ve been the same. We were concerned the modified character dining experience at Topolino’s Terrace would book quickly. Instead, we were one of three parties in the entire restaurant.
When the parks reopen, there will be more guests visiting. It’s thus possible some spots, especially more popular ones like the prix-fixe lunch and dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant or Garden Grill (the only in-park character meal) will book faster.
However, many guests in the first couple of months will be Annual Passholders who will do quick service restaurants–or eating at home before arriving or after leaving.
Moreover, when the parks reopen, they will do so without the Disney Dining Plan. Without that prepaid option, many tourists will balk at table service menu prices.
In short, even with reduced restaurant capacity, we have a difficult time believing that restaurants at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, or Hollywood Studios will fill up quickly. That has certainly not been what’s happening thus far–quite the opposite, in fact.
Again, not being part of the opening ‘call center tidal wave’ (and inevitably treading water on hold for hours) does present some risk. If you hold off, there’s always the possibility you won’t get what you want. However, we think that’s highly unlikely. If you’ve already spent an inordinate amount of time waiting on Walt Disney World’s phone lines, sitting this one out might be better for your sanity.
Of course, all of this is assuming our fear that the online system won’t be working comes to fruition. Maybe all of this is moot, and you’ll be able to use DisneyWorld.com flawlessly. Who knows? Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while.
Additionally, guests who had an experience reservation on or before September 2, 2020 that was cancelled as of May 28 due to the temporary closure of Walt Disney World Resort, you’ll have the opportunity to make a new experience reservation beginning on June 30 up to 60 days in advance of your arrival.
Beginning June 30, eligible Guests with experience reservations previously cancelled due to the closure can call (407) 939-6690 to make reservations for available offerings. Eligible Disney Vacation Club Members can call Member Services at (800) 800-9800 for reservations. Guests can check availability for the following experiences:
Magic Kingdom:
- Capture Your Moment photo experience
Disney’s Hollywood Studios:
- Droid Depot
WDW Hotels:
- Fort Wilderness Archery Experience
- Horseback riding
- Wilderness Back Trail Adventure
- Fishing excursions
- Private pool cabanas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
Finally, Walt Disney World announced online reservations for all guests will reopen at a later date. What they did not announce is when that date will be. If we had to guess (and that’s exactly what this is–a guess), our prediction would be that ADRs will open to the general public on July 6, 2020.
Our basis for picking this date is Walt Disney World stating that guests who had dining reservations “on or before September 2, 2020” will be able to book at first coupled with the new 60-day window. Subtracting 60 days from September 2 puts the calendar at July 4, 2020. Since that’s a holiday weekend, July 6 makes more sense. That’s assuming logic applies here–but we wouldn’t expect the online ADR system to open to everyone before that date. In any case, we’ll keep you posted and share any updates we run across during Walt Disney World’s reopening process.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your prediction…will the online ADR system work, or will Walt Disney World’s call center be inundated when it opens? Will you be booking Advance Dining Reservations tomorrow? How long are you willing to wait on hold? Think July 6 is a good prediction for the general public ADR opening date? Do you have plans to visit Walt Disney World this summer or fall, or have you cancelled? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Other thoughts or concerns? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
It worked for me surprisingly smoothly. Curse them for opening early, though. Not nice to those of us further west. I got on at 5:40 ET (earlier for me) and it all worked really smoothly. Went in now to try to tinker with some times and got the Orbit page, so I think most people were operating on the 7am ET assumption and its now starting to see some glitchiness from the traffic.
Incognito for the win! I pulled it up, got right on in incognito while my regular tab kept saying in orbit. Got a reservation for every place I wanted! There was definitely some that are almost booked during out trip in the end of August.
All done booking a few for our trip at end of August. We were finally going to try Victoria & Alberts, but will try again next trip. Having dinner at Topolinos again as that was outstanding.
Smooth sailing today. Only disappointment is no breakfast at Garden Grill. All availability wide open. 7/24 thru 8/1.
Got in with no wait at 5:45 and availability at my chosen restaurants. And the countdown begins!
Just before 6am eastern I got all the reservations I was looking for! Thanks, as always Tom, for your advice & perspective! So excited to have breakfast at Topolino’s Terrace!
Me too!
Got in and made all dining eservations at 5:35am for Aug 5-11 trip!
Got to the orbit stage (waiting room) at 5:25.
I’m here too Tonja. Did you get in?
Woke up at 5am so tried making our din8ng reservations for our trip Aug 5-11 online. Got the lady and the tramp “paws” screen. Didnt say what time on June 30 so we try at each top of the hour and report back!
I fall into the category to be able to book tomorrow. Or at least I should. We arrive August 29th & tomorrow is my 60 day window, but my previous reservations were all cancelled so I guess we shall see. I did not however, receive an email from Disney, so who knows!
Tom, you said to check online beginning at 7:00 AM EST & I am curious how you came up with this time? When you used to book dining reservations at 180 days, online system opens at 6:00 AM EST for dining. Fast Pass+ reservation system used to open at 7:00 AM. I plan to be up bright & early & will begin trying at 6:00 AM EST. We’ll see what happens!
Is there a list of outdoor options for dining that will be open in August 2020? We do not know the parks well enough but would like to do as much outdoor dining as possible.
I scrolled through the list of restaurants that are currently accepting reservations. Epcot has patio dining at Rose & Crown, Spice Road Table and Via Napoli. Hollywood Studios has The Brown Derby. I could be mistaken, but I don’t recall MK having any table service patio dining. At AK, Tiffins has the Nomad Lounge. It serves only small plates and could possibly be closed due to recent restriction on bars. I hope this info is helpful to you. Enjoy your vacation!
As always, thanks Tom for the insight and info. Where did you read that the park dining options that will first be available are for July and August? I am certainly hoping more will open up by our travel dates (9/18-26, if allowed), but maybe they just don’t want to over/under promise that far out knowing how much they’ve had to cancel recently… fingers crossed (and we’re going anyway :).
A lot of people sure are going to be mad if they need to delay opening due to the surge in Covid cases.
I wonder if those of us staying later (October) but did have dining reservations booked will have an opportunity before the general public who did not have a reservation?? 60 days out would be after July 6 for us.
I think they’ll just move to the 60 day window. I don’t think they are expecting high demand so no need to give early access. Most people are cancelling at this point.
I received an email from Disney inviting me to make Park pass and other types of reservations beginning June 28. Because I’m an “existing theme park ticket holder”. I thought this was strange because my May vacation was canceled and fully refunded. In any case, with the Covid infection rate getting out of control in Florida, is it still realistic that Disney will even open? And stay open? My state has enacted a travel advisory for Florida (among a few other states).
I have Reservations for Disney from August 15th – 22nd, also had dining reservations for those dates (Free dining plan) This is the email I received from Disney today.
Since you had a dining reservation that was previously cancelled, as we promised in earlier communications, we are offering you the opportunity to make a new reservation beginning on June 30, before reservations open to other Guests on DisneyWorld.com. You can make reservations for select Walt Disney World dining locations or experiences up to 60 days in advance of your arrival.
For more information on the availability of select Walt Disney World Resort hotel, Theme Park and Disney Springs® dining locations, please visit our dining page. Details on experiences may be found here.
Please note that new measures are in place across Walt Disney World Resort dining locations to promote health and well-being of our Cast Members and Guests. To find the latest updates to our dining procedures and offerings, please visit our Know Before You Go page.
So I’ll check tomorrow to see what’s available.
On March 12th, I made seven days worth of table service (we were supposed to be on the Deluxe Dining Plan) ADRs for a trip in September. Do you know if I will be given a similar opportunity to book before those that didn’t have reservations cancelled at some point? Thank you for all the invaluable information during these turbulent times.
Do you have any idea once they open the 60 day ADR system will it roll every day as it did in the past with the 180 day?
We have a stay starting Oct 21, and I envision this hot mess of everything just opening all at once, as the park reservation did for the 15 month interval through Sept of 2021.
I would assume that’s how it will work. It’ll just open for folks within 60 days with reservations. I would agree with Tom’s prediction that next week they’ll just announce that 60 day window to anyone with reservations going forward.
Gosh I hope the website works. I’ve already spent about 9 hours total on hold with WDW over the past week. I’m absolutely willing to forego any dining reservation to avoid that nightmare again. Takumi-Tei is the only place I’m really anxious to return, and they aren’t opening anytime soon anyway.
I had multiple dining reservations for July 18-25 that were canceled by Disney ( and got a cancellation email) but did not receive an email from them stating I could make new ones tomorrow. If I try, will it work? I guess I will find out! Sigh, I only get some emails from Disney even though they say I should get them all….
“If I try, will it work?”
When it comes to all things Walt Disney World right now, the answer to that question is simultaneously yes and no.
Curse you, Shrodinger!
I didn’t get the email for park reservations until after I was already eligible to make them but I was still able to make them on 6/22. I also had my dining reservations cancelled for my trip 7/28-8/5 and haven’t gotten that email but I’m expecting to be able to book tomorrow. It “should” work for you.