Guide to Advance Dining Reservations for Restaurants at Disney World
Booking Advance Dining Reservations for popular restaurants at Walt Disney World is not easy. This ADR guide will help, with our best tips & tricks for scoring spots at the most difficult WDW dining options. Fair warning: this can be one of the most frustrating parts of planning your vacation, as the toughest ADRs book up over 60 days out. (Updated December 29, 2023.)
For Walt Disney World first-timers, it might come as a surprise that making Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) is such a challenge. After all, there are literally hundreds of table service restaurants that are bookable two months ahead of time at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs, and the two dozen-plus resorts at Walt Disney World.
On top of that, knowledge is a big barrier to entry. Many travelers are unaware that it’s even possible to make ADRs a couple of months prior to their trips, or the ins and outs of booking reservations. Then there are the Walt Disney World diehards like us who know precisely how it’s done, but do not know where they want to eat so far ahead of time. (The ADR window used to be 180 days–I don’t even know where I want to eat tomorrow, nevermind 6 months from now!) Nevertheless, ADR availability tends to fill up fast for the most in-demand restaurants.
We’ve been documenting the challenges with making Advance Dining Reservations for years, as this has always been a hot topic among Walt Disney World fans. Last year’s What’s Up With ADR Availability? explained the dynamic, which has morphed over time and become a matter of staffing shortages and reduced capacity as a result (among other things).
However, this is hardly new. There have been controversies around booking, hoarding, and trading ADRs as long as I can remember. (Don’t Google “Howie’s Angels” unless you want to go down a fascinating-but-weird rabbit hole!) Over the years, Walt Disney World has made a number of changes to discourage the practice, yet it still persists to this day.
Turning to the latest updates on Advance Dining Reservations, let’s start with two pieces of good news. The first is that Walt Disney World has streamlined the search feature, and it’s now much easier to find ADRs for the entire day. Not only is search simpler, but it’s smoother. In the past, we found ourselves having to toy around with our times to try to get seemingly “hidden” results to display–searching by half-hour instead of by meal service and so forth. That’s not really the case any longer–what you see is what you get. We simply search all-day and typically see all results.
That alone makes finding Advance Dining Reservations for popular restaurants much easier. Of course, nothing with Walt Disney World vacation planning is truly simple, so there’s still a good chance you’ll need tips & tricks to find those tough ADRs. But this definitely makes it a lot easier for the ‘borderline’ restaurants that are somewhat but not super popular. Regardless, we’ve found ourselves spending a lot less time searching for restaurant reservations since the debut of this improved search function!
Part of the reason we’re wasting less time searching for ADRs is because availability has improved and reservations are now less competitive than they were in 2022 during the height of pent-up demand, staffing shortages, and reduced restaurant capacity. Thankfully, ADR availability has been improving for a while.
However, the extent of options we’re seeing is pretty remarkable. Restaurants like Chef Mickey’s, Story Book Dining at Artist Point, Akershus, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Topolino’s Terrace, California Grill, Space 220, and others all have availability in 2024. Of course, this still varies by party size and seating time. If you’re trying to find a table for 6 at Story Book Dining, you’re still going to have a tough time.
ADRs becoming much easier to book likely plays a big role in Walt Disney World bringing back the Disney Dining Plan in 2024. That’s more good news for planners and fans of that pre-paid meal service, but also, will once again make Advance Dining Reservations more competitive–especially for larger parties and during peak travel dates. Even now, ADR availability is tighter than it was back in 2019–it’s just better than it was the last 2 years.
It’ll also get worse when Free Dining inevitably returns in 2024. Trust us, we’ve been down this road and it’s what always happens during Free Dining. Even when the promotion falls during a time of year when the parks aren’t particularly busy, demand for ADRs is incredibly high due to the Free Dining. Accordingly, you’ll need to make reservations early or luck-out last minute.
Fortunately, there are ways to “beat” or “outsmart” the competition, and we’ll cover the top 10 methods here to maximize your chances of scoring the exact restaurants you want at precisely the right time!
10. Search Different Days – When searching for ADR availability, you’re given a calendar and can search a variety of different dates. It’s probably pointing out the obvious, but availability is not static across the calendar. Less obvious is which days of the week tend to have better availability.
In our experience, restaurants at resorts or Disney Springs are more difficult to book on weekends–since those aren’t gated, you’re competing with locals. Conversely, we’ve found that weekends are often less competitive in the parks (except EPCOT), especially now that Saturday and Sunday are the two least-busy days. (See Best & Worst Days to Visit Every Park at Walt Disney World for more insight on that.)
This recommendation goes even beyond that, though. Don’t just search for different days all at once. Do the searching itself on different dates if you’re not having success. Some restaurants–especially third party ones–don’t load all of their reservation availability into the system right away 60+ days in advance.
It’s not uncommon to suddenly see a ton more reservation availability ~30 days, ~2 weeks, ~7 days, etc., ahead of time. This isn’t due to cancellations–it’s the restaurants releasing more reservations. (From what we’ve been told by managers, at least some restaurants do this once their server and staff scheduling is set, which makes complete sense.)
9. Use the Refresh Method – This is less useful with the new search function, but one strategy worth trying if you’re not having success finding availability is to toggle back and forth between a meal service and all-day in order to refresh the ADR availability. This is particularly useful on ADR drop days, when reservations are being loaded into the system or scooped up and released by other guests.
This is actually how we’ve scored competitive Candlelight Processional dining packages. I just bounce back and forth between times, until eventually getting what we want at Biergarten. It’s also great for last minute availability, either on the night before or morning of your desired dining reservations.
This is less about the My Disney Experience system being bugged and more because refreshing allows you to see cancellations or reservations that are released from holds by other guests in real-time. On both the ADR drop days and last-minute, there’s a lot of reservation constantly entering and exiting the system. So persistence pays off!
8. Change Your Party Size – Since reopening, Walt Disney World has hidden availability for smaller or odd-numbered parties as part of its never ending quest for yield management and revenue maximization. The theory behind this is that a party of 1 only utilizes half the capacity of a table for 2, and is statistically likely spend less. Given the ongoing imbalance between capacity and demand, Disney would thus rather turn those parties of 1 away. Same idea applies for a party of 3, although we’ve seen this less in practice.
The solution to this for odd-numbered parties is to search for your party size, and the size of the table to which you’ll be assigned. Meaning that a party of 3 should search for 4, a party of 5 should search for 6, and so on. During the mobile check-in process (or sometimes before), you can modify the reservation downward to reflect your actual party size. Just be sure to only search for +1 your actual number–going any higher (or lower) is a recipe for problems.
7. Use A Notification Service – There are several ADR finder services, some of which are free and some of which are paid. These dining reservation finders notify you when an ADR you want becomes available. It’s then up to you to act fast and get it reserved.
We previously recommended a free service for this, but it got shut down when the new search function rolled out. An additional wrinkle to those changes was that they required logging into a My Disney Experience account to see reservation availability. Some ADR finders still work, but it’s our understanding that Walt Disney World is working to shut down all of them.
With that in mind, our strong recommendation would be to not pay for a reservation finder far ahead of your trip or for a year-long subscription. Basically, don’t spend anything you wouldn’t be upset about losing if the service goes belly-up overnight. (Personally, I’m not fond of ADR finders as they strike me as unfair, but it would be a dereliction of duty to not at least mention their existence.)
6. Multiple Devices, Computer Priority – Before your ADR window opens, my strong advice is to login to disneyworld.com on your computer and the My Disney Experience app. Sure, this all goes down at the crack of dawn, so there might be the strong temptation to do this all while lying in bed. But there are few better ways to cut your teeth on the Walt Disney World planning machine than by setting up a veritable command center, ready for every contingency.
If you’re really serious, go into private browsing, login, and open a new tab for every single restaurant you want. From there, start making your ADRs in highest priority order. If something goes wrong–and let’s be real, this is Disney IT, so something probably will–switch over to the My Disney Experience app or a different device and keep rolling.
5. Stay On-Site – Anyone can book ADRs for Walt Disney World table service restaurants up to 60 days in advance. However, on-site guests can make ADRs for the duration of their trip (up to 10 days) starting 60 days prior to their resort check-in date.
This is what’s commonly referred to as the “60+10 rule” among Walt Disney World fans. It’s called that rather than the “70 rule” because it isn’t necessarily 70 days. If your trip is 5 days, you’ll be able to book for the duration of it at the 60 day mark (so in your case, 60+5), but you wouldn’t be able to book 5 days beyond your checkout date. In other words, it’s more accurately the “60 plus up-to-10 rule” but that name isn’t quite as catchy or succinct.
In any case, the 60+10 rule makes it easier to make all of your ADRs all at once rather than day-by-day. More importantly, the head start can be hugely advantageous in booking the most difficult-to-score Advance Dining Reservations, such as Chef Mickey’s, Story Book Dining at Artist Point or Akershus, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Space 220, Topolino’s Terrace (breakfast), California Grill, and others. By the time the 60 day mark rolls around, many of those will already be gone!
4. Book “Backwards” – This works in tandem with the length of stay Advance Dining Reservation perk. If you make your ADRs in chronological order (meaning day 1, 2, 3, etc.), it’s possible you’ll miss out on the toughest reservations if you want something with really low capacity or you’re visiting during peak season dates.
As such, the best approach is to make your ADRs in order of difficulty, and to the greatest extent possible, backfill your vacation with those hardest-to-book Advance Dining Reservations. For example, if I were doing a weeklong trip and wanted to dine at Story Book Dining at Artist Point, Space 220 Restaurant, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Turf Club Bar & Grill, and Skipper Canteen, I’d do Artist Point first for day 7, Space 220 second on day 6, Be Our Guest next on day 5, and the last two whenever.
This is not a hard and fast rule, so don’t build your itinerary or trip plans with Advance Dining Reservation difficulty at the heart of your plans. If it works out to be more convenient to do Story Book Dining on night 5 instead of 7, you’re probably fine. Just don’t expect to get it on the first night. (This only applies to those staying on-site, since off-site guests must reserve day by day.)
3. Look Early – It wasn’t too long ago (a little over a decade!) that the only way to make ADRs was by telephoning Walt Disney World bright and early at 7 am, hoping you had just the right call cadence to get through to an operator. From there, it was a rush to get through your list as quickly as possible, hoping you scored seasoned, speedy Call Center Cast Member. While that’s still an option, it’s a terrible one. No one reading this internet-based weblog should be doing that.
Instead, use the Walt Disney World website or My Disney Experience app. Officially, here are Advance Dining Reservation drop times according to Walt Disney World:
- Reservation availability for select Walt Disney World restaurants typically begins each day at approximately 5:45 AM (Eastern).
- Please be aware that if you cancel a restaurant reservation, your previously scheduled reservation time will immediately be made available to another Guest.
- All newly introduced dining events—such as special dining experiences and dessert parties—can typically be booked beginning at 7:00 AM on the day their offers become available.
Unofficially, I’ve gotta give those times a bit of side-eye. While it’s possible that some normal ADRs will be preloaded into the system at or before 5:45 am, you’re far more likely to have success most days at 6 am. Conversely, if you wait until 7 am for a newly-introduced dining option…you will miss out! Instead, you’ll want to be online by 5 am for new releases–and sometimes even that is too late. (Other times, it’s far too early–ADR release days are very hit or miss!)
2. Look Last Minute – I’ll be honest with you: it is exceedingly rare for us to follow any of our own advice here. The big exception is newly-introduced dining, which we almost always reserve. Beyond that, I’ll book (or sometimes just browse) at the 60+10 window when we’re eligible for that. Otherwise, we usually do not make ADRs over a month in advance.
Fortunately, many restaurants are not dropping all of their ADR availability ~60 days ahead of time. This is happening in part due to staffing–restaurants release a conservative number of reservations two months out, and then open up more as the dates draw nearer if Cast Member scheduling allows.
On top of that, many Walt Disney World visitors hoard ADRs, and cancel their unwanted ones the night before or even a couple of hours prior to their meals to avoid being penalized. (Some of these people likely are not hoarders, but have their plans change–this happens to us all the time.) Walt Disney World’s newly-relaxed ADR cancellation policy has made this more of a challenge, but it still works.
The most common times that we check for Advance Dining Reservations are between 9 pm and 11 pm the night before, as well as around 10 am and 2 pm same-day. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen nothing for many restaurants ~30 days in advance, only to find numerous options for lunch and dinner released the morning of or one day in advance. This is my manual version of an ADR finder!
1. Walk-Up Waitlist – This is perhaps the only Walt Disney World planning site that is vehemently anti-spreadsheet and cautions against over-preparing. We feel strongly about that as fans of Walt Disney World and enjoyers of fun. There’s also the practical reality that everything about planning for Walt Disney World is overly stressful and complicated. Sometimes, it’s refreshing to just wing it and go with the flow. (See our Being Spontaneous at Walt Disney World for a longer diatribe, including the importance of ‘planned spontaneity.’)
We’re also at least somewhat anti-ADR, or at least bemoan the practice of planning where you want to eat months in advance. That’s why one of the biggest improvements of the last several years is the addition of the Walk-Up Waitlist in My Disney Experience. This is one of the few technology initiatives in the last several years that reduces stress rather than adds to it. We regularly see options like Be Our Guest Restaurant, Le Cellier, Garden Grill, Topolino’s Terrace, ‘Ohana, and other hard-to-book Advance Dining Reservations.
This has only increased since Walt Disney World relaxed its cancellation policy to 2 hours. As a result of this, many more guests are cancelling last-minute, and that availability goes into the Walk-Up Waitlist rather than back into the reservation pool (since it’s not far enough in advance).
One thing to note here is that the restaurants have to do all of this manually, and sometimes can’t keep up with no-shows, cancellations, and modifications. As such, if there’s a restaurant that’s really important, consider actually walking up to the podium and seeing if there’s walk-up availability. Not as convenient as the app and your chances of success are low, but it can be worth a shot. We’ve had luck with this from time to time!
BONUS: Use an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner – If you’re overwhelmed by all of this–or even if you understand it all but find it daunting–consider outsourcing your ADR-making. One of several great things about using an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner–the term for a travel agent specializing in Disney who is an ‘accredited’ graduate of the company’s college of knowledge–is that many of them will make ADRs for you and assist with itineraries.
If you want to take advantage of this service, we’d recommend requesting a FREE no obligation quote from an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. (Note that you’ll need them to book your entire vacation, not just ADRs.) They will happy to assist you with the planning process, help you choose the most economical dates, best add-ons, and so forth. Notably, they also monitor reservations and can retroactively apply new discounts if a better deal is released to save you more money.
BONUS: Alternative ADRs – In my experience, Walt Disney World’s popular table service restaurants aren’t always best. To the contrary, many of the most coveted Advance Dining Reservations are a product of hype and FOMO, coast on their legacy, or have non-culinary appeal, like characters or location. Some are thus able to “get away with” serving uninspired cuisine, as they’ll book up regardless. Ask any longtime Walt Disney World fan and they can name at least a couple of restaurants that they believe fall into this category.
For easier alternatives, see our a List of Underrated Restaurants & Hidden Dining Gems at Walt Disney World. Every single one of these serves up great food despite being easier ADRs. Despite their comparative “unpopularity,” you’re more likely to have a great meal at these restaurants. Honestly, that list just scratches the surface. Ask any Walt Disney World fan about their favorite under-the-radar restaurants. While they might swear you to secrecy for fear of these sleeper picks being popular, most will share their favorites. (Hey, it’s better than the alternative–closing completely, the dreaded menu overhaul, or character dining experience transformation!)
Honestly, this last ‘bonus’ pick is my favorite recommendation of anything on this list, and the big reason why Advance Dining Reservation planning has been one of this blog’s blind spots over the years. We should probably fix that, and this post is a small step in doing exactly that. After all, it’s easy for us as longtime fans to say “don’t worry too much about ADRs!” We’ve dined at almost every single Walt Disney World restaurant, most numerous times.
If it’s your first visit to Walt Disney World, you’re an infrequent visitor, or planning a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, you understandably have a greater sense of urgency. You also want to hit the highlights, do the popular dining, and form your own opinions about what’s under or overrated.
In fairness, many of the most popular ADRs are fantastic–there are no better character dining experiences than Topolino’s Terrace for breakfast or Story Book Dining at Artist Point for dinner. To that end, hopefully this list helps you make the most of your ADR drop day, and you’re able to score every hard-to-book reservation that’s on your wishlist!
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
If you’ve visited or booked ADRs for Walt Disney World in the last few months, what has been your experience? Have you had success at the last-minute (0-3 days in advance)? Had challenges at the 60 day mark? Notice any differences in the dynamic as compared to pre-closure? Think staffing shortages explain most of what’s happening with fluctuations and limitations in Advance Dining Reservations? Agree or disagree with our assessment? 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!
Hey Tom,
I enjoy reading your articles and your insight into the world of Disney. I often travel with a large party. Anywhere between 8-12 people. This makes it difficult to score certain dining reservations bc we are too large. Can you share some knowledge on restaurants that do or do not accommodate such a big group at once. Or possibly a strategy for making reservations for this size. TIA
I sometimes see the advice to break up your party, as two tables for four are easier to score than one for eight. You might want to try that if you aren’t having any luck.
Thanks for all your replies .
If I book a restaurant early , (as you guys recommend) . I will need to know which theme parks I am going each day . When does the schedule of events come out . I.e. after hour parties etc.
Honestly, it varies. One consistent complaint about Disney World is that the ADR window opens before they have finalized things like park hours and special events; essentially Disney asks you to make decisions without giving you all the info that might influence said decision.
With that said, I really think you will be fine. The fact that you are on a blog like this so far ahead of your vacation is going to put you way ahead of the average park guest. You may not end up with an “optimal” itinerary but that doesn’t mean your trip will be bad. And you literally cannot do everything at Disney in one trip, so you will end up making choices about what to prioritize no matter what. Try to keep the focus on all the things you are going to do rather than things that don’t work out the way you wanted (like getting said ADR).
I am coming up to our 60+ ADR as our trip is Jan 7 – 16th. We are going for my friends 50th birthday and she really wants to eat at Cinderella’s Royal table. There will be 12 of us. UGH! There our 5 of us joined as a group. We were going to have 2 of us up as 2:45am,as we are on the West coast, each trying and book a table for 6. My question is WILL it let us both get a reservation for the same day, same time if we are in the same group? Once one of us gets a reservation will it say that you can’t book as you already have a reservation.
You should be fine, as long as you have two different myDisney accounts
I am coming up to our 60+ ADR as our trip is Jan 7 – 16th. We are going for my friends 50th birthday and she really wants to eat at Cinderella’s Royal table. There will be 12 of us. UGH! There our 5 of us joined as a group. We were going to have 2 of us up as 2:45am,as we are on the West coast, each trying and book a table for 6. My question is WILL it let us both get a reservation for the same day, same time if we are in the same group? Once one of us gets a reservation will it say that you can’t book as you already have a reservation.
There has to be some type of systematic hoarding and possibly transferring that needs to be eliminated. We subscribe to texts with Mouse Dining. Is it not uncommon to wake up to 5-10 cancelations that took place overnight. They are for the same restaurant, the same time, and the same party size. They get canceled at exactly the same time which is some odd hour between midnight and 6am. This can’t be a coincidence.
If it’s so consistent and predictable, why are you assuming that it’s hoarding?
Based on what you described, the conclusion that I’d draw is that it’s Disney releasing more ADR inventory.
Thanks for the props in your article. I am Howie of Howies Angels. I am surprised you remember that since it was over 20 years ago. Love your website and info. I haven’t thought about all the controversy for years now, but I can assure you absolutely nothing was done wrong back then. Part 1 of Mike Scopas 3-part article told my story and that was the truth. Keep up the good work.
Holy cow–a Disney fan community legend reads this site?!
To be clear, I wasn’t casting aspersions towards you or suggesting anything nefarious–simply pointing out that fans have been “manipulating” (I know it’s a loaded term, but I can’t think of a more neutral one to describe any of this) the ADR/PS systems for decades. With that said, I do think some of what’s happening today is not on the up-and-up, so definitely not totally comparable.
You just gave away all of my ADR secrets, but I can vouch for nearly everything on this list. The touring plans ADR finder can be hit or miss depending on how popular the restaurant is. I’ve seen more Space 220 reservations zip by before I could book then I can count. But it does work. Since we are local, I use the last minute tricks all the time. Ohana, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Chef Mickeys, Space 220, Story Book Dining at Artist Point, Be Our Guest, and many others have all been attainable, and usually even during crowded weekends. Great advice all around.
Hi Tom,
I follow your site religiously but I recently did a nono. I lucked out at 60 days and booked Cinderella castle for breakfast, but messed up doing it for 2 need 3. Not a 6am kind of gal. I need to add a 4 y o but when I contacted to modify, DVC member said no availability to add child. I keep checking to add one for b f no luck Advise ? our day is Dec 14 9:10 time
Thanks appreciate any help. I can switch my place for her but as her mema I would love to be a part
It’s unlikely that calling is going to make a difference. Normally, I’d recommend arriving early and going to the restaurant podium. Usually, if you give them a heads up, Cast Members there will be able to “fix” things so long as they are working with enough time. But with a 9:10 am ADR, that doesn’t really apply.
That would still be my advice–just be polite and prepared to wait a little. No guarantees, but hopefully they will be able to accommodate your entire party!
We just got back from our trip and I used your articles and tips on reserving the “harder” ADR first for a later date I. Our trip to get Storybook Dining. I did that 60+ days out and got kicked out of the system 3 times before I was able to get all the way through to reserve , but it worked out to get a later time ( we were coming from MK on a MNSSHP day, visiting the park pre-party). Also got Hoop Dee Doo 60 days out and Hollywood and Vine lunch. I wanted Hoop Dee Doo for the first day of our arrival but it was booked — I kept checking up until our trip and that Sat. Never became available, so that’s one to get in advance for sure! Could have snagged Be Our Guest day before our first MK day, but decided not to use that park/riding time and it was a good choice bc dining table service with 6 (3 adults, one was a kid — 11 yo, and 3 kids) was expensive!! My husband got pretty squeamish after seeing the bill at Hollywood and Vine, but thought Storybook was worth the price . Snagged Sci Fi reservations day of for a late lunch for me and my oldest son — this was great!!!! Much need downtown for us to go back to bounty hunting on our second day and the food and price were great, not that much more than counter service, so thanks for the tip on that Tom!! Thanks for your posts as you helped immensely with getting me prepared for our trip and we were able to navigate Genie+ and dining with success!!
Thanks for sharing your experience–always good to have anecdotes like this to give others an idea of what to expect.
A couple notes:
-Getting kicked out of the system or receiving error messages is, sadly, par for the course with Disney IT. I’ve missed out on more ADRs than I can count over the years due to this. (Easily 50+)
-Hoop Dee Doo *seems* to be getting slightly easier, as they’re starting to fill more tables/sections now. I know that doesn’t help you, but it should help others going forward in early 2023.
-Be Our Guest is easily the best example of a restaurant that adds day-before or same-day availability. I’ve been refreshing MDX at 10 am same-day and have seen it go from nothing to every single time slot being available–on multiple occasions.
“If you’re really serious, go into private browsing, login, and open a new tab for every single restaurant you want. From there, start making your ADRs in highest priority order.”
100% THIS!
Hello ,
I am going next summer . (End of august ) I don’t really want to plan to much so doubt we will book restaurants in advance . Will that be a big problem in going to some good restaurants? Or will you always get reservations to most if not all?
Thanks
So long as your party is 4 or fewer, you should be fine for a late August trip. You won’t get ~25% of restaurants, but that still leaves way more good-to-great ones than you could do in a single trip, anyway.
Chris, If you want a shot to dine at the places you are interested in eating at, either by virtue of the theme, menu, dining experience – or whatever reason, I HIGHLY recommend you try and make reservations at the earliest opportunity you have to do so. You can always cancel 24 hrs prior, on the app, without any penalty. If where/what you want to eat is not big priority, then maybe wing it? Counter service, waitlists, etc are a viable option if: 1. you don’t like to think about such things in advance. 2. You aren’t picky about what you eat. 3. There isn’t a “must do” on your dining plans, that sort of thing. But if ANY of those apply, I implore you to look/book in advance. My wife and I go on average about 3 times a year for usually a week at a time and there are still places I have never scored an ADR! Ohana, I’m looking at you! (Amongst others)
Chris, many people have luck eating at the bar. If your party is 2, and you want to go to Homecomin’, you can see if there are seats available at the bar. Last I knew, they offer the whole menu there. Same deal at many other restaurants. I don’t care for bar seating myself (I like my feet to touch the floor), but this has worked well for friends. No ADR nec. Of course, this all depends on bar seating being available, and as always, no guarantees. But don’t give up if you don’t get what you want at the 60-day point. I never realized until I read an earlier version of this article that not all the available ADRs are put out there at the 60-day mark. Thanks to Tom, I kept trying, and eventually snagged an ADR for Homecomin on the day I wanted for our upcoming trip. Good luck!
I second the Touring Plans reservation finder. I used it to get a noon reservation at 50’s Prime Time Cafe a few days before our Hollywood Studios Day (you have to act FAST when you get the text – I missed it the first time.) Furthermore, while I was there, I dumped a 6:30PM Space 220 (too much food during the day) and 7:00PM Be Our Guest (we went home early) so last minute checking is always a good idea!
I have talked to several people recently who are booking fake trips, that overlap with their actual trip at the back end, so that their 60 days opens earlier due to the fake trip. They then cancel the first trip before the final payment is due for a full refund, but the reservations for dining stay in place. This seems INSANE to me and like something Disney should crack down on. But it works. I have a friend who did it recently and got every restaurant they wanted, at great times. Whereas I played by the rules, got up early 60 days out, and most of what I wanted was booked already. The touring plan site helped me get one, but I had no luck with a few others.
Stuff like this is nothing new (see reference in the post, which was happening as of the late 1990s), it just gets more attention now because of social media and the internet.
I definitely agree that Disney should close or tighten some loopholes, but I also think the belief that this is widespread and impacting availability is slightly exaggerated. This has always been happening–we just hear about it more now.
Hi Tom!
I have a question I cannot seem to find the answer to. Btw: Love this blog.
Eight of us are meeting in DisneyWorld in February. I’m in charge of arranging one full-family dinner (preferably) in Epcot. Here’s the question: On the Disney site it says that, in order to make a reservation, *all* members of the party need to have a park reservation for that park on that day. How can I make that work? I’ve already asked them all to make a park reservation for our chosen day and they’ve all complied. But… but… what if I’m up at 6AM and there are no reservations at any of our preferred restaurants? If I then try for a different day (we’re on site so I have that 10-day window thing), do I have to then call them all and ask them to change their park reservations ASAP so I can try again? By then, more restaurants will be filled up. This sounds like an impossible task. How does one manage such a feat with 8 people?
Or am I horribly misunderstanding the park-reservation-dining policy? Thanks!
You don’t need park reservations to make ADRs. You need them to *redeem* ADRs (e.g. to eat).
Thank you, Tom!
Tom, you’ve confused me with this answer! “You don’t need park reservations to make ADRs. You need them to *redeem* ADRs (e.g. to eat).”
You must mean for dining in a park restaurant? I see no reason why you need a park reservation to eat in a Disney resort.
Help please! We are going President’s Week because of school vacation. I have no idea how I will get my family of 9 ADRs for Chef Mickey that they’ve requested. I have no idea about park reservations.
@Barbara No, you don’t need a park reservation to eat at a resort; they are only necessary to eat at in-park restaurants. So do Chef Mickey’s whenever you can get it 🙂 Good luck!
We’re at Disney now & here’s what we’ve experienced:
Everyone says you can start making reservations at 5:45, but we’ve never been able to start (Disney website or app) until 6:00 on the dot. I’ve heard many others say the same thing.
We search for a party of two & then for a party of three. We’ve found no difference between three, four, or five. Do this even if it shows a time for your party of two as it may show different available times. Sci-Fi is the only place where we’ve only found availability for two, never three or four. That’s probably because of their table size. Conversely, 50’s Prime Time seemed to favor a party of three over a party of two. Also, if you book for a larger party than you have, you can “modify” your reservation to the smaller size & it’ll give you the same time.
Definitely keep checking. People over book then cancel before they hit the 24-hour line for cancellations. I don’t know how many availabilities I’ve seen for Ohana, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Chef Mickeys, Topolino Terrace, and even Space 220.
Also, Disney seems to do restaurant dumps. For about a month, several restaurants had no availability (like Rose & Crown & Hollywood & Vine, to name two). Then they appeared with multiple available times for every day of our stay.
Thanks for sharing your experience–always good to have anecdotes like this to give others an idea of what to expect!
For walk up lists like Three Bridges, do you have to be onsite in order to sign up? 105 min is a long time to wait on location if you aren’t staying at the resort.
When you check on the app, it’ll list the restaurants that have an availability on the wait list. You don’t have to be physically at the location, but you need to be near it.
I did that last night on the Friendship boat from Hollywood to Epcot. It would allow me to get on the list for restaurants at the Boardwalk, Yacht/Beach Club, and Epcot.
For the restaurants at Magic Kingdom, and other resorts, it showed a message under the restaurant’s name telling me I needed to be closer before I could join the waitlist
60 days out, I logged in to get reservations at the California Grill at the Contemporary. Even though it was for a Thursday evening in mid-September, everything was booked up. After several efforts, I got a late-afternoon seating. I think I got the last table for the evening. For the next 2 months, I kept trying for a later time but there was nothing available. I wanted a later time because my daughter and her spouse were traveling separately and I was not sure we would make the dinner time.
Finally, on the day before I left for WDW, I tried one last time. Lo and behold, someone apparently had cancelled, and I was able to snag a better time. So, I made the reservation. Once I had the confirmation, I cancelled my earlier reservation. So, it pays to be persistent.
a lot of people hoard reservations since their plans change and end up cancelling days before. We found the most luck the closer we get to the dates we are leaving. If you cant get something you want, just book something else and keep trying
This was a timely article. We have a 6 day WDW trip booked over the end of the year and (as someone on the west coast who has to be awake from 2:30-3:00AM) I am in the midst of ADR hell. I’ve booked ADRs on several trips (3 post closure) and this one has been significantly more challenging. I only saw a handful of slots for Space 220 5 days out, can’t seem to find anything in EPCOT (or Topolino) for 12/31 in the later evening. Never saw V&A come open at all or Cinderella’s Royal Table or Tokyo Dining.
Not sure if I missed it or they get released later. We did manage to get Space 220 (at awkward time), Teppen Edo, Monsieur Paul (why is the last seating 7:30?!) and Akershus over the course of the week, as well as some less competitive tables— but I was sad to wake up from 2:30-3AM without adding any new reservations today.
I am also currently trying to book ANY table service meal at Epcot for dinner on 12/31 and everything is apparently completely full. I was able to get everything I wanted for the rest of the week except for Fantasmic Dining, but no luck for 12/31.
No actual insight here, but it wouldn’t surprise me if reservations are being held back for 12/31 as the finalize New Year’s Eve plans (and potentially close some restaurants to host special upcharge services or meals).
@Jared, that’s a good point and I hope it’s true! It seems odd to me that even the less desirable restaurants have zero availability.
While they do cost money, Ive used Mouse Dining, Touring Plans and Mouse Ke Pros with great success………..Our last trip we got Oga’s, Cal Grill, Topolinos, Steakhouse 71, BOGuest, Sci Fi and Space 220 (most through mousekepros but a couple through others)
I’ve never used any services and would have been able (had we wanted them), to get all of those. Space 220 was the only one with rare availability, but it showed up close to our trip date. Steakhouse 71 was the easiest. That was multiple times every day. Same with Oga’s, BOG, and Sci-Fi.
I have long used many of these tips. The last 2 years have been very challenging though and I’ve wasted wakeups in the absurdly early am pst to snag reservations, to no avail. I finally gave up in that.
By far the most success I’ve had this year has been just checking last minute. Still no luck with Space 220 that way but virtually everything else clears up 1 to 2 days in advance at some point during my stay.