Be Our Guest Restaurant is one of the most popular restaurants on Disney property, making it hard to get a dining reservation for breakfast, lunch or dinner. But what I’m often asked is, “Is it worth it?” Is it worth the time trying to grab …
Y’all Animal Kingdom has some of the best and most diverse quick-service restaurants and is one of the many reasons it is my absolute favorite park. I get the privilege of talking directly with clients about what restaurants I recommend at each park and why. …
Making dining reservations at Disney World doesn’t have to be difficult. As long as you know what to do in advance, it should be easy peasy for you.
It’s crazy to think that you need to know where to eat 60 days in advance (it’s even crazier to think that it used to be 180 days in advance!). But that’s just the way it goes with Disney.
If you are staying at a Disney Resort, you can mark your calendar for ONE date and time: 6am EST 60 days before check-in.
This is the time you can book all of your Dining Reservations for your entire stay – up to 10 days.
If this sounds way too early for you to get up, no worries. You don’t have to book your reservations at this time.
However, if you are trying to get reservations for popular restaurants – like Cinderella’s Royal Table, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Oga’s Cantina, or ‘Ohana – I highly recommend making the sacrifice to be up and ready to book right at 6am EST.
If you are not staying at a Disney Resort, you will have to set your alarm for 6am 60 days before each reservation date. So if you want to make dining reservations for days 1, 2 and 3 of your trip, you will have to make those reservations 60 days before day 1, and then 60 days before day 2, and then again 60 days before day 3.
Of course you could just wait until 60 days before day 3, which will be fine in a lot of cases, but not for those hard-to-get restaurants.
Anyone who wants to eat at a table-service (sit down) restaurant and/or Oga’s Cantina will need an advanced dining reservation.*
Before you start booking dining reservations, you’ll want to get an idea of what kind of meals you want to eat.
Do you want to eat granola bars in your resort room for breakfast and eat at quick-service restaurants for lunch and dinner so your plans aren’t bound to table-service reservations? In that case you don’t need to make any reservations since you aren’t eating at any table-service restaurants.
Do you want to eat at table-service restaurants for dinner only? Lunch only? Breakfast lunch and dinner?
Do you want to eat at any restaurants that offer character meals?
Once you get these details down, you can start choosing specific restaurants that will meet your needs.
*Oga’s is more of a lounge than a restaurant.
For most restaurants, no. All reservations will take your credit card information.
If you are a “no show” or you cancel within 24 hours of the reservation, you will be charged $10 per person on your reservation.
There are a few restaurants like Cinderella’s Royal Table that will charge your credit card the full meal price, but you will be refunded if you…
You will book your reservations just like everyone else.
Know what credits you have on your dining plan, and know which credits and how many credits will be used at each restaurant you are booking. You can find this information on the Disney website, and I show you where to find it in the video below.
You will want to know in advance which restaurants will cost you a quick-service credit, 1 table-service credit, or 2 table-service credits. For instance, Cinderella’s Royal Table, along with other signature dining restaurants and dinner shows, will use 2 of your table-service credits.
And keep in mind there are some restaurants on Disney property that do not accept Disney Dining Plan credits.
Also, if your dining plan is giving you 1 table-service credit per day, then know that on your 3 day vacation, if you book 8 table-service restaurants, you’ll be paying for 5 of those out of pocket.
You have a couple options. You can book online through your My Disney Experience (MDE) account or through the MDE app on your phone. I’d recommend having both available on the morning of in case one doesn’t work.
I also recommend going ahead and playing around with both options now. This way you have some kind of idea of how it all works.
And I definitely recommend going ahead and deciding where you want to eat and at what time and day. You don’t want to be trying to do all that research the morning of!
Here is a video showing you how to make reservations either online or in the app 👇🏼
If you don’t get your top choice of restaurant or your preferred time, you have a few options. You can keep checking on your own, or you could sign up for a service that will do this for you.
Personally, I love Add More Magic behttps://addmoremagic.comcause they won’t charge you unless they actually score the reservation for you!
If you’re going to be checking on your own, I recommend you start checking a week before your trip. That’s the time many guests are starting to plan their Disney trips in more detail. Therefore, they may be cancelling the reservations they decide they no longer want.
I’d recommend sporadically checking to see if anything opens up.
If you’re working with a Main Street Vacation Planner, ask for his or her personal recommendations! They will also be able to help you find what’s best for your family!
Happy planning!