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Disney Is Lying to You About Dining Reservations — We Can Help

July 30, 2023 ,

We’ve all been there — we’re up at 5:30AM, 60 days before our Disney World trip, waiting for 6AM to hit so that we can book those coveted dining reservations at all of our favorite Disney restaurants. We have our list ready of all the most important spots to hit, and then — FINALLY — it’s time! We search for open reservation times…and search…and search…and then that sinking feeling starts to creep in.

©Disney

It’s absolutely DEVASTATING when you don’t get the Disney World dining reservations you were hoping for! All that great food, just outside of your reach. (Can you tell we have strong feelings about Disney food? 😂) But wait — all hope is not lost. Sure, it looks like you’re out of luck. But is Disney actually LYING to you??

Even if you don’t get the reservations you were hoping for 60 days before your trip (when dining reservations open), there’s still a decent chance that you can get into your favorite spots! We’re here to tell you how to do that.

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But first, let’s back it up and cover the basics of Disney World dining reservations.

Dining Reservation Basics

If you’re planning a vacation to Disney World, then you can (and should) make your dining reservations before you even leave for your trip.

Be Our Guest Restaurant’s Grand Ballroom

There are hundreds of places to eat between the parks and hotels, and many of these are sit-down, or “table-service,” restaurants — all of those spots require reservations. Even if you’re traveling during a less-crowded season, it’s always recommended that you make Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) for your meals.

California Grill table setting

Note that fast food, or “quick service,” restaurants do NOT require reservations — this includes places where you walk up to the counter to pick up your meals, such as Casey’s Corner, Connections Eatery, and Woody’s Lunch Box. Lounges also generally do not accept reservations.

Seating area at Woody’s Lunch Box

Guests are able to make a dining reservation at most Disney World restaurants up to 60 days in advance of their meal.

If you’re staying at a Disney World Resort hotel, you can make reservations up to 60 days in advance plus the length of your stay up to 10 days. (So, 60 days before the first day of your stay, you can make reservations for the entire trip, even for days that are more than 60 days out.)

Flying Fish

You can make those reservations online, over the phone, or on the My Disney Experience app.

Click here for a step-by-step guide to making Disney World dining reservations!

So if you aren’t able to snag the reservations you want 60 days before your trip, what can you do?

Walk-Up Waitlists

Although it’s highly recommended that you have a reservation for any table service restaurant, there is a kind of “secret” way to get in without a reservation at all! You can use the mobile dine walk-up waitlists whenever they’re available.

Look for this Walk-Up Waitlist sign!

This feature on the My Disney Experience app allows you to look for table service restaurants that have available seating for walk-up guests. It’s not always an option — on busier days, some restaurants may not have any availability at all, so it’s definitely not as reliable as an advance reservation. However, when we’re in the parks, we frequently see restaurants open up their waitlists with more availability.

Here’s how to use this feature:

  1. First, open the My Disney Experience app. To use the mobile dine walk-up waitlist feature, select Check Dining Availability from the app’s menu (click on the little “+” sign at the bottom of your screen).
  2. You will be prompted to enter your party size and select a date.
  3. If you select a future date, you will be able to view available times for reservations at table service restaurants all around Disney World to make an Advance Dining Reservation. If you select the current date, you will see — and can select — the “now” button under “search by time.” And from here, you’ll see your options for walk-up waitlists!
  4. When available, estimated wait times will be provided, or the app will notify if the walk-up list is currently unavailable for a given location. To join the walk-up list, you may be prompted to move closer to the restaurant, depending on your current location.
  5. And then, get ready to join the waitlist and soon after… ENJOY your meal!

Join the waitlist in the app.

You can also see estimated wait times and join the Walk-up Waitlist within the Disney Genie section of the My Disney Experience app. Simply navigate to “dining” from the home screen (as seen on the bottom right). And from there, you’ll see ALL of your options with a simple scroll!

Please be aware that some restaurants may have walk-up availability even if they do not show it on the mobile app. You can always check with a Cast Member at the restaurant just in case there’s any availability.

Host stand

Even if a restaurant doesn’t have availability at one time, you can keep checking back to see if anything pops up — people might cancel their reservations last minute and free up some tables!

Click here to see a FULL LIST of restaurants that have a mobile dine walk-up waitlist available. 

Keep Checking!

Another thing you can do if you don’t get reservations at 6AM, 60 days before your trip is to keep checking back CONSTANTLY. As other people adjust their plans, they’ll cancel some reservations, which opens up availability for the restaurants. We’ve frequently seen reservations run out for a restaurant very quickly, only for that same restaurant to suddenly have availability just a couple of days later.

Want to eat here? Make sure to book your ADRs 60 days in advance.

If you don’t see any availability when you search for a specific meal at a restaurant, try searching by the time of day instead. Sometimes searching for “5 o’clock,” “6 o’clock,” and “7 o’clock” yields better results than just searching for “dinner.”

©Disney

And if the original mealtime you wanted isn’t available, look for other times of day! Usually you can find more reservations available at off-peak meal times, such as around 10AM, 11AM, 3PM, and 4PM, instead of right when most people are eating lunch or dinner (such as 12PM and 6PM).

Yak & Yeti

You can also try on the app, online, and by phone to see if any of them work better than the others. We generally have had the best luck online (especially since the phone line doesn’t open until 7AM — an hour later than online reservations open), but you never know! Sometimes Cast Members are able to work some magic over the phone (though this is never guaranteed).

Click here for more tips on how to snag hard-to-get dining reservations in Disney World.

With DOZENS of places to eat at Disney World, we know it can be tough to plan your meals. That’s why we wrote the DFB Guide to Dining at Walt Disney World. We have reviews, pictures, and details about every restaurant all in one digital download – along with ALL of our best tips and strategies from decades of Disney World trips.

Grab the DFB Guide!

We’ve got a special discount code for DFB readers, too! Use WDW2023 at checkout for 25% off!

Stay tuned to DFB for more updates on all the latest Disney World news.

If You Can Only Eat at ONE Disney World Restaurant…Make It This One!

Which Disney World dining reservations are essential for your trip? Let us know in the comments!

The post Disney Is Lying to You About Dining Reservations -- We Can Help first appeared on the disney food blog.



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