Disney is pretty much the only vacation destination that you
need to be up at midnight 180 days before your trip to booking restaurants.
Call it crazy; call it the extra Disney magic, it is stressful. I had someone
tell me once that she checked every day from up to 10 times a day to get reservations
she wanted that filled up in minute’s yes minutes this is all a part of Disney planning
for most. I call ADR’s (Advance Dining Reservations) the black Fridays of
Disney Trips.
Here are a few tips to make your Disney dream vacation
dining, not becomes your Disney nightmare. Make a plan for character dining I know
you are thinking, well duh we want a character meal every meal, and I know
someone who did this it took hours of reservation phone and web, time some
begging, and a lot of luck and in the end she said it was not worth it half the
character meals they went to where ones that her children did not care about.
·
Ask children what character they really want to
eat with they may want Lilo and stitch and not care about Cinderella like my daughter.
After you know who they really want to see starts looking and see what dining
has the characters you want? You do not need to eat with every character every
meal this will lessen the specialness of the activity.
·
When you know your restaurants see when you can
start booking, some places you can book 180 days out some are 90 days out. Research
and find yours you days have a list of what you want handy so you can go right
to it. Get use to the site so you will be able to understand the process make
sure you have a sign in user name and password for my Disney already set up for
reservation time.
·
Make sure you link any reservations at Disney Resorts
to your online account so you are able to access the ADR.
·
When you know your reservation day, be ready
these can fill up in under 5 minutes for some of the must have places. It’s the
black Friday of dining be ready and start online booking at 6 am EST this is an
hour before the phones open and the best option.
·
Make sure you have your credit card ready; I had
one linked before ADR opened. They do not charge you unless you do not make
your reservation in most cases, there are a few that I listed at the end that
do take payment at the time of reservation. be sure to call and cancel if you
will not be able to make a reservation, to avoid any fees
·
When you get your reservation print out the confirmation
numbers just in case something happens with the system, write them in your travel
notebook also.
·
If you tried and failed to get your desired
reservation keep looking check in each day and see if a spot opens up, also
call and see if there is a spot on the reservation phone often. Sometimes
family cancel and this leaves the reservation open for you to get.
·
It can be stressful but the most important thing
is to realize if you do not get the dining you want you will still have a once
in a lifetime trip, the real magic is spending the time with your family and I promise
your kids will still have a blast even if they do not drink tea with Cinderella.
This is only the basics to dining at Disney
I will be doing a full post along with list of dinning and information, however
this is a good starter for people who are just interested in one or two dining
options.
Dining reservations Website and Phone:
Disney Reservation Center (407) 939-3463
Restaurants requiring full payment at
reservation time:
Cinderella’s Royal Table
Hoop Dee Doo Revue
Spirit of Aloha Luau
Mickey’s Backyard BBQ
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