How Do You Make Dining Reservations??

[CJLove79]

Hey guys!!!!! I was just playing around with the Disney World site to get a feel for how to make Dining reservations since my 180th day is next month and I think I got the basics down. But I wanted to get step by step instructions on how to do it for my reference. One thing I don't understand is which would be better? Selecting Breakfast & have the site search for anytime during Breakfast time? Or click on a specific time like say 8am and search that way? Also, do some of the restaurants hold onto your credit card info to simply reserve you a spot, for charging or both? Also, do you need a theme park ticket to get into the restaurants? For example, will I need a ticket to get to my 8am reservation at Be Our Guest or Crystal Palace, etc? Any help you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated as always.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

One thing I don't understand is which would be better? Selecting Breakfast & have the site search for anytime during Breakfast time? Or click on a specific time like say 8am and search that way?

If you're booking online then I would search both ways as they tend to throw up different time slots

Also, do some of the restaurants hold onto your credit card info to simply reserve you a spot, for charging or both?

For convenience and speed, have a credit card linked to your MDE account before you start making reservations. The credit card is only taken so it can be charged in the event of you not turning up, it has nothng to do with how you pay for your meal

Also, do you need a theme park ticket to get into the restaurants? For example, will I need a ticket to get to my 8am reservation at Be Our Guest or Crystal Palace, etc?

Yes, you must have a valid park ticket in order to enter any theme park and that includes entry for a dining reservation

 

[sjhym333]

One other thing to consider is the rest of your day. Are you planning to stay in that park for that day? Get FP's for attractions? If so the time that you have breakfast may be more important to you then where. Or if you are planning a specific breakfast experience will you need to hit some of the major attractions before it gets busy?

 

[dreamfinder]

It depends on what you need and what your purpose of the ADR is. The are people who simply want to eat at CRT or BOG, so they may select the meal and take whatever comes up. Other people want to have a 7AM Chef Mickey's so they can still make it to the parks for rope drop, or a 8:05AM Crystal Palace so they can get pics on an empty Main Street, so there you would want to select the time.

The CC is usually used to charge against for the cancellation policy. However for some like CRT, I believe they will charge you up front due to the popularity.

 

[CJLove79]

One other thing to consider is the rest of your day. Are you planning to stay in that park for that day? Get FP's for attractions? If so the time that you have breakfast may be more important to you then where. Or if you are planning a specific breakfast experience will you need to hit some of the major attractions before it gets busy?

Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback, can't wait till next month, it's a great reminder that my trip is just around the corner. LOL. And to answer your question sjhym333, yeah me and my girl are staying in the parks for that corresponding restaurant, we didn't get the Park Hopper. So the first day we're there, we're staying in the Contemporary Resort and decided to have a No Theme Park Day. So since me and my girl will be at the Resort all day, I'm planning to get us reservations at Chef Mickeys & California Grill. We plan on going to the Magic Kingdom the next day, so going to make a reservation at Be Our Guest, Crystal Palace & The Plaza, like that. We want to keep things as simple for us as possible.

 

[Tom]

Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback, can't wait till next month, it's a great reminder that my trip is just around the corner. LOL. And to answer your question sjhym333, yeah me and my girl are staying in the parks for that corresponding restaurant, we didn't get the Park Hopper. So the first day we're there, we're staying in the Contemporary Resort and decided to have a No Theme Park Day. So since me and my girl will be at the Resort all day, I'm planning to get us reservations at Chef Mickeys & California Grill. We plan on going to the Magic Kingdom the next day, so going to make a reservation at Be Our Guest, Crystal Palace & The Plaza, like that. We want to keep things as simple for us as possible.

Good plan!

And when you go to book your FastPasses 4 months later, it will warn you if you've scheduled one too close to a Dining Reservation, which is a nice feature. You want to make sure you allow plenty of time for your Table Service meals, so you don't miss a FastPass, or vice versa.

 

[CJLove79]

Good plan!

And when you go to book your FastPasses 4 months later, it will warn you if you've scheduled one too close to a Dining Reservation, which is a nice feature. You want to make sure you allow plenty of time for your Table Service meals, so you don't miss a FastPass, or vice versa.

Most definitely Tom, I've been planning every tiny detail out since last year and tightening certain things up when necessary. LOL. I think it was genius of Disney to have everybody do their Dining Reservations first before FastPasses. It makes it easy to plan the attractions around them.

For example, we're going to work in circles in every theme park we go to each day. Contempo Cafe for Breakfast since it's quick. Get to the Magic Kingdom for rope drop. We plan on hitting the major rides at rope drop going clockwise to Adventure Land first then Frontier Land, New Fantasy Land, end in Tomorrow Land and have Lunch at the Crystal Palace to complete the full circle. As far as FP go, I'ma follow the suggestions given by experts such as yourself and get them for later in the day. That way, we can walk to the Contemporary after Lunch, get some rest, hit the FP rides, have dinner after that and end with the parade and fireworks.

Planning this whole trip is fun, exhausting but very fun. LOL. I've read how a lot of people are getting stressed out about the planning and I thought to myself, "I'll be damn if I'm going to make this vacation difficult for us on our anniversary." I feel that the planning is the easy part but the EXECUTION of the plan is hard because Disney World can throw you curveballs. So I made myself plenty flexible so we won't stress much.

God, I can't wait till freakin October!!!! LOL.

 

[JohnD]

I choose "Breakfast," "Lunch," or "Dinner" first to see the timeframes that are offered then try specific times to pin down the timeframe I want.

If the restaurant is inside a park, yes, you need valid admission.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

As most of the posters here, my ADR list is made out WAY ahead of our 180 day (which is actually a holiday in this house LOL) For our *absolutely MUST DO restaurants*, I admit, I'm old fashioned, I call WDW-DINE to make sure I can fit them all in during our stay. From there, I work around my other desired restaurants on line. (for breakfast I put in 10:30, lunch 3:00, dinner 6:00) then will make my choice from the *times available*. As our vacation dates get closer, I tweak it a little here and there.

 

[BethG]

I always choose a specific time because I know when I want to eat. Whenever I have chosen 'dinner', for example, I always get really late times, around 9:00 pm.

I also wanted to say, Have a great trip! We own at BLT, so have stayed there several times. For me, one of the perks of being on the monorail line is the ease to get to the other monorail resorts for dining options. It is easy to take in a breakfast or dinner at Poly or GF.

 

[CJLove79]

I always choose a specific time because I know when I want to eat. Whenever I have chosen 'dinner', for example, I always get really late times, around 9:00 pm.

I also wanted to say, Have a great trip! We own at BLT, so have stayed there several times. For me, one of the perks of being on the monorail line is the ease to get to the other monorail resorts for dining options. It is easy to take in a breakfast or dinner at Poly or GF.

Thanks BethG, we most definitely will and I chose the Contemporary because when I was little, I would beg my parents to go to the "Triangle building", that's what I called it back then. LOL. We never went, we stayed at a Ramada Inn off site and we never went there to visit, we strictly went to both EPCOT & the Magic Kingdom when it was just those 2 theme parks. So ever since then, I made a promise to myself that I will go to that "Triangle building" and thankfully, I have the resources, aka Money, to be able to do that. LOL. So yeah, I'm with you on the monorail as a major perk but another perk is fulfilling a childhood dream.

Thanks for your suggestion DisneyDebNJ, I MIGHT call in at some point but honestly I'd want to make the Dining reservations myself online. I'm fiercely independent when it comes to planning vacations and would want to call in only if there's an issue I can't resolve. Plus, from what I've read on various forums and sites like here, the online ADR service opens an hour earlier than the Disney Call Center. So I'd want to make sure I use that knowledge and opportunity to its fullest advantage, but that's just me of course. I'm not knocking you calling the Cast Members at all, to each his or her own.

 

[JohnD]

Thanks BethG, we most definitely will and I chose the Contemporary because when I was little, I would beg my parents to go to the "Triangle building", that's what I called it back then. LOL. We never went, we stayed at a Ramada Inn off site and we never went there to visit, we strictly went to both EPCOT & the Magic Kingdom when it was just those 2 theme parks. So ever since then, I made a promise to myself that I will go to that "Triangle building" and thankfully, I have the resources, aka Money, to be able to do that. LOL. So yeah, I'm with you on the monorail as a major perk but another perk is fulfilling a childhood dream.

Thanks for your suggestion DisneyDebNJ, I MIGHT call in at some point but honestly I'd want to make the Dining reservations myself online. I'm fiercely independent when it comes to planning vacations and would want to call in only if there's an issue I can't resolve. Plus, from what I've read on various forums and sites like here, the online ADR service opens an hour earlier than the Disney Call Center. So I'd want to make sure I use that knowledge and opportunity to its fullest advantage, but that's just me of course. I'm not knocking you calling the Cast Members at all, to each his or her own.

Believe it or not CG is easier to get than BOG! You shouldn't have any problem getting it. If you happen to get your ADR in the early evening, you'll be allowed to come back and see the MK fireworks from their outside decks.