The importance of pre booking...

[Halloweenhead]

So, my girlfriend and I are making our first trip to Disney in April 2015 for 15 nights, we have already booked dinner at Be Our Guest and breakfast at Chef Mickeys but how much do we have to book in advance and how much can I do when we are there? As we have never been before, we have no idea of which restaurants we'd like to visit (and at which times). Is pre booking before your holiday essential? If we wait until we are there, will most places be fully booked? Same goes for the FastPass tickets, can we just do that once we are at the resort or will all the FastPass tickets be gone by then? Thanks

 

[DisneyRoy]

If there are any sit down places you want to eat...pre-booking in this day and age is pretty essential. I have never been able to get a walk up table at a table service. FastPasses can be hit or miss. The ones that really require pre-booking right now are Anna/Elsa M&G and the 7DMT. Everything else should have some availability day of. However, I would still pre-book anything that you want to do. But that's more my OCD planning than anything else...

 

[Master Yoda]

As @DisneyRoy pointed out, reserving and table service dining is essential, especially if you are particular about where you eat or are using a dining plan. The only place were you can really wing it anymore is Epcot, but you will have to take whatever is available and you will still want to make a reservation the day of or before.

Fastpass + is a little more flexible as they supposedly release availability on a staggered schedule leaving some for day of. However, you will have a much better chance of getting what you want, when you want it if you reserve early and stand by is always an option.

 

[Halloweenhead]

What about for downtown disney? Is it easier to get a table there?

 

[Master Yoda]

What about for downtown disney? Is it easier to get a table there?

A little, but the same rules apply. If a place takes reservations make one. You might get lucky, but there is a greater chance that you will be told that it is an hour +/- wait or there is no availability.

A good deal will depend on when you are traveling. If you are traveling during peak season or during a free dining promotion, walk up dining will be near impossible. It gets a little easier if you are traveling during a value season, but not by much.

 

[Halloweenhead]

Thanks for the replies, we travel 30th March until 15th April...... Sorry for all the questions, but to say, if we have a walk around downtown Disney and think, 'oh we'd like to eat here tonight/tommorow' is it highly likely it'll already be fully booked? I guess I'm just trying to find out whether I can check out what the places look like in real life etc before we book or does it all need to be booked before the trip.....

 

[Master Yoda]

Thanks for the replies, we travel 30th March until 15th April...... Sorry for all the questions, but to say, if we have a walk around downtown Disney and think, 'oh we'd like to eat here tonight/tommorow' is it highly likely it'll already be fully booked? I guess I'm just trying to find out whether I can check out what the places look like in real life etc before we book or does it all need to be booked before the trip.....

That will be a fairly busy time of year making dining availability on the scarce side.

There is a vast amount of info on the internet regarding Disney restaurants. This site has a very good dining section, as does All Ears and The Disney Food Blog. Those three sources will tell you more about the restaurants in WDW than you will ever need to know and will make choosing a restaurant from afar much easier.

If you have a smart phone, the My Magic App can access and reserve dining for you in a snap. Disney also has property wide wi-fi which will avoid an excessive bill if you are coming from overseas.

The app can search for availability at a single restaurant an entire area (eg DownTown Disney, Epcot, etc) or property wide. I would download it now and play around with it so you are familiar with it by your trip.

Baring that you can simply call Disney Dining to make reservations or go to guest services.

 

[Weather_Lady]

What about for downtown disney? Is it easier to get a table there?

Keep in mind that restaurants at DTD, and others operated by outside companies (e.g., Raglan Road, Rainforest Cafe) reserve only a portion of their seats for Disney guests. If you go to make an ADR and find that none are available, try calling the restaurant directly (you can get the numbers off of their non-Disney websites) and making a reservation.

Still, the best advice is to act quickly! Make your ADRs as soon as possible. If you change your mind later, you can try to change them to another venue or time, but in the meantime, you can be assured that you won't be completely shut out.

 

[BrianV]

Prebook whatever you will be really sad if you miss. For the rest, wing I or do quick serve. You can use my magic app to see what is available the day of. There is always something in Epcot somewhere. I would imagine dtd is similar. That would not be the case in places like MK where there are fewer places to eat.

 

[wannabeBelle]

I would agree with the pre-book people. I usually travel solo so I can be really flexible and last year in November during one of the "slower" times, I was having a hard time finding open restaurants on the day of. Restaurants that are at the resorts, such as Maya Grill, Boatwrights and Captain's Grill are usually not too bad for day of but are a bit off the beaten path. Marie