Disney Dining and Availability

Hi guys! Im pre-booking all of my dinners through disneyworld.com and the new myDisneyExperience App, and noticed, that certain restuarants, namely 'Ohana and Be Our Guest show very little IF ANY availability even as far out as nights in mid-September, is it worth it/will I have better luck calling Disney directly to secure a table?
 

docdebbi

Well-Known Member
Yes, I am not surprised about the limited availability at both of these restaurants. BOG is the hardest reservation in WDW, add to that, during September the Halloween party occurs many nights. On these nights, BOG is only open for dinner for a few hours as it is not open during the party. Or at Least that is how it was at Christmas, the only holiday it has been open for so far.
Obama is usually hard to get but I'm not sure that hard. I would keep checking for that one for a cancelation, and consider BOG for lunch, not as fancy but still a great experience and you get in the castle. Enough to melt any kids heart. Lunch was very tasty and a great experience. I recommend not lining up with everyone else when the park opens, I went at 130 and waited only 15 minutes
 
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Pooh Lover

Well-Known Member
BOG is definitely the hot ticket right now so it should be expected to be hard to get for probably at least the next year or so. Ohana is another very popular reservation and should probably be booked at the 180 mark. If you are beyond that, either be flexible on your days and times or keep checking back, especially closer to your trip when those with multiple bookings will start to drop their extras.
 
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disneyfan1995

Well-Known Member
BOG is almost impossible to get unless you're on the phone when reservations start on the morning of your 180 day mark. Ohana can be somewhat difficult to get but I'd suggest calling to see if cast member could help you secure better reservation times.
 
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luv

Well-Known Member
BOG is new and wildly popular. People call up at 7:00 on the dot to book it months out. It's just crazy. Some restaurants in WDW get popular and getting a table becomes a lot of work, lol. Generally, these restaurants aren't any better than the others, just more popular with Disney fans. So if you don't get to go there, don't worry that you've missed the best meal of all time. You haven't. You've just skipped a popular place.

Ohana is a popular one, too. So is Chef Mickey and Garden Grill and a few others.

Keep trying. You never know when something will open up. I cancelled a BOG reservation a day before I was scheduled. :)
 
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Kristamouse

Well-Known Member
Yes, I am not surprised about the limited availability at both of these restaurants. BOG is the hardest reservation in WDW, add to that, during September the Halloween party occurs many nights. On these nights, BOG is only open for dinner for a few hours as it is not open during the party. Or at Least that is how it was at Christmas, the only holiday it has been open for so far.
Obama is usually hard to get but I'm not sure that hard. I would keep checking for that one for a cancelation, and consider BOG for lunch, not as fancy but still a great experience and you get in the castle. Enough to melt any kids heart. Lunch was very tasty and a great experience. I recommend not lining up with everyone else when the park opens, I went at 130 and waited only 15 minutes
I bet an Obama Dinner in MK is next to impossible to book;)
 
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Monty

Brilliant...and Canadian
In the Parks
No
BoG is popular mainly because it's new. The food is good, being able to buy alcohol is novel and The Beast does a walk-through every so often [at least at Dinner, I haven't been for lunch].

'Ohana is popular for characters and atmosphere. I personally find the food overcooked to the point of being inedible, but some folks swear it's the best meal they've ever had.

Both book up at or before the 180-day from check-in point. I'd suggest checking a couple of times a week as you approach your vacation. Check particularly around the 45-day and 5-day mark, when people are cancelling vacations before they have to pay a penalty [packages incur a penalty if cancelled within 45 days and room-only lose their deposit if cancelling within 5 days]. Then check again 2 or 3 days in advance for ADR cancellations when people call to avoid the credit card charge on restaurants that charge for no-shows.
 
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PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
I'm not surprised that BOG and Ohana are booked. Ohana always books up quickly once 180 days hit. Since you said you're looking at mid September, 180 for those dates have come and gone. Keep checking back though because cancellations do happen and bookings do open up. Hopefully you can get in :)
 
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HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
I personally don't see any advantage in calling vs. going online UNLESS the website is being buggy. If you're willing to stalk the site, you may be able to get an ADR for 'Ohana and possibly BoG- better luck coming closer to travel time. Just thinking it's a lot easier to check the web many times over the course of a day vs. calling all day. Ultimately, as other people have noted- 'Ohana is extremely popular and BoG is the most difficult ADR to snag at WDW.
 
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SMS55

Well-Known Member
Try calling. I usually make any ADR with a lot less than 180 days and online I usually have an issue with time or date, but when I call I almost always get the times I want. I just booked Chef Mickey's at 107 days out and I've done it at like 60 days out too. Having said that, I don't go during peek times either. We have seasonals, so we don't go during heavy crowd times. You are going in September so you should be ok too.
 
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CLandrum

Active Member
We called and spoke with someone about BOG. Even if someone cancels that cancelation is not being put back into the reservation system. She believes this is because they are over booking it as it is. She said our best bet would be to just go for lunch :( This was for September. Also free dining is going to be offered for 2 weeks in September so a lot of restaurants are booked solid.
 
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