No reservations available?

[L. Santana]

Is it me, or is it almost impossible to make reservations at Walt Disney restaurants?
Im looking for Oct or Nov with no luck for dinner shows, etc.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

They have been available to book now for around 3-4 months.......

Thanksgiving at the end of November will see more people visiting WDW and requiring a table

 

[bee]

It has certainly become more and more difficult over time, especially so close to the date(s) of travel. Do you have a large party? Dinner shows fill up quickly and of course the larger the party the more difficult it is to get a reservation. Keep checking for cancellations, consider going at less popular times, and consider making reservations at less popular restaurants so you at least know you have plans. Then if a cancelled reservation is released back into the system you can reserve for the restaurant or dinner show you want. Good luck!

 

[sxeensweet]

Most of the popular places and dinner shows book at 180 days out. Now that you are around 60-90 days it is a lot harder to come by. Especially at this time of year Sept-December. Not impossible but a lot harder. Keep looking every day and even more as it gets closer when cancelations start to happen more as the deadline approaches for changes etc.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

As others have noted...with dining opening up at the 180 mark, the pickings are fairly slim for popular things - especially the closer you get to travel dates. Still, I guess it depends on your travel dates and party size. We're going in November and there are still slots open most days for Hoop De Doo and Spirit of Aloha.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Any time free dining is offered those slots are booked up pretty fast.

 

[lighteningqueen]

I booked at 180 I am on day 71 and cannot add anything everything is booked to add my daughter and granddaughter on for 3 days. I have to pay for the dining cos we are all in the same room but cannot use it.. so sad she is 5 and wanted a character meal and (we) both my daughter 38 try everyday and not a thing anywhere.. What a waste of money for her. I will use the TS up on the ones I overbooked on and going to pay pout of pocket for but this is sad not even one seat available week of Nov 11-20

 

[bee]

I booked at 180 I am on day 71 and cannot add anything everything is booked to add my daughter and granddaughter on for 3 days. I have to pay for the dining cos we are all in the same room but cannot use it.. so sad she is 5 and wanted a character meal and (we) both my daughter 38 try everyday and not a thing anywhere.. What a waste of money for her. I will use the TS up on the ones I overbooked on and going to pay pout of pocket for but this is sad not even one seat available week of Nov 11-20

Is there any way you could split the party? I don't know how many total you have in your party but it's always easier to get a reservation for 2 than it is for 6 (for instance).

 

[lighteningqueen]

Tried that even put one in nothing not a thing and Harper wanted to see Sophia at Hollywood and Vine, flying in from Texas. This is so sad. I got Tusker for lunch for the 5 of us. Tried just getting them the 3 by themselfs and nothing at Holly. They make us count the 18 month old baby so instead of 4 they have to call it 5

 

[bethymouse]

 

[DisneyJoe]

Be sure to try calling into the dining line, the online system isn't always the best. The dining CM's can sometimes see a wider range of availability than the online system will show you.

 

[horizons82]

If you have the time, patience and energy to keep checking for reservations, openings for seats will come and go all of the time, but even more so the closer it gets to the actual reservation date.

I realize that it's not very comforting having to possibly wait until the last week or two before your visit to get a reservation, but that is probably the best time to keep looking if you can't get one months out.

I'm a local and dine at WDW often, and very often it's last-minute. I've never had a place I wanted to eat at that I couldn't eventually get by checking over and over, even if it was not until the night before. Despite Be Our Guest often being out of reservations all of the time, both times I went to dinner I was able to find a reservation just 1-2 days out by checking for an opening as often as possible.

Good luck!

 

[seafoodbuffet]

A couple of other things to try:

• Start calling every day at about 30 days out. That's when people tend to cancel reservations. If you're flexible, there's a good chance you'll pick up one of these cancelled slots.
• While it can often be difficult, you could always try just walking up and seeing if they'll seat you. This probably won't fly at places like Cinderella's Royal Table or Be Our Guest, but we've gotten seated at other places after about a 30-minute wait. Compared to not eating there, you might find that preferable.
• Disney Food Blog has a nice article about the top restaurants and their alternatives. Worth a read: http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2013/...estaurants-and-alternatives-when-theyre-full/

 

[crispy]

That's weird. I made a bunch of dinner reservations for a party of 7 yesterday because we added the dining plan. We are 42 days from our trip. We were able to get Tusker House, Whispering Canyon, Grand Floridian Café, Kona, Via Napoli, and Chefs de France. I also saw a bunch of openings for Spirit of Aloha and Hoop de Doo.

The website was acting crazy yesterday so that may be part of your difficulty. Also, I get better luck when I choose the "dinner" or "lunch" option on the dragdown menu instead of a specific time.

 

[rob0519]

This is why going to WDW is no longer a vacation, but a survival game. They're marketed so well that you can't get a dinner reservation at 3 to 4 months out; not weeks, months! Most years my job schedule doesn't allow me to even consider booking a vacation 6 months in advance, so we end up scrambling for whatever dining locations and times we can get, which in turn then decided what park we were in and when. Now add that we have to somehow coordinate our attractions with impossible to get dining and quite frankly the entire process is simply becoming way more effort and stress than it is worth.

 

[virginia mom of 3]

I have been trying to get BOG dinner reservations for the last 3 months for our trip November 4-6. I have been checking at least 3 dozen times every day and no luck. It really is hit or miss but from everything I read--well worth it!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I have been trying to get BOG dinner reservations for the last 3 months for our trip November 4-6. I have been checking at least 3 dozen times every day and no luck. It really is hit or miss but from everything I read--well worth it!

Your odds for picking up ADRs should increase next month. I know some people say the 45 day mark, but I've found that those last 3 weeks are the magic time for picking up hard to get ADRs.