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priority seating
- Thread starter elena
- Start date
one kiss from Europe, Spain, Mallorca island.:kiss:
Scar Junior
Active Member
I am actually kind of upset about their P.S. system. I have called 3 times in 2 weeks and I have been put on hold for at least 15 minutes each time. I hang up when it takes that long. I think that is ridick. Anyone else have this problem?
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Pioneer Hall
Well-Known Member
I just hold out and wait. If you call early in the morning or late at night you don't get this problem. Also, does anyone know how far in advance they allow you to make reservations for breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table.
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Disneynutcase
New Member
I've just finished making Priority Seating reservations for my family's trip in early April at eight different eateries. I had no problem getting thru, no more than a 2-3 minute wait on hold, calling thru on several different days because I was following advice in most of the books that say to book 120 days in advance for all restaurants except for at MK. MK bookings are 60 days in advance.
Thus we booked our Epcot, AK, DS, and resort restaurant bookings in December and our MK restaurants last week--with our last PR being for the Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast. All CM's that I had talked to on my calls leading up to this last Friday morning warned me to call for the Cinderella Breakfast as soon as phone lines open which is 7:00am eastern and, for me, 4:00am in the Pacific time zone.
So, as a warning to those of you out there who need to do Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast: I was up at 3:45 am Pacific time, started my re-dailing at about 3:57, kept getting the "office is closed" message until it rang thru at about 4:01 am/7:01am Eastern. I got connected to a CM right away, placed my request for a party of 10...and was told that they were already booked full for the morning of April 9th.
After I pulled my jaw up off of the floor, I was told that they have about 40 operators going at 7:00am and that Priority Reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table Character Breakfast do indeed get booked that fast--the the first 25 or so callers lucky and fast enough to get thru get the reservations.
Luckily, I also had my brother-in-law calling at the same time from his house--he was speed-dialing on two phones--and he got us an 8:00am reservation. In other words, we got lucky! I went from feeling crushed to absolutely elated that we got in, because I feared that despite our efforts, we blew it.
So my advice to all of you is to get all phones that are available in your party speed dialing at 7:00am eastern if you want to get into this Character Breakfast. I'll let you guys know after I get back in mid-April if it was all worth it.
Thus we booked our Epcot, AK, DS, and resort restaurant bookings in December and our MK restaurants last week--with our last PR being for the Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast. All CM's that I had talked to on my calls leading up to this last Friday morning warned me to call for the Cinderella Breakfast as soon as phone lines open which is 7:00am eastern and, for me, 4:00am in the Pacific time zone.
So, as a warning to those of you out there who need to do Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast: I was up at 3:45 am Pacific time, started my re-dailing at about 3:57, kept getting the "office is closed" message until it rang thru at about 4:01 am/7:01am Eastern. I got connected to a CM right away, placed my request for a party of 10...and was told that they were already booked full for the morning of April 9th.
After I pulled my jaw up off of the floor, I was told that they have about 40 operators going at 7:00am and that Priority Reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table Character Breakfast do indeed get booked that fast--the the first 25 or so callers lucky and fast enough to get thru get the reservations.
Luckily, I also had my brother-in-law calling at the same time from his house--he was speed-dialing on two phones--and he got us an 8:00am reservation. In other words, we got lucky! I went from feeling crushed to absolutely elated that we got in, because I feared that despite our efforts, we blew it.
So my advice to all of you is to get all phones that are available in your party speed dialing at 7:00am eastern if you want to get into this Character Breakfast. I'll let you guys know after I get back in mid-April if it was all worth it.
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cm1988
Active Member
There's different ways to do priority seating.
If you're 1) staying in a WDW resort 2) at a busy time of year and 3) you have a particular restaurant you really want to try, you may be able to have the priority seating added to your reservation. Another option for Resort Guests is to call from your room phone... I believe there you can reserve up to 24 hours in advance, which should get you just about any time you want, except perhaps on a special holiday.
Other times, you can call 407 WDW DINE... same day or up to a day or two early. I've had good luck with that, though I see from another post here, others have been on hold for a while.
For the Epcot restaurants, you may want to just stop by Guest Relations (on the left, as you pass Spaceship Earth, entering the park). For the other parks, I'm not sure, and so would suggest you pick up a guide map as you enter and there should be a note about it (or ask any Cast Member as you enter).
If it's not too busy, you can walk up to the podium at most restaurants and book a prefered time directly.
Priority seatings replace the concept of 'reservation', but work pretty much the same. Actually, it now seems that you are more likely to be seated at the stated time (or earlier) than under the previous 'reservation' system. It's just not guaranteed.
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Disneynutcase
New Member
"cm1988" is telling you how to book priority seating for when you are actually on property at WDW. And although I've had experience long ago (as in 10 years ago) where I was able to get seatings for my restaurant of choice "day of" or maybe a day in advance, I'd be hesitant to try doing it now. You really should make advance reservations if:
1) you have your heart set on a particular restaurant, particularly a popular one like Cinderella's Royal Table or Chef Mickeys or one of the hot spots at Epcot.
2) you're going during a busy time of year for WDW, like Easter, Spring Break, or 3 day weekends.
3) you're part of a big group (most restaurants can easily seat parties of 6 or less, but from 7 people on up, it gets kind of tricky),
or 4) you really like to make as many plans concrete prior to your vacation.
As I stated in my earlier post, you can make priority seating reservations 120 days in advance at Epcot, AK, Disney Studios, and most resort hotel and downtown Disney restaurants. And at MK you can do it 60 days in advance. Do know that there are a few weird exceptions to the rule--like Hoop De Doo and the Luau Show can be done much more in advance (maybe 6 months to a year prior).
I had no problem calling through to Dining Services at (407) 939-3463--barely any hold time. And I'd highly recommend that people do so if they really want to nail down their dining.
I personally like to have it all booked so that there's little thought process while I'm at the parks--I enjoy the attractions better when I'm not trying to figure out lines for dining as well. I think it's nice to know in advance where we'll be eating for the day and at what time--makes getting break time and getting everyone in our 10 person party back together much easier.
But this may be too structured for some of you.
I also found that if you have any questions about certain restaurants that the CMs on the Dining line are very helpful and very informative about each and every eatery.
1) you have your heart set on a particular restaurant, particularly a popular one like Cinderella's Royal Table or Chef Mickeys or one of the hot spots at Epcot.
2) you're going during a busy time of year for WDW, like Easter, Spring Break, or 3 day weekends.
3) you're part of a big group (most restaurants can easily seat parties of 6 or less, but from 7 people on up, it gets kind of tricky),
or 4) you really like to make as many plans concrete prior to your vacation.
As I stated in my earlier post, you can make priority seating reservations 120 days in advance at Epcot, AK, Disney Studios, and most resort hotel and downtown Disney restaurants. And at MK you can do it 60 days in advance. Do know that there are a few weird exceptions to the rule--like Hoop De Doo and the Luau Show can be done much more in advance (maybe 6 months to a year prior).
I had no problem calling through to Dining Services at (407) 939-3463--barely any hold time. And I'd highly recommend that people do so if they really want to nail down their dining.
I personally like to have it all booked so that there's little thought process while I'm at the parks--I enjoy the attractions better when I'm not trying to figure out lines for dining as well. I think it's nice to know in advance where we'll be eating for the day and at what time--makes getting break time and getting everyone in our 10 person party back together much easier.
But this may be too structured for some of you.
I also found that if you have any questions about certain restaurants that the CMs on the Dining line are very helpful and very informative about each and every eatery.
Upvote
0