What's the secret to getting reservations?

[Batphobic]

Hi all - had a weird experience trying to book Mama Melrose's so we could get priority seating for Fantasmic.

I was told when I booked my vacation (many months in advance) that I would not be able to book dining until 90 days prior to the vacation - no sooner.

So - 95 days prior (or so) we planned where we wanted to go.

Exactly 90 days prior I called and the place was completely booked!

What did I do wrong? What can I do differently next time?? :shrug:

 

[WDW_Emily]

Back at the end of October, the date got changed to 180 days out. So I booked at the end of October for our Trip in April. that could have been it

 

[Batphobic]

Weird - we called in our reservations in September (for December - leaving in a few weeks!).

But that's good to know - for the next trip maybe it'll help to be able to reserve so far in advance.

 

[lumpydj]

Something else that can play into the booked reservations is the 90 + 10 (or 180+10). What that means is that you can call 90 (or 180) days from the beginning of your trip and if you're staying on-property, you can book reservations for the next 10 days - without having to call 90 (or 180) days from each day. The reservations you were trying to get were probably booked up from everyone calling up to 10 days before you and being able to book for their entire vacation.

 

[Monty]

If you booked off-site, then 90 days was the earliest you could book for each day of your stay. If your vacation booking was for on-site, then you may have been somewhat misinformed. You would have been [at that time] entitled to use the 90+10 window, which means at 90 days prior to your check-in date you could book for the full length of your stay up to ten days.

If you called at 90 days to book the whole vacation and still couldn't get Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic! dinner package, it may be the restaurant was already booked by people who had longer vacations and called before you or perhaps the restaurant was booked that prticular night for a private function. It's hard to know.

As of 27 October, they reverted to using the 180+10 ADR booking window.

 

[DisneyJoe]

had a weird experience trying to book Mama Melrose's so we could get priority seating for Fantasmic.

Exactly 90 days prior I called and the place was completely booked!

With Fantasmic running with a more limited schedule, ADR's for the Fantasmic Dinner Package have been booking extremely quickly.

Did you try booking it without the dinner package?

 

[disney4life2008]

I feel your pain. on Wednesday, I will be at the airport at 5am awaiting to board my flight to Orlando and calling WDW-DINE to make ressies for May, lol.

 

[yankspy]

I have also found that trying non-traditional times works really well also. I know that does not apply in regards to the OP question but I have been extremely lucky in getting ADR's or even walkups using this method.

 

[amaley01]

There are always cancellations, so I suggest that continue to call with alternative times or restaurants. Even at check-in visit the concierge desk and ask. H&V is a good buffet :slurp: & offers the Fantasmic package
good luck

 

[GaBookworm]

Last December we werre able to walk into Mama Melrose's and get a reservation for one hour later, for lunch.

:xmas::xmas:

 

[LovingDisney]

I too started calling at the exact 90 day mark and did not get a few ressies that I wanted. I just keep trying for them. I was lucky last week and got into Chef Mickey's. I would suggest keep trying online every day. Good luck.

 

[Mystic]

Also if you want to dine at any of the more popular restaurants (i.e. Le Cellier, Chef Mickey's) the best thing to do is to put them at the end of your trip so that when you are booking them, the people who have trips before yours and have already called in their reservations/booked online haven't booked up those dates.

Also another good tip is BE FLEXIBLE. Be willing to take a non-traditional dining time. It's much easier to get early/late seating at a restaurant than it is to get a traditional time of 6pm.

 

[Zummi Gummi]

Check online every day. The ability to do this is infinitely more convenient than having to call and talk to an agent every day.

 

[WineForNewbies]

Is the online reservation system as timely as a live person? In other words, can it instantly tell me the reservation is not available so I can try other times?

 

[lilclerk]

Is the online reservation system as timely as a live person? In other words, can it instantly tell me the reservation is not available so I can try other times?

Yes it will. Once you select a restaurant/time, it will either add it to your cart if available or come back with other suggestions if not available.

 

[toolsnspools]

The online reservation systems was completely locked up by 6:15am on October 27. We are going in Feb, so our vacation is included in the window when they bumped the booking window up from 90 to 180. We were lucky and got through on the phone shortly after the phone lines opened. We filled every sit-down meal on our DDP in about 10 minutes on the phone.

My recommendation is to have a list of reservations that you want for the entire week ready, and put the hardest meals to book at the top of the list. Make sure you have a few extras on the list in case you don't get your favorites. If we weren't ready with a list of alternatives when we were on the phone, it may have been hours before we got back through.

Another thing I have heard is to find out when the end of the "cancel-without-a-penalty" window is for that particular meal, and call back around the time of that window. You might get lucky and pick up a reservation that someone has had to cancel.

 

[dreamfinder]

Just keep trying. Always try for your high priority meals first, and try different days and times. And if you don't get them at first, try again later. People do cancel and plans do change, so new spots could open up at any time. I have gotten reservations 10 minutes before the time slot and had to run across the parks to get there.