Tips For Booking Disney Dining
Before your 180 day mark: (Some of these have already been done for you/ by you)
Exactly 180 days from the day you check in, be ready to book your preferred dining locations online at 6:00 am ET at DisneyWorld.com/dining/. Booking online gives you a one hour jump over calling for reservations.
Restaurants That Require a Credit Card Guarantee or Prepayment
The following locations require full prepayment in advance, using a credit card. Generally, if you don’t cancel them by two days before the event, you get no refund. Check their cancellation terms carefully, as they can change any time.
All other table-service dining locations that take reservations require a credit card guarantee. Your credit card will be charged $10 per person ($25 per person for Victoria & Albert’s) if you don’t either show up for the reservation or cancel by the previous day. The latest you can cancel and avoid the charge is 11:59 pm Eastern Time of the night before, though there is no one answering the phones after 11:00 pm, so to cancel after that point you would need to do it online.
Note that if some of your party can’t make the reservation, that’s not a problem. As long as at least one person shows up to take the reservation, no one will be charged the fee.
*Restaurants You Really Must Book in Advance
If you want to attend the Cinderella’s Royal Table Character Breakfast or Be Our Guest Dinner, it is critical to either book online or call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) at 7:00 am ET, 180 days in advance. It sells out within minutes each day when reservations open. (Lunch and dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table sell out quickly, too.) Full prepayment in advance is required for Cinderella’s Royal Table.
The Chef’s Table at Victoria and Albert’s in the Grand Floridian Resort also sells out every morning, exactly 180 days in advance. There is only one Chef’s Table seating each night and it is not available Wednesdays and Fridays. We recommend you book online but you can also call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) at 7:00 am ET, 180 days in advance.
Reservations are required for these locations — you will never get a walk-up table (or rarely enough that it’s not worth counting on it):
Tips and Tricks For Online Booking
The ability to book 180+10 days online, for guests staying on property, is not working consistently on Disney’s new website. If it doesn’t work for you, you’ll have to make your +10 days of reservations by phone at (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) starting at 7:00 am ET.
If you can’t get an ADR for one of the more popular locations such as Cinderella’s Royal Table, keep trying each day at the 180 day mark. It is rumored that Disney opens up more tables exactly 180 days prior to the day you want to dine.
You might find better availability for the more popular locations such as Chef Mickey’s, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Le Cellier and 1900 Park Fare if you check starting on the last day of your reservation and work your way backward toward the beginning. Earlier dates get sold out first because people arriving before you whose vacation overlaps your stay grabbed those ADRs during their 180 + 10 window.
Print out a list of your ADR confirmation numbers and bring it with you to each dining location, or save it as a PDF and email it to yourself so you can access it from your smartphone. Better safe than sorry.
Canceling Reservations
Dining reservations made online can be canceled online or on the phone. Dining reservations made over the phone typically need to be canceled over the phone. To cancel online, log into My Disney Experience and if the dining reservation is not already linked to your account, link it using the “link a reservation” feature. You’ll need the confirmation code you were given when you made the reservation. Once your reservation is linked, just click the “cancel reservation” link next to the reservation in question. To cancel over the phone, call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) or (407) WDW-CNCL (939-2625).
If you know the same day that you won’t be able to make the reservation, but can make an earlier or later time, you can call the reservation line and ask if there is any availability earlier or later. Typically, there is no charge to move the reservation time for the same restaurant. Changing from one restaurant to another, however, will typically incur the cancellation charge.
If you miss your reservation but you are able to get to the restaurant within an hour or two afterward, stop by and explain your circumstances to the Cast Members at the check-in desk. They might waive the fee if you have a really good excuse (sick kid, bus broke down). This is entirely at the management’s discretion. You can also call the dining line and explain the situation, but there are no guarantees that they will waive the fee.
Important tip: Cancelling a Disney resort reservation does not automatically cancel your Advance Dining Reservations! Just because you cancelled your room or package doesn’t mean your dining reservations were cancelled. You will need to cancel each of them separately or face a flurry of no-show fees.
- Go to DisneyWorld.com/dining/ to familiarize yourself with the Disney restaurants and the dining system. For any restaurant that takes reservations, you can click on the restaurant name and then on the resulting page, look in the right hand column for menus. Make a list of your preferred dining locations.
- Create a daily itinerary, including which park you will tour and where you plan to eat. This site is useful when scheduling your days: DisneyWorld.com/calendars/To help you figure out which restaurants to choose, select The Disney Food Blog.
- Make a list of all the reservations you need. Put the hard to get* restaurants at the top of the list. Pick some alternates in case you can’t get all of your first choices.
- If you don’t already have an account set up on DisneyWorld.com, do so (use the “Sign in or Create Account” link in the upper right corner of the site).
- Since you are staying on property, link your room or package reservation to your account. Log in and go to My Disney Experience at the upper right. Use the pull down menu to select My Reservations and follow the directions from there. The purpose of linking your account is so that you’ll qualify to book Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) for 180 + 10 days from your arrival date.
Exactly 180 days from the day you check in, be ready to book your preferred dining locations online at 6:00 am ET at DisneyWorld.com/dining/. Booking online gives you a one hour jump over calling for reservations.
- Have a credit card ready. (See below for a list of locations that require a credit card guarantee.)
- Log into your account.
- Choose your first restaurant and open the page for it.
- You’ll see a blue box marked “Check Availability” on the right, about halfway down the page. Pick your date and number of people in your party.
- Promptly at 6:00 am ET, click “Find a Table” and start making your reservations.
Restaurants That Require a Credit Card Guarantee or Prepayment
The following locations require full prepayment in advance, using a credit card. Generally, if you don’t cancel them by two days before the event, you get no refund. Check their cancellation terms carefully, as they can change any time.
- Cinderella’s Royal Table
- Hoop Dee Doo Revue
- Spirit of Aloha Luau
- Mickey’s Backyard BBQ
All other table-service dining locations that take reservations require a credit card guarantee. Your credit card will be charged $10 per person ($25 per person for Victoria & Albert’s) if you don’t either show up for the reservation or cancel by the previous day. The latest you can cancel and avoid the charge is 11:59 pm Eastern Time of the night before, though there is no one answering the phones after 11:00 pm, so to cancel after that point you would need to do it online.
Note that if some of your party can’t make the reservation, that’s not a problem. As long as at least one person shows up to take the reservation, no one will be charged the fee.
*Restaurants You Really Must Book in Advance
If you want to attend the Cinderella’s Royal Table Character Breakfast or Be Our Guest Dinner, it is critical to either book online or call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) at 7:00 am ET, 180 days in advance. It sells out within minutes each day when reservations open. (Lunch and dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table sell out quickly, too.) Full prepayment in advance is required for Cinderella’s Royal Table.
The Chef’s Table at Victoria and Albert’s in the Grand Floridian Resort also sells out every morning, exactly 180 days in advance. There is only one Chef’s Table seating each night and it is not available Wednesdays and Fridays. We recommend you book online but you can also call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) at 7:00 am ET, 180 days in advance.
Reservations are required for these locations — you will never get a walk-up table (or rarely enough that it’s not worth counting on it):
- Be Our Guest Restaurant in Magic Kingdom
- California Grill in the Contemporary Resort
- Victoria and Albert’s in the Grand Floridian Resort
- Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue and Mickey’s Backyard BBQ dinner shows at Ft. Wilderness (both require full prepayment in advance)
- Spirit of Aloha Luau dinner show at the Polynesian Resort (requires full prepayment in advance)
Tips and Tricks For Online Booking
The ability to book 180+10 days online, for guests staying on property, is not working consistently on Disney’s new website. If it doesn’t work for you, you’ll have to make your +10 days of reservations by phone at (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) starting at 7:00 am ET.
If you can’t get an ADR for one of the more popular locations such as Cinderella’s Royal Table, keep trying each day at the 180 day mark. It is rumored that Disney opens up more tables exactly 180 days prior to the day you want to dine.
You might find better availability for the more popular locations such as Chef Mickey’s, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Le Cellier and 1900 Park Fare if you check starting on the last day of your reservation and work your way backward toward the beginning. Earlier dates get sold out first because people arriving before you whose vacation overlaps your stay grabbed those ADRs during their 180 + 10 window.
Print out a list of your ADR confirmation numbers and bring it with you to each dining location, or save it as a PDF and email it to yourself so you can access it from your smartphone. Better safe than sorry.
Canceling Reservations
Dining reservations made online can be canceled online or on the phone. Dining reservations made over the phone typically need to be canceled over the phone. To cancel online, log into My Disney Experience and if the dining reservation is not already linked to your account, link it using the “link a reservation” feature. You’ll need the confirmation code you were given when you made the reservation. Once your reservation is linked, just click the “cancel reservation” link next to the reservation in question. To cancel over the phone, call (407) WDW-DINE (939-3463) or (407) WDW-CNCL (939-2625).
If you know the same day that you won’t be able to make the reservation, but can make an earlier or later time, you can call the reservation line and ask if there is any availability earlier or later. Typically, there is no charge to move the reservation time for the same restaurant. Changing from one restaurant to another, however, will typically incur the cancellation charge.
If you miss your reservation but you are able to get to the restaurant within an hour or two afterward, stop by and explain your circumstances to the Cast Members at the check-in desk. They might waive the fee if you have a really good excuse (sick kid, bus broke down). This is entirely at the management’s discretion. You can also call the dining line and explain the situation, but there are no guarantees that they will waive the fee.
Important tip: Cancelling a Disney resort reservation does not automatically cancel your Advance Dining Reservations! Just because you cancelled your room or package doesn’t mean your dining reservations were cancelled. You will need to cancel each of them separately or face a flurry of no-show fees.
