What is the latest date to make priority seating arrangements for Disneyworld’s dining plan?
December 16, 2009 by GroovieT
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We will be going to Disneyworld in 3 weeks and are thinking about getting the dining plan. Will all the good table service restaurants be booked up? We are staying for a week. Can some of your reservations be made while you are there? I don’t really want all my vacation plans centered around food! What is the typical wait with a reservation anyway? Thanks.
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Unfortunately, because the dining plan has been so popular, you pretty much have to have priority seating to get in. It’s not uncommon for everything to get completely booked, especially at the time you are going. I would call Disney direct and tell them you are thinking about the plan and ask if any seating is available. You can always eat counter service, of course, but if you do that the dining plan isn’t worth it.
You used to be able to make reservations while you were there, but you really can’t anymore. This close to your vacation, I’ll bet you won’t have much luck. I don’t like my vacations centered around food, either, so I choose to just eat counter service. If the nice restaurants are important to you, though, you need to call right away. Good luck!
You should make all your dining reservations as early as possible. For the most prized dining experiences–character dining, they book up as far as 180 days in advance, and they will fill up quickly. With a reservation, you’ll usually wait about 5-10 minutes before being seated. As a travel agent who specializes in Disney, I make all the dining reservations for my clients. You might want to contact your agent to help you with this. I would not recommend waiting until you arrive to make reservations, since it is not uncommon for all the restaurants to be booked. If you need additional help, feel free to contact me.
There is no cut off date, you can call that morning from your hotel. The problem is finding a place with an openning. On our trips we schedule months ahead of time. Disney used to not let you make reservations until 90 days ahead. Thanfully they now let you make them 5 months ahead. We called in March for November days and got everthing we wanted, I called back two months later to attempt to add two more people and had to settle on some days, on others we ate very early or very late. Make the call ASAP.
All I can say is call call call and do it now. 407-WDW-DINE. I am currently helping a family plan their June WDW vacation and most of the locations they wanted to dine at are booked solid the entire week they are there. June, July and early to mid August are always busy at Disney. You can make a dining reservation from inside the park. You can also visit your hotel concierge desk (if staying at a Disney hotel) and they can arrange reservations for you. But for all table service and character meal dining options, you’ll want to make those reservations ASAP. They open at 7am EST and close around 9pm EST. Good luck!
Be sure to check out http://www.easybreezyplanning.com as well for your Disney vacation! You can sign up for the free E-newsletter, read up on fun tips and advice and even receive Disney Vacation Planning assistance! Have a fun trip!