Making Advance Dining Reservations At Walt Disney World

POSTED: Tue, 01/06/2015 - 06:00 | POSTED BY: Kristen Kirk

A new year brings new travels and a new reason to make Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs) for the Walt Disney World Resort. It's the time of year when Disney fans and Disney neophytes begin to turn their thoughts towards summer vacation, and the best time to decide what you're going to eat. That may sound like extreme planning for folks that travel outside of the Vacation Kingdom, but Disney regulars know that if you want a seat at the most popular eateries during the summer you've got to get a jump on the crowds and make your reservations at 180 days.

Making Walt Disney World Advance Dining Reservations

Reservations are taken for all table service restaurants, that's Disney speak for a restaurant where you are seated at a table and waited on by a server. 180 days out (that's roughly 6 months in advance of your travel) is the general date that Walt Disney World opens up it's reservation system and allows Guests to reserve a table.

ADRs can be made through your travel agent, by Disney Vacation Club Member Services, or by calling 407-WDW-DINE and speaking with a Disney dining agent. However what we're going to walk you through today is making your ADR online with MyDisneyExperience at waltdisneyworld.com.

More Than 80 Table Service Dining Options

Head to waltdisneyworld.com and click on the tab marked "Things to Do." This is going to be your hub for finding all sorts of fun for your vacation. Locate "Dining" on the drop down menu and click on "Make Reservations."

This will bring you to the "Dining" page, here you'll select the area which you want to search for dining reservations. You can search "All Parks & Resorts" or narrow your search by selecting specific areas where you know you need to eat. For instance if you want a good restaurant to eat at on the day you are in the Magic Kingdom, you may want to select "Magic Kingdom Park" and maybe check the resorts that are on the monorail loop to narrow your search.

First Narrow Down Your Search Area

Next, choose the date on which you are looking to find a table. As I mentioned ADRs open up for everyone 180 days out from the search date. However, Guests staying on property at one of the Walt Disney World Resorts get the added perk of being allowed to make their reservations at 180 + 10. This allows Disney Resort Guests to make reservations before the general public, and for most of their trip in one session.

Then Choose A Date! ADRs Open 180 Days In Advance

After you have selected your date, it's time to chose a time. The system allows you to pick a specific dining time, or search under the more general "Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner" headings. I usually start out by choosing a specific time, however if no tables are available at the time I want, I search the general terms to see if one is available during a different dining window. The closer to 180 days you make your ADRs the more availability there will be to get the seating you desire. It's not unusual for table service dining to book up during the busy summer months and walk up seating is not always available.

Choose A General Time During Peak Seasons

Next Disney needs to know how many people the reservation will be made for. If you aren't entirely sure of your party size, take your best guess and make it for the larger number. It is much easier for Disney to prep for a group of six and seat five than the other way around. As long as the majority of the party shows up for the reservation, you will not be charged a cancellation fee to your credit card.

Select The Size Of Your Party

Hit the green button on the right hand side of your screen that says "Find A Table", and let the website go to work. It's going to search through its database of available restaurants and dining times and come back to offer you suggestions for restaurants that match to what you're looking for as close as possible . It will show you the restaurants that have tables available on the date that you want, and give you 1-3 times that have a table for your party available.

If you don't see anything that quite tickles your fancy, you can re-enter the search criteria and expand it a bit. If there is something that interests you click on the button for the time that you want.

View Which Restaurants Have Seating Available

At this point waltdisneyworld.com is going to have you sign in to your "MyDisneyExperience" Account. This account is your one stop shop for all Walt Disney World Resorts reservations, with access to your hotel, tickets, FatPass+ and dining reservations at Disney locations. The online portal connects seamlessly with the MyDisneyExperience App for your smart phone, so that you can manage all your Disney Reservations on the go.

If you haven't signed up for a MyDisneyExperience account yet - now is the time to do it. If you don't want to sign up for an account, you'll have to use one of the other methods that we discussed to make your ADRs.

Sign Into Your MyDisneyExperience Account

Once you are signed into your account, the website will ask you to pick a manager for the reservation. This person will be the only one allowed to make changes to the ADR. It will also ask you to connect the guest accounts of everyone who will be dining. If the guests traveling with you haven't yet made MyDisneyExperience Accounts, or you will be meeting someone for dinner who is not traveling with you there is the option to leave it blank. The hit the "Next" button.

Confirm What Guests Will Be Dining

You're almost done. Finally, you will need to put a credit card down for your reservation. If guests fail to provide a 24-hour notice of a cancellation their card will be charged $10 per person. To avoid this cancellation fee - be sure to cancel your reservations well in advance.

Once that information has been entered, hit the "Next" button to confirm your reservation.

Credit Cards Are Require for All Reservations

Voila! You have a reservation! The next thing you'll see is your confirmation number. It's always a good idea to write this down and keep it with other important travel information for the trip.