If you’re headed to Disney World soon, you probably have your eye on some Advance Dining Reservations at some really fun restaurants.
Magic Kingdom
It comes as no surprise, but dining is one of our favorite parts of a trip to Disney World (did our name give it away?). There are certainly some reservations that tend to be more difficult to get than others any day you try, but, right now, it seems like dining reservations are harder to get in general. Whether you’re trying to book Oga’s Cantina, Be Our Guest Restaurant, or even some of the less popular spots, why is it harder than ever to get a reservation for Disney World restaurants?
Social distancing has made for fewer tables at some of the most popular restaurants.
First of all, social distancing is certainly still the reality at Walt Disney World table service restaurants. At the time of writing, mask mandates have been lifted in outdoor areas of Disney World and social distancing is being relaxed as well. However, Disney has specified that in the areas where masks may be removed (like restaurants), social distancing will continue. That means the tables are still distanced 6 feet apart.
Crystal Palace in Disney’s Magic Kingdom
Distanced tables make for a pretty significant cut to the capacity of a restaurant. This has, of course, been the case since the reopening of Disney World last summer. Now, the issue is becoming more exacerbated as Disney World raises the overall park capacities and demand returns. MORE people with the same low amount of available tables=hot mess when it comes to booking dining.
50s Prime Time Cafe Seating
So, we’re looking at restaurants, like Oga’s Cantina and Cinderella’s Royal Table, that were already difficult to reserve prior to the closure of the Disney parks. Limited capacity in these restaurants does make it even MORE difficult to get a reservation, and that can be frustrating. As long as social distancing remains the norm in Disney World to keep guests and Cast Members safe, we may have to contend with these limited capacities.
Click here to learn more about social distancing in Disney World now.
At first, lower demand matched the limited capacities. Now, demand is starting to return.
As we mentioned, demand is starting to return to the Disney parks and capacities are increasing as well. Disney CEO Bob Chapek did mention that demand is already back at 2019 levels. At first, lower demand matched the limited restaurant capacities, but now things are starting to skew out of balance.
Oga’s Cantina
Chapek did note that capacity should continue to increase in the coming months. With social distancing remaining in restaurants, the increases in capacity and demand might cause even further issues with nabbing a reservation.
Imagine you want a popsicle. The ice cream man has 3 left. A few months back, it was just you and one other kid chasing after the ice cream man. Both of you get your ice cream and are happy. Now, the WHOLE neighborhood has shown up wanting ice cream…but the ice cream man still only has those 3 popsicles. Disney World is the ice cream man. Sanaa or Rose and Crown or Hollywood Brown Derby are the popsicles. 😬 It’s possible Disney will introduce a policy to mitigate this, but the reality is that reservations may be hard to get for a while.
Want to learn more about current demand? Click here!
Here’s what to do when you want a hard-to-get reservation.
So, here’s what to do when you’re looking for a hard-to-get Advance Dining Reservation? Make sure you’re ready to book your reservations as SOON as you are able. That means right at 7AM ET, 60 days in advance of your dining day. (No kidding — be sitting there with your finger ready to click refresh watching a clock tick down!) For resort guests, that’s 60 days plus your length of stay.
California Grill provides a fancy dinner with a spectacular view!
If you do miss a big reservation that you really wanted, don’t despair! You may be able to find a reservation at the last minute! Check the day before your preferred dining day to see if you can catch any reservations that crop up as people cancel. A cancellation fee kicks in within 24 hours of a reservation, so that’s a great time to catch people making last-minute cancellations before they hit the fee. Plus, you’ll want to check regularly in general. You never know when someone will cancel and you’ll get to snag the reservation you wanted. REFRESH, REFRESH, REFRESH!
Cinderella’s Royal Table
Some restaurants also offer a Walk-Up Waitlist. Check to see if it is an option for one of the reservations you are chasing. If so, you might be able to get a table day-of by joining the Walk-Up Waitlist through the My Disney Experience app. Just keep in mind, this list can fill up, so signing onto it as early as possible is a good idea.
Be Our Guest
Regardless of when you’re searching for reservations in My Disney Experience, we recommend searching by the hour and not by the meal. We have had it happen many times that no reservations will be available if we search for “Lunch” but some might be available if we search for “2PM.” You’ll also want to refresh, refresh, refresh (did we say that already? LOL it’s SO important!). Again, you never know when a reservation might become available. The same can be said if the Walk-Up Waitlist is full!
Rose and Crown
And finally, have a backup plan. If you can’t get the restaurant you wanted, don’t let it ruin your plans. You can still have a wonderful time in Disney World and there are plenty of amazing dining locations — some of which don’t require a reservation at all! Consider a good backup plan so that if you don’t get the reservation you were after, you still get to have a tasty meal.
To learn more about the Walk-Up Waitlist, click here!
Hopefully, this has been helpful if you’ve been struggling with hard-to-get dining reservations! As always, stay tuned to DFB for all the latest planning tips and advice for your Disney trip!
Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!
WE KNOW DISNEY.
YOU CAN, TOO.
Oh boy, planning a Disney trip can be quite the adventure, and we totally get it! But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE Disney vacation.
Whether you're a rookie or a seasoned pro, our insider tips and tricks will have you exploring the parks like never before. So come along with us, and get planning your most magical vacation ever!
Have any questions? Ask them in the comments!
Our handy (and portable!) ebook guides make sure you get the best deals and can plan a vacation of a lifetime.
Really good points. Just one important correction: online ADRs officially open at 6am ET (and sometimes unofficially become available 15-45minutes before), not 7am ET. The phone lines open at 7am, but the online booking opens an hour earlier at 6am. If you log in at 7am, you’re an hour or more late to the party. It also puts phone line people at a real disadvantage.
This is a change from before Covid-times when you are correct that both the phone and internet used to open at 7am. Not sure if it is to discourage calling in and flooding the phone lines, or if it is just an IT system change, but it is definitely 6am ET online now.
I just discovered a Facebook group for Disney dining reservations. People post when they are going to drop a reservation in case someone is looking for one and can try and pick it up. Which I thought was a pretty cool idea…until I started seeing some of the posts! People make so many ADRs! Way more than they need. One lady had 4 reservations to the same restaurant on the same day! No wonder nobody can get a dining reservation! I know it sucks to have to try and plan your day so far in advance, but it just makes it harder for everyone else. People should should be more considerate of others. Thats just my 2 cents!
We just returned from a week at WDW, and the dining situation was probably the most frustrating part of our trip (perhaps other than the 4am fire alarm at the Riviera!). We are always ready to go on the website as soon as the 60-day window opens, and we can typically snag all of the reservations that we want for our trip. However, many of our favorite restaurants have not yet reopened, and we ended up with some “Plan B” and “Plan C” options instead. I honestly don’t love the walk-up wait list. In the past, I felt like we could often go to a restaurant early in the day, ask about walk-up availability for lunch or dinner, and end up getting a reservation. Now, Cast Members just defer to the wait list in the app. We tried this, but didn’t necessarily want to eat in the next 5-15 minutes, which was the option that was offered, so we “bypassed that experience.”
Another reason to stay home. I’m not going to spend all that money to get there and not be able to enjoy myself.
Does anyone know if restaurants have returned to full capacity yet, or if they are still lower than usual? It’s August now and it still seems nearly impossible to get a dining reservation!
Andrew, our experience is that no tables are blocked off, and there’s no physical distancing in place at this time. So it appears restaurants are operating at full capacity. However, our experience with trying to get ADRs is that there do seem to be fewer available reservations, and they’re gone shortly after the reservations open at 545AM on any given day.
I agree with the comments above. If I am paying for an on property resort I should have excellent dining options, not zero availability. Which is what I have found for EVERY MEAL INCLUDING BREAKFAST. I don’t want walk up and I don’t want take out. Might as well go camping and cook my own for a fraction of the price. My advice: take Cliff Bars and a bottle of wine…..
I know this is article is 2 years old but my wife and I were unable to reserve ANY of our choice dining locations for our WDW trip this year. I was right there at the 60 day before our trip window, when reservations open up. Instantly at that moment not one restaurant we hoped to go to was available. No Be Our Guest, No Cinderella’s Royal Table, No Space 220, none of the places we wanted. We paid so much money to get our hotel (cheapest available within the park) and park tickets, and we have no idea what or where we will be able to eat. Thanks for writing this, just wanted to share the experience my wife and I have had trying to get ANY reservation. Guess it will be lots of packaged snacks and water bottles…unexciting!