180 days out tomorrow! Lots of questions.

[LikeSeriously]

Tomorrow is our 180 mark. I'm so not ready yet. I still have to make some final decisions this evening and I have some questions that I'm hoping y'all can help me with.

1) What time can I start making reservations?

2)Is it best to go online or call? I'd really prefer to do it online if it doesn't make much difference. I don't think I'm shooting for any of, what seem to be, the coveted restaurants. No CRT or BOG. Tusker House may be one though. I'll post a list in a bit and be welcome to feedback.

3) How does it all work? If I do it online do I select each restaurant and book individually or does it just let me make selections for each date then submit?

4) How do I tie it in with my room and dining plan?

5) If I have the dining plan, will I still be required to make any deposits or even give my CC info to secure my reservation?

That's all I have for now. I'm sure there will be more questions throughout the evening. :0)

Thanks y'all!

 

[CopperWife]

Tomorrow is our 180 mark. I'm so not ready yet. I still have to make some final decisions this evening and I have some questions that I'm hoping y'all can help me with.

1) What time can I start making reservations?

2)Is it best to go online or call? I'd really prefer to do it online if it doesn't make much difference. I don't think I'm shooting for any of, what seem to be, the coveted restaurants. No CRT or BOG. Tusker House may be one though. I'll post a list in a bit and be welcome to feedback.

3) How does it all work? If I do it online do I select each restaurant and book individually or does it just let me make selections for each date then submit?

4) How do I tie it in with my room and dining plan?

5) If I have the dining plan, will I still be required to make any deposits or even give my CC info to secure my reservation?

That's all I have for now. I'm sure there will be more questions throughout the evening. :0)

Thanks y'all!

1) You can make online reservation at 6am EST and telephone reservations at 7am EST.

2) Well, everyone has an opinion on what's best, and in my opinion, it's makes most sense to do your ADRs online since you get an hour head start.

3) I just did my ADRs last week. I was able to pick a date and a time (or a meal period, such as breakfast) and the size of my party. I could pick a specific restaurant or an "area", if I remember correctly.

4) There was an option to link my reservation number when I was reserving for dates 180+10.

5) I am sure someone will come along with a better answer to this one, but I did have to submit my credit card information for certain restaurants. I don't think they are being charged yet, but only to secure the reservation and in case of a no-show.

Hope this helps

Good luck with your ADRs

 

[LikeSeriously]

1) You can make online reservation at 6am EST and telephone reservations at 7am EST.

2) Well, everyone has an opinion on what's best, and in my opinion, it's makes most sense to do your ADRs online since you get an hour head start.

3) I just did my ADRs last week. I was able to pick a date and a time (or a meal period, such as breakfast) and the size of my party. I could pick a specific restaurant or an "area", if I remember correctly.

4) There was an option to link my reservation number when I was reserving for dates 180+10.

5) I am sure someone will come along with a better answer to this one, but I did have to submit my credit card information for certain restaurants. I don't think they are being charged yet, but only to secure the reservation and in case of a no-show.

Hope this helps

Good luck with your ADRs

Thanks so much! Did you have any trouble getting 180+10 on the site? I'm reading that people are having trouble and that I need to use the UK site or something?!

 

[juliebug1997]

If you do have some wiggle room in your schedule, calling might not be a bad idea. The CMs that you call have access to the whole schedule for the time frame that you're looking at. For example, if you want Tusker House and it doesn't matter what day, the CM can look for an ADR for breakfast (or lunch) for the entire length of your stay.

Since you're doing it at the 180 mark and you're not doing CRT or BOG, you should be okay.

 

[LikeSeriously]

If you do have some wiggle room in your schedule, calling might not be a bad idea. The CMs that you call have access to the whole schedule for the time frame that you're looking at. For example, if you want Tusker House and it doesn't matter what day, the CM can look for an ADR for breakfast (or lunch) for the entire length of your stay.

Since you're doing it at the 180 mark and you're not doing CRT or BOG, you should be okay.

I feel better that someone else thinks I'm okay since I don't have those two on the list. :0) - I pretty much have my park days set and no park hoppers so I don't have much wiggle room. :0/

 

[ElizabethG]

You can go online now and make sure your resort reservation is linked to your account. You can also practice with the reservation system by making a reservation for 180 days from today. You don't have to actually complete the final step of the reservation. That will show you how it works.

When your resort reservation is linked, it will know you have the dining plan. You will still need to put in a cc to obtain certain reservations, but will not be charged unless you do not show up.

 

[mushiegirl]

The only time a deposit was taken off my credit card for a dining plan option was the Backyard Barbeque and the Yachtsman Steakhouse.

We are working on our 3rd trip in 2 years and are at 221 days out. We have a list of all the restaurants that we are interested in and specific dates for some of them. Most we are whatever is available and whatever time works best is what we will go with.

You can go online to view all available times and call the Disney Dining reservation line when you have an idea of what you want and the agent can help you out from there. They are very good and very efficient - especially if you do not know what you are looking for.

If you are travelling with small children I would suggest character dinners. These are AWESOME! This is a great place to get autographs from your favorite characters to avoid the lineups in the parks trying to get the coveted autographs

 

[CopperWife]

Thanks so much! Did you have any trouble getting 180+10 on the site? I'm reading that people are having trouble and that I need to use the UK site or something?!

I found this thread...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3081985

...and used the link that was mentioned. I had trouble initially , but refreshed and then it worked . I even had tough ones like BOG and Le Cellier (I know, I know, it's expensive, but I've never been and wasn't able to get in on our last two trips!) and was able to get them without a problem.

 

[LikeSeriously]

You can go online now and make sure your resort reservation is linked to your account. You can also practice with the reservation system by making a reservation for 180 days from today. You don't have to actually complete the final step of the reservation. That will show you how it works.

When your resort reservation is linked, it will know you have the dining plan. You will still need to put in a cc to obtain certain reservations, but will not be charged unless you do not show up.

Where do I go to make sure my reservation is linked?

 

[LikeSeriously]

The only time a deposit was taken off my credit card for a dining plan option was the Backyard Barbeque and the Yachtsman Steakhouse.

We are working on our 3rd trip in 2 years and are at 221 days out. We have a list of all the restaurants that we are interested in and specific dates for some of them. Most we are whatever is available and whatever time works best is what we will go with.

You can go online to view all available times and call the Disney Dining reservation line when you have an idea of what you want and the agent can help you out from there. They are very good and very efficient - especially if you do not know what you are looking for.

If you are travelling with small children I would suggest character dinners. These are AWESOME! This is a great place to get autographs from your favorite characters to avoid the lineups in the parks trying to get the coveted autographs

Thanks for all the great info! We are doing some character meals with my 7 year old. It's hard to know which ones to do because she's in between as far as characters go right now. She's never been a princess fan. She's always loved playhouse disney but is growing out of that now. She mostly loves the fairies, Phineas and Ferb and several Pixar characters. I had not planned a princess meal but I'm thinking she may get into them a bit more before October and would be disappointed if we don't go to one. Any suggestions for good meals based on this info?

We are doing Tusker House for sure and I thought she would enjoy Crystal Palace but she is growing out of the Pooh phase as well.

 

[ElizabethG]

Where do I go to make sure my reservation is linked?

Log into DisneyWorld.com and then go to your reservations under the 'My Disney Experience' menu.

This will show your resort and dining reservations (once they are made). You can also use the 'My Disney Experience' app if you have a smart phone. You will be able to access all the info from the park.

My kids two favorite character meals are Ohana for breakfast and Garden Grill for dinner.

 

[LikeSeriously]

After much rethinking... I am no further along in my plans! lol Here's what we have so far. Thoughts on blank meals and then times in general? I want to get to the parks early and it won't bother us to get up and go early. But will 8am character breakfasts be crowded? I read later was better but we can't wait until 10+ to have breakfast. We have a 7th TS credit and can't decide if we want to use it on our arrival or departure dates (10/5 and 10/12) or go to Biergarten on one of the EP days. Afraid two TS meals in one day might be too much though.

Sunday 10/6 :
MK: __________
Monday 10/7:
EP: Breakfast at Akershus at 8:00am
Tuesday 10/8:
HS: ?lunch or dinner? at 50's Prime Time
Wednesday 10/9:
AK: Breakfast at Tusker House at 8:00am
Thursday 10/10:
EP: ?lunch or dinner? at Rose & Crown Pub
Friday 10/11:
MK: ?lunch or dinner? at Liberty Tree Tavern

 

[CopperWife]

After much rethinking... I am no further along in my plans! lol Here's what we have so far. Thoughts on blank meals and then times in general? I want to get to the parks early and it won't bother us to get up and go early. But will 8am character breakfasts be crowded? I read later was better but we can't wait until 10+ to have breakfast. We have a 7th TS credit and can't decide if we want to use it on our arrival or departure dates (10/5 and 10/12) or go to Biergarten on one of the EP days. Afraid two TS meals in one day might be too much though.

Sunday 10/6 :
MK: __________
Monday 10/7:
EP: Breakfast at Akershus at 8:00am
Tuesday 10/8:
HS: ?lunch or dinner? at 50's Prime Time
Wednesday 10/9:
AK: Breakfast at Tusker House at 8:00am
Thursday 10/10:
EP: ?lunch or dinner? at Rose & Crown Pub
Friday 10/11:
MK: ?lunch or dinner? at Liberty Tree Tavern

We are early birds in our family, too, so getting somewhere for an 8am breakfast ADR isn't a problem. The problem was *getting* an 8am ADR! We are only doing one this trip and the earliest I was able to get was 8:50am, so I will keep checking back.

Just my two cents, but we generally do our TS credit at dinner to get the most "bang" for our dining plan buck! Also, we try not to do TS lunches because our family normally takes a mid-day break and we don't want to be tied into a lunch ADR (although you could do a lunch and head back to the hotel afterward).

I have not eaten at any of the places you mentioned, although Akershus is on our ADR list for our upcoming trip

As for two TS meals in one day...I am not sure if it will be "too much." We have only done one a day, but this trip we are doing a TS breakfast and a TS dinner, so we shall see!

Hope your ADRs went well/go well this morning!

 

[LikeSeriously]

Okay so the earliest I could get breakfasts were nearly 10:00! So disappointed. I'm also completely rethinking having the dining plan and doing most of the TS at all. :0( - Now I'm just thinking about how much park time I lose while at a TS meal. I thought I would be so excited after I got our reservations but I'm really just worried that we don't have enough time.

 

[icunurss]

When we last visited Disney two years ago, my kids were 4(DD) and 7(DS). Like you, I feel that TS meals can take up a bit of time, so we try and limit it to one TS per day. That way, we still have time to head back to our room every day for a nap or to swim. I also tried to do character meals at the less expensive times of the day because, for as much as you are paying, the kids can sometimes be distracted away from the food by the characters around them.

We did breakfast at Chef Mickeys and the character interaction was wonderful! The gang stopped at each table and took their time for pictures and autographs. There was a ton of food, nothing fancy, but decent breakfast stuff. We did Akershus for lunch and the character interaction was great, too. Everyone enjoyed their meal. The buffet portion was something probably more geared towards adults or adventurous children, but very tasty. We also did CRT for breakfast, where the food was good, but we did feel rushed to eat and get out. Will try BOG this visit.

The kids also liked the Sci-Fi in HS and The Plaza in MK. And we spent parts of two days just walking around Epcot sampling the fare at the F&W. whatever you do, I am sure that you guys will have a lot of fun!