A little overwhelmed making dining plans (and not knowing MNSSHP dates isn't helping!)

[Ducky'sMom]

Hello all! Our date to start making ADRs is fast approaching, and I swear I've been looking at restaurant options for ages! We're going from Aug 28-Sept 5 with hopes to attend a MNSSHP. Unfortunately, by not knowing the MNSSHP dates yet, I can't exactly plan the order of our park days (and therefore our ADRs). Does this mean I'll need to make multiple reservations to cover my bases? I have right now 8 places that I need ADRs for. I think I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed because 6 of them are our breakfasts (and they're all character breakfasts, at that!). I can't make reservations for different places at the same time, right?

 

[rwdavis2]

No, you can't double up on reservation times on the same day. IMHO, I would not get too distressed over dining reservations. Our last trip in 2016 I did not make them when the dates opened up and eventually got everything I wanted including BoG for dinner. If most of the reservations are breakfast then does MNSSHP matter that much.

You are also visiting over a relatively less crowded time of the year.

 

[FSU Girl]

I think the party nights are typically on the same days every year. I think they are something like Tuesday, Friday, Sunday. Hopefully someone else will be able to chime in with more exact info I'm trying to go off memory. Are you planning on going to Magic Kingdom the day of the party, or would you go there a different day and go in at 4pm for the party? You can have reservations 1 hour and 5 minutes apart, and I know a lot of people complain about people loading up on reservations, but when Disney doesn't release this information and you need to pick your restaurants 180 days in advance they really are forcing you into it.

What restaurants are you looking to make a reservation for? Some are a lot harder to get than others.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

It probably won’t help with breakfasts but keep in mind most Disney Springs restaurants and now many resort restaurants are on Open Table so that’s an option for alternate reservations while the park hours and party days are in limbo. Obviously remember to cancel if/when you know you won’t use.

The Touring Plans dining reservation finder is another good tool for your arsenal if once you get your park plans finalized you have trouble finding the reservations you want.

Don’t stress too much. It will all work out!

 

[gharter]

Last the dates varied each week. From last year, they were: August 25(friday) and 29 (tues), September 1 (thurs), 7 (Thurs). No guarantee that the dates will be the same, but they don't usually vary too much.
I don't recall when tickets went on sale, seems about May. Last year only a few nights were sold out.

 

[Ducky'sMom]

I think the party nights are typically on the same days every year. I think they are something like Tuesday, Friday, Sunday. Hopefully someone else will be able to chime in with more exact info I'm trying to go off memory. Are you planning on going to Magic Kingdom the day of the party, or would you go there a different day and go in at 4pm for the party? You can have reservations 1 hour and 5 minutes apart, and I know a lot of people complain about people loading up on reservations, but when Disney doesn't release this information and you need to pick your restaurants 180 days in advance they really are forcing you into it.

What restaurants are you looking to make a reservation for? Some are a lot harder to get than others.

I should've probably clarified, the day that we do MNSSHP will be our resort day. I planned to do the Bon Voyage breakfast across at the Boardwalk and then spend the day relaxing at Stormalong before having early dinner at Beaches n Cream and heading to MK for 4pm. In regards to reservations, does that mean I couldn't do an 8:00 then 8:15 somewhere else? I could only do 8:00 then next would be 9:05? Thanks for the help!

 

[FSU Girl]

I should've probably clarified, the day that we do MNSSHP will be our resort day. I planned to do the Bon Voyage breakfast across at the Boardwalk and then spend the day relaxing at Stormalong before having early dinner at Beaches n Cream and heading to MK for 4pm. In regards to reservations, does that mean I couldn't do an 8:00 then 8:15 somewhere else? I could only do 8:00 then next would be 9:05? Thanks for the help!

Correct, you cannot have overlapping reservations. But you could have an 8 and 9:05.

 

[Amy11401]

Correct, you cannot have overlapping reservations. But you could have an 8 and 9:05.

So anything over an hour apart is not overlapping?

 

[gharter]

So anything over an hour apart is not overlapping?

Just curious, but why would you want dining reservations under an hour apart or barely an hour apart?

 

[FSU Girl]

So anything over an hour apart is not overlapping?

As long as it's 1 hour and 5 minutes it will let you book it. If it's under that it will ask you to cancel your current reservation

 

[Alexsandra]

I would book more restaurants and then cancel as you get closer to your dates. That is what I do. That way, I leave my options open and am not struggling to find an ADR that I wanted at the last minute.. Sometimes I got to move my park days around for FP selections so I,ll grab hard to get ADR on several days and cancel once I get my FPs.

 

[Dee McGee]

We booked for Dec 3-7 before knowing the dates for MVMCP and we've decided we're going to book a late lunch at Chef Mickey's before the party as our Magic Kingdom day. That may be something to consider.

 

[GillianP1301]

I have the same challenge. I'm assuming MNSSHP dates based on last years dates and book an ADR accordingly. I like to eat about 5:00 on a party day. I also have a backup plan "just in case" there is no party and book an ADR for that scenario as well. In that case, we would eat later, like 6:30ish and you can have 2 ADRs separated by a bit of time with no issue. I try to make my bI'll just drop the one I don't need once the party dates are confirmed.

 

[Ducky'sMom]

Just curious, but why would you want dining reservations under an hour apart or barely an hour apart?

Because one ADR is for Plan A, another ADR is Plan B, etc. We wouldn't be using all the times booked, but rather preparing for the fact that we don't have the dates for Mickey's Halloween Party, because that day we don't have regular park tickets so we wouldn't be able to do a park breakfast.

 

[Nancyg56]

Because one ADR is for Plan A, another ADR is Plan B, etc. We wouldn't be using all the times booked, but rather preparing for the fact that we don't have the dates for Mickey's Halloween Party, because that day we don't have regular park tickets so we wouldn't be able to do a park breakfast.

Look at last year and let those days guide you. I have done this for years, and made plans based on the previous years party days and so far have never had problemm. If you feel better booking two ADR's and plan them an hour apart, you can do that, or use a second MDE account in your husbands name.

I will often use my DD's MDE account to make ADR's because our group is large and we all do not always have dinner together.

 

[pickers1982]

have a similar problem. we are going 20th to 30th of August and are planning 1 or 2 dinners (5 or 6 pm) in mk but on the flip side have no interest in the halloween party. if you have no tickets for the paety what time do you get kicked out? can you still eat and evening meal?

 

[DisBuckMan]

The park is closed to guests without party tickets at 7pm. Anyone without an armband is promptly escorted out of the park at that time.

You cannot partake an evening meal during party times if you do not have party ticket. Be especially careful, because you CAN actually book a reservation during that time, but you will not be allowed to dine, and may potentially be charged the no-show fee to add insult to injury. There are warnings that show up when you are booking dining reservations during party times, but most people just blow right past them, or ignore them, then attempt to act ignorant when they're told they cannot attend their reservation.

 

[pickers1982]

thanks. bit of a pain....