ADR question

[Ansky]

I have noticed that there has been almost no availability for ADRs for a while now at 60 days out for almost any dinner time reservation in a restaurant inside a park and even for many of the more popular places in resorts. My question is are we still allowed to book reservations 60 days +10 days if you have an onsite hotel reservation? I am hoping that will make things easier when it comes time for us to book ADRs.

 

[kevgraub]

Yes, you can. And yes, it will.

ADRs are still really tough to get for some places, but even the really tough ones like Sci-Fi, Ogas, BOG, etc. are somewhat available once you get to the 63, 64, or 65 day mark for onsite guests.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

It depends. If you are staying at one resort, yes. But if you stay at two, for example, you will have two windows that open up. You will be able to make reservations up to the check out day of the first stay, then wait for 60 days before the first day of your second day.

 

[BethanyMouse]

Yes, that is the way I understand it to be- 60 days out plus 10 days.

I have heard the same- ADR's are very hard to get. We are a family of four and I feel like I am prepping for it like the Olympic Trials!

 

[Ansky]

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like it should at least be a bit easier once we get a few days into our trip. We are staying at one resort for the entire trip so we don't have to worry about multiple booking windows. I was worried that they were not letting the onsite guests have the +10 day benefit anymore and thought we were going to have almost no shot of getting any ADRs we wanted. At least we have some hope now. Thanks again everyone.

 

[kevgraub]

The best suggestion is to push the tougher to get ADRs toward the end of your trip if you can, and then make sure you book them first when you start making reservations.

For example, if you are wanting to do Sci-Fi, Oga's, Beaches & Cream, BOG, etc., you are much better off to try for those on days 64, 65, 66, etc. than hoping to hit one of them on day 60.

Also, if you are wanting to do something like Biergarten or Shula's, get your other reservations in first, then go back and add those easier to get ones on the front end of your trip.

We are a party of 8 going first week of June, and ended up with reservations at Boathouse, Shula's, Biergarten, Liberty Tree Tavern, Crystal Palace, San Angel Inn, Oga's & Sci-Fi (same day), Be Our Guest, and Chef Mickey's in that order - so it can be done. Of those, only Sci Fi (3:00 pm) and Boathouse (4:30 pm) are at times that are not really close to what we wanted. I am still checking for different times on those, but what we have will work if necessary.

 

[Ansky]

The best suggestion is to push the tougher to get ADRs toward the end of your trip if you can, and then make sure you book them first when you start making reservations.

For example, if you are wanting to do Sci-Fi, Oga's, Beaches & Cream, BOG, etc., you are much better off to try for those on days 64, 65, 66, etc. than hoping to hit one of them on day 60.

Also, if you are wanting to do something like Biergarten or Shula's, get your other reservations in first, then go back and add those easier to get ones on the front end of your trip.

We are a party of 8 going first week of June, and ended up with reservations at Boathouse, Shula's, Biergarten, Liberty Tree Tavern, Crystal Palace, San Angel Inn, Oga's & Sci-Fi (same day), Be Our Guest, and Chef Mickey's in that order - so it can be done. Of those, only Sci Fi (3:00 pm) and Boathouse (4:30 pm) are at times that are not really close to what we wanted. I am still checking for different times on those, but what we have will work if necessary.

Wow, you got some pretty good ADRs especially since you have a party of 8. Our party is only 4 so hopefully we have similar luck. We love Shula's so I was happy that there are plenty of ADRs available there since it is not one of the more popular restaurants. We aren't going until mid August so we still have some time to see how things are going before we make our ADRs.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Sign up for a Disney dining reservation finder service. A week or so ago I wanted to get BOG dinner for a date in early May, but nothing was available. So I set up the alert and a few days ago I started getting availability alerts and was able to get what I wanted. You just have to be quick to click on the link when the alert comes in.

 

[Ansky]

Sign up for a Disney dining reservation finder service. A week or so ago I wanted to get BOG dinner for a date in early May, but nothing was available. So I set up the alert and a few days ago I started getting availability alerts and was able to get what I wanted. You just have to be quick to click on the link when the alert comes in.

I am not familiar with this. Is it a Disney owned app or owned by some other company? How does it work?

 

[kevgraub]

I am not familiar with this. Is it a Disney owned app or owned by some other company? How does it work?

There are a couple of places that offer the service. One is Touring Plans. I can't remember the other one.

They are definitely helpful. You just put in the restaurant, party size, and desired time/date. Then their system will go out and search several times a day and send you an email if something is available. It does not reserve it for you, just lets you know that a reservation is out there for you to grab.

 

[Ansky]

There are a couple of places that offer the service. One is Touring Plans. I can't remember the other one.

They are definitely helpful. You just put in the restaurant, party size, and desired time/date. Then their system will go out and search several times a day and send you an email if something is available. It does not reserve it for you, just lets you know that a reservation is out there for you to grab.

Ahh. Thanks for the info.

 

[JCornell]

There are a couple of places that offer the service. One is Touring Plans. I can't remember the other one.

They are definitely helpful. You just put in the restaurant, party size, and desired time/date. Then their system will go out and search several times a day and send you an email if something is available. It does not reserve it for you, just lets you know that a reservation is out there for you to grab.

Touring Plans is great for alerting you to harder to find reservations. You need to react quickly once the alert comes through though since you're probably not the only one looking (and nowadays, not the only one using their reservation finder service).

Also, some restaurants, especially Disney Springs, also show up on OpenTable or you can even call some of them directly. Last year we got a Homecomin' reservation by calling them.

 

[nemolover22]

The best suggestion is to push the tougher to get ADRs toward the end of your trip if you can, and then make sure you book them first when you start making reservations.

For example, if you are wanting to do Sci-Fi, Oga's, Beaches & Cream, BOG, etc., you are much better off to try for those on days 64, 65, 66, etc. than hoping to hit one of them on day 60.

Also, if you are wanting to do something like Biergarten or Shula's, get your other reservations in first, then go back and add those easier to get ones on the front end of your trip.

We are a party of 8 going first week of June, and ended up with reservations at Boathouse, Shula's, Biergarten, Liberty Tree Tavern, Crystal Palace, San Angel Inn, Oga's & Sci-Fi (same day), Be Our Guest, and Chef Mickey's in that order - so it can be done. Of those, only Sci Fi (3:00 pm) and Boathouse (4:30 pm) are at times that are not really close to what we wanted. I am still checking for different times on those, but what we have will work if necessary.

We are going towards the end of June & will be a party of 8 too! One of our favorite restaurants is Boathouse but we called & they said they won't have more than five at a table. Can I ask how you were able to get a reservation for 8? Did you split up your party into 2 groups of 4?

 

[epcotobsessed]

This could be a complete coincidence, but I've always found more success in grabbing whatever time I could at a restaurant and then trying to modify it vs. waiting for the exact time I want. Again, maybe that time would have come up anyway, but I have spent days looking for one particular time and then if I see a time that doesn't work, grab it, I usually can modify it very soon after.

 

[kevgraub]

We are going towards the end of June & will be a party of 8 too! One of our favorite restaurants is Boathouse but we called & they said they won't have more than five at a table. Can I ask how you were able to get a reservation for 8? Did you split up your party into 2 groups of 4?

I just realized that night we are actually only a party of 6 (other two in our group come in the next day).

Still more than 5 though, which is what they told you. I booked the party of 6 directly through Disney's website without splitting it up. I've been trying to move our ADR to later in the day, but have not found anything after 4:30 pm. Maybe they only do parties of 5 or smaller after a certain time?