Are reservations available during free dining?

[leahjade]

I was wondering if it's worth it to come during that time. I've read posts where Le Cellier is booked till past September anyway. I hate to pay full price for a room then not be able to get reservations anywhere good to eat.

 

[TDC Nala]

You'd have to make reservations early for popular places like Le Cellier if you want to make sure you get them. Meaning, you might have to book the reservations before you book your resort package.

 

[leahjade]

I was told you can't do that without a reservation number.

 

[Pink Mouse Ears]

You can't make dining reservations more than 180 days in advance. Right now, the earliest you could make them for is late July...so I don't know how they would be booked at Le Cellier in Sept. already.

If you set a phone alarm, etc. to alert you on the day 180 days from your trip, you should be able to get most reservations that you want (although you'll have to try at 7am for places like Cinderella's Castle B-fast. Here's a calculator for determining when you can make reservations based on your trip:

http://pscalculator.net/allearsnet/pscalcae.php

 

[Pink Mouse Ears]

You can make advance dining reservations without a hotel reservation. Its simple...just go to www.disneyworld.com/dining and search for your restaurants to book a reservation. Again, your trip will have to be within 180 days to book.

 

[TDC Nala]

I was told you can't do that without a reservation number.

Not so- as long as it's 180 days in advance or less, anyone can book restaurant reservations. What you can't do without a reservation number is book 10 days worth of reservations at the 180 day mark of your check-in date - that's only for Disney resort guests.

Assuming public free dining starts August 15, the earliest anyone can book restaurants for 2010 free dining is February 16. Nobody can be booking for September 2010 yet.

 

[wasserdb]

ADRs are definite a must during the "free dining". Nothing will be booked in September at this point, since ADRs can't be made until 180 days out. I would call or go on-line on your 180th day and make whatever ADRs you would like at that point. Since there is free dining, the reservations will go quickly. Good luck!

 

[CanadianPaco]

ADRs are definite a must during the "free dining". Nothing will be booked in September at this point, since ADRs can't be made until 180 days out. I would call or go on-line on your 180th day and make whatever ADRs you would like at that point. Since there is free dining, the reservations will go quickly. Good luck!

Free dining hasn't been announced yet ... or do you know something we don't!

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

we got free dining for our sept trip last year. i made about 10 adr's for our 14 night trip. like the previous poster said the popular places like Le Cellier book up fast. so if you intend to go to these places then definitely book.

However, there were 6 occassions where we cancelled our adr's and just went where we liked. There was only two of us but we managed to get into Sci Fi, Yak Yeti, Planet Hollywood, Boma,Mama Melrose and The plaza all without pre-booking and just turning up. So it is possible but I would suggest booking the places you really want!

 

[TDC Nala]

There's definite free dining in September for the British, for bounceback reservations made last year, and for those who've received PIN codes. There isn't any general public free dining offer yet. Part of the question was probably about making reservations in anticipation of general public free dining, since it hasn't been announced yet and may not be announced by February 16 (the 180-day booking date for August 15 - which is the date the bounceback and PIN offers start). You can of course do that 180 days from the date you're planning on dining. Unless you already have a Disney resort reservation at your 180 day mark, though, you can't make 180 + 10 reservations.