Be Our Guest - All booked for March?

[zoicca]

Howdy. I'll be in WDW March 12 to 20 inclusive. Looking for a reservation at BoG but looks like it's completely booked up.

Question #1: Is it worth it to keep checking online to see if something has opened up due to a cancellation?

Question #2: What's the likelihood of me just showing up to the restaurant and getting a table? How do they handle no-shows?

Tips and strategies for squeezing my family in during the dates above very much appreciate.

 

[purple figment]

Howdy. I'll be in WDW March 12 to 20 inclusive. Looking for a reservation at BoG but looks like it's completely booked up.

Question #1: Is it worth it to keep checking online to see if something has opened up due to a cancellation?

Question #2: What's the likelihood of me just showing up to the restaurant and getting a table? How do they handle no-shows?

Tips and strategies for squeezing my family in during the dates above very much appreciate.

Question #1: It doesn't hurt to keep checking online. So far there haven't been many people saying they snagged a cancellation, but you never know.

Question #2: There have been some reports that people were able to walk up and other reports of being turned away. It will depend on how busy the restaurant/parks are and will crowds already be growing due to spring break. Since it's a cc guarantee restaurant I doubt there are many no shows since it would mean paying the financial penalty. More likely people would cancel if they decide not to go.

Tips and strategies: 1. Lunch is CS so no reservation required. You could go then instead of dinner if you want to try the food and see the interior.

2. Maybe walk up at the very beginning of dinner hour or for the last seating of the night to see if they'll seat you.

3. Keep checking online and even after you get to DW to see if anything opens up.

Good luck.

 

[zoicca]

CS = counter service? Didn't realize that. Will definitely try all 3 your tips. Thanks.

 

[catne]

CS = counter service? Didn't realize that. Will definitely try all 3 your tips. Thanks.

do keep in mind that a lot of people are trying the counter service strategy....the restaurant opens at 10:30 for lunch, and cuts the line at 2:00 (so everyone is done with counter service lunch in time for the switch-over to dinner)

There have been many reports of people lining up at BOG as early as 9 or 9:30 in the morning for lunch.

 

[wrighter]

Will you be traveling with a smart phone, Ipad, or laptop? We have found that in most cases, as the date you are looking for gets closer, people tend to move their ressies around. We hardly ever make ressies before we arrive on property. We start looking the day before and the day of, and we have a pretty good success rate of getting in somewhere. It helps that we are a party of four and are flexible with times, but it's something to keep in mind.

 

[Aaeolien]

I would for sure just keep checking. Ya never know if one will pop up. A good tip I saw somewhere is really start looking about 45 days before the week you are travelling as that is when people have to pay for their packages in full or cancel them, so sometimes ADRs will pop up around then.

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

 

[mousefan]

we just returned from trip right before xmas , during the week we stopped at BOG three times for lunch spots around 10:15 am . and placed one of our family members in wait line , all three times we got in right at 10:30 : 10 :40 give or take a few minutes , and was able to be seated , and had our meal by 11:00 am , ( we had 5pm dinner reservations elsewhere so lunch timing was good for us) , we also spoke to the manager on duty at BOG about those impossible dinner reservations , he said at that time dinner reservations were booked through mid may and that was in December we spoke to him now what he did suggest that if we wanted to try for dinner reservations during our stay to check at Kiosk outside BOG about 3:45 pm for openings that particular day that there was normally cancellations each day) . Since we already had dinner dining planned for remainder of our trip we didnt check back but did get on the computer that night back at resort and made our dinner reservation for late May , which many of the travel dates during that trip were already booked , but was able to snatch up one day ,

 

[gdrj]

I think its worth to keep checking on line and especially as it get closer. I know we have resv's for March.

I try to always call and cancel all resv's that we wont use (even non credit card) to hopefully open up a spot for others. Sometimes it may be the same day.

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

I've been trying for dinner on March 12 for a while with no luck. One thing to remember is the 45 day mark is coming up for vacations to be paid in full (I arrive March 6 and have to be paid in full on January 20). Maybe over the next few weeks vacations will be cancelled along with dining reservations...

 

[Ro Z]

About 3 weeks before our Dec 3rd trip I checked and there it was. Dec. 8th at 5:20. Woohoo! I was so shocked. I didn't have my cc ready and I was scared it would be gone by the time I finally booked it. Lol. Anyway what I am trying to say is don't give up. You never know. We are going again Feb. 25, which I got at the 180 mark. Good luck!

 

[murrr23]

Keep checking the website. That's what I did. Last week I grabbed one for March 1st at 4:05pm.

 

[cheryllarsen]

The more desirable restaurant are very hard to get into on short notice.

 

[cheryllarsen]

We always try to reserve rooms a year ahead and dining about 6 months prior.

 

[catne]

Posting an informational update from this week:

we were at Magic Kingdom on Monday Jan. 21, with a 7:55 reservation for Be Our Guest. The crowd level in MK was very low by about 5:00 (most of the holiday weekend locals crowd was definitely gone.)

Anyway, we went to see about checking in a little early at 7:30, and were told to come back at 7:45 to check in for our 7:55 reservation. While waiting in line both times (at 7:30 and again at 7:45) there were several parties trying to do walk-ups and being told "sorry, we have been totally booked for weeks.) There were also castmembers standing near the walkway to the castle, turning people away who "just wanted to take a peek inside"...being told sorry, it was reservations only, "we are totally booked for the next several months."

For the counter service...place opens for lunch at 10:30. And there were at least 50 people in line at 9:15! When we came back to use our Little Mermaid fastpasses at about 11:15, the BOG counter service line was about 5 people across, and stretched the length of the bridge/walkway, out past the check-in booth, and curved down the wall...in other words, hundreds of people waiting to get in. The line was even longer when we came back out of Little Mermaid. This was on a light-crowd Magic Kingdom day. I would say the crowd level Tuesday morning was no more than a "3".

 

[jojomoore]

Also, check with your resort concierge desk or guest relations at the park each morning and evening because most likely people will cancel their reservations in advance instead of just not showing up due to credit card hold. With this being so new and popular, I doubt people will cancel unless they just have to. I have been known to cancel reservations while on a trip but usually not meals that are character related or in a castle. I have used resort concierge desk to change dining ADrs when our plans change. Its pretty easy. Of course I have yet to use my Disney experience so that could change things.

 

[gorjus121]

It's frustrating for sure. I luckily made a reservation 2 weeks ago for BOG for the end of April. Within a week nothing was available for the entire 9 nights we will be in Disney. There wasn't much to choose from, but we managed to get at 8:25 pm. I would of preferred a little earlier, but I'll keep checking back periodically.

I would definitely check back online, especially a few days prior. People cancel their reservations all the time. I'm sure people book for more than one night unsure of which day they will actually go, then closer to their vacation they cancel the extra reservations. I was told it was impossible to get into the castle without a dinner reservation. You can always try an early lunch when they do quick service (no reservations).

Good luck!

 

[mum2four]

Our vacation week in May was completely booked, but I kept checking everyday anyway. Just a couple days ago I checked again, everything was still booked, then on a whim I rechecked just 5 minutes later, and there it was...a 7:30pm available on the night I really wanted it! I snatched that baby up quick LOL!!!

So definitely keep checking, but know that you always have CS lunch as a back up if the ressie doesn't come through for you.

 

[mike the canuck]

The lunch CS is pretty awesome. I went there for lunch and had a great meal. The atmosphere is pretty awesome too! Here is a video of my lunch experience at BOG:
http://youtu.be/b_79w_k_o-I

 

[Ro Z]

We must have had extra because we were suprised with a soft opening at lunch in Nov. We walked in. No wait! I had already reserved our Dec dinner. And then I was able to get Feb dinner too. Maybe I should play the lottery!

 

[wdwfan1]

About 3 weeks before our Dec 3rd trip I checked and there it was. Dec. 8th at 5:20. Woohoo! I was so shocked. I didn't have my cc ready and I was scared it would be gone by the time I finally booked it. Lol. Anyway what I am trying to say is don't give up. You never know. We are going again Feb. 25, which I got at the 180 mark. Good luck!

For how many people? I cancelled a ressie for 2 at that time. Just curious.