BoG ADRs being held back?

[Turk February]

Its been 2 years since our last trip, and I know BoG is super popular as we've eaten there many times already. I was surprised yesterday at my 180 mark to find no lunch or dinner times available though for my week in October.

Is it possible these haven't been released yet because of MNSSHP dates and park hours not being 100% yet? I'm pretty sure similar things like that have happened in the past and I feel like something is definitely up because there's no items available for CRT either and as far as I know that place doesn't 100% book up at 180 + 10 with prepayment now needed.

Or maybe things have changed so much that it's completely impossible to score any time for either now?

 

[Pkltm]

We had our 180 day on April 5th and there was tons of availability. In fact we got breakfast for 6 people and dinner for 6 and 2. We are there oct 2-11

 

[steviethegreat]

My guess is that not all of the reservations are released at once. But I have used the Touringplans reservation finder and was able to get a reservation there every time. Some people get a lot of reservations and then let them go later. You definitely should be able to find one closer to your trip. Just keep checking and/or use TouringPlans' reservation finder.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

There is no reason to hold back lunches for MNSSHP.

I think a greater problem are the people who are, I kid you not, booking BOG B-L-D every day until Free Dining is announced, and there will be a whole bunch of ADRs released by those people then.

 

[ktlm]

They are released. MNSSHP dates were announced a couple of days ago too. It can be very heard to get BOG dinner during party times because there are so many days when the park closes at 7 and it looks like the system is only booking for times from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., if you do not have party tickets linked to your account. We were able to get an ADR at the end of our week- but I had trouble doing that as it seemed like there were so many people on the website right as it opened that my BOG did not go through a couple of times, and I lost the first 2 times I had. I finally did get it to go through-- it wasn't the exact time I wanted as I lost that and could not get it back, but it was close enough. I did the last MK day immediately, and then tried to find something earlier, but there was nothing available on any earlier day at all. Keep trying though-- I bet you will be able to pick one up between now and your trip.

 

[rdesisto]

I'm trying to get a BOG dinner for 10 on October 11th. Clearly didn't happen yesterday. I obsess over these things and check frequently throughout the day. But, I feel like with such a large group, the chances of a reservation opening are pretty slim...

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

I know bog is still super popular, but I am surprised at no breakfast lunch or dinner times for this week. I book at 180 out (not 180+10), and last year at least a few things popped up. Seems it is even more popular, perhaps with the movie?

 

[Tiggymama]

Huh, my 180 day mark was yesterday and I snagged 8:00 and 10:00 breakfasts on 10/17 and 5:00 and 8:00 dinners on the 18th with no trouble at all. How many are in your party?

 

[Lupin]

For what it's worth, we planned a trip to Disney only 2 months in advance and we had never been to BoG before or had any idea that reservations were so difficult to get. Needless to say there was nothing available for the one day we would be in the Magic Kingdom (last Friday). However, as we got closer to the date (within 3-4 days beforehand) I would check several times throughout the day and random times would become available. I initially reserrved an 8am breakfast time, but then managed to get a coveted 11:05am lunch time which meant no wait at all to get in the door. There is hope!

 

[Elle23]

I was surprised when we ate at BOG at 6pm to find one of the rooms completely empty (we were literally the only ones in there for much of the meal), considering how many people want to eat there and can't get reservations.

We got both our dinner reservations for BOG using touringplans. I plan to use it again if we get to go back.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Huh, my 180 day mark was yesterday and I snagged 8:00 and 10:00 breakfasts on 10/17 and 5:00 and 8:00 dinners on the 18th with no trouble at all. How many are in your party?

Just 3. But I am only at 180 days (to the day), so looking at breakfasts the week of Oct 8. I was just a little surprised that several days had nothing at all. (I know things will open up as people cx, just surprised everything was completely gone by 180). There are a few days left in Oct still with breakfasts available, but a lot during the second week are gone.

I think it is a popular week at a popular restaurant that may also have free dining (though Oct was blacked out last year)- but I'm sure that with persistence, someone could get a ressie they want

 

[ktlm]

I was surprised when we ate at BOG at 6pm to find one of the rooms completely empty (we were literally the only ones in there for much of the meal), considering how many people want to eat there and can't get reservations.

We got both our dinner reservations for BOG using touringplans. I plan to use it again if we get to go back.

You must be talking about the Rose Gallery- the room with the tapestries and paintings and the music box in the center. That room is only used for lunch, unless they are overbooked (or people aren't leaving fast enough and they are backed up) and then they shove some people in it during dinner. We got stuck in there once at dinner and were not happy. It felt like we were in a cafeteria and there were carts and other things up and down some of the walls being stored there during dinner. It is considered a "staging area" for dinner, so there were staff in there, drinks being poured, etc. I don't think the music box was even running at dinner the night we were in there. It is also the only room the Beast does not storm/walk through at Dinner. I have heard that if they put people at tables in there, he often sticks his head in and looks around as he walks through the restaurant on his way to his meet and greet area, but we did not ever see him do that. We were the first ones put in there, but they brought some more in and wound up with about 4 tables of people in there. DD was upset that she was not in the ballroom or West Wing, and we had several other issues with dinner as well. We had so many issues that time that they wound up comping my meal. If that had been our first time at BOG we might not have been back, but we had a fantastic meal there the year before. The next year, they tried to seat us in the Rose Gallery at dinner again, and I politely requested to be seated in either of the other rooms, advised that we had a poor experience at dinner in the Gallery the year before and advised we would be willing to wait longer (we were already past our ADR) if necessary. They found us a table in the ballroom pretty quickly thank goodness because I'm not sure we would have stayed if we were stuck in overflow again. It just didn't seem worth the money for us to be in an overflow "staging area" only getting part of the dinner experience. Some people like the Rose Gallery at dinner, but it made us feel like an afterthought stuck in a storeroom. We have eaten in there at lunch and it was fine, because it is meant to be used at lunch.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Keep in mind that they fill BOG to seating capacity for breakfast and lunch. Dinner capacity is limited by the kitchen and is less than half that of either other meal.

 

[Mox714]

I found the opposite. I was so nervous I wasn't going to be able to get a lunch ADR for BOG. My 180+ opened on Sunday and I was shocked to find most days had tons of availability. I even checked back that evening around 8 pm EST and found a lot of availability. I have lunch reservations for 2 days and I have an extra for Sunday the 15th I need to cancel. I found a time that worked better than the original time I booked. Things will open up. People will cancel off an on. Our last trip it took me a while to get an early lunch reservation for H&V. With some stalking I was able to get one.

 

[Elle23]

You must be talking about the Rose Gallery- the room with the tapestries and paintings and the music box in the center. That room is only used for lunch, unless they are overbooked (or people aren't leaving fast enough and they are backed up) and then they shove some people in it during dinner. We got stuck in there once at dinner and were not happy. It felt like we were in a cafeteria and there were carts and other things up and down some of the walls being stored there during dinner. It is considered a "staging area" for dinner, so there were staff in there, drinks being poured, etc. I don't think the music box was even running at dinner the night we were in there. It is also the only room the Beast does not storm/walk through at Dinner. I have heard that if they put people at tables in there, he often sticks his head in and looks around as he walks through the restaurant on his way to his meet and greet area, but we did not ever see him do that. We were the first ones put in there, but they brought some more in and wound up with about 4 tables of people in there. DD was upset that she was not in the ballroom or West Wing, and we had several other issues with dinner as well. We had so many issues that time that they wound up comping my meal. If that had been our first time at BOG we might not have been back, but we had a fantastic meal there the year before. The next year, they tried to seat us in the Rose Gallery at dinner again, and I politely requested to be seated in either of the other rooms, advised that we had a poor experience at dinner in the Gallery the year before and advised we would be willing to wait longer (we were already past our ADR) if necessary. They found us a table in the ballroom pretty quickly thank goodness because I'm not sure we would have stayed if we were stuck in overflow again. It just didn't seem worth the money for us to be in an overflow "staging area" only getting part of the dinner experience. Some people like the Rose Gallery at dinner, but it made us feel like an afterthought stuck in a storeroom. We have eaten in there at lunch and it was fine, because it is meant to be used at lunch.

Ahhhh....I didn't know that.

Yes, that's where we were and we had a great time, mainly because we had a fantastic waiter.

We sat in a great spot 2 nights later (right next to the window with the snow), and had a bad waiter, so it wasn't nearly as good to us.

 

[maryj11]

I'am seeing alot of BOG dinners after 8:00 pm open for August

 

[Hopefully]

Huh, my 180 day mark was yesterday and I snagged 8:00 and 10:00 breakfasts on 10/17 and 5:00 and 8:00 dinners on the 18th with no trouble at all. How many are in your party?

A classic example of the problem.
Folks booking multiple ADR's for the same meal when there is no chance they will eat at both.
This precludes other families from being able to book at all.
Not good

 

[Tiggymama]

A classic example of the problem.
Folks booking multiple ADR's for the same meal when there is no chance they will eat at both.
This precludes other families from being able to book at all.
Not good

I agree it sucks, but it is what it is. It's Disney's policies of changing opening hours last minute and requiring reservations so far in advance that make it necessary. You're right that we won't be using both, but others WILL get to book what we don't use, just not 6 months in advance.

 

[OhioMommy08]

I agree it sucks, but it is what it is. It's Disney's policies of changing opening hours last minute and requiring reservations so far in advance that make it necessary. You're right that we won't be using both, but others WILL get to book what we don't use, just not 6 months in advance.

I agree. I think a lot of people intentionally overbook. I think as long as you release them earlier than at midnight the day before, you're ok. Like you said, it's unfortunately the environment Disney has created.

 

[studiojmm]

I started looking at the 180 day mark for BOG dinner reservations for the week after Labor Day and didn't find anything except 9:30 pm on Wed, so I guess we are there for EMH. I've got a touringplans.com search running for a couple alternatives and will look more aggressively at the 90 day mark and in the days leading up to our visit for an earlier option.

Side questions: Can you order just dessert at BOG dinner? Any thoughts on getting from a fireworks viewing spot to BOG by 9:30? We can hustle, but that night is likely our only day in the park when Happily Ever After is scheduled.