Booking reservations for 8 people?

[davea84]

My wife's parents and her sister and our niece will be joining us on our next visit in June, bringing the total number of people in our group to 8. We have never visited in a group larger than our immediate family of 4, so I'm a little concerned about getting dining reservations for all 8 of us when our window opens up next week. I have noticed, just attempting to look at reservations available 60 days out that there seems to be MUCH more limited options for 8 people than there are for 4. Has anyone been able to book at some of the more popular places with larger groups or would we be better off trying to get separate reservations close to the same time for two groups of 4? Also, would I even be able to book two reservations or would I need another person to make the second one?

Be Our Guest is the toughest one we really want to get for my niece who has never been there and is a big Beauty and the Beast fan. Space 220 would be nice as well, but we're not holding our breath on that one. We also REALLY love Le Celier and we want to do at least one character meal while we're there, we were hoping to do breakfast at Topolino's (preferred since we're staying at Pop) or Chef Mickey's on our non-park day.

Any tips/tricks for getting all 8 of us in would be appreciated.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

We book for 11 usually. I have my sister help and we book either 6 and 6 at times close together (usually within 15 min) or sometimes we have to get 3 reservations of 4 to get the times we want. It just depends on the restaurant. We check in about 10-15 min before the earliest time and tell them we are all together. Usually they have sat us at 1 table. Occasionally we get 2 tables but they are near each other. Even when doing 3 reservations, we’ve never gotten more than 2 tables though I realize it is a possibility. We’ve done this strategy for the last 8-10 trips and it hasn’t steered us wrong yet.

The key is you have to have 2 accounts as 1 person can’t have 2 reservations near the same time. This is why I enlist help from my sister and we usually are on the phone together coordinating times. Just did this strategy a couple weeks ago for an upcoming May trip and got most restaurants we wanted including Artist Point, Homecomin’, Steakhouse 71. The only thing we didn’t get was space 220 but we wanted the lounge and I figured it was highly unlikely even if we tried for parties of 2 so it’s not a huge deal.

 

[Disneydreamin2426]

I was also stressed out about my upcoming trip because it is the first time we are going with a large group (12) but I ended up getting pretty much everything I wanted. I was able to get a party of 12 for Topolinos breakfast and dinner, Jiko and Ogas. I got split party of 8/4 for CRT, San Angel Inn and Chef Mickey’s and the rest I had to split 6/6 including Be our Guest. That was the hardest reservation for me to get and oddly enough had to take it on our arrival day instead of our last day as I was originally planning.

I did this all from my account. For the ones I had to split I made the first reservation and changed the name of the person who will manage the reservation to my husband and then went back in and made the second reservation and left myself as the person who will manage. I used the website on my computer and phone but did not use the app. Hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[CarolynFH]

I would first try for a party of 8, and if that was unsuccessful, I'd try for two parties of 4. I would use this method:

I did this all from my account. For the ones I had to split I made the first reservation and changed the name of the person who will manage the reservation to my husband and then went back in and made the second reservation and left myself as the person who will manage.

An important thing to recognize is that the person listed as managing the reservation will be the only person who can modify or cancel the reservation online, so it's important to list someone who has their own MDE account. And when actually being seated for the ADRs, the restaurant won't care who sits with whom, so if you and your spouse are listed as managing ADRs for separate parties, and the restaurant can't seat both parties together, you and your spouse can still sit together!

 

[davea84]

My wife's parents and her sister and our niece will be joining us on our next visit in June, bringing the total number of people in our group to 8. We have never visited in a group larger than our immediate family of 4, so I'm a little concerned about getting dining reservations for all 8 of us when our window opens up next week. I have noticed, just attempting to look at reservations available 60 days out that there seems to be MUCH more limited options for 8 people than there are for 4. Has anyone been able to book at some of the more popular places with larger groups or would we be better off trying to get separate reservations close to the same time for two groups of 4? Also, would I even be able to book two reservations or would I need another person to make the second one?

Be Our Guest is the toughest one we really want to get for my niece who has never been there and is a big Beauty and the Beast fan. Space 220 would be nice as well, but we're not holding our breath on that one. We also REALLY love Le Celier and we want to do at least one character meal while we're there, we were hoping to do breakfast at Topolino's (preferred since we're staying at Pop) or Chef Mickey's on our non-park day.

Any tips/tricks for getting all 8 of us in would be appreciated.

Just wanted to come back and thank everyone who provided advice and add a little update. We were able to book everything we wanted this morning. We got a reservation for all 8 of us at Be Our Guest. We also got separate reservations for 4 around 20 minutes apart at Space 220, 5 minutes apart at Le Celier, and at the same time at Chef Mickey's but could not get Topolino's. Had no issues getting any of our easier reservations booked, so we're pretty excited about how things worked out. We're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll be able to seat us close together on the reservations we had to separate.

 

[CarolynFH]

Just wanted to come back and thank everyone who provided advice and add a little update. We were able to book everything we wanted this morning. We got a reservation for all 8 of us at Be Our Guest. We also got separate reservations for 4 around 20 minutes apart at Space 220, 5 minutes apart at Le Celier, and at the same time at Chef Mickey's but could not get Topolino's. Had no issues getting any of our easier reservations booked, so we're pretty excited about how things worked out. We're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll be able to seat us close together on the reservations we had to separate.

Yay! That’s great. For the split party ADRs, we made sure everyone was there 10-15 minutes before the earlier ADR and checked in with the CM in person, not via MDE. That way we could tell them we were together and would like to be seated as close together as possible. Sometimes we had to wait a few minutes, but we were seated together. Good luck, and enjoy your trip!

 

[covington]

Just wanted to come back and thank everyone who provided advice and add a little update. We were able to book everything we wanted this morning. We got a reservation for all 8 of us at Be Our Guest. We also got separate reservations for 4 around 20 minutes apart at Space 220, 5 minutes apart at Le Celier, and at the same time at Chef Mickey's but could not get Topolino's. Had no issues getting any of our easier reservations booked, so we're pretty excited about how things worked out. We're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll be able to seat us close together on the reservations we had to separate.

So happy to hear you were successful! I’ll also be booking later this week for a party of 8. Was wondering, how many days out is your Space 220 res for? We have a 7 night trip planned and I’m thinking I will try for day 6 or 7 … thank you!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

You might have to split the party up. I had to do that once b it we were blue to sit together.

Also if off times are a possibility that could work in your favor more