Checking for cancellations @ BOG & O'Hana

[Koz]

Question for the dining experts. Our 180 day window just came and went, and we were able to score some decent reservations for lunch and dinner, including Boma, Akershus, O'hana (earlier than we would like), Sci-Fi, Chef Mickeys and Tusker House.

Three things that didn't go our way- tried like hell to get BOG, even at the tail end, and only for dinner- didn't happen. O'hana, later than 4:25, as we won't feel like leaving MK before 4PM to go grab dinner. Lastly, Akershus is late, @ 1:45 for lunch.

Thus, my question- since the ADR's were made, I've been checking, several times a day, to see if anything has opened up, and I wonder if it's now a pointless endeavor as we are still pretty far out from our date of arrival. Am I better off say within 60/45/30 days etc, knowing that the cc guarantee applies to all of these restaurants with XL outside of 24 hours? Based upon your experience, I didn't know if there is a period where you are more likely to see things opening up, so that I can really stop wasting my time checking 2 to 3 times a day.

Also, any thoughts on Boma? We are usually found at Whispering Canyon, but wanted to mix things up this year.

Thank you!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I have had luck outside of the core windows, but yes, you will see the most movement at 60/45/30 days, as well as night before.

Boma is awesome, by the way.

 

[jaiminee krikit]

Honestly, if there's something I really want I check every day, several times a day. I had all of our ADRs neatly planned and then they decided to open Soarin' on the last day of our trip before we head to Cocoa Beach before our cruise. I wasn't going to miss Soarin', so I had to switch around my MK and Epcot ADRs. We had BOG planned for lunch and LTT for dinner on our MK day and Via Napoli dinner at Epcot. Well, for the first week or so after they announced the opening date of Soarin', there was nothing available at any of these restaurants. I was accepting the fact that we would be eating QS for all of our meals those two days. Finally, a LTT time opened up. Unfortunately it's for lunch. But I cannot imagine I will be able to get BOG this late in the game. And now I have accepted the fact that I am finally going to try the Ooey Gooey dessert and I'm done checking for BOG (luckily I got an ADR for the day we disembark and my DD13 decided we needed one more day at the MK). For Epcot, after several more days a Via Napoli finally opened up. The time we got is much later than we usually eat (7:55), but VN is my DD's absolute favorite Disney restaurant so she doesn't care what time we eat. I still keep checking for an earlier time, but I have had no luck there. There are times available, but even later than what we've got. Keep your fingers crossed and keep checking (not at the same time, that's not easy to do)! Good luck!

 

[JerseyJanice]

My trip is in October and I've found things I was looking for after the 180 point. I'll be tweaking it all summer. LOL!

Relatives of mine are there this week. They had nothing a week ago. I got them ADRs at 'Ohana, Chef Mickey and Be Our Guest for the time frames they wanted. The MDE app makes it fun and easy to check.

 

[kevgraub]

I would definitely recommend Touringplans.com ADR finder. Super easy to use. It snagged us an ADR for Ohana dinner for our trip coming up in about 3 weeks for a party of 5. It will perform searches for you and send you an e-mail or text when it finds something. It does not actually book or hold the reservation, just alerts you that something has opened up.

 

[may12th]

Have you checked for the latest Akershus breakfast time? We didn't like the lunch menu but wanted to eat there so we ate the last breakfast time and used it as a brunch with some breakfast bars in the room to hold us while we played at Epcot before our reservation.

 

[StuckInKS]

I would definitely recommend Touringplans.com ADR finder. Super easy to use.

This has saved me a lot of time and I've got more ADRs at better times than I did when checking manually. I really recommend it.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I know how you feel. Today was my ADR day and I couldn't get BOG lunch for the day I wanted or Chef Mickey's breakfast at the time I wanted. I went ahead and set up alerts for both in the touring plans ADR finder. I have complete confidence that sometime in the next 6 months I will be able to get what I want though.

 

[MKCP5]

This has saved me a lot of time and I've got more ADRs at better times than I did when checking manually. I really recommend it.

Do you have to pay for their service?

 

[Mr & Mrs DD]

We tried BOG as soon as are 180 window opened. We couldn't get anything. I kept checking and was able to a 4:25 Dinner. We weren't really happy with the 4:25, but we took it. We kept checking and we were able to get a 6:10 reservation. So it is possible. Keep trying.

 

[hammie59]

I have added and cancelled numerous BOG ressies for our upcoming trip trying to fine tune it and I'm well past our 180 mark. Just keep checking.

 

[kevgraub]

Do you have to pay for their service?

TP has a membership fee for certain things (around $10-$12 for a year), but I'm not sure if the ADR finder is part of the free tools or part of the paid membership. I'd check out the website and see, there are some nice tools on there that are free (but if you do a customized touring plan - do not use the "optimize" function, it will make a mess of things).