Dining and park hours

[Bunch0rz5]

Question for you all. We are planning our trip in Sept. 2016. Before making dinner res. I like to know what the park hours will be day to day. With the Halloween party going during our visit I want to stay away from booking MK those dates of the party. Will we know before 180 days the park hours?

I will be booking for my family of 5 and also for my in laws who have 3 in their party as of now. That may grow. Do you find it harder to book larger parties? Would it be best to make my res first and have them on the phone making theirs at the same time? We plan to have two separate reservations but somehow have them linked.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Happyjen27]

Even when you consult Disney's operating hours when making reservation 180 days in advance, it's not always a guarantee those will be the actual hours on that day. I found out the hard way this trip, I booked an 8:10AM BoG reservation when the park was supposed to open at 9AM. They just changed the park hours and now the park opens at 8AM. If I knew that ahead, I would have booked a later breakfast so I could ride, ride, ride first.
Infuriating how Disney expects us to plan 180 days ahead, and then can just change the hours 23 days ahead, obsolescing our reservations.

As for large parties, make the reservations for as many people as you think will come. You can always shrink a reservation later, but adding people can be difficult, if not impossible, in some cases. I would make one reservation for the entire group, unless this is a pre-pay meal like CRT, this should have no bearing on you financially, as the checks can be split accordingly at the time you dine.

 

[OhThePain]

These are the hours from this past September:

http://media.disneywebcontent.com/staticfiles/parkhours/wdwtravelagent_september.pdf

It should be updating soon. While there are no guarantees that this is how it will be this September, it should at least give you an idea.

 

[purple figment]

The first iteration of the park hours/schedule is released about six and a half months in advance, but hours can change up to the last minute. Generally hours are extended, based on how busy it will be.

As far as making reservations it is best to make it for the maximum number of people who might be dining because separate reservations cannot be linked. Often, it is also harder to add people later because you will need to find a reservation that will accommodate the new number. Even if you call the dining line there is no guarantee that they will be able to add anyone to an existing reservation because they too would need to have a reservation available for the new party size. If you opt to have your in laws make a separate reservation you will have 2 separate reservations that cannot be combined on the phone. Once you arrive at the restaurant you can ask to be seated together and the castmembers will do their best, but there is no guarantee. Your reservations would be for 2 smaller tables so if there is a large group with a reservation at the same time, they would probably have precedence for a larger table. Your 2 parties might be seated together, near each other or on opposite sides of the room.