Dining for 8- strategies?

[Vfabba]

I'm worried that getting dining for 8 is going to be impossible. If you have booked reservations recently for a bigger group, did you have any luck or do you think I should break it up 4/4 and try and get them that way?

 

[acpalmer]

A lot of that depends on which restaurants you are looking for. We have a party of 7 and I only had to break us up once--for Plaza Inn. Otherwise, we are all together. But we weren't booking very many of the super hard to get. We have Garden Grill, 50s PrimeTime, and Oga's that are harder to get, but then also have Plaza (broken up), City Works, Mama Melrose, Whispering Canyon Cafe, and Via Napoli. We are onsite, but a split stay, so we couldn't look farther out than 65. We wanted lunch times, so that may have made it easier as well--only a couple of ours are dinner reservations.

 

[kevgraub]

I'm worried that getting dining for 8 is going to be impossible. If you have booked reservations recently for a bigger group, did you have any luck or do you think I should break it up 4/4 and try and get them that way?

We are a party of 8 going first week of June. We got pretty much everything we wanted, but some of them were at some off times. Here is the list of what I got when our 60+ window opened:

Day 0 (day before we actually check in) - Boathouse at 4:30 pm
Day 1 - Shula's at 8:45 pm (could have done earlier, wanted to stay at HS for a while before dinner)
Day 2 - Biergarten at 7:00 pm
Day 3 - Liberty Tree Tavern at 6:30 (originally was 4:30 pm, moved it back when they extended park hours)
Day 4 - Crystal Palace at 6:30 pm (also originally at 4:30 pm)
Day 5 - San Angel Inn at 5:00 pm
Day 6 - Oga's at 11:40 am, Sci-Fi at 3:00 pm (trying to push that later, no luck yet). Also had Mama Melrose at 6:15 pm but cancelled it
Day 7 - Be our Guest at 6:45 pm
Day 8 - Chef Mickey's at 8:05 am

None of those are split reservations, they were all done online for 8 people. Had I split it up into groups of 4, I might have been able to get a little better times, but what I had was workable. Only thing I really wanted but did not get was Beaches & Cream.

 

[yaywatermelons]

I was making reservations for a party of 16 in tables of 8 and 8. (My sister was up with me ridiculously early west coast time to be the 2nd account). We got one TS meal each day including Oga's and BOG. The 60+ for resort guests may have made this easier.

The only one we had to split into a group smaller than 8 was Garden Grill in Epcot. (I'm wondering if the round rotating restaurant makes the tables limited to 5 or 6?).

So not impossible? But definitely easier if you are staying on property and can look beyond 60 days.

 

[Vfabba]

Very helpful, thank you!

 

[Ursula J]

We're going 6/13-6/19 and got almost nothing with 8. We did get many 4/4 at the same or close times. But even being online the second ADRs were released, I think we got one (Ale & Compass) for 8. I think it will depend a lot on when you're going because the week we'll be there is very busy. Just be ready with 2 MDE accounts. You can't make 2 4 person reservations under your own account. I had my husband's account on the laptop and mine on the phone. As soon as I realized I couldn't get 8, I'd divide and do 2 separate ones. But some we couldn't get even 4/4, like B & C. Good luck!!

 

[kanerf]

Most tables are for four, some few for six. With that in mind, I would try for 2x4 using someone else to make the other reservation. Keep in mind that with the number of restaurants that are still closed, ADRs for any number are hard to come by. You may have to forgo your choice and settle for whatever is available. Don't forget DS which has many restaurants and the resorts which have a number as well.