Dining Reservation Questions for Split Stay

[Mich Mouse]

Good Morning!

I think my reservation window opens tomorrow....We arrive on August 7th and tomorrow is June 7th. Is that correct? I know DVC makes reservations that way.....not always technically 60 days.

1. What time can I begin making reservations? Would it be tonight at midnight or tomorrow morning?

2. Will a split stay cause difficulty making reservations? I am staying in three different rooms during a nine day trip. Not my original plan but after getting the Fall ball schedule we have to return home earlier than planned- so we had to take what we could get on property.

2. My DS wants to try the new Space restaurant at EPCOT. The lounge looks like a good place for him as they have sliders. Can anyone give me some strategies for making reservations at Space and also Ohana? These are the two we really want to try!!!

3. Do I need to make the reservations one day at a time beginning with the first day and move on - or can I jump ahead to any day during the vacation? Very concerned about the split stay......

Thanks for any guidance you may provide!!

 

[WDW Traveler]

ADR's are 60 days, not 2 months, so your ADR day would be 6/8.


1. Reservations open up at 6:00am EST online and 7:00am EST on the phone.

2. I believe a split stay will throw a wrench into your plans. I think you would have to wait until each of your check in days to make the remainder of your ADR's but someone else should be able to give you a better understanding of that.

2. Space 220 is one of the hardest ADR's to get right now. Try to get it the LAST day of your stay, that way you are ahead of anyone checking in after you (but with your split stay this may prove very hard) that is my only advice.

3. When making the ADR's you can book 60 + 10, meaning, you can chose any day of your vacation and book. Say you are staying 8/7 - 8/12. You could book any of those days, in any order. But like you said, with the split stay, this complicates things. We have never done a split stay so we have not run into this, so I can't give you specifics on that.

Good luck to you!!

 

[jsbowl16]

I tried this morning to get Space 220 Lounge through August 10 and there was nothing available. I was able to get the prix fixe lunch on August 10 but that was all that was available for any day from the 6th through 10th. Like you we are doing split stays this trip and this is our longest stay of the trip so we had today plus 5. I don't know if I will keep it because I am not sure it is worth it to pay $55 for a ten year old to pick at their adult food. This has been the most difficult reservation I have tried to get in the last ten years of going to Disney. I never even saw the lounge available so maybe they release them at a later date. Ohana is available but you might not get the exact time you want.

 

[Ghost Host 998]

In the long-ago, you could book ADRs over the length of a split stay, but that is no longer the case. You will have to book for 60+ days at the beginning day of each reservation. You will have the small advantage of being able to book for check out day on each reservation, which is, of course, check in day for the next reservation.

 

[maleficent55]

In the long-ago, you could book ADRs over the length of a split stay, but that is no longer the case. You will have to book for 60+ days at the beginning day of each reservation. You will have the small advantage of being able to book for check out day on each reservation, which is, of course, check in day for the next reservation.

as a first timer to WDW in November, this is the most frustrating thing to me! Why can't Disney recognize a split stay as on property guests for the whole time ???? It can't be that hard! I feel like I'm paying ALOT and it's not giving me this perk of 60+10

We are doing 6 nights at Riverside, then 4 nights at the Beach Club. I don't want give either of them up. Don't want to pay $$$$ for the whole 10 nights at the Beach Club but really want to experience that pool and bing so close to Epcot.
Don't want to give up Riverside because of a royal room, beignets, boat rides to disney springs, etc. (and saving $)

Again, SO frustrating

 

[MomOTwins]

as a first timer to WDW in November, this is the most frustrating thing to me! Why can't Disney recognize a split stay as on property guests for the whole time ???? It can't be that hard! I feel like I'm paying ALOT and it's not giving me this perk of 60+10

We are doing 6 nights at Riverside, then 4 nights at the Beach Club. I don't want give either of them up. Don't want to pay $$$$ for the whole 10 nights at the Beach Club but really want to experience that pool and bing so close to Epcot.
Don't want to give up Riverside because of a royal room, beignets, boat rides to disney springs, etc. (and saving $)

Again, SO frustrating

In 2019 and early, you used to make dining reservations at 180 days and fastpass reservations at 60 days. 180 days is before most people plan vacations, so it never really used to be an issue to get everything you wanted with a split stay, so they didn't bother to design the dining reservation system to combine split stays. For the fastpass reservations, they would combine split stays to allow people to book length of stay even when split between hotels, because they recognized that it is a huge problem that close to the trip.

When disney moved from 180 days to 60 days post-Covid, they were simply stuck with their legacy reservation system that didn't make sense at 60 days. So it wasn't intentional, but I 100% agree it is a huge disadvantage. Especially as we are DVC and it can be very hard to avoid split stays if you want to book outside your home resort given limited availability at 7 months.

The fact that Disney used to combine stays for fastpass at the 60 day mark when that existed gives me hope that they understand the issue and might be open to fixing it going forward. I'd recommend you send an email complaining about it to customer relations. If enough people complain, maybe they will look into a long-term solution.

That said, we've had split stays multiple times and while I agree with you it is VERY hard to book reservations at 60 days, we've had very good success getting reservations in the week leading up to the trip as people cancel, particularly the night before as people don't want to incur the same-day cancellation penalty. There are definitely people with longer stays who will, for example, book the same restaurant on multiple days and then cancel all but one right before to allow greater flexibility in their plans.

 

[Mich Mouse]

I just wanted to report back on making my reservations this morning. I was able to make reservations for the entire length of my stay - even though I have three different reservations- so split stay reservations are doable.

Here is what needs to be done:

1. At 6:00 am login (60 day window) and make all the reservations for the first part of your split stay.

2. At 7:00 am call Disney Dining and ask to speak to a specialist to bridge your reservations. If they tell you they can't do this ask to speak to someone else- because they can.

3. Have all the conformation numbers ready for the specialist and they will make all your dining reservations for you - and then they will attach them to your My Disney Experience.

This process tool about a half hour - but I was able to get Space 220 lounge for the next to last day of my trip and Ohana! We actually got every single ADR that we had hoped to.

Good Luck to anyone trying to make this happen! I had a ten day trip at BCV booked but Fall sports training is starting earlier than ever -so we had to modify. The things we do for our kids!!!!

 

[Melemonie]

I just wanted to report back on making my reservations this morning. I was able to make reservations for the entire length of my stay - even though I have three different reservations- so split stay reservations are doable.

Here is what needs to be done:

1. At 6:00 am login (60 day window) and make all the reservations for the first part of your split stay.

2. At 7:00 am call Disney Dining and ask to speak to a specialist to bridge your reservations. If they tell you they can't do this ask to speak to someone else- because they can.

3. Have all the conformation numbers ready for the specialist and they will make all your dining reservations for you - and then they will attach them to your My Disney Experience.

This process tool about a half hour - but I was able to get Space 220 lounge for the next to last day of my trip and Ohana! We actually got every single ADR that we had hoped to.

Good Luck to anyone trying to make this happen! I had a ten day trip at BCV booked but Fall sports training is starting earlier than ever -so we had to modify. The things we do for our kids!!!!

Yes, I was able to do the same thing when booking dining for my split stay. The cast member I spoke to actually had someone in guest services call me to do this. I waited under 10 minutes for that call and had the remainder of my reservations completed within 15 minutes.

 

[maleficent55]

Yes, I was able to do the same thing when booking dining for my split stay. The cast member I spoke to actually had someone in guest services call me to do this. I waited under 10 minutes for that call and had the remainder of my reservations completed within 15 minutes.

This gives me so much hope! And goosebumps

 

[SpncrChi]

Been on hold 47 minutes to be told no they can't bridge my reservations and now waiting for a supervisor. I wish I got someone who could help. Been dealing with dinning since 5am this morning.

Update: Thought you all might be interested in the rest of my saga of trying to link my two resorts stays. I started with Signature Services, I wanted to book a VIP tour and get help with the dining I couldn't book for the second half of or stay. We are staying Club Level at both resorts over 10 days. That CM told me you can't link. I called Dining and was told no again so I asked for Supervisor. After waiting for at least another 20 mins, the Supervisor came on. I was told they can not and have never bridge two consecutive resorts stays. I said I did this back in 2019 and I see that it is being reported it is possible. She said that isn't from a Disney source. She finally agrees to bridge my stays and book the dining for the second half of my trip and then proceeds to tell me she is adding a comment to my permanent Disney record that I was told I could never make this request again. I was spoken to and treated like a child. I really feel the Magic is gone and if my daughter wasn't so excited I would cancel the whole trip.

 

[Mich Mouse]

Oh no! Were you able to get a specialist to help you resolve the problem?

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

Big thank you to those who posted about bridging split stay reservations. I was able to get Space 220 Lounge and Topolinos breakfast thanks to this thread. Took about an hour total on the phone but was well worth it.

 

[Mich Mouse]

Big thank you to those who posted about bridging split stay reservations. I was able to get Space 220 Lounge and Topolinos breakfast thanks to this thread. Took about an hour total on the phone but was well worth it.

YAY! So glad you saw the thread. Perseverance wins- I didn't think that we would be denied making reservations at 60 days with a split stay. Glad we were both successful.

 

[aerxo17]

Great thread! I'm doing a split stay as well - thank you all for the tips and tricks!

 

[vinotinto]

She finally agrees to bridge my stays and book the dining for the second half of my trip and then proceeds to tell me she is adding a comment to my permanent Disney record that I was told I could never make this request again. I was spoken to and treated like a child. I really feel the Magic is gone and if my daughter wasn't so excited I would cancel the whole trip.

What?! That is not cool. So now, every time we call to make a request, we need to worry about what they are typing in our “permanent record.” Not very customer-oriented!

 

[jf256]

What?! That is not cool. So now, every time we call to make a request, we need to worry about what they are typing in our “permanent record.”

I would personally be calling and

a) making a complaint about that - its not cool when you are spending so much money.
b) I don't know what the rules are in the US but in the UK you can ask for a subject access request and i would be doing that and asking them to remove it.

 

[Esrose1953]

This thread has been so helpful. I will be calling to bridge my split stay this Fall. I hope I get someone who will do this for me. I also hope someone working for Disney realizes this is a problem.

 

[Mich Mouse]

Just keep asking for a specialist if you run into trouble. They can override the system and make the dining reservations. They don't have to bridge your reservations to accomplish this.

Good Luck!!

 

[stepdisney]

This gives me so much hope! And goosebumps

Me too!

 

[Richie248]

She finally agrees to bridge my stays and book the dining for the second half of my trip and then proceeds to tell me she is adding a comment to my permanent Disney record that I was told I could never make this request again. I was spoken to and treated like a child. I really feel the Magic is gone and if my daughter wasn't so excited I would cancel the whole trip.

Glad you secured the reservations you wanted...however..."comment on your permanent record?" Never heard of such thing....how patronizing. I'd speak to someone about it. The fact that you did a split stay and are PAYING for resort rooms....should allow you to make dining 60 days +10 day out. Linking them should be norm rather than the exception.