Dining Reservations

[Pumpkin1172]

I tried looking for a thread and there is probably one started. But here it goes. I've been trying to make reservations at the " Be my Guest " restaurant. It was the one place the dd ( 22 ) wanted to go when we did our one day at the Magic Kingdom. I have been trying to probably 2 months now since we decided we were going. There are no reservations left for that day.
Am I not able to make reservations, because I don't have our gate tickets yet? they are coming from AM. I was able to save enough again for one ticket. I will purchase the other one. Since we are staying off site ( Disney Springs ), I wasn't in much of a rush to get tickets because we can only do our FP 30 days out. We are now 58 days lol.
Will I luck out and get reservations, or will we even be able to stop in while we are in Magic Kingdom to see if we will get in? This was the one thing she wanted to do. It is her first time to DW.

 

[fan1080]

Be Our Guest is very popular, and difficult to get reservations for.

All you can do is keep checking for times around the dates you will be there. Cancellations happen, so you may get lucky.

Good luck, and happy travels.

 

[Pumpkin1172]

Cancellations happen, so you may get lucky.

thank you...I'll keep trying...I knew it was popular. I'll just keep trying!!!

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

I tried looking for a thread and there is probably one started. But here it goes. I've been trying to make reservations at the " Be my Guest " restaurant. It was the one place the dd ( 22 ) wanted to go when we did our one day at the Magic Kingdom. I have been trying to probably 2 months now since we decided we were going. There are no reservations left for that day.
Am I not able to make reservations, because I don't have our gate tickets yet? they are coming from AM. I was able to save enough again for one ticket. I will purchase the other one. Since we are staying off site ( Disney Springs ), I wasn't in much of a rush to get tickets because we can only do our FP 30 days out. We are now 58 days lol.
Will I luck out and get reservations, or will we even be able to stop in while we are in Magic Kingdom to see if we will get in? This was the one thing she wanted to do. It is her first time to DW.

BE Our Guest (BOG) is one of the most popular restaurants on DW property. Many people try to book this at 180 days out and still have trouble finding Advanced Dining Reservations (ADR). This is the reason you are having trouble finding any availability. Your tickets have nothing to do with securing a reservation so that's not it.

You mentioned you are 58 days out. This is a good time to start looking frequently because at 60 days out others will be making FP+ selections and those that have booked multiple reservations at BOG will start to drop them as their plans firm up.

A couple of other suggestions:
- look for a cancellations thread on here that coincides with your month of travel. So for example, if your traveling in December, search "December cancellation" and you should find it. People will post ADRs they are going to cancel and you can coordinate the exact time they cancel so that you can get the ADR.

- Look into Touring Plans website. They have a free reservation finder tool that will constantly search for an ADR at the restaurant, date, and time of your choosing and will either email or text (I would recommend text) you when it finds one. You then have to go on Disney website and book it yourself. IT WILL NOT BOOK IT FOR YOU, ONLY NOTIFIES YOU OF AVAILABILITY.

Good luck!

 

[starvenger]

Restaurant reservations for the general public start 6 months out, and 6 months + 7 (or is it 10?) days if you are staying on site. Yes, 6 months seems kind of insane. I don't believe that you need passes to make the reservations themselves, although obviously you would need them to get into the park.

I believe BOG, Royal Table and Akershus are the most popular restaurants, so they get filled VERY quickly. Last year, I tried booking BOG and Cinderella's Royal Table 6 months out for our October visit (the girls love the princesses) and had zero luck. Even tried for "off" dining hours. Ended up booking 1900 Park Fare buffet at the Grand Floridian (Cinderella characters only) and that worked out better for us, but we were flexible on where to eat.

If you're dead set on eating at BOG (and I wouldn't blame you - that's still on my WDW bucket list) then all I can say is keep trying, because spots have been known to open up. But similar to looking for cheap flights, you have to be vigilant about it.

I think you can also line up to try and get in for lunch, but that may be an exercise in futility.

Best of luck!

 

[Sugar Jones]

I had to split my family of 5 into two reservations in order to eat there!

 

[Donald - my hero]

I tried looking for a thread and there is probably one started. But here it goes. I've been trying to make reservations at the " Be my Guest " restaurant. It was the one place the dd ( 22 ) wanted to go when we did our one day at the Magic Kingdom. I have been trying to probably 2 months now since we decided we were going. There are no reservations left for that day.
Am I not able to make reservations, because I don't have our gate tickets yet? they are coming from AM. I was able to save enough again for one ticket. I will purchase the other one. Since we are staying off site ( Disney Springs ), I wasn't in much of a rush to get tickets because we can only do our FP 30 days out. We are now 58 days lol.
Will I luck out and get reservations, or will we even be able to stop in while we are in Magic Kingdom to see if we will get in? This was the one thing she wanted to do. It is her first time to DW.

I'm gonna try to help you out here ... couple of things, if you're 58 days out that puts you smack in the middle of US Thanksgiving weekend, hugely busy time! and as other have mentioned it's a popular place to eat. But never fear, it's not impossible there are tables for all 3 meals tomorrow (including a pre-park opening breakie) Now that you have to pay if you don't show up, people cancel their reservations the day before so you should keep checking right up till the day before (even the same day!)

 

[ccudmore]

If you have a subscription to TouringPlans.com you can user their Dining Reservations Finder at TouringPlans.com (https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/reservation-finder). Enter the details of what you're looking for and it will check for availability for you throughout the day and email you if a reservation opens up.

 

[Pumpkin1172]

Thanks for all the great ideas. I will keep checking back. It is just after their Turkey day weekend. And we are only hitting the park for one day. Just trying to fit in as much as we can, as the cost and time of getting there is just so much. I told her last night, not to have her heart set on eating there. If we get a reservation, FANTASTICIf we don't...oh well...at least she knows I was trying to get us in there. We are getting excited now...and my bad...it is 54 until we leave... 56 until we hit Disney!!! Watch out for the two crazy Canadian mother daughter duo lol!!!

 

[darwinsrule]

Pay attention in the week before you go. We literally got a BOG ressie for dinner 24 hours beforehand. Obviously someone with a last minute cancellation but it worked for us.

 

[SaraMc]

Keep Checking, also when you are there, sometimes you can get a walk up. We were lucky and got one. Went straight in.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Keep checking many times each day. We recently attempted to get an 'Ohana reservation and I searched upwards of 200 times over a 6 week period and then ta da....a ressie was there! I almost missed it as I was so surprised to see it open! Just keep trying.

I also found that as others have said, more will open as you get closer to your date. It's not a given that you'll get one but it will take a lot of perseverance on your part too!

 

[GoBoilers]

What is the best way to get a CRT reservation? Do you need to stay on site to be able to book before 180 days?

 

[Donald - my hero]

What is the best way to get a CRT reservation? Do you need to stay on site to be able to book before 180 days?

The only way you can made a reservation *before* 180 days is if you're staying on-site ---once that 180 day rolls around you can make reservations for 180 + 10 days. SO if you're arriving on January 1st you can make reservations for that day forward to either the end of your stay or 10 days into a longer stay (someone will correct me on the finer points of THAT statement if i'm wrong) Recommendations are to have your "harder-to-secure" meals towards the end of your stay so that you will have a smaller group of people looking at the same dates and book those first.

HOWEVER, don't despair if you aren't able to snag the coveted spot right at the 180 day mark as there are currently spots for breakfast in the castle tomorrow morning and the entire week of the 180 day is still showing spots as well. Now that you have to pay up front for that meal people will drop the reservations constantly! There is often a feeling of frenzy when the *hot spot* dates arrive ... ADR, FP+ and I've found the only dates i need to be stalking are the ones when discounts are released. The others, while important, are easier to work around if you're willing to check often.

Good luck!

 

[Pumpkin1172]

We got one!!! The dd and I have been each checking when we got a chance...she just made us a late lunch reservation. She is beyond excited. Thank you for all the great ideas. We have been checking back with persistence...and it paid off!!!! We are I believe we are now about 45 days out of our Magic Kingdom day!

 

[GoBoilers]

If I book a reservation online for 180 days to 185 days, will the online system let me book dinner reservations at 185 days or do I need to call since it is beyond 180.

 

[MegaSilver]

If I book a reservation online for 180 days to 185 days, will the online system let me book dinner reservations at 185 days or do I need to call since it is beyond 180.

You can only book past 180 days if you have an on-site hotel stay booked. If that is the case, then you can book past 180 days online at 6am of day 180

 

[Donald - my hero]

If I book a reservation online for 180 days to 185 days, will the online system let me book dinner reservations at 185 days or do I need to call since it is beyond 180.

Colour me slightly confused here (hey, what's new ) do you have an onsite hotel reservation? AND if so are you staying for at least 5 days? If the answer to those 2 questions is YES you will be able to make your dining reservations (you might see the letters ADR for that) for 185 days in advance starting right at your 180 day mark online. You may have seen the phrase "180 + 10" which means if you're staying on-site you can make dining reservations for what is usually your entire stay (if it's longer than 10 days you will need to wait for the last few days)

Your best bet is to start with your most desired meals and book those first -- if you have trouble try the last day you have access to. When you look the system will show the days that are open to you in blue, the ones that are beyond your booking window will be grayed out.

 

[TH0MAS]

If it helps any, keep checking often. Last visit, we saw an opening on the site while in our room at POR and my wife quickly grabbed the opening by going to guest services and this was only 2-3 days before our visit to MK so don't give up.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I don't think you said what meal you're looking for. Check all different times but lunch has more ADR's than any other time. Personally, I think lunch is the best bet anyway. We like dining there but it's not worth hype. At least lunch is a decent value for money.