Disney dining buddy...will it actually help me/be worth it?

[CalDisneyMomof2]

It worked for me. All of the reviews on Facebook talk about how they got their alerts within hours. I was getting worried because I didn't get close to the time I wanted until about a month and a half later! All of the other alerts were WAY earlier or later than I had wanted.

It was very strange though, when I got my alert for the one I wanted. A 5:00, 5:05 and 5:15 had all opened up at the same time (I would have taken any of those) when the earliest I could get was 6:55 when I tried at the 180 mark. I'm wondering if reservations were held back, but why? It's for Sanaa on November 6th and I only wanted the earliest dinner reservation so we can see the animals for the birthday boy.

 

[amandals2007]

disney dining buddy is one also

 

[22Tink]

Probably a stupid question but I see three options only...Free, $4 and $6. I signed up last nite, never tried it before but booking for 6 people this trip. Is there another service besides DDS I should look into as well?

Disney Dining Buddy is another one that's worked for me. It's more expensive though at $8 a search.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

i really only need one search. i have two other ressies i want to change the times on but nothing i want to pay for, like its nothing that i cant be happy with what it is im just picky (but arent most of us with our vaca we want it perfect lol)

lets see if this one free one will work for me. will it email or text me on the free one? it didnt say.

You should get both, just be ready to jump because that ADR will likely be grabbed up quickly.

 

[noahsketomom]

I think you have to weigh the cost with 1) the difficulty of the ressie you want (place, time, # of people) and 2)how important it is to you. I REALLY wanted Ohana for our party of 8 and only had one day that really would work into our plans. Figured with all the $$ we already had spent on the vacation, $8 was worth it to get something that important. Fortunately I snagged it when the text came through. Of course, there is no guarantee, so it's up to you whether you want to shell out $8. I personally wouldn't have done multiple requests, but for this one, it was definitely worth it!

 

[chocolateavocado]

I just signed up for Disney Dining Buddy late last night - trying to snag a CRT for our Nov. trip. For the couple dollars, it was worth a shot- esp with all the great reviews I've been reading on here and online
Here's hoping we all get what we're hoping for!

 

[RogueKnits]

I have found it worth it! It notified me a couple of days ago when a bunch of BOG dinners were released. I got my desired day and time. I probably would have missed out if I hadn't had the notification. I'm still waiting for an Ohana dinner, but I'm hopeful I'll find one using dining buddy.

Same here. Finally got BOG dinner for the night we are attending MVMCP. I did miss out on one that came available a few weeks ago, but that was because having another dinner scheduled for that time slot slowed me down. You do need to be fast on booking it when the notification comes in, unless Disney suddenly releases a bunch of times that were held back for some reason (which is what I suspect happened this past week for BOG).

 

[bar423]

I just signed up for Disney Dining Buddy late last night - trying to snag a CRT for our Nov. trip. For the couple dollars, it was worth a shot- esp with all the great reviews I've been reading on here and online
Here's hoping we all get what we're hoping for!

That's how I got our CRT dinner and it did take a good month or two (so be patient) but I now have it for our trip in September so it was worth it!!

 

[chocolateavocado]

That's how I got our CRT dinner and it did take a good month or two (so be patient) but I now have it for our trip in September so it was worth it!!

Thanks!! I really hope we can get it!!

 

[emilyalexis]

It worked for me yesterday for a BOG lunch in November, and I signed up probably 3 weeks ago. I think one thing that helped me was that I didn't waste time following the link Dining Buddy sends you, I just opened the Disney app right away and searched for the times I had submitted to them. Since there was only 1 time available, I might have lost it if I spent time following the text link.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Same here. Finally got BOG dinner for the night we are attending MVMCP. I did miss out on one that came available a few weeks ago, but that was because having another dinner scheduled for that time slot slowed me down. You do need to be fast on booking it when the notification comes in, unless Disney suddenly releases a bunch of times that were held back for some reason (which is what I suspect happened this past week for BOG).

Why do they do this? I was checking at the 180 mark for a 5:00 Sanaa reservation on November 6th. NOTHING close to what I wanted so I did a lunch ressie instead. Fast forward to Wednesday night/Thursday morning and 5:00, 5:05 and 5:15 were all available (DDB alert).

I didn't think Sanaa was that popular (popular but not as much as others) that they'd be all booked so it was all very strange to me when I couldn't get anything.

 

[constanze]

I tried Disney Dining Buddy for the first time this year, and it helped me secure the BOG time I needed. LOVE it!

 

[RogueKnits]

Why do they do this? I was checking at the 180 mark for a 5:00 Sanaa reservation on November 6th. NOTHING close to what I wanted so I did a lunch ressie instead. Fast forward to Wednesday night/Thursday morning and 5:00, 5:05 and 5:15 were all available (DDB alert).

I didn't think Sanaa was that popular (popular but not as much as others) that they'd be all booked so it was all very strange to me when I couldn't get anything.

My only guess is to give people who are planning vacations later than the 180 day mark a chance to get some of the reservations. That was me last year--we didn't book until we were about 120 days out. We still managed to get ADRs for most places, but didn't get a BOG dinner. Not that I tried all that much--we got the lunch FP instead. There actually seemed to be less availability this year at 180 days than I remember from booking last year, but that could be because I'm going on a particularly popular weekend (Wine & Dine half marathon + Jersey week + first night of MVMCP).

 

[starousse]

If you don't jump on it right away, you could very well miss the ADR, but again, it'll keep alerting you if other spots open up--so it's not like you only get one shot for your $8.

The worth is really up to you. For me, depending on what else I've planned that day, if a "better" ADR time is going to make my day easier or more enjoyable, I don't mind spending the money.

For example, the Ohana I just scored for my arrival day. When I first booked on MDE I got it for 7:30 pm, but that's late--my 6 year old will be tired from traveling and I've always been seated past my ADR time at Ohana. I want to eat early, then take my time hanging around the Poly and GF, then head back to sleep when we're ready--not wait all afternoon for the 7:30 ADR with a hungry, maybe cranky kid, and then have to rush back to bed. For my $8 I got a 5:30 pm ADR and I've bought myself a way more pleasant first night in WDW.

If you're still on the fence, keep checking MDE as much as possible for a while, and if you still don't have what you want within 15-20 days of the trip, set up the buddy.

I just signed up today. Like you, I got a reservation at Ohana on our first night but it's a 5:00. A little early. I know it may sound silly to some, but I signed up for the DDB today to see if I can get a 7:00 one instead. So far no alerts.

 

[Kristi113]

I signed up with scout and nothing for 1900 park fare on September 25 for 4 weeks now. Hoping I didn't make a mistake

 

[22Tink]

I signed up with scout and nothing for 1900 park fare on September 25 for 4 weeks now. Hoping I didn't make a mistake

I haven't got a Park Fare alert yet either, but lots for Crystal Palace and I got my 8am Tusker House. I think Park Fare might just be a popular one that people aren't cancelling? Hang in there! It could definitely still happen.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Enjoy them while they last. I expect Disney will start slamming the door soon. Someone tried something like this for DVC and got the door slammed hard. Disney does not like all these autobot hits on their systems.

 

[BradyBrenMom]

Disney Dining Buddy was well-worth it to me--I had been trying to get a BOG reservation for months, and was able to get a dinner for 7 people in October when they opened more slots up last week. I was on vacation at the time and hadn't been checking on my own because of it, so the text from them was a life-saver. It took several weeks for me to get a text, but now that I have that reservation, I was able to finalize the rest of my plans.

For those of you who are more comfortable than I am doing things last minute, there are lots of last minute openings when people cancel to avoid paying the no show fine. I was checking for BOG a few weeks back and was stunned to have 3 options for dinner at BOG in a single day so I booked right away...then realized I hadn't adjusted the calendar to the day I needed, and had actually booked it for the same day I looked it up!! Thank goodness I noticed the date and cancelled before we were charged as we were sadly not at WDW. I was just a little over-excited

 

[naylor90]

I decided today to try Dining Buddy for the first time. I was hoping to get a pre-park opening breakfast at CRT on one of two days. I signed up around 9 AM and had the reservation booked by 1:30 PM. For my next trip I would totally use it again, especially for the harder to get reservations and I'm tired on stalking Disney Dining every hour for an opening.

 

[amandals2007]

There seems to be a lot more discussion around these services lately. A few have been around for a couple years now. To not show any bias I have composed a list that I been sharing. As far as I know, this is all of them, and they are in alphabetical order so not to show any preference.

Disney Dining Buddy
0 Free
$8.00 for each

Disney DVC Resale
Free

Disney Dining Scout
2 Free with signup
Packages: $3.99, $5.99

Reservation Watch
3 Free with signup
Packages: $0.99, $4.99, $9.99

WDW Table Finder
0 Free
Packages: $7.00, $15.00, $50

WDW Tools ADR Sniper
0 Free
$10.00 each

thank you for this! just signed up forreservation watch and disney dining scout, trying the free ones...nothing yet and ive had disney dining scout for a week. i know what i want is not only popular but at a resort so locals dont need a ticket to get in and eat there but im optimistic ill get what i want!!