Excuse my ignorance...booking dining today & I have a question or three

[moopdog]

This is the first time we've gone in many years, and I need a refresher. Today is the big day, we get to make our dining reservations for our trip!! I see it now requires a credit card to secure the table. Exactly, when do I need to cancel before getting charged? I want everything in place for now, but until official park hours, etc come out for the week we are there, we might switch things around quite a bit.

Also - is it really possible that I'm already having trouble getting tables I wanted. For example, we wanted O'hana or House of Blues for our arrival day of Thursday, March 2nd and there is nothing available from 3:30 - 7 PM. That surprised me a bit, so I was just curious.

TIA

 

[Princesspolly0110]

Disneys cancellation policy is anything under 24 hours notice, they can charge 10 per person for the missed or cancelled Reservations. There have been times where we have missed and they have not charged because of sickness, missed bus. Ect.

 

[DAKL101]

Yes it is possible, because everyone who has an early reservation than you (where march 2nd is there last day or the middle of their trip) could have already booked it. Keep trying though. It is super hard to get Ohana dinner. Usually, you need to cancel the day before. Even if you wait until the week of you will be fine. They are more concerned about day of cancellations.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Its hard to get an Ohana reservation. So it doesnt surprise me that you cant get one.

For cancellations it says 24 hours, but apparently you have to cancel it by midnight the day before.

Cancellations can be made on the Disney Dining website, at guest relations, a restaurant podium, or via a special phone number at 407-WDW-CNCL. To avoid the penalty, the cancellation must be made up to 11:59pm on the day before the reservation.

 

[VillainFavs]

Others are right about 'Ohana being tough to get.

But with House of Blues, they're an independent restaurant and their reservations don't go into the Disney system until a few weeks in advance. In August we were able to book lunch there about a week before we went and they had times open at all hours. Even in July, they were still showing no availability because they hadn't released them yet. You can also try calling them directly to make a reservation.

 

[Hopefully]

AT 11:30 of your 180 days out you are late in trying for 'OHana for dinner. They book fast.
House of Blues does release into the Disney system, but I don't think all of their tables. You may get lucky if you call.
You must cancel by 11:59 the night before. If PP was charge after missing a bus, they got Pixie Dust. They do charge

 

[cluvsdisney]

You can also reserve house of blues through open table which does not require a credit card to make a reservation.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Keep checking for 'Ohana, I've gotten lucky getting that one more than once.

 

[moopdog]

Others are right about 'Ohana being tough to get.

But with House of Blues, they're an independent restaurant and their reservations don't go into the Disney system until a few weeks in advance. In August we were able to book lunch there about a week before we went and they had times open at all hours. Even in July, they were still showing no availability because they hadn't released them yet. You can also try calling them directly to make a reservation.

Thank you, I was able to get O'hana on another day, no problem. But this makes sense now about HOB. I'll "pencil" it in for our arrival day, and if we can't end up with it, I won't sweat it. Other than O'hana, we are trying for only places we've never eaten & I'm pretty excited!!

 

[moopdog]

You can also reserve house of blues through open table which does not require a credit card to make a reservation.

What does this refer to? "open table" ??

 

[moopdog]

AT 11:30 of your 180 days out you are late in trying for 'OHana for dinner. They book fast.
House of Blues does release into the Disney system, but I don't think all of their tables. You may get lucky if you call.
You must cancel by 11:59 the night before. If PP was charge after missing a bus, they got Pixie Dust. They do charge

I know! I was kicking myself, as I came up with a date of 9/4 (today) for our 180 days. And when I saw my email from Disney at 11 yesterday, I nearly had a heart attack. I actually screamed, did a couple of laps around the kitchen, stubbing my toe, then came back to the computer and got busy! LOL

 

[DrunkJam]

What does this refer to? "open table" ??

open table is a website. It lists restaurants and is a web platform for making dining reservations.