Getting reservations more difficult than in the past?

[pixel_pusher]

Hey,
I haven't been on here in a long, long, long time as it's been a long time since we've been to WDW(2x before) and seeing everyone else's trip planning makes me the sad when I have no trip on the horizon.

Anyway, I've noticed I am having a heck of a time getting reservations this time around. I've tried everything from parties of 1-3 to our full party size of 6, it seems there's nothing available.

We're going in mid-November, so it's not like it's coming up super quick, I remember back in 2005 or even our trip in 2010, having no issues getting ressies at decent places, one of those trips being scheduled a mere 2 months before arrival. All I'm asking for is a Chef Mickey's, an 'Ohana dinner and a Hollywood and Vine breakfast(OK, and maybe a crystal palace and something besides the rainforest cafe in AK ). Mainly looking for character dining for my 3 year old.

Is it just me or is it a lot harder to book than it used to be? Any of you pros know about anything that changed?

Thanks bunches!

 

[Suzie13]

Have you tried the november cancellation fourms? In november this year they seem to have introduced free dining which is causing some of the problems

 

[MyDisneyGlassSlipper]

Just be persistent and keep checking...people (like me) are always shifting around their reservations. Good Luck!

 

[Stephandy03]

Hey,
I haven't been on here in a long, long, long time as it's been a long time since we've been to WDW(2x before) and seeing everyone else's trip planning makes me the sad when I have no trip on the horizon.

Anyway, I've noticed I am having a heck of a time getting reservations this time around. I've tried everything from parties of 1-3 to our full party size of 6, it seems there's nothing available.

We're going in mid-November, so it's not like it's coming up super quick, I remember back in 2005 or even our trip in 2010, having no issues getting ressies at decent places, one of those trips being scheduled a mere 2 months before arrival. All I'm asking for is a Chef Mickey's, an 'Ohana dinner and a Hollywood and Vine breakfast(OK, and maybe a crystal palace and something besides the rainforest cafe in AK ). Mainly looking for character dining for my 3 year old.

Is it just me or is it a lot harder to book than it used to be? Any of you pros know about anything that changed?

Thanks bunches!

I agree. It is much harder to book. I didn't realize you really had to get your reservations 180 days out. We are also going in November and found very few character dinings. The ones I did find came after checking and checking.

 

[deebs]

Keep checking. I just got BOG, sci fi and Crystal Palace this week for November. I've been checking 7-10 times a day

 

[uwascuba]

Going mid November as well, and dining reservations are next to impossible! I check frequently and have been doing so for quite a while, but still nothing!

 

[uwascuba]

Just wondering if perhaps Disney does not allow all reservations to be secured at once and releases space over a period of time.

 

[My1promise]

It does seem impossible but with constant checking, I'm talking leaving the computer on all day and just hitting refresh whenever I think about it or wasn't doing anything has got me a ton of reservations and I have seen some I didn't even need. I was able to get BOG, CRT, chef mickey, tusker house, CP, H&V breakfast, I saw CRT avail at least four times and tomorrowland twice. I'm also going in November and have a party of 7 and didn't start even checking for ADRs until like 130 days out as this is our first trip I didn't really think people had to plan so far out in advance but they're out there you just have to check often. One thing I did notice was that I found most of them after midnight and I wouldn't stress to much, I think as time gets closer more things will open up.

 

[emilymad]

It does seem impossible but with constant checking, I'm talking leaving the computer on all day and just hitting refresh whenever I think about it or wasn't doing anything has got me a ton of reservations and I have seen some I didn't even need. I was able to get BOG, CRT, chef mickey, tusker house, CP, H&V breakfast, I saw CRT avail at least four times and tomorrowland twice. I'm also going in November and have a party of 7 and didn't start even checking for ADRs until like 130 days out as this is our first trip I didn't really think people had to plan so far out in advance but they're out there you just have to check often. One thing I did notice was that I found most of them after midnight and I wouldn't stress to much, I think as time gets closer more things will open up.

So do you search for say dinner on your date and have all the available restaurants show up? Or is it better to be on a specific restaurant and refresh that page?

 

[cboggs]

I am having trouble too. I am going in October not during free dining. I just want a one princess meal. I was able to snag Hollywood & Vine in case I am not able to get anything else. I guess it is my own fault for not looking sooner.

 

[My1promise]

I usually just go to the main dining page and have character dining checked and whether or not I am searching for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The only one that I had set on the actual restaurant was BOG because I never see it pop up on the actual dining page, not even to list it as unavailable.

 

[disneycrazyfromZtoA]

Part of your trip falls in FD timeframe, I think (not knowing exact dates) so that's part of it. There may be MVMCP dates in there as well further complicating things.

We've been lucky with multiple trips this year. And our first this year was a party of 13. The only trouble we had was getting CRT...which we got like a week after our 180. Other than that, we booked it all with no issue whatsoever. Including the brand new Star Wars meals at that time (though I knew those were coming and booked the morning they released).

This last trip and the one we are taking in November have been DEVILS to book. Part of our problem is we extended the November one by double, and it now falls in FD. But even before at our 180 we were having issues. Perhaps that issue was it being around a race weekend AND the start of MVMCP?

That was a long winded way to say it. But I'm totally feeling you here!

 

[ashmarie1213]

I booked a FD November trip well after the inital 180 day dining mark. I check a couple times a day and I was able to get everything I wanted including Ohana, Le Cellier and Coral Reef. I have done a lot of checking and a lot of adjusting, but it works!

I'm still holding out hope for a BOG!

Good Luck!

 

[disneycrazyfromZtoA]

ashemarie, me too. We have CR, and several others... but BOG eludes us!

I have to love on the man though, about 10 mintues ago, he popped on and literally couldn't speak because a BOG popped up we could use! He was sputtering and I was wondering if I should call 911.

Then he sputtered several non-Disney-approved words and told me that it popped up and disappeared in almost the same 3 seconds!

I have to love that he was that excited and frustrated, since it's what I want and he really doesn't care.

 

[ALD85]

I had a heck of a time in Oct (w/FD) but I'm going in Jan and have been booking day by day since I don't have a resort reservation yet and I've gotten all I wanted this far! It's been a breeze compared to Oct!

 

[tinkerbella16]

Yeah it was more difficult for us this time for November but it is free dining. I just kept looking everyday, quite a few times each day and ended up getting everything we wanted, after the 180 day mark.. these included Garden Grill, GFC, Cape May Cafe, Yak & Yeti, Via Napoli and The Plaza before MVMCP. We didn't have DDP when we booked so I had only booked HDDR at our 180 day mark and paid OOP for category 1. Weeks later got a pin code, switched to POFQ and we had the dining plan. Ended up getting everything with persistence.. even some weren't the times we wanted but we eventually got the perfect times and now we are good to go, nomore changes.

If you keep checking, things do become available. People cancel all the time and change their plans. I also think that closer to your trip you will have an easier time getting the one you want.

 

[Runner225]

Completely agree. It wasn't always 180 days out was it? The last time I went was in 2011, I remember calling Disney Dining in January for our June vacation and they told us we couldn't make reservations until 90 days out. I went to take a gander last week for our Nov vacation and was pretty heart broken about the 180 day out reservations. A lot of my favorites are all booked up.

Hoping and praying BOG will magically open up.

As I still try for BOG, is it better to call or to use the online system?

Thanks!

 

[pixel_pusher]

So I'm not the only one having issues, I didn't remember it being so hard and I've gone during FD before. Trying to get my ADRs is really eating into my work time, not really...ok, kinda.

I'll just keep trying. I did get a Chef Mickey's for 3 on our first night(I wanted that or 'Ohana), but will have to try to get another res for the other 4 people in our party later. My SIL has her heart set on a CRT, but I told her how hard it was to get especially with our party size. They've never been before so all of my itinerary making and ADRing and whatnot has really blown her mind.

So now I just need my HW&V breakfast for my little guy, the rest of Chef Mickey's, and an 'Ohana dinner. If I can get a CRT cool, and then I'm hoping to do BoG as a quick service lunch. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[salamander3]

I've spent 2 months trying multiple times a day, checking the forums, going on the site, and I've had no luck getting the one I want. I don't know what I'm going to do with my free time if I actually get it.

 

[scchristo]

I had AMAZING luck getting everything we wanted at 180 days. HOWEVER, my DSD (age 17) told me LAST WEEK that she "might" like to meet Piglet. We decided NOT to do CP this trip and I cleared the dining with her before I made the reservations. We are at 104 days....
So...back to stalking reservations for CP...