Hard Time with Dining Reservations

[tinklight]

I am having a hard time finding reservations for table service in the Magic Kingdom area for 9-19-13 through 9-24-13. I know they are offering the free dining plan, but we figured with school starting back it wouldn't be that crowded. Is there a big event scheduled that we haven't figured out yet.

 

[wdwfan1]

You are only 2 months out so lots of people have been booking for months already. Keep trying often and you should be able to get something. Try booking the less popular restaurants now but keep checking for the reservations you really want. People do cancel all the time, especially when full payment is due.

Good luck and enjoy your vacation.

 

[mickeynut1]

I am having a hard time finding reservations for table service in the Magic Kingdom area for 9-19-13 through 9-24-13. I know they are offering the free dining plan, but we figured with school starting back it wouldn't be that crowded. Is there a big event scheduled that we haven't figured out yet.

As the pp said, people have been booking for that time frame for awhile now (and it is FD), so I'm sure a lot of restaurants have little availability. With that said, I agree with the pp to keep trying as people cancel all the time and you never know when something might become available. Good luck .

 

[purple figment]

September reservations have been available since March and once FD was announced it made it even harder to find reservations. You can keep trying online multiple times a day to see what is available because people will cancel and the cancellations re-enter the res system immediately. If you're willing to eat at off hours or are flexible about the day that will also increase your chances.

Another option is to consider the restaurants at the MK resorts. They are easily accessible by monorail or boats and you can even walk to the Contemporary. FD impacts the restaurants in all the parks, but there are resorts near all four parks with excellent restaurants if you can't find anything in a park.

 

[Cafeen]

During early/mid September free dining periods, the parks will be very very quiet (that's the school being back in part), but the restaurants will be filled to the brim (that's the effect of the free dining plan promotion). Since the capacity of the restaurants is far less than the parks, they can easily fill up without the park crowds being that bad.

As for short(ish) notice ADRs? Keep trying. Try for off-times and less than popular locations. When looking for ADRs, try just searching a day/time you want to eat and see what's open. You're not likely to get Ohana, BOG, pre-opening CP/CRT at this stage in the game without ADR stalking, but you will get something for sure.