have Dining Plan - need reservations?

[kMarie7]

I'm new on the boards - we are going to Disney in two weeks with our two young boys!! Can not wait!!!!

My question is this - we went in April 2008 and also had the dining plan and we didn't make any reservations for our sit down dinners. Wherever we happened to be we just walked in to a restaurant and had a great meal. We even had no problem getting in to some of the more sought after places.

Now this time we will be going during slow season so I anticipated it being just as easy to walk in to places without advanced reservations. Just on a whim I decided to check and see what was available on the dining reservations website and to my surprise everything is booked up! What's the deal?

Is there some reason for the lack of openings on the website? Will we be able to just walk in anywhere like we had on our last trip? Or should I be scrambling to get whatever reservations I can so that we will be able to use our dining credits?

Thanks in advance for any input!! I am pulling my hair out over this!

 

[OhThePain]

While the parks may be quieter, the restaurants will be packed durring FD. You are probably S.O.L. for a lot of the more popular meals (like character meals). You could, for the most part, just find a restaurant to eat in, but you may have to settle on restaurants that you have no real desire to eat at, may have long waits and will in all likelyhood be shut out of any restaurant you really want to go to. Make whatever ADR's you can between now and your trip, check multiple times a day for cancelations on any place you really want to eat and don't get your hopes too high on any walk-ups you plan on trying.

 

[kMarie7]

Thanks. We have never gone during FD. I didn't realize it would have such an impact on the restaurants but it does make sense. Kicking myself for not thinking about this sooner!!

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

Go online & book all your meals. If you don't you'll be without a handy place to eat at most meals. There is usually openings at resorts but the character meals & most popular places fill up fast. When we went to Disney these last 3 Decembers we saw many a person walk up trying to get a table & nobody was taking walkups at all in Epcot that night. Everybody was full.
If you can't get the places you want keep checking back daily & maybe somebody will cancel & you can get it. Last year I checked online while at the resort & was able to book LeCellier that morning before the parks opened up.

 

[Pakey]

You can also go to Guest Services in each park and they can check for openings for that day.

 

[nkereina]

the thing about September... the parks are low crowds and the lines are short, but if there is free dining (usually is) - the restaurants are packed and so are the resorts.

 

[Microcell]

You can also go to Guest Services in each park and they can check for openings for that day.

I have walked into MK an hour before rope drop to see a billboard at Guest Services saying where they had availability... and one time in Feb 2010 (not even free dining!) there was no availability.. get thee online NOW and get some reservations!

 

[*love*2*shop]

you didnt mention when you are going and if you have the quick service or table service meals(im thinking table service), but personally if i have the dining plan i would make the most of it. Go online and make a couple ressies now!

I'm new on the boards - we are going to Disney in two weeks with our two young boys!! Can not wait!!!!

My question is this - we went in April 2008 and also had the dining plan and we didn't make any reservations for our sit down dinners. Wherever we happened to be we just walked in to a restaurant and had a great meal. We even had no problem getting in to some of the more sought after places.

Now this time we will be going during slow season so I anticipated it being just as easy to walk in to places without advanced reservations. Just on a whim I decided to check and see what was available on the dining reservations website and to my surprise everything is booked up! What's the deal?

Is there some reason for the lack of openings on the website? Will we be able to just walk in anywhere like we had on our last trip? Or should I be scrambling to get whatever reservations I can so that we will be able to use our dining credits?

Thanks in advance for any input!! I am pulling my hair out over this!

 

[sharonabe]

When you go to the website, don't give it any preferences other than time of day and the size of your party. It will show you ALL the restaurants with availability. You could probably narrow it down to a park or resort area, but if you leave it wide open, you'll get more options.

I just tried for dinner time on the 20th and 21st (two weeks away) and had 50-70 places with availability.

 

[kMarie7]

Thanks everyone! I took your advice and made reservations for the places I could get and I am happy with the results! We are going Sept. 20th-27th so not much time to plan!! Counting down the days!!

Here's what I got so far - some things still not decided for sure - I'm open to anyone's suggestions! We have the basic dining plan but we will be paying oop for a few extra sit down meals. We also have a fairly large party of 7.

9/20 - the day we arrive! - We are staying at Saratoga Springs. QS lunch when we arrive at the resort. Then for dinner I am torn - I am dying to check out the Animal Kingdom Lodge so I made res. for Boma. OR we may want to stay close to our room and relax so I might go with the Turf Club at Saratoga. I have not heard anything about this place though. Anyone been there?

9/21 - Magic Kingdom -
Breakfast in the room
QS Lunch
Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern

9/22 - Epcot -
QS Breakfast
Lunch - Tutto Italia
Dinner - San Angel Inn
OR La Hacienda & try to get a table with a view for Illuminations? Which place has the better food?

9/23 - Rest/pool/Downtown Disney -
QS Breakfast
Lunch - Rainforest Cafe Downtown - might skip this
Dinner - Raglan Road Irish pub

9/24 - Animal Kingdom -
Breakfast in the room
QS lunch
Dinner - Tusker House

9/25 - Hollywood Studios -
Character Breakfast - Hollywood & Vine
QS Lunch
QS Dinner

9/26 - Magic Kingdom -
Breakfast in the room
QS Lunch
Character Dinner at the Crystal Palace

9/27 - Day we leave
Breakfast at Kona Cafe
Lunch - ?
Leaving at 3pm

Whew! That seems like a LOT! How do you think I did??

 

[tinkerbellnsnowwhite]

I think you did well on your ressies so far. In case you didn't know Rainforest Cafe is not on the Disney Dining plan so you would have to pay out of pocket. For La Hacienda & San Angel they are both good but it depends on your personal tastes. I would go to the dining section on this site and look at the menus for both. (The menus on this site are more up to date than on the Disney site)
Enjoy!

 

[kMarie7]

Good to know! Thanks!

 

[*love*2*shop]

when i check off the box to show on dining places, rainforest comes up for me..Weird

Sorry- i was lookinmg at the AK Rainforest cafe

Locationisney's Animal Kingdom Park
Price:$$ ($15 to $35.99 per person)*

Cuisine:American
Hours:
Breakfast:8:30AM-10:00AM(does not include Characters)
Lunch:10:15AM-4:45PM(does not include Characters)

Dinner:5:00PM-5:50PM(does not include Characters)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sample Menus:
All Day

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advanced Reservations Strongly Recommended
Wheelchair Accessible
Disney Dining Plan Accepted
Wine Plan Accepted

I think you did well on your ressies so far. In case you didn't know Rainforest Cafe is not on the Disney Dining plan so you would have to pay out of pocket. For La Hacienda & San Angel they are both good but it depends on your personal tastes. I would go to the dining section on this site and look at the menus for both. (The menus on this site are more up to date than on the Disney site)
Enjoy!

 

[hannahdrewmom]

when i check off the box to show on dining places, rainforest comes up for me..Weird

Sorry- i was lookinmg at the AK Rainforest cafe

Locationisney's Animal Kingdom Park
Price:$$ ($15 to $35.99 per person)*

Cuisine:American
Hours:
Breakfast:8:30AM-10:00AM(does not include Characters)
Lunch:10:15AM-4:45PM(does not include Characters)

Dinner:5:00PM-5:50PM(does not include Characters)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sample Menus:
All Day

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advanced Reservations Strongly Recommended
Wheelchair Accessible
Disney Dining Plan Accepted
Wine Plan Accepted

It's rather confusing I know but it only covers the platinum and premium packages. Many a person has been confused by this and been very upset at check out. At least you found out now!

I think you did well with your ADR's. Great score on CP!! I'd keep you AKL meal for now .... Saratoga won't need an ADR so you can always decide that day on that on. And you can always call the night before to double check and see if there are any cancellations for the next day. We normally do that and switch if we find something better. But we have a plan in case we don't!

 

[goofyintoronto]

Thanks everyone! I took your advice and made reservations for the places I could get and I am happy with the results! We are going Sept. 20th-27th so not much time to plan!! Counting down the days!!

Here's what I got so far - some things still not decided for sure - I'm open to anyone's suggestions! We have the basic dining plan but we will be paying oop for a few extra sit down meals. We also have a fairly large party of 7.

9/20 - the day we arrive! - We are staying at Saratoga Springs. QS lunch when we arrive at the resort. Then for dinner I am torn - I am dying to check out the Animal Kingdom Lodge so I made res. for Boma. OR we may want to stay close to our room and relax so I might go with the Turf Club at Saratoga. I have not heard anything about this place though. Anyone been there?

9/21 - Magic Kingdom -
Breakfast in the room
QS Lunch
Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern

9/22 - Epcot -
QS Breakfast
Lunch - Tutto Italia
Dinner - San Angel Inn
OR La Hacienda & try to get a table with a view for Illuminations? Which place has the better food?

9/23 - Rest/pool/Downtown Disney -
QS Breakfast
Lunch - Rainforest Cafe Downtown - might skip this
Dinner - Raglan Road Irish pub

9/24 - Animal Kingdom -
Breakfast in the room
QS lunch
Dinner - Tusker House

9/25 - Hollywood Studios -
Character Breakfast - Hollywood & Vine
QS Lunch
QS Dinner

9/26 - Magic Kingdom -
Breakfast in the room
QS Lunch
Character Dinner at the Crystal Palace

9/27 - Day we leave
Breakfast at Kona Cafe
Lunch - ?
Leaving at 3pm

Whew! That seems like a LOT! How do you think I did??

WOW, you did GREAT! you got some really good ressies!!!! Particularly Raglan Road, Tutto Italia, Crystal Palace, Kona, LTT!!! Theyre AWESOME! Heck, i like all the places you've chosen. have fun!