Having a problem finding food reservations

[Gumbatman]

Hi,

We (11 of us - six adults and five kids) are going to WDW in the end of August. My wife called and tried to make reservations and just about everything was gone. I know we started too late, but do we have any other options?

We are staying at Old Key West and have a kitchen so we can cook. But part of the fun is dining in Disney. Also, getting off grounds might be more difficult unless we rent two cards or one really large van.

Any suggestions on what we can do?

Thanks so much!

p.s. Last time we went (2007) I was able to make dining reservations that week without a problem. I guess I just got lucky.

 

[ShannonMB]

Not sure if you know about the new online reservation system yet, but you might take some time and play around with it. I'm sure you'll find SOME stuff, even if not the times/places you were hoping for!

Good luck!

 

[wdwmaw]

Hi,

We (11 of us - six adults and five kids) are going to WDW in the end of August. My wife called and tried to make reservations and just about everything was gone. I know we started too late, but do we have any other options?

We are staying at Old Key West and have a kitchen so we can cook. But part of the fun is dining in Disney. Also, getting off grounds might be more difficult unless we rent two cards or one really large van.

Any suggestions on what we can do?

Thanks so much!

p.s. Last time we went (2007) I was able to make dining reservations that week without a problem. I guess I just got lucky.

Did you call Disney and set up a grand gathering? Sometimes the GG CM's can work miracles.

You can also go online and plug in some dates and times, the site will only book up to 10 but I was able to pull up several resturants for 10 during lunch on 8/27. For the 26th I am pulling up ressies at O'hana@7:40am and Park Fare for 8am breakfast. This will give you an idea of what is there. It may not be your first choice but will give you dining.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/restaurants/


I can not say it enough, call grand gathering !!

 

[clanmcculloch]

Hi,

We (11 of us - six adults and five kids) are going to WDW in the end of August. My wife called and tried to make reservations and just about everything was gone. I know we started too late, but do we have any other options?

We are staying at Old Key West and have a kitchen so we can cook. But part of the fun is dining in Disney. Also, getting off grounds might be more difficult unless we rent two cards or one really large van.

Any suggestions on what we can do?

Thanks so much!

p.s. Last time we went (2007) I was able to make dining reservations that week without a problem. I guess I just got lucky.

Are you trying to get only dinner reservations? You might have more luck with breakfast or lunch. You'll likely have even more luck with mid-afternoon (2:30ish) or mid-late morning (10:00ish) as these are unpopular times. Especially with free dining, it seems that dinners fill up much faster than other times because those meals are more expensive and people are trying to get the most value out of the DDP. With a group your size, you really do need to be very flexible.

You'll also find that resort restaurants are more likely to have openings than park restaurants. Those at moderate resorts even moreso because transportation to them is limitted to busses while the Deluxe resorts have either the monorail or boats or even the ability to walk to the resort from parks.

 

[USAswimmer626]

We are also going in late August. The 90-day window opened up in late-May, and even though we called at exactly 90 days out, we couldn't get everything we wanted. You will probably have better luck with Lunch reservations, but as others have said, try looking at the online booking.

 

[2trips06Mom]

You might also want to consider splitting into smaller groups, if that would work for your gathering - for example the ladies/girls could go to one restaurant and the guys could go to another... good luck and I also agree that you should call and see if the grand gathering folks could help you out. You may have to be very flexible with hours and locations.

 

[Gumbatman]

Wow! I can't being to thank you for all the great suggestions. I am definitely going to give the Grand Gatherings a try! Even if it doesn't work out, having the knowledge that such things exist is such a great help.

I saw some of the online booking stuff, but I am not sure I am in the right place. Can someone give me the link or let me know where I should be looking for it? The reason I ask is I saw some online booking that seemed to be outside of Disney's website.

Thanks again!

 

[chabs]

Call Disney Dining back and ask for your dates and times again for 11 people. When they tell you that there is nothing available for that party size at a certain restaurant, ask them if they have 2 tables for a party of 5 and 6 (or any combination of number of people that add up to 11) for around the same time. They might give you a 5:50pm for 5 and 6pm for 6 for example. Then when you check in at the podium on the day of your reservation, let them know that you are all together and they will seat you next to each other. We do this with a party of 10 all of time and we have never had a problem at the restaurant. Some times we would luck out and get one big table, but most of the time we ended up with 2 tables next to each other or on a wall where the booth takes up the whole wall of a restaurant and then they just push the two tables together (such as 1900 Park Fare).

 

[vcgirl925]

Another good thing about the online system is that if what you want isn't available then it gives you a list of ressies that are available. Good luck!

 

[wdwmaw]

Wow! I can't being to thank you for all the great suggestions. I am definitely going to give the Grand Gatherings a try! Even if it doesn't work out, having the knowledge that such things exist is such a great help.

I saw some of the online booking stuff, but I am not sure I am in the right place. Can someone give me the link or let me know where I should be looking for it? The reason I ask is I saw some online booking that seemed to be outside of Disney's website.

Thanks again!

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/restaurants/


Call and choose party of 8 or more and set up with a grand gathering specialist. Get a GG # and they can help you. Use the site above to get a feel for what is available.

 

[penguinkimberly]

You can try on-line but most restaurants limit party size to 8 or 10 with the system. You can also try group dining, I am unsure of that phone number right off hand, but if you call the dine line they can transfer you. If you are staying at OKW I would try Olivia's there. I have always been able to get short notice ADR's there for groups of 8-13, and the bread they serve is awesome. Great crab cakes too

 

[marylouwho]

Try places like Kona Cafe (Poly) and Grand Floridian Cafe. They both have great food, and they are easy to get to by monorail. Good luck!