Help newbie here.

[mrsjclarke]

Hi Guy's,

So this is going to be our first disney trip and i knew that i would forget to do something as there is so much planning involved.

someone here on a different thread alerted me to the fact that i have to make restaurant reservations however we are going in October only for 1 week and so far the 3 restaurants i have tried to book are fully booked already.

Sci-fi
be our guest
ohana

Luckily for us we are going again in April so i won't make that mistake again however does anyone know if we will actually be able to eat in any where nice or not as we have left it too late

thanks in advance

Jennifer

 

[DrunkJam]

You can always get reservations. The three you chose are the very most popular, but, people do still cancel them, so it is worth keeping looking to see if reservations come up (also look at the October cancelled reservations thread, see if someone is dropping something you want)
Otherwise, you can look around and see what is available, I bet a fair few things will be
I wouldn't however, chance turning up without ADRs if you want sit down meals.

 

[Shanti]

Hi Guy's,

So this is going to be our first disney trip and i knew that i would forget to do something as there is so much planning involved.

someone here on a different thread alerted me to the fact that i have to make restaurant reservations however we are going in October only for 1 week and so far the 3 restaurants i have tried to book are fully booked already.

Sci-fi
be our guest
ohana

Luckily for us we are going again in April so i won't make that mistake again however does anyone know if we will actually be able to eat in any where nice or not as we have left it too late

thanks in advance

Jennifer

Get a free account on Touring Plans by going to their account sign-up page & clicking "Basic Access". Then use their Touring Plans reservation finder tool to help you get those reservations. It is a very effective & free service. They will text you when they find your reservation available. Inside the text will be a link for you to click, that will take you straight to that exact reservation on My Disney Experience. Try to keep your phone turned up and near you, as Touring Plans can only find an available reservation, not make the reservation for you. If you don't respond quickly enough to the text, the reservation might get snapped up by someone else.

https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/reservation-finder

 

[mrsjclarke]

Thank god i will keep looking, trusty me to choose the 3 most popular ones!

oh wow Thank you so much Shanti I will get registered now!

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Yeah, I would keep checking for cancellations. Be Our Guest and 'Ohana especially need to be booked well in advance or you'll have trouble finding reservations. There are tons of alternative options that are equally as good (though I will say Be Out Guest has a unique atmosphere). If you are interested in a buffet then Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge usually gets good reviews, Epcot has a number of good table service places, etc. If you are interested in recommendations then provide the ages of your party and food interests and folks will be happy to help.

One thing I think is important - make sure your reservations line up with your park plans. For example, you don't want to make reservations at Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge if you are planning on spending the day at Magic Kingdom. It takes at least 30 minutes (and usually longer) to travel from place to place at Disney so you can spend a lot of time running all over the place for reservations. Our typical day at Disney is to get to a park before opening, stay at the park until noon or so, go to the resort and rest up for a while, then go to dinner and back to a park. That said, we don't feel the need to spend the entire day at a park anymore.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

I promise if you keep trying you will get BOG and Ohana. One trip we tried up until the day before we left and I got them. As you get closer you will have many people cancelling. Also calculate the amount of days for the cancellation dates. Packages are 45 days in advance and room only are 5 days in advance. People will cancel before the 45 days for packages so they don't get charged and then ADRs will open up.

Enjoy your first trip.

 

[mrsjclarke]

thank you guys! I will keep trying i have logged on to the touring website and registered for alerts for BOG and the Sci Fi

restaurants as they look like the ones we will enjoy the most.

I never realised about spending the day near to where you are eating, there us so much to think about!!!!!

someone was talking about park hopping or hopper as i have so many children ages: 12/10 &1yrs we are planning on going to the park in the morning going back to resort for lunch and resting and then going back out again in the evening.

We are pretty easy going with food just like it to be good, we have been known to like to do fine dining now and again but are happy with fast food too!

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

thank you guys! I will keep trying i have logged on to the touring website and registered for alerts for BOG and the Sci Fi

restaurants as they look like the ones we will enjoy the most.

I never realised about spending the day near to where you are eating, there us so much to think about!!!!!

someone was talking about park hopping or hopper as i have so many children ages: 12/10 &1yrs we are planning on going to the park in the morning going back to resort for lunch and resting and then going back out again in the evening.

We are pretty easy going with food just like it to be good, we have been known to like to do fine dining now and again but are happy with fast food too!

There are tons of fast food options at both the parks and resorts and you shouldn't have any problem finding something that will work for everyone. If you are going to take midday breaks (which I think are a great idea), then I think you have a little more flexibility regarding dinner plans since I find easier to get somewhere from my resort (but we often take a cab or Uber depending on where we are going). Which resort will you be staying at?

 

[mrsjclarke]

This time around we will be staying at the AoA resort.

can i ask another question, how will the places know we are on the dining plan?

 

[imagineer52]

how will the places know we are on the dining plan?

At table service, they will generally ask immediately after you're seated if you are or not. At the end of the meal, they will scan your magicband and use the entitlements. For quick service I would mention before you order, and that way they can help ordering the right things, if things are included or not, etc.

To answer your earlier question, last week I was able to grab a couple reservations, including pre-park breakfast, for my Oct and Dec trips at Be Our Guest. Just keep checking

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

This time around we will be staying at the AoA resort.

can i ask another question, how will the places know we are on the dining plan?

You tell them you are on the dining plan and they will scan a magic band to confirm. My recollection is that each person's magic band will track the number of meals and snack credits each person has left, and your receipt at the end of each meal will show that information.

So one option for dinner is to make reservations at a restaurant close to the park you want to go to that evening and go eat before going to the park. For example, if you are going to Magic Kingdom, you can make reservations at one of the restaurants inside MK or at one of the restaurants at the monorail resorts (Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Contemporary). You would have lots of options - Grand Floridian Cafe and 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian), The Wave and Chef Mickey's (Contemporary), and Kona Cafe and 'Ohana (Polynesian) are all 1 credit restaurants on the dining plan, and Narcoosee's, Citricos and California Grill are two credits (think more like fine dining for these three). You could take a cab from AoA to the resort you are going to dine at, eat, and then hop on the monorail over to Magic Kingdom, or take the Disney bus to MK, hop on the monorail to the resort for dinner, then monorail back to MK. If going to Epcot there are lots of options inside Epcot itself (we really enjoy Teppan Edo and Chefs de France but also had good meals at Via Napoli, Rose & Crown and San Angel Inn) and you can go to the Boardwalk area resorts a short walk out of Epcot and there are a number of additional options. Hollywood Studios probably has the fewest options since there's nothing particularly close to the park so you need in-park restaurants - we like Mama Melrose, and if you are on the dining plan I highly recommend booking the Fantasmic dining package there - it is only 1 credit on the plan and includes an appetizer, which you usually don't get with the dining plan, plus reserved seating at Fantasmic. At Animal Kingdom we like Yak & Yeti quick service and table service and lots of people really like Flame Tree BBQ. And of course, Disney Springs has tons of restaurants, some of which are very good.

 

[mrsjclarke]

Thank you Imagineer sounds like i can be hopefully we may still get a booking for BOG in October (fingers crossed) congrats on your bookings

Great info Georgia!! you have really give me options for our dining plan and am now going to the disney experience to try and book the Fantastic along with other some others if they are available.

 

[mrsjclarke]

a quick question Georgia/anyone who has been to Fantasmic....

which restaurant do i choose for Fantastic it looks like there are 3 different ones?

The Hollywood Brown Derby

Hollywood & Vine

Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano

 

[goofyintoronto]

a quick question Georgia/anyone who has been to Fantasmic....

which restaurant do i choose for Fantastic it looks like there are 3 different ones?

The Hollywood Brown Derby

Hollywood & Vine

Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano

i'd go with mamma melrose for sure. If you have small kids then as a second choice I guess H&V is ok. Never been to HBD though, so i cant comment on that.

 

[jimmytammy]

Mama Melrose would be my choice also for Fantasmic

If you don't mind, I will throw out some alternates to the ones you have listed on the 1st post.

BOG is still very popular, so thats a tough one. Dont give up as others say, try every so often, or if you are very persistent try every day! But as the time approaches, things do open up, so good luck and make it happen

Ohana, try Kona. Ohana is family style so you get a lot of food, and it is fun. Kona will have similar tasting food, a bit less in cost, at a nice resort. And if seeing the fireworks from the restaurant is on the agenda, you can step out on the beach at Poly and see them from there too. Not to give up on Ohana, same as BOG, but keep Kona as a backup.

Sci Fi, a lot of folks rave about it, me, not so much. Here is why, food is just ok IMO. And if you have more than 2 people, you aren't really setting together. You are in a car, 2 in front, 2 in back. The movie is cool, but after a while, its the same ol loop. Here is my alternative...50s PTC. Food is tasty, antics are fun and the place just has a cool 50s vibe.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

a quick question Georgia/anyone who has been to Fantasmic....

which restaurant do i choose for Fantastic it looks like there are 3 different ones?

The Hollywood Brown Derby

Hollywood & Vine

Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano

I would choose Mama Melrose. All 3 offer the same package but Mama Melrose's food gets much better reviews than Hollywood & Vine. The Brown Derby is a signature restaurant so it costs 2 dining credits on the dining plan, and Mama Melrose and Hollywood & Vine only cost 1, so I would not choose Brown Derby for that reason.

 

[Skippyboo]

Oct is going to busy with Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at MK. That's will limit the dinner availablilty of BOG. You need a party ticket to eat there on party nights. So a lunch ADR which is a counter Service credit instead of dinner's Table service maybe more likely to become available

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Oct is going to busy with Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at MK. That's will limit the dinner availablilty of BOG. You need a party ticket to eat there on party nights. So a lunch ADR which is a counter Service credit instead of dinner's Table service maybe more likely to become available

You can also make breakfast reservations, which also is a counter service credit.

 

[mrsjclarke]

ah ok thank you for the heads up! I think i may have left it a little to late for this trip but i will be sure to get all these reservatoins for our next trip in April, which I'm also really looking forward to as staying in the Grand Floridian!

 

[GillianP1301]

You did a great job of picking some of the hardest ADRs to get.

If you haven't already, I would book alternates for each of them, just in case your searching between now and your trip doesn't work out for you in finding these 3 restaurants.

Sci-Fi is our favourite DHS restaurant by far, but 50s PTC, although different than Sci-Fi, also offers a unique/fun dining experience.

BOG, for what it's worth, I personally feel this is one of the most overrated restaurants in WDW. Assuming this was for lunch or dinner, try Skipper's Canteen, it was one of our surprise hit on our last trip. If it was breakfast, then Crystal Palace is a great breakfast buffet and the characters are a nice bonus.

Ohana, there isn't really anything comperable to Ohana dinner, but Kona is lovely and pretty easy to get into.