How far inadvance for reservations for disney dining?

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

I can't remember..60 or 90?

 

[Jenn1116]

60!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Thank you kindly

 

[CrazyDuck]

2 months... If you want to eat on Dec 20 call for ressies on Oct 20! Don't wait for 60 days else the good times may be booked!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

wait so..if I'm looking at November 30th?

 

[CrazyDuck]

wait so..if I'm looking at November 30th?

Call on Sept 30. If you wait 60 days which would be Oct 1, you may not get the time you want!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

That's what I was worried about. Thanks

 

[RuthieT]

Is it 60 days for all dining including character dining?

 

[Tablefor5]

It may be different in Nov/Dec d/t holidays....but I called this week and made PS for Rain Forest C, Carnation C and Plaza Inn Character B-fast for our trip 10 days from now! They had lots of times to choose and didn't sound like they were too busy.
Good Luck!

 

[CrazyDuck]

Yea Rainforest Cafe is on handled by Disney Dining so you have to call them direct. Also at Rain Forest you can make reservations 1 year out!

If you want a very specific, and much sought after time like the first seating at BB for dinner almost guarantying you a waterside seat you need too call for your PS ressies asap!!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

So since you know so much about this, Duckydooo, we're considering doing a leisurely lunch..is there a time that will practically guarantee us a waterside then?

 

[CrazyDuck]

So since you know so much about this, Duckydooo, we're considering doing a leisurely lunch..is there a time that will practically guarantee us a waterside then?

ask for the first lunch ressie. I think it's 11:30! Then show up 15-20 min early for your reservation. Also don't forget to ask for waterside seating!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Ok cool. Thank you tons

 

[Sherry E]

I just made a bunch of PS's for our upcoming October trip (oooooh, and it was a pain, too, trying to figure out when to schedule eating and in what place at what time - it is not as easy and quick to do it as some people would expect!). Anyway, I made the RFC PS by calling them separately and requested a table by the aquariums (we always end up by the gorilla or by a lamp). The girl said that we have to ask for that when we arrive. Okay. I made a PS for Carnation and requested a table along Main Street because we always end up in the back, and we would like to people watch. The CM said she would make a note of it but we have to ask for it when we arrive. I made a PS for Naples for outdoors - you guessed it, ask for it when we arrive, but they made a note of it. Finally, I made a PS for Blue Bayou for dessert ONLY. I requested a waterside table. Not only did the CM tell me they could not even "make a note of it" on the PS/reservation, but she suggested that we go to the BB earlier that same day and put in the request for the waterside table, so BB can scribble it down in their book. If we wait to ask BB for it when we arrive to be seated, chances are we will have to wait a long time for waterside.

So you may want to consider that. Make your BB PS, and then stop by the BB earlier in the day or possibly even the day before and request the waterside table, because according to the PS Cast Member, Blue Bayou handles those requests themselves.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

oh wow! Good tips, thanks I wonder if I did get that first one if I'd be safe? Even if we showed up 30 min early?

THis is the only ressie we're making (aside from the Rainforest that I made a while ago). I had a HARD time figuring out what day and realized...it doesn't matter which day LOL

I first was like "ok but if we do it in the beginning then what will we have to look forward to, but if we do it toward the end, what if someone is sick or something" LOL

 

[Sherry E]

oh wow! Good tips, thanks I wonder if I did get that first one if I'd be safe? Even if we showed up 30 min early?

THis is the only ressie we're making (aside from the Rainforest that I made a while ago). I had a HARD time figuring out what day and realized...it doesn't matter which day LOL

I first was like "ok but if we do it in the beginning then what will we have to look forward to, but if we do it toward the end, what if someone is sick or something" LOL

I think you will be okay for waterside seating if you book the very first available time and show up early. You probably have a better chance of getting it than we do. See, we didn't want to eat a full meal at BB because it is just too expensive and there are not enough items on the menu that I would like for it to be worth it to me to spend that money. We are doing one 'expensive meal' (not that any of the DLR meals are cheap) which is the Goofy's breakfast buffet, but we always eat there and we can get whatever we want and as much of it as we want, so it is different than at the BB, where we have more limited choices. However, my friends have never been in the BB and would like to see it, so we decided on the dessert meal. But on the day we are doing the dessert meal - which basically means that, in order to not seem cheap, we each have to order one dessert item and there are not many to choose from! - we have a jam-packed eating schedule due to other friends joining us for a late lunch/early dinner at Storytellers Cafe. That same day is also when I have breakfast scheduled at Rainforest. So I had to make the BB dessert PS for way later in the day - at 8:00 p.m. - just so we would have some room left in our stomachs to be able to eat dessert! And since we are showing up at 8:00 p.m., my guess is that the waterside tables will be totally full.

It IS hard to figure out all the dining plans. I mean, we have done the 'spontaneous' thing every other trip and it just seemed like we wasted a lot of time trying to figure out where to eat AND we would get discouraged if the line seemed too long. And so we would go somewhere else, and the line would end up being long anyway! Just a lot of time spent in line when it could be better utilized! So this time we decided, let's try the PS system and see how it works. I was worried that scheduling meals would be troublesome because what if someone is not hungry at the designated meal time? So I had to try to think of our past eating patterns and when we might be hungry, space all of our meals apart from each other so we wouldn't be too full to eat, make some PS's for two people, some for three people, some for four people... I had to figure into the equation that Goofy's is always best to eat at in the beginning of the trip. By the end of the trip, we are barely hungry anymore, and we are tired and not as receptive to Goofy's. And when we eat at Goofy's in the morning, we are not hungry again until nighttime, so no lunch on that day! It requires a lot of thought and organization, and several times I was staring at the list of potential restaurants we wanted and my brain just locked up! I couldn't think anymore! I had to keep stopping and going back to it until finally I made a decision! But it was a task that I was glad to be done with!

So hopefully, the PS system will work well, and maybe since we know we have meals scheduled at a certain time and a certain place, our brains will tell our stomachs to be hungry at those times. I HOPE it works that way! I would like to see my efforts pay off, and be glad that we saved a lot of wasted time standing in lines to eat!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

See I've always wanted to eat at BB even tho the menu doesn't seem to appeal to me that much. Tho that's a good point..using your expensive meal elsewhere.

Maybe I still need to talk this out with DH. Maybe we should try the dessert thing at BB? HMMMMM too hard!

 

[Sherry E]

See I've always wanted to eat at BB even tho the menu doesn't seem to appeal to me that much. Tho that's a good point..using your expensive meal elsewhere.

Maybe I still need to talk this out with DH. Maybe we should try the dessert thing at BB? HMMMMM too hard!

It is hard - it seems like it is going to be a nice, easy little task to pick a few restaurants and make a few PS's, but not so... And for you guys, since you are going in a big group of people, you have to figure all that into your eating plans as well, so it's even tougher for you, I imagine!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

HAHA Well no one is gonna even attempt to plan anything..they're totally not planners and it drives me CRAAAZY, so we're doing our own thing for most of the time. If someone says "hey we wanted to do this" we'll probably change our own plans, but they've made it clear that we're free to do whatever with the exception of one day for family pictures LOL

So yeah I am NOT making ressies for ANYONE but us. If they decide they want to come, they're more than welcome to call and make one. I might call and let them know what our plans are and see if they want to too, but yeah. There's not a ton of planning in that family.

 

[Tasscrapper]

However, my friends have never been in the BB and would like to see it, so we decided on the dessert meal. But on the day we are doing the dessert meal - which basically means that, in order to not seem cheap, we each have to order one dessert item and there are not many to choose from!

SherryE I've read this in another thread when you were talking about it and it kind of flabbergasts me that you worry about seeming or looking cheap. Especially since you have such a big dining day anyways why don't you share deserts and if you feel like it give a bigger tip. I don't think there is any reason to feel guilty for just getting deserts. Just think that you will be taking table space for a much shorter period of time than if you ordered an entree.