I was stupid, make your plans earlier than you think you need to.

[chaoslobster]

So, I've been traveling to WDW every year for over a decade now -- but when the pandemic hit I had to cancel trips, and so I haven't been there since 2019. This year is my first trip since then and I have been hella excited because I know a lot has changed.

I did something stupid and while it's not like my trip is ruined, I'm feeling like an idiot and just overall crushed. Every other year I'd make my reservations for dining and events about a month ahead of time, maybe six weeks. Sometimes plans dropped through and I'd grab last-minute reschedules and never had an issue finding something. I'm always there for 10 days in late May for my birthday, and it's not a super crowded time.

It did not even occur to me that during a pandemic, Disney would be MORE crowded and not less. Turns out there's nothing available for several of my "most important" trip highlights that I do every year. No O'hana, no Keys to the Kingdom tour. I'm crushed especially because I'm bringing a friend who's never been before and I had talked up the KTTK, only to have to admit we can't do it because I was too stupid to realize I had to book months in advance this year. I didn't even know you could book tours 180 days out; I never have, so I assumed the window opened 60 days in advance same as dining. Every other year I've gotten KTTK tickets with less than a month to go, and twice I got tickets while I was already at WDW and called at the last minute.

It's 100% my fault, I'm not blaming anyone but me. I just feel so awful now. I'm severely disabled and very limited in what I can do at Disney since most of the rides are not possible. I come here every year because it's the only place I feel genuinely safe traveling on my own, but my trips tend to revolve around food and shows and tours, since there's only a handful of rides I can do. O'hana and KTTK are the absolute highlight. I'll keep checking to see if something miraculously opens up, but I'm resigned to just missing out on both.

I guess I just wanted to vent a little, and to warn people -- make your plans a lot earlier than you're used to doing, this year. Make reservations months in advance of when you'd normally make them.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

Not sure about the ktkt but you Can definitely still get all the ressys. Check a couple times a day then what you haven’t found that 24-48 hr before check very frequently and also have phone alerts set. You will get them will just be irritating.

 

[chaoslobster]

I've been trying for two weeks to get reservations at Ohana or Teppan Edo with no luck. I did finally get a rez at Tony's, but the only one available that week is a day when I can't get a theme park reservation at Magic Kingdom, so it's useless. The whole week is already mostly closed to theme park reservations. So even if I can get restaurant rez, I can't get in anyway because I'd need a park rez.

It's insanely frustrating for someone who normally doesn't make advance plans because I don't know whether I'll be feeling well enough on that day.

 

[Her Dotness]

Do you have ParkHoppers? Those might get you into parks for a somewhat late lunch or for dinners.

As you may know, you must tap to enter your reserved park of the day and then can enter any other park after 2:00 pm with the PH. So, Epcot will probably still have ressies available most days. With an EP ressie, go there just to tap the entry and leave right then without spending any time there but heading for the exit. That satisfies the entry requirement for your PH, enabling you to go to another park.

You'll be refused entry only if a park has closed completely which I've read has happened once for none but MK since the reopening.

This will be annoying to have to do (and perhaps too difficult for you) but might give you and your friend more last minute dining options.

 

[chaoslobster]

It would solve a lot of my problems if Epcot were available! It's not a choice for any of the limited days; it's only open on days where all four parks are open. My friend will be with me for 6 days, of which 1 only AK is open, and 3 more only AK and MK. I don't want to spend more than one day at Animal Kingdom because it's incredibly painful to rattle over the cobblestones in my scooter, and the options for a nice sit-down meal are very limited. Most of the restaurants we wanted to try are at Epcot.

I've already bought base tickets but I'm probably going to be forced to upgrade to hoppers because of this. For a 10 day and a 6 day ticket, it's a lot more expensive than I've budgeted for, but I'm not seeing a choice. It will be worth it in the end if I manage to get the reservations I'd like, or even just a couple of them. I found one of those sites where you can get text notifications when an ADR or a tour slot opens up, so maybe I'll get lucky.
But knowing my luck, a miracle opening for Keys to the Kingdom will appear and I'll have to turn it down anyway because I can't get into MK on that day. The tours start early in the morning and you can't hop until 2pm.

 

[Best Aunt]

Have you tried the services which search for dining reservations? You enter what you want, and their system searches for you. It's not a constant search; it might be once every 40 minutes. If it finds what you want, it sends you a text or email. You then have to go into the Disney system and hope you can book that opening before anybody else.

I will type out the websites for a few of them. If we are not allowed to discuss them here on the Dis, they will be x'd out.

www.touringplans.com
www.****************
www.***********.com

Update: okay, plan B is for you to do a google search for something like: Disney dining reservation search.

 

[MainMom]

Keep checking even day of. People cancel.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

Don’t stress over the restraunts. Not many folks going to drop the hard to get reservations until they are forced to but they will. One trick is that you can’t rely on the “lunch and dinner” buttons. 90% of the time that seems to work, but then when the hard to get spots open they almost always show up first by clicking the actual times. Also, it glitches a lot. For example I was looking for one the other day for 5:30. Nothing on the dinner option, nothing as I clicked through 4-630 pm, it once I clicked 7pm it showed up for 5:30z I logged out and back in to my secondary account and it did the same thing, only visible when clicking 7pm. So basically you have to set up the park and options you are looking for and then click through all the time slots. Will seem tedious but in the days before going it will start paying off pretty quickly. Getting a specific hour time slot might be hard but getting one for a specific day should be doable with persistence in the few days before.

I see the keys have a 2day cancellation policy, those will probably require a more obsessive pursuit but I bet in those 2-4 days before they will be popping open too.

 

[Mousetopia]

I thought they switched tours and special activities like Africa Trek to 60 days. Is that not the case?

 

[nw6675]

I thought they switched tours and special activities like Africa Trek to 60 days. Is that not the case?

You are correct.

 

[amw]

Keep checking even day of. People cancel.

The night before is the best time to check as people cancel the day before so they don’t get the no-show fee. You would be surprised what shows up between 11 and 11:59 pm for the next day!

 

[Fairytale2]

Oh no so sorry to read this. I can imagine how disappointing it must be, and thank you for the heads up. We are planning our first trip and would have never thought of all these issues.

 

[leebee]

I'll suggest you sign up for Touring Plans and activate the reservation finder. I've always had luck with that, although I don't know that it'll help with the KTTK tour. Good luck... you're going to Disney with your friend, a first-timer. To see the World through the eyes of a newbie is always magical!

 

[mikeuno]

As above, thank you for the heads up