Last Minute Dining Reservations.... possible?

[gtpoohbear]

I tend to see a lot of availablity in general 1-2 days before, more so than exists weeks or months before. I definitely think a lot of people wait until the last minute to cancel.

A couple of weeks ago my mom called me and said they needed to go to Orlando the next day, and wanted me to try to get them a character breakfast reservation. Less than 24 hours out, there were multiple times available at every character meal (both at resorts and in park) except CRT.

Do keep checking, especially in those last few days. I know I've cancelled PPO ADRs the night before, when we decided we needed to sleep in instead.

 

[Easto]

Touring Plans, is it a free app or something?

 

[Peachkins]

Touring Plans, is it a free app or something?

There are certain items on Touring Plans you can see for free, but others require a subscription. They have a website and an app. Not sure if the service people are mentioning would be free (ETA: it does appear to be free). There's also a thread right on this board where you can look for cancellations and coordinate with people.

 

[WuvEeyore]

Last trip I was able to get a CRT breakfast for a Wednesday morning late Tuesday night. Someone must have cancelled last minute. Keep trying, you never know what could open up.

 

[hamilkm]

Just keep trying. When we were there a couple of weeks ago I grabbed a BOG PPO ADR the night before. I got it while sitting at Fantasmic waiting for the show to start! The system had been down a day earlier in our trip and our QS dining credit we had planned to use for dinner at Disney Springs I ended up having to pay for out of pocket. We had an extra dining credit, so I checked just for fun and grabbed one! (Our dinner for 3 at earl of sandwich was less than 30 bucks and that breakfast was much more, so also a great use of those credits!).

 

[Tozzie]

I don't know what I want to eat tomorrow let alone 6 months from now so I tend to book 2 or 3 ADR's and wing the rest. I usually cancel 1 or 2 reservations and look on MDE while i am there. That being said many days when I was looking in the morning for evening reservations I could have had my pick of most restaurants including BOG and Ohana from personal experience you should be fine.

 

[Easto]

We have an 8:40am Crystal Palace reservation on our last MK day. I was hoping to get it on our first MK day, but beggars can't be choosers

I also grabbed Kona Cafe breakfast on our 2 off days.

Other than those I don't have any other ADR's. I think for Lunch we are likely just going to grab something quick ... Dinners... who knows.

Worst case scenario we live on hot dogs, Dole whip, and ice cream. Why not, we're on vacations

 

[maltdizzy]

I have learned that people book a bunch of reservations "just in case" and as long as the reservation is canceled the day before there is no penalty.

We are going Aug 23 - Sept 1 and were hoping to get a pre park opening breakfast at Crystal Palace.

Everything will have availability sometime between now and your trip. Many will increase the closer you get. Being able to snap them up when available is the trick. Consider the TP helper mentioned above.

Even though the crowds will be getting lighter every day of your trip, since your trip overlaps the FD promotion, ADR's can be harder to get overall (sometimes harder to get than some peak periods)...people want to get the most for their credits.

It would be nice if you had to cancel a week before your reservation date, not 24 hours. It would help with people hoarding reservations and would mean at least a week prior people would have to cancel and give other a chance to pick them up

While it doesn't help with pre-planning, I find the 24 hour window does allow for a lot more same day availability for lunch and dinner, which I find convenient.

The current system is first to reserve, first to get the ADR, which is fair. I do think that ADR bookings should only begin at 90 days out, rather than 180, though. I like the 24-hour cancellation policy, which has greatly reduced hoarding. It's much easier to get ressies now than it used to be, outside of free dining.

The 180 days is a way to get people to book vacations well in advance, which is what Disney wants. The more rooms booked early, the fewer they have to fill with promotions. It is conditioning.