Meal Reservations

[paulie_walnuts]

First of all i would like to wish everyone a happy new year and all the best for 2008. I can now say im off to disney this year having never been before i cant tell you how excited i am. I will be going with my wife and kids who will be 16 and 13.On the 21st of Aug we will be staying at the cbr on the disney dining plan. Having read a few articals many people book their meals many months in advance. cant quite get my head around this booking a meal now in january for august. How do i start to plan this ? do i try to plan what day i will be in a certain park ?do i look at the different restaurants and take it from there? I have purchased the disney unofficial guide 2008 that has a list of different places to eat. Once i find out the the best way of organizing the reservations should i phone or email also when is the best time to do this .This holiday is a bit daunting as well as very exiting many thanks for your advice.

 

[Goofyish]

You can book restaurants (called an Advanced Dining Reservation or ADR in Disney speak) upto 180 days in advance of each meal or if you are staying on-site you can call 180 days before your arrival date and book 10 days worth of meals.

Popular restaurants, especially character ones, do book up quite early. If you are flexible with eating times etc. then you shouldn't have a problem getting the meals you want. It's always best to make a reservation - you can always cancel if you decide to do something else

To make an ADR you need to call the Disney Dine phone number:

00 1 407-939-3463

between 7am and 10pm (Florida time)

Follow the automated instructions (pound key is the hash # key).

You will be given a confirmation number for each ADR made

Check out the DIS menus for details of prices and offerings at all the WDW restaurants:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm

 

[Tinker74]

Hi paulie...we will be there same time as you Aug25th-Sept 6th...I'll be booking all the meals at 180 days out in February...just as i have for the last two years. Around Feb 1st the park hours will be out for august so I'll plan my itinerary and know what parks we'll be in what days..plan rest days etc..
Its easy then to book meals around this.
Try www.allearsnet.com for details on restaurants and menus.

 

[team harris]

You need to look up park opening times for the time you are out there and plan, plan, plan. Are you wanting to see fireworks, parades, are there special events onetc... Did you want time in non Disney parks, shopping, relaxing? You need to think carefully and build your itinerary, then think about your meals. Your children will propably want to collect autographs and have photos taken with the characters - the character meals are best for that as it leaves you with more time in the parks for rides and shows etc...If you want to go to Universal for example, it's worth popping back to Magic Kingdom for a late meal - once the meal is over and the park is generally closed you can meander your way out without being hurried - we got some of our best photos this way. Also if you get the last time for a character meal, we found that the photo opprotunities were endless, it was as if the characters didn't want to go!
Take your time, but be one of the first on the 'phone when it comes to making your ADR's and have choices ready just in case.
Happy planning - you lucky lucky people!

 

[paulie_walnuts]

Thanks very much for all the advice. Just one more thing we are the sort of family that likes a good breakfast ,something light for lunch and then a good meal at night were are not fussy eaters. Do we make reservations for breakfast? are there plenty of places to get breakfast in disney? and is it included on ddp ?(we are not bothered about character meals)and any recommendations on any good places to eat(for any meals not just breakfast )Many thanks hope my questions arent too daft but when your used to going to spain and turkey its a big change.

 

[Goofyish]

Thanks very much for all the advice. Just one more thing we are the sort of family that likes a good breakfast ,something light for lunch and then a good meal at night were are not fussy eaters. Do we make reservations for breakfast? are there plenty of places to get breakfast in disney? and is it included on ddp ?(we are not bothered about character meals)and any recommendations on any good places to eat(for any meals not just breakfast )Many thanks hope my questions arent too daft but when your used to going to spain and turkey its a big change.

Quite a few table restaurants do breakfast, most are buffet style - check on DIS menu page for details:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm

You can search for 'breakfast' in the Disney Dining Search Tool
If you plan to have a breakfast at a table service restaurant then you will be best to make an ADR.

With the DDP for each day of your stay you get:

1 Table-Service meal including entrée, dessert or full buffet, non-alcoholic beverage. Gratuity NOT included

1 Counter Service meal including entrée, dessert (lunch/dinner) and single serving non-alcoholic beverage or 1 complete combo meal, dessert (lunch dinner), 1 juice with breakfast and single serving non-alcoholic beverage

1 Snack choice of a frozen ice cream novelty or fruit bar, or single serve popcorn or single piece of whole fruit or single serve Grab Bag of Frito Lay's Chips, or 20 oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or 24 oz. bottle of Dasani water or medium size fountain drink or apple juice.

So you could use your Counter Service credit for breakfast, then your snack credit for lunch, then use your table service credit for dinner - or whatever fits in with your plans for each day

You can get more details of DDP and where you can use your credits here:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-dining-plan.htm

When we are in WDW we tend to either skip breakfast (or just have a cereal bar in the room) and then get to the parks nice and early. We then grab an early lunch (beats the lunchtime rush especially at counter service restaurants) and a nice meal in the evening.

 

[team harris]

We used our counter service credits a few times in our hotel (Pop Century) for breakfast and had choices to suit all appetites. We're a family much like yours, we eat plenty at breakfast pick on pop corn and ices during the day and then go for a table service of an evening. Sometims, with the heat, we didn't eat much during the day and saved the snack credits for souveniers (lollies and cookies)

 

[DreamofDisney]

Excellent choice with CBR - we stayed there last year and loved it. Another tip is to check predicted crowd levels for the parks (you can do this on the unofficial guides site) and then plan roughly which parks you want to be in on which days this helps narrow down the choice of restaurants - also give resort dining a try Animal Kingdom Lodge is great fun.

Happy planning