New to Disney world

[Colargol]

In less than 4 weeks we cross the Atlantic to go on our first ever Disney holiday. Along with us comes our 4yr old princess and a baby.

We have not bought a dining plan, as we did not see the benefit of it.
But of course we have planned to visit the Cinderella castle and go to a character dinner or lunch with the princesses - but to my great surprise I am now starting to realise that it is all fully booked!

Can anyone tell me if this is true? Are all meals really booked so long in advance?! What to do then? Any suggestions?


(And why do people buy dining plans? I really don't understand!)

 

[princessallegra]

Hi! Very exciting about your upcoming trip! I hope you have a magical time! Cinderella's Royal Table starts taking Advanced Dining Reservations 180 days out. Many, many people make their plans that far out, so it does book up. I would encourage you to continue to check disneyworld.com for reservations every day, a few times a day. There can be cancellations and you may be able to snag one! You will need to give a credit card number to make the reservation. As for your question about dining plans, people buy different dining plans for different reasons. Some people like the "all inclusive" aspect of it-you pay upfront and then just use credits throughout the trip. I'm sure there are people who could explain the why's and why not's of the dining plans. Everyone vacations differently. We personally like the dining plans, and do them every trip.

 

[graceesmom]

Unfortunately the popular restaurants do tend to book up pretty early. But don't give up. Keep checking and subscribe to the ADR cancellation forum for your month. I was able to snag a princess meal, Le Cellier and Ohana for our vacation last July, and I only booked that trip 5 days before we left.

We do the dining plan b/c it makes the trip easier for us and what they offer suits our dining habits. We tend to have a granola bar or cereal, etc. for b-fast. Then 1 Table service meal and 1 counter service meal per day.

B/c we still do several character meals/princess meals during the trip, we save money with the dining plan. It's a good value if you have a child 9 or under and have several character meals booked. E.g. The princess dinner at Akershus for a child is approx. $25 alone. The dining plan for our 4 year old is $12/day.

 

[JenSop]

Congrats on your upcoming trip!

Yes - Disney starts taking reservations for all sit-down meals 180 days (6 months) in advance. The really popular ones start filling up right away that far out.

We enjoy the Dining Plan and always get it. We feel that it definitely saves us money over paying out of pocket, as we like to do a Table Service (TS) meal every day.

For example, as DVC members, we can book the dining plan for $46 per adult/per night of stay. (Kids are way cheaper, but we don't have kids.) The regular dining plan gives you 1 TS (table service) meal, one CS (counter service) meal, and one snack per night of stay.

So let's say on a given day I order these items:

Counter service lunch at Columbia Harbour House (includes entree, dessert, beverage):
Lighthouse Sandwich - $8.29
Chocolate Cake - $3.59
Coke - $2.19
Lunch Total if paying out of pocket: $14.07

Snack at Magic Kingdom:
Dole Whip Pineapple Float: $4.19

Table Service Dinner at Kona Cafe (includes entree, dessert, beverage):
Teriyaki Style New York Strip - $28.99
Chocolate Fondue - $6.99
Coke - $2.69
Dinner Total if paying out of pocket: $38.67

Food total if paying out of pocket: $56.93

So by having the dining plan, I'm saving about $10 that day on food over paying for it with cash.

And by pre-paying that dining plan, I can walk in to any restaurant and not look at the prices, as I can order any entree on the menu with the dining plan. Because if I wasn't on the plan, I'd be super careful to only order the cheapest options - and that's not the mind-set I want to have when I'm on vacation.

I'll echo what the other posters have said about checking on ADR's every day to see if what you want becomes available. If all else fails, call the dining line every morning of your stay and see what might have become available or if there were any last minute cancellations.

If all else fails, there are plenty of great CS restaurants all over Disney property. I personally reference the menus on allears all the time to help me choose restaurants for each trip.

Good luck!

 

[Colargol]

Wow, thanks for helping me! I will certainly be looking at the reservation site daily to see if there'a a table for us! Are all the seats prebooked, or is there a chance that we might get a table once we get there?

 

[JenSop]

Wow, thanks for helping me! I will certainly be looking at the reservation site daily to see if there'a a table for us! Are all the seats prebooked, or is there a chance that we might get a table once we get there?

You can try, but honestly, I would never count on a walk-up at any TS restaurant at Disney.

 

[Quin]

Wow, thanks for helping me! I will certainly be looking at the reservation site daily to see if there'a a table for us! Are all the seats prebooked, or is there a chance that we might get a table once we get there?

If enough people do prebook Disney will cheerfully fill a restaurant to capacity months ahead of time - they do not save tables for walk-ups. In less-busy times of the year and at more out of the way restaurants it is certainly possible to do walk-ups. Front and center in the Magic Kingdom? Not so much.

Also, over the US Memorial Day weekend, Disney offered free dining to guests who booked a resort room and arrived during that 1-week window. Obviously that increases the traffic in resorts because all those people have "free" meal credits to use up. In recent years walk-ups have become nearly impossible when Free Dining promotions were ongoing, so much so that Disney started doing overflow TS at some CS locations just to try to alleviate some of the frustration guests were expressing. Those meals don't include characters, though.

In general, resort restaurants are less crowded than park restaurants. Monorail resorts get crowded faster than ones that are only accessible by bus.

For princesses, absolutely check on-line for any meal at CRT B/L/D during your entire stay. Do the same for Askerhus in Norway at Epcot (in fact, since you are paying OOP, this would be a less expensive option). Also check for dinner only at 1900 Park Fare in the GF; you do get Cinderella and her whole family there. Check every day. Check several times a day. As a prior poster stated, cancellations happen.

 

[dissybroad]

I agree with the keep checking for cancellations strategy and never count on a walk up.

I'd call the reservation line at 407-939-3463 and let them help you look for a character meal anytime during your visit.

 

[twooley2]

you made reservations at Disney World and no one told you when you did this about planning or dining and the cost savings of the dining plan?

 

[Colargol]

you made reservations at Disney World and no one told you when you did this about planning or dining and the cost savings of the dining plan?

I guess that's what you get when doing all the bookings online instead of using a travel agency
And honestly, we didn't quite understand that dining plan-option, so we just ignored it.
Have found some options for princess meals at Akershus during our stay, but since we are from Norway we're not too keen on going there (Akershus is in the norwegian pavillion), but if nothing else turns up we'll go for that option.

 

[Pakey]

Enjoy your first visit to the world.

In addition to the advice here, I would also recommend checking in with guest services each day at the park you are visiting. They can access the dining system and check availability for you. We have had great success doing this.

We are not fans of the dining plan so don't be too concerned that you do not have it.

 

[Quin]

It's Disney. The food is not Norwegian; it's an American take on a Norwegian environment, mass-marketed for tourism and loads of picky eaters. The food may still be OK, but you probably won't recognize it as a taste of home. This location, like CRT, is all about wall-to-wall princesses.

Goodness, don't let someone worry you about reservations or dining plans or anything else. Especially if you have never been before, you really don't want to be tied down to a lot of meal reservations. Get a few scattered ones if you can (in addition to a princess meal) just as a change of pace, but know that you will still have a wonderful experience. The CS places are surprisingly good. While the menu at each is limited, the menu at each is also pretty unique. You CAN eat nothing but burgers and chicken nuggets, but you CAN also spend 3 weeks there and never touch a burger or nugget.

If you are unable to get an ADR for any princess meal, you can still try another character meal. Most of them are buffets. Of the buffets, B/L/D at CP in MK with Pooh and Friends is well thought of. If you'd prefer to avoid a buffet because of balancing all the plates plus having a baby with you, see if you would like the Garden Grill at the Land pavillion in Epcot. It's 'family-style' so the food (and the characters) come to you. It is dinner only, which is the most expensive meal