Since I have read so many posts from folks needing help, and being a little intimidated/apprehensive about making their adr's online, I thought I would offer a little help. I am by no means an expert, and I got most of what I learned by helpful dis'ers who know more than I do. I just thought I would condense it into one place that everyone could find easily. Please feel free to add helpful tips/issues you may have (had/experienced), as I am sure I have not included all that people may be looking for. Here goes:
Before we get started, use the handy dandy reservation calculator here on the Dis, to get your 90 day date exactly right. One day too late, and you might easily miss the ones that are really popular. The 90 +10 information listed below is specific to resort guests only. If you are staying off-site, you will need to call back each day after 90 days to make your adr for each day of your vacation at the 90 day mark.
1) Have a list of all the restaurants you want, in order of importance to you. Have the date, time, and party size (if it changes from day to day) written down. You might want to have an alternate restaurant/date available, in the event your first choice is not available.
2)
VERY IMPORTANT!!! Have your resort reservation number written down along with your adr list!! You will need to enter this number in order for the system to open your 10+ window!!! Additionally, be sure to have a credit card handy if you are planning on making any adr's which require a credit card to secure the adr. (Example: CRT) There have been some issues with the system requiring payment in full when making an adr for CRT. I personally did not have this problem, but some have. If you are on the dining plan, hopefully the system will recognize this, and not charge your card. However, you will need to enter your cc information when making the adr for CRT.
3) The night before, set your alarm clock (and coffee maker) for about 5:30ish (depending on how much time you think you will need to wake up the next morning
). The online system opens at 6 am Eastern Standard Time. The call center opens at 7:00 am for things like CP, Fantasmic Packages, etc.
4) Depending on how proficient you are with your computer/internet browser, log on to your computer at about 5:45 am, and go to:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/
5) Select your first restaurant. Example: Cinderella's Royal Table
You can type the name of the restaurant you are looking for into the search, or search by location.
6) When the restaurant comes up, you may have to click on it, or click on book online. You will know you are in the right place when you see "Loading" and the circle spinning around. When it comes up, under the picture, you will see a bunch of information. Look for where it says: Retrieve your reservation in blue. Click on that, and enter the information it asks for.
7) Once you do this, then open up multiple tabs on your internet browser. Sometimes referred to as tabbed browsing. I personally have Windows IE, and I am sorry, but I know nothing about any other type of browser. I only know that mine allows for tabbed browsing. Open tabs equal to the number of restaurants you want to make adr's for. (I opened up 9 tabs). For each tab, go to the restaurant you want.
This was why I suggested waking up so early. For me personally, it took me a while to get each tab to the restaurant I wanted.
8) If you still have time before 6 am on the atomic clock, go ahead and enter times and party size. When it comes time to refresh, you may have to re-enter the information, you may not. It depends on your computer. But if you don't have to re-enter, it may save you time to do it now.
9) At 6 am on the dot, make sure you are on the tab with the restaurant of your first choice - that is the one that you absolutely, positively must have. Refresh that page, and click on the calendar. The calendar should (I repeat should) open up the first date of your stay, and 10 days after that. You will know if it has done this, by scrolling over the calendar days, and seeing that it will allow you to click on those 10 days.
10) Click on the date you want to make the adr, enter the time, and the party size. Then click on check availability button at the bottom of the page. The computer will tell you it is checking, then produce answers for you. At the very top of the page, if the restaurant you want is available, it will show you what times are available. If the time you wanted is not available, it will give you some close times. If there is no availability at all, it will tell you so. It will also give you some other choices. Make your selection, and add it to your cart. You will then see that the "item" is in your cart.
11) Go ahead and do the same for all the other tabs you want.
VERY IMPORTANT!!! Watch your time!! You will need to act quickly. If it has been 20 minutes since you opened your tabs, when you click on them, it will tell you that your session has timed out. You will need to log back in, and the message tells you that you will lose any items in your cart. Try not to let this happen.
I have heard it suggested to make the most important adr's first, say 2 or 3 or 4, then check out, and go back and make more. This is certainly not a bad idea at all. Again, it all depends on how proficient you are, and how quickly you can move through the process. Most of the posts I have read show people completing multiple adr's in less than 20 minutes. Additionally, most of the posts I have read show people getting everything they wanted with very few exceptions (CP at Le Cellier is a tough one to get).
When you have all the adr's you want, check out, and you should receive an itemized list of all the adr's you made. You can either print this out, or wait for the email. Some have also said that they did not get the email, so you may want to print. If you don't have access to a printer, you can write down the confirmation numbers.
The process was simple for me, hopefully these tips will make it simple for others too.
Again, please feel free to add something I may have forgotten, as I certainly don't know it all. Just a few days ago, I was the one asking for advise, and I got so much helpful information. I just wanted to condense everything I learned into one easy place for people to find it.
One last tip! Practice a day or two ahead of time so that you know what to expect, and how things look, so you are not doing it for the first time on your 90 day mark. (I learned that one from Nadjalu-thanks!)
Good luck everyone! May you all get all the adr's you hope for!!!
Thanks.
