Question about reserving park days + Dining

[TeamSy]

Do you typically reserve your park days prior to booking your dining or wait until after? Our 60 days is approaching and I have not yet reserved park days, as I was waiting to see what dining I could get for which day. Is this a bad call? We are going during a (usual) slow time, or what used to be a slow time... although I guess there's no way to really judge that anymore. I know it says park reservations cannot be modified but can be canceled... and then just book with a different park, right? What do you normally do if you're not sure yet which parks you want to do on which days?

 

[Figment Mom]

I did reserve park days first but I think the idea of seeing dining availability first makes sense. Is everything still green on the park reservation calendar for your dates? If so, I think you're fine to wait.

I got everything I wanted in terms of dining reservations, and it was quick to check a certain date instead of seeing what's available across several dates. So maybe start with your ideal days for each park but adjust from there if necessary.

Changing park days (as long as there is still availability) is simple, too.

 

[FreeCA]

I plan my park days as soon as I book the trip.

Once dining rervations open up I change park reservations if needed.

 

[saraheliz]

We did park reservations first, as we're going for 10 days and needed somewhat of a plan (ie the late night at Epcot followed by a rest day). There were 1-2 days that I considered flexible though, if I needed to change them for dining reservations but there was plenty available and I didn't need to move anything.

 

[PalmettoPath]

We normally do now, only because we book our trips 10 or 11 months in advance and can't book dining until 60 days out. In the old days before ParkPass and with a 180-day dining window, things were obviously much different.

 

[jods]

We usually book park days right away. Then do ADRs around that. This time I haven't booked any for our trip in August. I'm having such a tough time committing lol. I did make a loose schedule and booked my ADRs this weekend. I really need to get on it. In fact. I haven't even bought tickets yet. I have a room only because I have ticket credits.

 

[TeamSy]

We usually book park days right away. Then do ADRs around that. This time I haven't booked any for our trip in August. I'm having such a tough time committing lol. I did make a loose schedule and booked my ADRs this weekend. I really need to get on it. In fact. I haven't even bought tickets yet. I have a room only because I have ticket credits.

I’m having a hard time committing too!!! This is our first trip with the reservation system and I’m not sure how I feel about it haha. We sometimes would change plans a few days before depending on weather which I feel like is hard to do now!

 

[FreeCA]

I’m having a hard time committing too!!! This is our first trip with the reservation system and I’m not sure how I feel about it haha. We sometimes would change plans a few days before depending on weather which I feel like is hard to do now!

We became park hopper people because of the reservation system.

While it’s not ideal we couldn’t hop until 2pm, it does give us some opportunity if we can’t get a park reservation.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We became park hopper people because of the reservation system.

While it’s not ideal we couldn’t hop until 2pm, it does give us some opportunity if we can’t get a park reservation.

Agreed. This is something we've done, too - park reservations well in advance, plan on park hoppers, and that opens up anything we might want to do for dinners.

 

[jods]

I’m having a hard time committing too!!! This is our first trip with the reservation system and I’m not sure how I feel about it haha. We sometimes would change plans a few days before depending on weather which I feel like is hard to do now!

I've done the reservation system twice sl far (last year). I had no issues then because GE was my kids goal. ADRs were so limited due to covid that it helped guide my plans. I even planned where to hop too. This summer's trip, no clue lol. I miss switching on the fly too.