Questions about the reservation system.

[AC7179]

I have read through the thread, and I think I get the gist of it, but I had a few questions.

We are traveling March 7-14. Our window has been opening up this week. I have been unable to get BOG reservations for any day at a time before 9:00 pm. We have a two year old, so that won't work for us. We also have tried to get reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table and nothing has come up at all. I'm checking at about 8:30 central time each day.

I'm not opposed to waking up at 5:30 (reservations open 6:30 eastern time, right?) but I was wondering what the chances are for getting those two restaurants at opening 180 days out? Are they already taken by the onsite people? I know they're popular and if they are already taken, I understand. I just don't want to wake up so early on a weekend if there's virtually no chance of securing them.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[salamander3]

Will CRT be open by then? I know they were doing the refurb, but I don't know dates. For BOG, could you do lunch instead?

Here's my 2 cents. We leave in just over a week, and I still haven't found the CRT I'm looking for. If I had the chance at 180 and hadn't taken it, I'd be kicking myself from here to Orlando (we didn't book at 180). If you don't even try, you definitely won't get the one you want.

 

[Fairy Dreamfinder]

We had that same problem when planning our trip. Here's some information that I learned while going through it. Onsite resort guests can make their ADRs 180 in advance +10 days. So if you are staying at a Disney resort, you can book 180 days in advance of your first day + any of the rest of the days of your stay up to 10 days. (So there's a good chance you can get that BOG at the time you want for later in your stay.) The only exception that I am aware of is CRT, this can only be booked at 180 days, nothing further out. Online reservations open up at 6:00 AM ET, and yes, things disappear before the phone lines open up at 7:00 AM ET. That would be my suggestion both for the CRT (and if you're staying offsite), get online at 6:00 AM ET and look for your reservations. If all else fails, people still frequently cancel their ADR's. That is how I have gotten most of mine, just keep checking back and things will become available. I hope this helps.
Good Luck!

 

[AC7179]

Yes, I'm not opposed to lunch at BOG but I was thinking a dinner reservation might easier to get bc we are not eligible for the FP for lunch. If we get there right at lunch opening would it be nuts?

When I first looked, CRT wasn't taking reservations. Now it lets me search, but only for breakfast and lunch (are those still character meals?) and it always says nothing available, so I don't know if it's letting anybody reserve it or if they are just all taken.

Thanks for your help!

 

[purple figment]

I have read through the thread, and I think I get the gist of it, but I had a few questions.

We are traveling March 7-14. Our window has been opening up this week. I have been unable to get BOG reservations for any day at a time before 9:00 pm. We have a two year old, so that won't work for us. We also have tried to get reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table and nothing has come up at all. I'm checking at about 8:30 central time each day.

I'm not opposed to waking up at 5:30 (reservations open 6:30 eastern time, right?) but I was wondering what the chances are for getting those two restaurants at opening 180 days out? Are they already taken by the onsite people? I know they're popular and if they are already taken, I understand. I just don't want to wake up so early on a weekend if there's virtually no chance of securing them.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Online: 6 AM Eastern Time, NOT 6:30
Phone 7AM Eastern Time

CRT is closed for refurb Jan - March, but I don't know if they've announced a re-opening date. It's possible it isn't included in the dining reservation system at this time because of that.

BOG for dinner is the most difficult reservation to book at this time. Many onsite guests are finding that even with the advantage of booking the first 10 days of their vacation on their 180th day, they're still finding they have better luck towards the end of their vacation. Since it sounds like you're offsite and will have to book 1 day at a time, most likely the only reservations left are late evening. You'll have to start checking online to see if a cancellation comes up. As many others have posted, they were persistent and finally got the BOG reservation they wanted. You can also subscribe to the March cancellation thread on this board once it's started by a mod.

Disney recently announced they are issuing return time cards for BOG lunch rather than have everyone who doesn't have a BOG FP+ line up on the bridge. The cards are first come first serve on the day of and once all of them are issued it means the restaurant is full for the day. I would keep an eye on the restaurant board to see if this system is still in effect when you go in March.

When looking for reservations be sure to include everyone, even toddlers and infants, whether eating or not because of fire code regulations.

 

[Kirby]

Keep trying. You're still too far out to give up. We're going in December and I just started making my ADRs two weeks ago. I've been able to reserve and cancel a couple of BOG dinners as I fit them in our tentative schedule. Now that we've decided to stay at SOG I hope to get a BOG lunch FP and give up my remaining BOG dinner ADR.