Reservation problems

[MDH]

Hi, i'm having major issues trying to get any reservations for dining. I try at 12:01 AM, 7 am, 8 am, 9 am on day 60 of the window, and NOTHING is available for any time. I don't mean nothing available at my preferred times or preferred restaurants. I mean NOTHING. I saw ONE slot for the taco place in downtown disney at like 10 AM at exactly 60 days out, but other than that, nothing available. Anyone else having this issue?

 

[Pluto468]

They have been releasing reservations at 3am PST. Once in a while they release things at other random times. They have not always been showing up at 60 days, some restaurants it's more like 45. The reservation system has been frustrating to say the least. For mine I woke up at 3am, and also checked at random times throughout the day whenever I thought of it. Just last week I picked up a Plaza Inn reservation around 2:00 in the afternoon. It was the only one available, so somebody must have canceled.

 

[tlovesdis]

Reservations are very hard to get. When are you going? I'm guessing Christmas/New Years time? If so they are probably all booked up by now.

 

[MDH]

christmas time correct. but what is odd is that literally every single place was booked up at the instant they became available. very furstrating.

 

[soccerra]

We are here right now.. Spent literally hours trying to get one Blue Bayou reservation, actually two. The first time there was an error on the website (surprise surprise) and it wouldn't let us book it. Don't bother calling them either, the Dine Line is closed and when you select that option it just hangs up on you. The chat folks are basically zero help as well, didn't try talking to "website support" as the wait time was nothing I would wait for.

 

[tlovesdis]

christmas time correct. but what is odd is that literally every single place was booked up at the instant they became available. very furstrating.

Yes reservations have been super hard to get from Oct going forward. I got lucky and was vigilant looking for my October dates and got a few things, but none of what I wanted was released right at 60 days. I got Lamplight at 45 days and Carnation at 32 days. I never once saw Blue Bayou (I didn't want it, but never saw it) in all the times i was searching (5-6 times a day). I never saw Oga's either. It was nuts. I imagine for Christmas time it's even harder.

 

[nuttynatty]

Yah I am going in 10 days and only a couple of options were released at the 60 day mark. Like the post above I found some restaurants to release at around 45 and some closer to the 30 day mark and mine seemed to drop at 10pm pacific. I did use *********** to get alerts which helped with 2 of my reservations

 

[lalasmama]

Also, make sure you're looking by time vs by meal. That's always opened up more options for me, along with trying "non-peak" time meals, like 2:00 pm for lunch.

 

[GoldeneyezCA]

I followed the advice of many people here and have gotten all of the reservations I wanted using the dining alert website. Highly recommend, though you need to keep an eye on your phone!

 

[DizMe]

The dining alerts simply don't work for me. I don't have the ability to watch my phone 24/7. I've gotten notifications, but never when I'm looking at my phone. If you get an alert for something in high demand, you have to be right on it, not 5-10 minutes after the notification. I've given up on that method and will try for a last minute, and failing that, I'll see about waitlist/walkup. I did fine for my Dec trip, but I didn't have my Nov trip planned until after the dining reservations had already dropped and haven't been able to get any of the coveted bookings. That's ok, because all I really hoped for was Blue Bayou, but so far it has eluded me. I hate this new system.

 

[JMommyof3]

This might not help everyone but my trip is 60+ days away so I set alerts for the days before I want the reservations just so I can get an idea of when mine might drop. Since not everything is going at 60 these days, it might be worthwhile.

 

[LennyMachine]

I made reservations for 12/22-12/27 over the course of last week, and as far as I could tell, everything — Blue Bayou, Carnation, Lamplight, Oga’s — was available for booking at exactly 60 days out. So I don’t believe that delayed drops are an issue anymore, except perhaps certain things on holidays, e.g., Storyteller Cafe on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.

With the exception of one failure, I got up everyday at 4:45 a.m. CST and — with multiple tabs already open in my browser, in order of most in-demand to least, and with my info/preferred times already plugged in — I was able to get everything I wanted when they dropped at 5:00 a.m. CST, plus backup ADRs in case I didn’t get certain places on later dates.

The only day I didn’t get what I wanted was Christmas Day, ugh. I overslept by a MINUTE and that minute was enough to cost me a chance at my #1 AND #2 choices for Christmas Day dinner (Blue Bayou and Carthay Circle). ADRs disappeared MUCH faster on that day than any other day; all of the time slots were getting taken as I clicked on them.

It’s nuts that it’s come to this, but there you are.

 

[Disney0010]

I booked our dining reservations for lunch and dinner for our December trip to DL with no problems but it took getting up for “three straight” mornings at 2:50 AM for the 3:00 AM PST release of dining reservations. You do have to be fast and I suggest using the app and not the website. Much quicker.

 

[DizMe]

This whole process bothers me. Yes, I got up 3 straight mornings at 2:50 AM and got my Dec reservations, but there was this pressure, especially at first, to overbook "just in case" I didn't get what I wanted in the coming days. Then there is the need after you're done with all of your days to go back and see if there are things you have to/should eliminate. This means that many people take up slots they aren't going to need and means others won't be able to access them until they are randomly released. It's ridiculous. Dining reservations were never this difficult or frustrating. I liked it when I could let Vacation Planning know the must-do dining reservations I'd like and they'd book them for me. That was a great on-site bonus.

But the worst of it is if you have a trip that wasn't planned 60 days ahead. The dining reservations for the parks are pretty much gone and the only thing you can do is to keep checking all the time and hope something pops up, or just plan to wing it when you get there with mobile order and standby/wait lists.

 

[MDH]

I made reservations for 12/22-12/27 over the course of last week, and as far as I could tell, everything — Blue Bayou, Carnation, Lamplight, Oga’s — was available for booking at exactly 60 days out. So I don’t believe that delayed drops are an issue anymore, except perhaps certain things on holidays, e.g., Storyteller Cafe on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.

With the exception of one failure, I got up everyday at 4:45 a.m. CST and — with multiple tabs already open in my browser, in order of most in-demand to least, and with my info/preferred times already plugged in — I was able to get everything I wanted when they dropped at 5:00 a.m. CST, plus backup ADRs in case I didn’t get certain places on later dates.

The only day I didn’t get what I wanted was Christmas Day, ugh. I overslept by a MINUTE and that minute was enough to cost me a chance at my #1 AND #2 choices for Christmas Day dinner (Blue Bayou and Carthay Circle). ADRs disappeared MUCH faster on that day than any other day; all of the time slots were getting taken as I clicked on them.

It’s nuts that it’s come to this, but there you are.

I can appreciate your effort and diligence, but what you revealed in your reply is a major part of the problem.

"Backup ADRs in case I didn't get certain places"

I'm not trying to pick on you, I know a tonne of people do this, but this is such a selfish thing to do. Pick a place and commit. Making backup ADRs to make your vacation perfect and stress free is removing quality and causing stress to another family's vacation at an equal or greater level.

 

[LennyMachine]

I can appreciate your effort and diligence, but what you revealed in your reply is a major part of the problem.

"Backup ADRs in case I didn't get certain places"

I'm not trying to pick on you, I know a tonne of people do this, but this is such a selfish thing to do. Pick a place and commit. Making backup ADRs to make your vacation perfect and stress free is removing quality and causing stress to another family's vacation at an equal or greater level.

I’m not the only person in the history of Disney trip planning — heck, I’m not even the only person *in this thread* — to make extra ADRs for any number of reasons. I don't like that ADR planning at DL has become akin to the Game of Thrones, but there are also many who love planning Disney trips just for that reason.

Everybody knows that Christmas is a hugely popular time of year. I knew the chances were good that I would not get the ADRs I wanted on Christmas Day, so I chose to make contingency plans. And in the end, I *didn't* get what I wanted, so, I'm glad that I had the alternates.

 

[MDH]

I’m not the only person in the history of Disney trip planning — heck, I’m not even the only person *in this thread* — to make extra ADRs for any number of reasons. I don't like that ADR planning at DL has become akin to the Game of Thrones, but there are also many who love planning Disney trips just for that reason.

Everybody knows that Christmas is a hugely popular time of year. I knew the chances were good that I would not get the ADRs I wanted on Christmas Day, so I chose to make contingency plans. And in the end, I *didn't* get what I wanted, so, I'm glad that I had the alternates.

I agree completely that you aren't the first person to do this by a long shot. I wasn't trying to single you out, you simply stated it exactly as it is so i used that. But I'm not going to feel that about calling it out. The whole everyone else is ruining things so I will too isn't a good reason.

 

[chrisaman]

Since this clearly wasn't a problem pre-COVID, does this mean there is more walk up reservations? Does anyone have any experience with this? I find it hard to believe that Tortilla Joes doesn't have any reservations. So they have to be doing more walk ins for these restaurants right?

 

[DizMe]

I can appreciate your effort and diligence, but what you revealed in your reply is a major part of the problem.

"Backup ADRs in case I didn't get certain places"

I'm not trying to pick on you, I know a tonne of people do this, but this is such a selfish thing to do. Pick a place and commit. Making backup ADRs to make your vacation perfect and stress free is removing quality and causing stress to another family's vacation at an equal or greater level.

That's a pretty harsh tone. This is square on Disney, not on people desperately trying to figure out how to make dining reservations in a system that ensures frustration and often failure. I totally understand your poiint, but calling someone selfish for making an ADR the first day because they're not sure they'll get it later? It's set up that way, unfortunately. It was never like this before and people are simply trying their best to figure out how to get a favorite dining venue. The fault lies squarely with the Disney people who set this up, not on those who get up at 3 am to try and score a place to sit down and eat in 60 days. You may really want that reservation in 62 days--maybe it's a celebration or something--but who knows if it'll be there 2 days from now? I don't think it's fair to blame the guests for this situation.

 

[LennyMachine]

That's a pretty harsh tone. This is square on Disney, not on people desperately trying to figure out how to make dining reservations in a system that ensures frustration and often failure. I totally understand your poiint, but calling someone selfish for making an ADR the first day because they're not sure they'll get it later? It's set up that way, unfortunately. It was never like this before and people are simply trying their best to figure out how to get a favorite dining venue. The fault lies squarely with the Disney people who set this up, not on those who get up at 3 am to try and score a place to sit down and eat in 60 days. You may really want that reservation in 62 days--maybe it's a celebration or something--but who knows if it'll be there 2 days from now? I don't think it's fair to blame the guests for this situation.

Add to all this that unlike at WDW, we can’t make reservations 60 days out from the first day of our stay + the rest of our visit. We have to go day by day by day. “Making a plan and sticking to it” is easier said than done when you don’t have the entire duration of your vacation laid out before you, plus the knowledge that it’s one of the busiest, if not THE busiest time of the year.