Rivers of Light and dining

[Metalliman98]

So we're heading to WDW in March, and hopefully Rivers of Light is up and running by then. There had been speculation that there would be a RoL meal package at Tiffins. But, our ADR day is next Monday, so obviously we will not be able to reserve said potential package. My question is, if we reserved a regular dinner at Tiffins on our ADR day, would that give us any advantage in reserving the RoL package if/when it became available? My thought is if we already have the reservation, and just want to convert it to a RoL package, that would be far easier and more likely successful than having to reserve from scratch after they announce the package. Thoughts?

 

[Lisa F]

So we're heading to WDW in March, and hopefully Rivers of Light is up and running by then. There had been speculation that there would be a RoL meal package at Tiffins. But, our ADR day is next Monday, so obviously we will not be able to reserve said potential package. My question is, if we reserved a regular dinner at Tiffins on our ADR day, would that give us any advantage in reserving the RoL package if/when it became available? My thought is if we already have the reservation, and just want to convert it to a RoL package, that would be far easier and more likely successful than having to reserve from scratch after they announce the package. Thoughts?

not if it works the way other packages work no. They can only "convert" it if there is availability for the package, which means they essentially cancel and rebook.

In my experience with the F! dining packages (which for my dining period lagged about a month behind the 180 day window) the availability for the package was exactly the same as availability for the non dining package so there was actually very little as most restaurants were booked up. I realized this when I dropped my 4:30 for a 3:45 dinner because that was all they had and then immediately upon rechecking the 4:30 was available and I was able to pick it back up. But if you are not willing to lose your backup this is a dangerous game to play - someone else could pick it up before you, or disney could not release your time back into inventory (which happens sometimes when you try to do a release and pick up of someone else's ADR).

That said Tiffin bookings have been pretty dismal and things are slow there so you shouldn't have too much trouble either way - I think it is people's last choice.