Week Before Christmas issue with 2 specific restaurants...

[steves100]

For some reason the Disney reservation system doesnt have availability for both the Biergarten and Mama Melrose. Called Disney Dining they too couldnt get Biergarten but did say people have reservations. Her opinion was people had taken all the reservations assuming they could swap it to a Candlight, which she said can't happen.

Mama Melrose does have availability week before so I just think they are slow, I tried at 180+10 also.

 

[Hopefully]

This is an extremely busy time of year. It is very possible that they are booked the day you want. You best bet is to keep checking
Good Luck

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Yes, people do book in advance, hoping to convert to a Candlelight Package.
2) And, yes, it is the BUSIEST time of year at WDW.
3) The only way to get around the problem would be a Dining System Override.
4) Simply keep trying and hope for a cancellation.
5) I would try daily from 7:00pm to 9:00pm EST, when folks would typically call to cancel.

 

[SouthJersey]

For some reason the Disney reservation system doesnt have availability for both the Biergarten and Mama Melrose. Called Disney Dining they too couldnt get Biergarten but did say people have reservations. Her opinion was people had taken all the reservations assuming they could swap it to a Candlight, which she said can't happen.

Mama Melrose does have availability week before so I just think they are slow, I tried at 180+10 also.

We're going the week before Christmas as well, Tuesday December 15th.
Our 180 day window doesn't open until the 18th

 

[chinarider]

MY ADR day is Friday ( we arrive on Dec 16th)- hoping we wont have issues as well. Good luck to all

 

[steves100]

This is an extremely busy time of year. It is very possible that they are booked the day you want. You best bet is to keep checking
Good Luck

Can't be sure about Germany but Mama

This is an extremely busy time of year. It is very possible that they are booked the day you want. You best bet is to keep checking
Good Luck

Can't tell you about Germany, maybe its booked, dont think so. But Mama is 100% NOT booked, they never released the reservations at 190-180 days!!

 

[raddisneyfan]

I go from the 11th to the 20th of Dec. Guess I better get crackin' with my ADRs since some things are already unavailable. At least I'm not really interested in either of the ones under discussion here--Biergarten or Mamma Melrose--I mostly do TS at lunch time anyway.

 

[lovndisney12]

This will be our third trip over this extremely busy time. I wouldn't stress too much right now as my guess is some availability is being held back. We have usually been able to get what we want and in the cases that we don't - it has provided us the opportunity to try something different - and we have been pleasantly surprise.

So - my tip would be to review menus and atmosphere and find some alternatives - especially at the resorts or downtown which won't lock you into a park if you don't have park hoppers. Then check back - especially when the CP is announced and the 45 cancellation window as there will be a good chance people will be dropping some reservations.

 

[SouthJersey]

This will be our third trip over this extremely busy time. I wouldn't stress too much right now as my guess is some availability is being held back. We have usually been able to get what we want and in the cases that we don't - it has provided us the opportunity to try something different - and we have been pleasantly surprise.

So - my tip would be to review menus and atmosphere and find some alternatives - especially at the resorts or downtown which won't lock you into a park if you don't have park hoppers. Then check back - especially when the CP is announced and the 45 cancellation window as there will be a good chance people will be dropping some reservations.

We actually felt like the crowds were less this week due to kids still being in school and the crowd boom coming the following week.

 

[disneypanda11]

Can't be sure about Germany but Mama

Can't tell you about Germany, maybe its booked, dont think so. But Mama is 100% NOT booked, they never released the reservations at 190-180 days!!

I've been wondering about this... my 180+10 was on June 10th. I was on at 6 am online and got everything EXCEPT Mama Melrose which is showing as booked all day (no available times) for each party size I try. I've been checking every day since with no luck. There is availability before the date I'm searching for (Dec 11th) but not on the exact date. I mean.. maybe it could be booked? But honestly, I'd be shocked that it was booked as of 6 am on my 180+10 since we are flexible with our time and had no issues getting any other reservations, many of which would be considered more difficult than MM. I'm keeping fingers crossed they just haven't released these yet!

 

[TiggerTrigger]

For Biergarten, we've found that all of the Epcot TS spots (even those that don't qualify for CP pkgs) get booked up quickly. So, you may be fighting against people looking to CP with that. In some years, I think Disney has held back slots in anticipation of CP pkgs.

For Mama Melrose...it may just be popularity. We've only dined there once and while we were doing the F! pkg, the place was slammed. It took them 45 minutes to seat us just because the crowd at 4pm was on par with what you'd expect at 6 or 7.

 

[steves100]

For Biergarten, we've found that all of the Epcot TS spots (even those that don't qualify for CP pkgs) get booked up quickly. So, you may be fighting against people looking to CP with that. In some years, I think Disney has held back slots in anticipation of CP pkgs.

For Mama Melrose...it may just be popularity. We've only dined there once and while we were doing the F! pkg, the place was slammed. It took them 45 minutes to seat us just because the crowd at 4pm was on par with what you'd expect at 6 or 7.

Tigger,

I can tell you for fact this is NOT a popularity issue, I have checked both at EXACTLY 190 days out. Both not available. Mama Melrose is becoming available around 170 days ish.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

There are December issues with a number of restaurants. Was unable to book Brown Derby either December 7 or 8 at 180 days. There is no way Brown Derby was sold out completely all day long at 180 days. Not only that, it is still showing as unavaliable for that entire week. Some restaurants are just not being released until later.

People do book Epcot restaurants intending to change to a CP package, even though having a regular reservation will not help them acquire a CP package. It may help to check Epcot restaurants at the time CP packages can be booked, because they will be cancelling those reservations and rebooking the packages.

 

[TwoCortWort]

For some reason the Disney reservation system doesnt have availability for both the Biergarten and Mama Melrose. Called Disney Dining they too couldnt get Biergarten but did say people have reservations. Her opinion was people had taken all the reservations assuming they could swap it to a Candlight, which she said can't happen.

Mama Melrose does have availability week before so I just think they are slow, I tried at 180+10 also.

I have no issues getting those to come up. I actually was having issues right before our 180+10, and it was like I hit the mark of that and everything popped up.

 

[JLitfin]

Does anyone know when the CP packages is usually released

 

[stephaniesnyder]

I was unable to book Mama Melrose today also. Today is my 180 and I was trying to get Mama Melrose on my 180+1. I searched all the way up to 180+6 (as far as I can search with my reservation) and there is nothing showing available at Mama Melrose for lunch or dinner.