It just occurred to me that there may be some of you out there who recently have decided to treat yourself to a holiday visit to Walt Disney World.
As we all know when you make last minute plans to visit Orlando that 11th hour decision means that you will have a challenge getting those ADRs for those favorite restaurants.
I want to turn around any discouragement to encouragement and make a few suggestions.
First I want to say to you that perseverance usually pays off and I suggest that if you really want to visit your favorite restaurant while you are down there then make that call every day to 407 WDW DINE and try your best.
That’s right”¦I said every day.
There is always the possibility that the restaurant or restaurants in question will from time to time receive cancellations.
Also, while dining with a cast member I was told of a policy in which certain WDWD restaurants are trying at times to have one free table every hour for walk-ups and over the last six months or so I have heard success stories from people telling me they have in fact been able to get a spur of the moment lunch or dinner doing just that..
As a matter of fact on a recent getaway weekend to Walt Disney World I called up Disney Dining one morning from my hotel room to see if I could secure a lunch ADR at a certain theme park restaurant.
I was told the restaurant had no open tables for the time frame I had in mind.
Within the hour I was at that same restaurant podium making the same request and was able to get a table at the time I wanted.
So it’s worth not just calling every day but also walking up to the podium and making your request in person.
Also, and this goes without saying, we all know that if we want to eat at our favorite restaurants then we need to be flexible”¦lunch can be at 2:30 P.M. and dinner can be at 8 P.M”¦if we are flexible.
One idea that I use from time to time involves unique timing to get an ADR at a preferred restaurant.
For instance, it’s entirely possible that you would have a greater possibility of getting an 8:30 P.M. ADR at Le Cellier in EPCOT than you would a 5:30 ADR. Why?
Four words: Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.
Also, you are probably looking at a fair chance of securing an ADR at a Magic Kingdom restaurant some 30 minutes before “Wishes” begins.
What am I saying?
Very simply”¦when you call for a dinner ADR, why not ask for the last seating of the day?
Finally, getting back to our last minute holiday trip, you may want to embellish your trip with Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party or perhaps the Candlelight Processional.
The Candlelight Processional Dinner Package may also be in your sights. For how this works see our Candlelight Processional Dinner Package page as there are some specifics you may need to know regarding seating times and tiers and pricing.
Of course you could by-pass the possibility of doing the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package and wait in line for about, oh 90 minutes, to attend a performance.
But you’re saying, “Wait Mike! Isn’t it too late to secure a Candlelight Processional Dinner Package?”
Well yes and no. I have been monitoring the booking of Candlelight Processional Dinner Packages for the last several months.
The reality is that the booking this year has been quite slow and that as you read this blog there are still some openings.
Sure you may not get your first preference in regards of seating time and restaurant”¦but make no mistake about it”¦there are still some openings.
Also, if you are REALLY in need of a certain seating time and restaurant I would do the following:
Step 1. Call Disney Dining and see if you can secure this particular seating time and
restaurant. If you are unsuccessful then go to Step 2.
Step 2. If possible make whatever reservation you can and enjoy your dinner and the
Candlelight Processional, even though it may not be your first choice of seating time
and restaurant”¦.but wait”¦go to Step 3.
Step 3. Around 48-56 hours before your preferred seating time call Disney Dining and once
more try for your preferred seating. Guests need to cancel at least 48 hours so as
not to see their credit card get hit with a charge. I’m sure there are cancellations
occurring all the time and you want to be there to grab those late opening slots.
Why do I know all this?
Call it experience. I plan to take my own advice next month when I attend a Candlelight Processional performance after my Candlelight Processional Dinner Package meal.
Oh yeah”¦I already have a reservation but it’s not my first choice and I have the day circled when I call Disney Dining to see if in fact I can get my first choice.
Perseverance pays off.
Good luck.
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Good advice and it works. We spoke to manager Muhommed at Brown Derby. He said b/c the Disney Dining Plan forces people to make reservations far in advance–that these same Guests can never keep–restaurants are rarely ever filled during slow, moderate, and busy times. (Just not holiday times). He said walk right into a restaurant and ask to be seated. During Oct 23–27 2009, we did just this. Walked into Sci Fi, Brown Derby, Yak and Yeti, Les Chefs de France, Liberty Tree and were able to get dinner reservations around 5pm each night w/o a problem. Sure, the tables are electronically booked, but the tables physically sit unused when Guests do not show up!! So we scooted right in!
Thanks for this tip. We went for a quick Disney trip on Saturday and stopped by Guest Services to see if we could snag a dinner ADR at Hollywood Studios. Of course, everything was booked (except for Hollywood & Vine, which we didn’t want). We walked over to Mama Melrose’s and were seated in 10 minutes!
This will probably not work for the processional dining package, but we also found on our recent visit (Sept) that if we arrived at the podium early we were frequently seated with little wait. Sometimes we were seated 30 minutes or more before our actual reservation time. Now if only there were a secret to getting into Ohana!
mike you stinker !! you learned my secret.will never forget your tribute to TIM
my best, dusty
Very sneaky Mike! Or should I say very ingenious! Thanks for the information I am glad that someone keeps up with all the information around the World and is kind enough to pass on their knowledge to all of us who really don’t know! I too have my ADR’s scheduled for my December trip. I also did not get my first choice for the candle light processional. Now I will take your advice and keep trying to get my first choice! so good luck to you and me on our quest for our first choice ADR’s. Thanks again! And by the way Mike Have A Magical Day! See Ya real Soon!:-)
In a completely lucky moment yesterday I was able to book dinner reservations (4:25pm)for 6 people at CRT for Sat. 11/21. I was searching through the online reservation system to see if anything opened up at Chef Mickey’s during our upcoming trip – no luck – but CRT came up as the alternative option. Jackpot!