7 Obscure Rules You Didn't Know About Making Dining Reservations in Disney World

There is so much to do at Disney World! There are characters to meet, attractions to ride, shows to see, and stores to shop. And you can’t forget about all the dining locations to try out!

Magic Kingdom

Disney World has hundreds of dining locations to choose from, and many of them accept reservations to guarantee your spot at a table. We are here to make sure you know everything you need to know about making these reservations, including a few obscure rules you may not know about!

Before we get into some of the obscure rules, let’s start with the basics of Disney World dining reservations. They are also known as Advance Dining Reservations or ADRs, and as the name implies, they can be made before you event get to Disney World.

Crystal Palace

Advance Dining Reservations are available for most table-service restaurants in Disney World, while you can’t make reservations for quick service locations. Some bars and lounges in Disney World also accept reservations, but if you are wondering about a particular dining location you can search for the location to find out if it accepts dining reservations. You can also filter by dining locations that accept reservations.

Hollywood & Vine

Now, when can you make these reservations? If you are staying at a Disney World hotel you can make reservations for the entire length of your stay up to 60 days in advance of your arrival. If you are not staying at a Disney World hotel, you can also begin making reservations 60 days in advance, but you won’t be able to book for the entire length of your stay.

‘Ohana

Reservations open at approximately 6AM ET and if you are hoping to get a popular reservation, you will want to be checking availability as soon as you can when your booking window opens.

Emma at Sanaa

Once you make a reservation, you can modify it up until 2 hours prior to the reservation (some dining locations have different cancellation and modification policies, so be sure to read them when you are booking your reservations). If you do not cancel a reservation within 2 hours of the reservation time you will most likely be charged a cancellation fee if you don’t show up.

Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom

Again, certain dining locations have different policies. For example, Cinderella’s Royal Table and Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue don’t allow modifications once the reservation is confirmed. You can view these policies when you are making your reservations.

Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue

You can make reservations by phone, online, or in the My Disney Experience app. Now that we have gone over some of the basics of making ADRs, let’s take a look at some of the obscure rules that you might not know about making reservations.

Sci Fi Dine-In

Sometimes they are available a little earlier than Disney tells you. Officially, Disney states that reservations become available at approximately 6AM ET each day. However, we recommend getting up a bit earlier and starting to refresh about 30 minutes in advance, especially if you are hoping to grab a popular reservation.

Sebastian’s Bistro

There are some restaurants that require pre-payment, so you will want to be aware of that. That means you will be paying for the meal when you make the reservation. We don’t want you to be caught by surprise! You will be required to provide a credit card for any reservation you make, but for most reservations it will only be charged if you are a no-show or do not cancel at least 2 hours in advance.

Steakhouse 71

However, for restaurants such as Cinderella’s Royal Table and Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue require that you pay for the meal when you make your reservation.

Cinderella’s Royal Table

When you are making the reservation, make sure you are putting in any allergies and you can also note that you are celebrating something! This can also be added in when you check-in to the restaurant, but we definitely recommend putting these details in ahead of time if you can.

Whispering Canyon

As well, you won’t be able to make dining reservations within one hour of each other. While this likely won’t be an issue as most dining experiences take a bit of time, it is a more obscure rule that we wanted you to be aware of.

Yak & Yeti

Some places can also be picky about everyone being there at check-in. As a result, we suggest that you don’t make that specific reservation if you know someone will be showing up late. You can modify your reservation upon check-in to include fewer people than you initially booked for. As well, you can also add an additional person on when you check-in.

Tiffins

If you are hoping to join the waitlist for a restaurant, you can actually do it on the My Disney Experience, however you will have to be nearby the restaurant to do so. You won’t be able to join the waitlist for Oga’s Cantina while you are in EPCOT unfortunately.

Oga’s Cantina

We love taking advantage of advance dining reservations to make sure we get to enjoy some delicious meals on our vacation. However, we also suggest not overdoing it on reservations! Multiple table service reservations in one day can become overwhelming and you also want to leave time for exploring the parks. Decide which restaurants are must-do for your group and be ready to book 60 days in advance!