Hiya, Stephanie!
Welcome to planDisney. When it comes to planning a Walt Disney World Resort vacation, I think my favorite part of the process is making
advance dining reservations. Not only do I love looking through menus and dreaming of the
fabulous food I'll get to enjoy, but dining reservations really anchor my plans and help me decide where my family will be headed each day. Since it looks like your advance dining reservation window is just about to open, let me share a few details to can hopefully help your booking process run as smoothly as possible.
While
dining reservations for all Guests can be made up to 60 days in advance, if you're staying at a Disney Resorts Collection hotel during your visit, you'll be able to book reservations for your entire length of stay (up to 10 days) when that 60-day window opens. As long as your reservation is linked in
My Disney Experience, those dates should automatically open up for you on the calendar once you're eligible to book. While reservations can sometimes be made as early as 5:45 AM EST, in my recent experience, the system hasn't been letting you book until 6 AM. In fact, I'm also visiting towards the end of July, so I was able to book my dining reservations last week. When I tried to begin booking around 5:45, my dates showed up on the calendar, but I kept getting an error message –– once the clock struck 6 AM, reservations opened up for me.
Another thing to keep in mind is that while advance dining reservations get snapped up
really fast, availability changes all the time as people modify and cancel their plans. If a reservation you're hoping to get is unavailable, don't panic –– just keep checking back as your vacation approaches and there's a good chance that something will pop up. Lately, I've even heard of people having great luck scoring last-minute reservations about 72-25 hours ahead of time. Because
most reservations need to be canceled 24 hours in advance to avoid a charge, those final few days before you arrive can sometimes feel like you've struck dining-reservation gold!
Thanks for bringing your question to planDisney, Stephanie. I hope your upcoming visit to Walt Disney World Resort is filled with delicious dishes from beginning to end!
See Ya Real Soon,
Amy