Ma chère Mademoiselle, it is with deepest pride, and greatest pleasure that we welcome you to planDisney.
Erin, I'm so glad you stopped by with your question. Whenever I book a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort, one of my first thoughts is: "Where am I going to eat?" There are so many great restaurants to choose from.
If you're staying at a Disney Resorts Collection hotel, you can take advantage of making advance dining reservations up to 60 days in advance of your trip plus the length of your stay (up to 10 days). This means you're far more likely to reserve a table at some of the more popular restaurants.
Erin, you don't need a
theme park reservation to make a dining reservation for a particular theme park.
However, you will eventually need to make a theme park reservation if you wish to eat at the restaurant you book. For example, let's say you'd like to book a table at
Liberty Tree Tavern (an excellent choice!). You can do that up to 60 days in advance, with or without a theme park reservation. However, since this restaurant is in
Magic Kingdom Park, you'll eventually need to make a theme park reservation for that park. You see, Guests cannot enter a theme park simply because they have a dining reservation. They need both a valid ticket and a theme park reservation. I hope that makes sense.
The only exception is if you have the
Park Hopper Option on your tickets. Using the example above, you could make a theme park reservation for
EPCOT. Then after 2:00 PM, you'd be able to hop to Magic Kingdom Park and enjoy your meal (assuming your dining reservation was after 2:00 PM).
I hope that's helpful, Erin. I'm sure you're going to have a wonderful time. Happy eating!
Mike