Oh Boy, Lurline! Mickey and I are excited that you're returning to the magic soon!
You've asked an excellent question, and it sounds like you've been doing your research. As you're already aware,
Walt Disney World Resort recently made some changes to their dining policies, and now Walt Disney World Resort hotel Guests can
make reservations up to
60 days in advance plus the length of their stay (up to 10 days). Since your trip spans more than two weeks, you can make your first ten days of reservations on October 18. For the remainder of your vacation, you'll have to add each day one day at a time. For example, you can make ADRs for December 27 on October 19, December 28 on October 20, and so on. If you have a split stay between two Walt Disney World Resort hotels, then you'll need to make your ADRs 60 days in advance of each resort reservation. Since you're in Hawaii, I realize that this means lots of middle of the night wake up calls, but I assure you this will all be worth it!
Here are a couple of extra dining reservation tips and reminders that I have found useful:
* Online reservations open up at 6:00 Eastern Standard Time, while the phone lines open up at 7:00 AM. I always recommend using the website, but keep the phone number handy just in case: (407) 939-DINE (3463).
*Make sure you have your credit card nearby, as all dining reservations require a credit card guarantee.
* Instead of booking your ADRs chronologically, make them in order of difficulty, so you stand a better chance of getting reservations at the popular restaurants (think
California Grill and
Cinderella's Royal Table).
*Guests will need valid park admission and a reservation for park entry through the new
Disney Park Pass system to dine at in-park, table-service restaurants.
I hope this helps, Lurline! If you have any more questions, remember we're all ears here at planDisney!
Eean