Hiya Susan,
Welcome to planDisney! Wowza, that is quite the group you are planning for! I think the largest group I’ve ever tried to prepare for was ten, and oh boy, was it a trip. I’m super glad that you brought your question to us today. The panelists at planDisney definitely have some tips and tricks that make planning Walt Disney World Resort vacations for large parties a lot easier. When it comes to dining at Walt Disney World, I consider myself an aficionado. My lifelong goal is to experience every table service location on property, so I have a lot of recommendations and favorites.
First things first, you will be able to start making advanced dining reservations up to 60 days in advance of your vacation start (if you are staying at a
Walt Disney World Resort Collection Hotel, you get a little extra time on top of that). Since your dining party is so large, I would recommend calling a Cast Member at (407)-939-7529 the morning your window to start booking is. It is super important that you have the dates and restaurant choices already decided on before calling them. There are many options, so take some time
browsing the menus and generating your wish list in the next week. Another thing to note is that depending on the dining location, your reservation may need to be split into multiple groups for the same dining time (or within 15 minutes of each one). Unfortunately, this is the only way to ensure that everyone can dine at certain locations. When you arrive at your reservation, you can always ask the Cast Member at the podium if your entire party can be seated together. If they can accommodate that request, they certainly will, but there is no guarantee they will be able to do so.
I hope you can secure all of your dining reservations for July, Susan. With
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind being up and running this summer, this will be a truly incredible summer to visit Walt Disney World Resort. If there is anything else we can help you with, please come back and see us!
Happy Planning,
Ashley F.