Hi Dustin,
Welcome to planDisney!
I am always happy to talk about
advanced dining reservations and
dining experiences at the Walt Disney World® Resort! I hope I understand your question correctly! Yes, you can make advanced dining reservations at any of the parks or resorts. On the day of your visit, however, you will need valid admission to any theme park where you have an advanced dining reservation.
So, for example, when I start planning trips with my family, we start by deciding which days we will visit each theme park. Then we decide which restaurants we want to visit at each theme park. When our
advanced dining reservation window opens, we then are ready to make those dining reservations. From time to time, we have difficulty making dining reservations at certain popular locations. I will then make the dining reservation for what is available and, if that dining reservation is most important, we will switch the order of parks or just plan to
park hop on that day.
Looking at your arrival date, you have plenty of time to set your strategy. We always have a family meeting where we identify our priority restaurants and the time of day we plan to dine at those restaurants. We love Cinderella's Royal Table and typically try to dine there for breakfast. Currently, breakfast pricing is a little more budget friendly and we love getting in the parks before it gets crowded. It feels quite magical! To check the pricing for each restaurant, just go to the restaurant's web page, click on
View Menu, and select a Meal Period. We also prioritize lunch at
Space 220 Lounge and breakfast at
Topolino's Terrace - Flavors of the Riviera. Topolino's Terrace has our favorite character experience at breakfast! Final tip - consider one of the
Disney Dining Plans. These have been a great value for my family.
Dustin, it sounds like you are leading the planning for your crew. Remember that there are many restaurants outside of the parks. We also enjoy dining at the Grand Floridian Cafe, Chef Mickey's, and 'Ohana. One of our absolute favorite dining experiences is watching the fireworks during dinner at California Grill. If you decide to try this experience, be sure to check the fireworks time for the day you plan to visit the restaurant prior to making your reservation. Currently, if you consider dining at California Grill, you would need to check the times for
Happily Ever After.
I hope this helps! Happy Planning!
Magic and memories,
Donyell