Hi Wendy,
Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel! The park hour and dining reservation dilemma - we have all experienced the struggle!
Prior to making our dining reservations, I always check the
park hours for a few weeks prior to our trip dates. If there is a pattern to the park hours, I use that as a guide with the understanding that the pattern may not stay the same for the week of our visit. We also do not worry about planning around
Extra Magic Hours. We decide which parks we want to do in which order and then plan our dining reservations accordingly. On our next trip, we are doing Magic Kingdom on our first and last days. When the park hours are released, if we happen to have planned a day at a park that has Extra Magic Hours, that is great, if not, it is ok. We rarely change our park plans.
If you make your plans then do want to make changes because of Extra Magic Hours, it is possible. I have been able to change dining reservations in the past. Some restaurants do get booked quickly, however.
Be Our Guest and
Cinderella's Royal Table are two of those restaurants that may not have availability if you try to change plans with advanced dining reservations.
Wendy, I do hope you get a reservation at Be Our Guest Restaurant. Our girls have loved greeting the Beast at dinner although I do believe they were just a tad intimidated. The food is quite yummy and the castle is AMAZING!
Magic, memories and Minnie Mouse hugs,
Donyell