Howdy Heather - thanks so much for stopping by
planDisney!
I love food, so of course, dining is one of my favorite parts of a
Walt Disney World Resort vacation! Planning ahead with
advanced dining reservations is always a great idea, especially when you have a larger crew. Based on your question, it sounds like you've already been thinking about all of your options - great work!
In my experience, finding reservations for larger groups of Guests can sometimes be a challenge, but there are usually great options available, especially if you are flexible with timing or location. For example, some smaller or more popular dining venues, such as
Be Our Guest Restaurant, may have less availability to accommodate larger groups, while spots like
Biergarten Restaurant in
EPCOT's World Showcase and
Crystal Palace at
Magic Kingdom Park tend to have more flexibility in accommodating larger parties.
As you mention, the key is making your advanced dining reservations
60 days prior to your arrival, either
online (usually starting at 6:00 a.m.) or, when available, by calling (407) WDW-DINE (407-939-3463) starting at 7:00 a.m. This applies to all Guests, but as a Disney Resort hotel Guest, you are able to make advance dining reservations for your party's entire stay (up to 10 days) at that time. If you aren't able to secure a single reservation for your large group, you can always choose to make multiple reservations for the same or similar times, including anyone in your party. In my experience, some dining locations have even been able to seat my two reservations at nearby tables!
While I love advance dining reservations, our crew also likes to use
Mobile Food and Beverage Ordering to coordinate some of our meals and snacks together. This is especially useful for larger groups, during busier meal times, or when you don't have a dining reservation but do have rumbling tummies. Even if your crew is spread out across a theme park, you can all use Mobile Order to select the same arrival time window and then converge as a larger group to pick up your food and dine together!
The magic is only a couple of months away!
Please let me know if any other questions arise that I can assist with.
Ryan J.