Hi ya, Sandy!
So fun to see a question from a fellow Utahn! We often like to visit the
Disneyland Resort during the winter months for a chance to thaw out from our winter weather. I hope you're having fun planning your trip!
A chance to sit, enjoy a great meal, and recharge is always so welcome in my family. That means I usually aim to have a late breakfast or an early lunch table service meal for each day we're in the parks. So I am very, very familiar with the pressure of booking advance dining reservations! You're absolutely right that dining reservations usually open 60 days in advance, although the timing can vary a little. When there's a reservation that I really care about, I do indeed check for availability at 4:00 AM MST. It's an early wake-up call, but it's worth it to grab a table at a restaurant we love!
That being said, not all reservations will open that early. So if you don't see availability at the restaurant you're interested in then I would check back at 7:00 AM MST to see if another batch of reservations is released. If you still don't see the one you're looking for then it's time to channel your inner Dory and "just keep checking...just keep checking" over the next few days. Sometimes you've got to mix pixie dust with persistence!
The good news is that the
Dining Availability page of the Disneyland Resort website recently had some awesome updates! You can now search for open reservations across the entire resort at once, which is really handy. I love that I can choose "All Day" for my time filter so I'm not limited to searching for a specific time, either! Because of these updates, I would recommend you use a computer to search for your reservations when the time comes. But if you want to stay in bed (who doesn't at 4:00 AM?) then you can also use the
Disneyland Mobile App to make your dining reservations.
One other tip for you when it comes to dining reservations: large parties are hard! If you're trying to make a reservation for more than 6-8 people then I highly recommend recruiting a planning sidekick so that each of you can make a reservation for 3-4 people instead of one big party. You'll have much more success finding open reservations that way! Just try to keep the reservation times as close as you can, then arrive at the restaurant early to ask the Cast Members if they'll be able to seat you close to each other.
Whew, all that talk about dining reservations has made me hungry! I know that it's hard to not have a certain time, but I hope these tips will help you in your planning, Sandy. Don't forget to use the Disneyland Mobile App to order plenty of snacks while you're in the park!
Keep moving forward!
Amanda