Hi Peter,
Thank you for your question. I use the calculator at
www.pscalculator.net to help me work out exactly when I can call to make my dining reservations. For your arrival date of January 31st you can call to make your reservations on November 2nd. The number to call is 407-939-3463 or you could use the new online reservation system on the restaurant pages of
www.disneyworld.com. As you're staying onsite you will be able to make the first 10 days of reservations on that call too which is a great perk of staying onsite.
You're so lucky staying at the new Bay Lake Towers, I was lucky enough to see the model of the rooms and they look gorgeous. There are lots of good restaurants nearby as you will have easy access to the monorail but the closest ones are in the Contemporary Resort. There are 3 main restaurants, firstly there is the character buffet Chef Mickey's which is extremely popular with families, then The Wave which is a standard priced restaurant and then there is California Grill which is a signature restaurant. You can view all the menus for these at
www.allears.net but out of the three I would recommend California Grill. If you book an evening reservation you may also get to see the fantastic Wishes fireworks from your table.
Have a fantastic trip and if there's anything else we can help you with please ask again,
Jo