Welcome to
planDisney, Kimberly!
Dining is one of my favorite parts of a
Walt Disney World Resort vacation, and planning ahead with
advanced dining reservations is always a great idea. Based on your question, it sounds like you've already been thinking about the various approaches you can take - that's great!
In my experience, finding an available reservation for a group of nine 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
Cinderella's Royal Table, may have less availability to accommodate larger groups, while the larger
Biergarten Restaurant in
EPCOT's World Showcase and
Crystal Palace at
Magic Kingdom Park tend to have more flexibility in accommodating larger parties. I went ahead and
checked for dining reservations for various dates and times over the next couple of months and found quite a few options for parties of nine Guests.
When I've planned for even larger groups, we often start by making our dining reservations first and then planning the rest of our activities around them. The key is making your
advanced dining reservations 60 days prior to your arrival, either
online (usually starting at 6:00 a.m.) or by calling (407) WDW-DINE (407-939-3463) starting at 7:00 a.m. If you aren't able to secure a single reservation for your group, you can always choose to make multiple reservations at the same time. In my experience, some dining locations have even been able to seat both reservations in our party at nearby tables.
While I'm a huge advocate of advanced dining reservations, our crew also loves to use
Mobile Food and Beverage Ordering, now available at a growing list of dining locations, to coordinate meals and snacks. This is especially useful for larger groups, during busier meal times, or when you don't have a dining reservation.
One of my favorite locations offering
Mobile Food and Beverage Ordering is
Satu'li Canteen at
Disney's Animal Kingdom Park. Even if your crew is spread out across the park, you can all use Mobile Order to select the same arrival window and then converge as a larger group to pick up your food and dine together surrounded by the culture and art of the Na'vi. Try the delicious Chili-Spiced Crispy Fried Tofu Bowl - it's one of my favorite plant-based meals!
Thanks for stopping by - I hope you have a magical trip!
Ryan J.