Hiya Stephanie,
Welcome to planDisney! Thank you for your question about one of my all-time favorite topics, Walt Disney World Resort
dining! I’d be happy to share tips or tricks to help secure your dining reservations.
Making reservations for a party larger than 8 Guests can be trickier as most table service locations are not equipped to seat large dining parties together. The
My Disney Experience mobile app allows you to search for reservations for up to 20 Guests at one time; however, in my experience, those don’t yield reservations. To ensure that everyone in your party can dine together, there are two strategies you can use. The first way is to “split up your party.” Try to find multiple reservations for smaller groups of 3 or 4 around either the same time or within 15 minutes of one another. Then once you get to the dining location, you can request to have your parties seated together with the Cast Member at check-in. If the space allows and the Cast Member can accommodate the request, they will seat your entire party together, and you can enjoy your meal. If you would like help making reservations instead, then my second strategy will work best for you. Cast Members can help you make reservations if you need it by calling them at 407-WDW-DINE as long as you have the dining details already planned out. Before you use this method, make sure to know exactly where you want to dine, when, and what time so that they can quickly assist you (I also recommend having backups in case your first choices are already booked).
Before I let you go, Stephanie, I do want to let you know that even if Cast Members are helping you make reservations for your group, there is still a greater likelihood that they will need to “split your party” into smaller groups for reservation purposes. If this happens, there is no need to worry; just speak to the Cast Member when you check in to your reservation.
I hope you can secure your first-choice dining reservations for your trip! If you would like any dining recommendations or need help with anything else, please come back and see us!
Happy Planning,
Ashley F.