Hi Kristy,
Welcome to the Disney Parks Moms Panel and thank you for asking us a question! I’m so sorry you weren’t able to make the
dining reservations that your son requested…
… yet! Yes, I said “yet” because there’s still a very good chance you’ll be able to eat at some, if not all, of the restaurants on his list. Plans change all the time, so keep checking to see whether another Guest has cancelled a dining reservation that you can snap up. While there isn’t a specific time of day that is better than others in terms of picking up cancelled dining reservations, I’ve found that logging on first thing in the morning is when I have the most luck.
My best tip for you, however, would be to check availability 24-48 hours before the day that you’d like to dine in a given Walt Disney World restaurant. That’s when LOTS of dining reservations get
cancelled in order to avoid being charged a cancellation fee pursuant to each individual restaurant’s cancellation policy. I’ve found from experience that reservations often start popping up a week beforehand, so that’s definitely when I would start checking availability more regularly. For example, I’ve been able to find a table at Be Our Guest Restaurant the day before I wanted to dine there, so it’s definitely still possible for you to eat in some of the most popular restaurants. All you need is a bit of luck and a whole lot of patience!
Good luck and please don’t hesitate to come back and see us if you have any other questions.
Have a Magical Day,
Lynne