Hey there, Crystal! You're as welcome as can be here at planDisney!
Oh my Mickey waffles, you'll be at the Walt Disney World Resort in just a few days! It sounds like you're excited to dig into some tasty meals with your Disney pals. I sure can't blame you for that. Character dining can be a lot of fun!
To find all of the locations that are currently offering character dining, let's go to the
Dining page on the Walt Disney World website. Once you're there, we'll filter the results to include only character meals by clicking on the arrow next to the "Dining Experience" tab on the menu bar. Next, click on the box next to "Character Dining," and that should give you only the restaurants that offer meals with our Disney friends. You'll see that some of them are still saying "Temporarily Unavailable" because they haven't opened just yet. Hopefully, all of them will be back on the menu soon.
When you find a character meal you'd like to try, click on the restaurant name. That will take you to a page with photos, links to the menus, and a calendar option to make a reservation. Click there and select your date, then click on "Check Availability" to see if there are any openings on the day you'd like to dine there. If you find a time that works for you, just follow the prompts to reserve it. Then, you'll be ready to dine in style!
Since your vacation is coming up next week, you may find that there aren't any openings right now. In that case, you can try to join the
Mobile Walk-up Wait List on the day you're visiting. To do that, you'll need to have the
My Disney Experience app on your phone. Look for the "+" sign at the bottom of your screen, and select "Check Dining Availability" from the pop-up menu. Select that day's date on the calendar, then click on "Now" underneath it. That will bring up a list of restaurants that have a wait list available, along with the estimated wait time. You may be instructed to move closer to the restaurant to join the wait list, so keep that in mind when you're searching.
Another possibility is to try a third-party reservation finding service like Touring Plans. You'll need to create an account with them, then put in the date, time, and restaurant you're looking for. If a reservation comes up, they'll send you an alert that it's time to hop online and try to grab it!
I hope this helps you enjoy the amazing meals at Walt Disney World, Crystal. Have a magical time, and do stop by and see us again real soon!
Keep Disney Dreaming,
Kathy K.