Hello Erin!
I am formulating a plan for booking my
Advance Dining Reservations in another two weeks, and from what I am seeing, reservations are harder to come by than usual. With many
locations not reopened yet, and with restaurant capacity limited, scoring a table can be a challenge. I have prepared the friends we are bringing with us that we may not be able to book our first or even second choices.
I am a firm believer that luck favors those who stalk reservations, especially at Disney. Between now and your trip, I would check reservations daily if you can, and perhaps even twice daily, especially as the trip gets closer. People can and do cancel. I especially notice cancellations pop up a day or two before as other Guests will cancel at that point to avoid the cancellation fee. This goes for dining and activities such as
Savi's Workshop. Be open to dining at off times. For example, look for lunch at 11 or 11:30 AM, or dinner at 4 PM or 8 PM. Once at the Walt Disney World Resort, if you’d like to try for
Mobile Dine Walk-up Availability, I would also recommend you try earlier or later, and avoid typical meal times. You are much less likely to get a walk-up table for diner at 5:30 PM than you are at 4 PM. To add yourself to the walk-up list, make sure you have the most recent version of
My Disney Experience downloaded on your mobile device. I recommend updating it before you leave home. You will need to go to the restaurant in person, and if they are offering a walk-up list, you should see something like a sign or stand with a QR code on it that you will scan with the camera feature on your mobile device.
Another option is to use outside websites that can scan and alert you if reservations open up at the restaurants you are looking for. Some of these websites offer one or two searches for free, while some charge a fee. Usually, you can set it up to email or text you if their computer notices a table available at your desired location, then you would need to quickly go to your My Disney Experience Account to try to book that table yourself. A search of your favorite browser may help you find some of these websites.
If you are unable to snag any of your favorites, perhaps this is the perfect time to try something different and discover a new favorite? Use this time as an excuse to snack your way around, venture to
Disney Springs where there tends to be more availability, or check out a quick-service location you haven’t tried before.
Sending you pixie dust, Erin, that you can find at least some of your reservations before your trip!
- Kate