Hello Lauren,
How exciting that it’s time to make your dining reservations for your upcoming trip to
Walt Disney World; I love visiting in February, it’s a great thing to look forward to in the new year and the weather in Florida is really comfortable. I’m also a
Disney Vacation Club (DVC) Member and often do “split stays” where we have two different resort reservations for one vacation, so I’m happy to share what you can expect to finalize these important dining plans.
Making your dining reservations is a special milestone; Guests of
Disney Resorts Collection hotels can do so for the length of their stay beginning at 60 days prior to arrival. The term Advanced Dining Reservations, or “ADRs” is commonly used but since they are always made prior to enjoying the dining experience, I’ll refer to them simply as your dining reservations here. Regardless of whether you have a resort reservation made with your Disney Vacation Club points or through the Walt Disney World Resort website, you may make those dining reservations for the length of your stay. When you have two different resort stays to make up one seamless vacation, your instinct is correct that you can make dining reservations for the days aligning with your second resort stay at 6:00 A.M. (EST) online exactly 60 days from that second check-in date. I know this can be confusing given it’s one vacation for you, but the system recognizes it as two separate Disney Resorts Collection hotel reservations.
If you had a special dining experience in mind that isn’t available when it’s time to reserve the second part of your vacation, please keep checking. Guests often change their plans, and the
current cancellation policy is that they may change them up to two hours prior to the dining time without penalty, so I’ve often found a desired reservation up to the day of our visit! There is also a great "
walk-up waitlist" feature in the My Disney Experience App worth trying for same-day seating.
Splitting your stay between two amazing Disney Resorts Collection hotels is so fun, Lauren. Disney makes it easy by offering luggage transfer service – simply bring your bags to
Bell Services the day you are changing resorts, and they will deliver it for you to the second resort so that you can be on your way to a theme park or other plans without worrying about the logistics. I like to arrange our planned outfits in packing cubes by resort, per day, to stay organized for a quick and easy unpack-repack-unpack process for the switch. Every resort is beautiful with special themes, fun amenities, and unique dining experiences so my family loves to sample different ones on our trips. Changing resorts is a great way to differentiate these vacation memories from other visits to the Walt Disney World Resort you may have over the years as a Disney Vacation Club Member.
I wish you great success in reserving some amazing dining experiences for this upcoming trip, Lauren. Please let us know how else we can help you make the most of this vacation. We love to share tips and favorites, and we also answer detailed
questions about maximizing your Disney Vacation Club Membership.
Wishing you a magical vacation with delicious dining experiences,
Amy