Hiya Shari,
Thanks for bringing your deliciously thoughtful follow-up question about Disney dining to planDisney. My pal Lisa shared recently some
great suggestions with you for dining options around the
Walt Disney World Swan Hotel. I'm taking notes as I'll be staying at the new-to-me Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel this fall. Now let's work on fine-tuning some strategies for securing your advanced dining reservations.
With a Swan Hotel reservation
linked to your My Disney Experience account, you can make your advance dining reservations for the duration of your trip, up to 10 days, 60 days in advance of your arrival date beginning at 6:00 a.m. You can make dining reservations
online or in the
My Disney Experience mobile app. In my experience, a desktop or laptop computer is best equipped to handle the job of making initial reservations, though there are times the computer has been slow and I've needed to switch to the app. My best tip is to be logged in to your My Disney Experience account by 5:45 a.m. with the page of your top must-do restaurant open. Start clicking "Check Availability" to see if the dates go as far as you want them to before 6:00 a.m., though they likely won't populate until just after 6:00 a.m.
To maximize availability, I recommend trying to reserve your must-do restaurant(s) later in your trip and selecting a meal (breakfast/lunch/dinner) as opposed to a specific mealtime. Once you select a time, you will be asked to select the other members of your dining party from your
Family and Friends list in My Disney Experience.
Do not do this. Leave everyone as a generic "Guest 2, Guest 3, etc" for now, which will secure your reservation faster. This will also allow other members of your party with My Disney Experience accounts to book reservations for your party at the same time, in case availability is limited and your party needs to split up into smaller party sizes. Another tip that will streamline the reservation process is to have a stored credit or debit card in your My Disney Experience account. This will prevent you from having to enter a reservation payment method each time. Please note the card will only be charged if you are a no-show.
As I hinted at in my last paragraph, it is possible and recommended that multiple members of your party with their own My Disney Experience accounts try to make advance dining reservations at the same time. The early bird gets the worm or, in this case, the Mickey waffles. Just be sure to communicate which reservations everyone is going for so you don't waste time and energy double-booking.
Once the pixie dust settles after your morning booking extravaganza, decide which reservations are "keepers" and proceed with canceling any extras to avoid being charged. The individuals in charge of making each reservation can click "Update Guests" next to the reservation on the
My Plans page of My Disney Experience at any time to link each Guest to an individual in the planning party for shared viewing.
With faith, trust, and pixie dust, may the force be with you as you go the distance to secure those coveted advance dining reservations.
Plan magic; planDisney.
Jennifer