Hiya Leonor,
Welcome to planDisney! It sounds like you are going to have a fantastic vacation with your family. Planning for a large party can require extra coordination, but when done right, it can be the most magical vacation on Earth.
I’m glad to hear you have already started thinking of the logistics of making
advanced dining reservations for your party of 12. As you mentioned, after your group starts to exceed 8 Guests, it can be tricky to do online. Technically
My Disney Experience and
My Disney Experience mobile app allow you to make a reservation for up to 20 Guests, but most table service locations are not equipped to seat large groups of that size. So if you were to try to make a reservation for 12, you would find your options incredibly limited. You can make advanced dining reservations online yourself, but you will need to “split your party” to do so. If you wanted to book dining reservations online, you would create 3-4 separate reservations (for 3-4 Guests in each reservation) for the same time (or within 15 minutes of each other). Then once you have ensured everyone can dine at the same location, you would ask the Cast Member at the podium if they could accommodate seating you together (or close to each other). If the place can accommodate that request, they will do so.
I know this isn’t ideal, but this is the same process a Cast Member would do over the phone. If the location you want to dine at cannot accommodate seating for a group of 12 at the same time, the Cast Member will need to “split your party” to ensure everyone has a seat. That said, it can be a lot of work making 3-4 reservations at once, so if you prefer to have a Cast Member’s assistance, you can call them using the general reservation number. Just make sure to have a list of locations you would like to dine at and times (and backups), and they will help you make your dining reservations for May.
I hope that you can secure all of your dining reservations, Leonor. If you are looking for a fun place to dine, definitely take a look at
Roundup Rodeo BBQ in Toy Story Land. It opened today, and I’m so happy to see this incredible BBQ restaurant joining Andy’s Backyard. Please come back and see us if you need anything else.
Happy Planning,
Ashley F.