Hi, there!
Welcome to planDisney, Adean. I'm so happy you stopped by and even happier to hear you're planning a
Walt Disney World Resort vacation! It's the very best kind if you ask me.
How fun that you have plans to meet up with another family during your visit! A dining reservation for all of you is the perfect way to carve out some time to sit, relax, and chat about all the pixie-dusted adventures you're having in the theme parks. You ask a really great question about how to make a dining reservation for your large group. I can tell you that depending on the dining location, you may be able to make one reservation for all 11 of you! Most
table-service restaurants allow you to search for availability for a party size of up to 20. That said, it's certainly a little trickier to find availability for that many people! I once was responsible for making dining reservations for our extended family of 14, and I had mixed luck. At some restaurants, I had no trouble booking a reservation for all of us, and at others, I had to split us into two smaller parties. If you need to split your group into two smaller parties, book one reservation for as many people as you can. Then, someone from the other family should make a reservation for the difference, taking care to book a similar reservation time. If it's off by 10 or 15 minutes, that's no problem! On the day of the reservation, arrive a bit early to the restaurant and explain to the Cast Member at the check-in stand that the two smaller parties are actually one party combined. You may have a bit longer of a wait, but in my experience, they'll make every effort to get you seated together!
You can begin to make dining reservations for the length of your stay up to 60-days before your arrival. Before that booking window opens up, I recommend making a list of dining reservations you hope to score. Then, when you hit that 60-day mark, you'll be ready to start booking right away!
I hope this was helpful, Adean. Please let us know if you have any other questions about your Walt Disney World Resort vacation! We'd love to help you plan a magical stay.
Ashley