Hi Farrah,
Welcome back to planDisney and thank you for your question!
Farrah, we’ve all been there, trying to snag that reservation for a restaurant we’ve never tried or the character experience we want to relive with our family members. I’ve had many early mornings myself and sometimes you have some success and other times you aren’t as successful. Here’s what I do in those unsuccessful moments.
First, I suggest that you continue checking regularly, sometimes this means 2 - 3 times a day, within the
My Disney Experience mobile app. Instead of scrolling through all the dining options, I just search the restaurant name in the search area (fourth button in the bottom bar of the app). That’ll get you to the restaurant page quicker, then you’ll be able to enter the date to see what options are available.
Now the next option isn’t as “fun” for us who like planning in advance, but I’ve had the most success by doing
walk-up reservations or checking for reservations the night before I want to dine. Doing either of these allows you to take advantage of last minute availability and as long as you’re flexible, you might be able to snag some pretty amazing reservations.
If you’re looking for a reservation for the night before, start looking for a specific restaurant late in the evening (after 8:00 p.m.). If guests need to cancel their reservations, they will do so before midnight, so before that time you might find some cancellations! If you’re doing a walk-up reservation, keep in mind you want to get on the list early, so if a restaurant opens for breakfast at 8:00 a.m., you’ll want to be there by 7:30 a.m. or so to be ready to get on the list. At this time, you need to be near that restaurant’s physical location to get on the list.
In the recent months, I’ve been able to get
Chef Mickey’s and multiple
'Ohana reservations by booking the night before and joining the walk-up list, so it is possible! I hope this “Bit By Bryanna” is helpful and gives you some more flexible options when it comes to booking dining reservations. If you have any other vacation or planning questions,
please feel free to reach out, I’m always happy to help!
The Magic Is Calling,
Bryanna