Welcome back to Disney Parks Moms Panel, David. So good to hear from you!
Disney Dining Plans are a fantastic way to budget your Disney dining dollars prior to departure; I am so happy that you are considering adding a plan for your vacation!
Regarding your question, Table Service restaurants in Walt Disney World are often privately owned and operated. As such, contracts with each location need to be finalized before one of them is added to the official list of participating restaurants in a new year.
For planning purposes, I would make your dining reservations based on those restaurants that participate in your
current year's Dining Plan. If those restaurants are added to a Dining Plan later, you will be good to go. If not, you can make other reservations at that time and cancel those in locations that do not participate.
Please keep in mind that many locations participate in a Disney Dining Plan each year, but you may not see the official word about that partnership until the start of the
new year.
In short? Book those Advanced Dining Reservations when your 180 day window opens. If a restaurant no longer participates in a Disney Dining Plan, you'll still have the option of dining there or cancelling at least 24 hours in advance.
Enjoy every minute of your magical journey, David!
Send more questions as you think of them, too; we love to help!
Andrea H