With the Disney Dining Plan now back in action, making Disney World Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs) is more important than ever. Here is what you need to know to make your Disney World Advanced Dining Reservations and why you should.
If you’re just getting started, you might want to check out this complete primer on Walt Disney World dining. It’s a great overview on Disney dining to help you understand all of the nuances and intricacies.
Table of Contents
Understanding Disney World Restaurants
When starting your Walt Disney World vacation planning, you’ll notice there are two types of restaurants on Disney World property: the quick and ubiquitous counter service restaurant and a staggering array of themed table-service venues.
Quick service dining is akin to fast food in the non-Disney culture of modern life. Menu options are fairly limited at each location, and you can expect to stand in line, order your food, and then take it to a table yourself to enjoy your meal. The advent of mobile ordering has made this process simpler, particularly when eating at popular mealtimes, by allowing you to order via the My Disney Experience app.
However, for a true decadent pleasure, you’ll want to sup at one of Disney’s table service locations where well-trained wait staff is on hand to provide for your dining pleasure. Disney’s table service restaurants cover a variety of themes, from the Beast’s castle to a 1950’s family kitchen. You may even have the opportunity to dine with some of Disney’s most beloved characters.
As you can imagine, this crème de la crème of the Disney dining tier is quite popular, and it has become nearly impossible to simply walk up and get a table. In fact, if you want to enjoy a meal at one of Disney’s table-service restaurants, you really should plan ahead and book a Disney Advanced Dining Reservation, or ADR for short.
Disney Advanced Dining Reservation, Not Really a Reservation
When booking Disney Advanced Dining Reservations, you should be advised that it’s really not a reservation at all. You aren’t booking a set table for a certain number of people at a designated time. Instead, with an ADR at Disney, you’re booking a spot in line to be eligible for the next open table fitting the number of people in your party.
Let’s explain this in a little more detail. When booking your ADR, either online or by phone, you’ll reserve a time slot based on the number of people in your party. You’ll be asked to arrive 10 to fifteen minutes prior to your reservation.
When you get to the restaurant, you’ll check in at a kiosk and a happy Disney cast member will look up your information and mark you present. From that point onward, you’re next in line for a table fitting your party size, but keep in mind, that anyone with a Disney Advanced Dining Reservation who checked in prior to you actually has first dibs on that next opening.
Let’s say that you have an ADR for 4 at Tusker House scheduled for 6:30 pm. Like an obedient Disney guest, you arrive at 6:15 and check in. Since your reservation isn’t until 6:30, it’s unlikely that you will be seated right away as anyone with a 6:15, 6:20 or even 6:25 who is waiting for a table could be seated before you.
However, if you’re thinking about skipping the early arrival since you’ll likely have to wait anyway, here’s a word of advice: don’t. Arriving later will only push you farther down in the queue, meaning that all of those hungry diners who have reservations scheduled after yours, but arrived before you, will also get seated before you.
So, What’s the Advantage of a Disney Advanced Dining Reservation?
If it isn’t a reservation and you still have to wait for a table, you may be wondering why you’d want to go through the hassle of booking an ADR. The answer is pretty simple.
With a Disney Advanced Dining Reservation, you will get seated. It’s like a contract between you and Disney promising you a spot in the restaurant that day.
If you walk up to the kiosk without a reservation, depending on the time of day, the restaurant, and the crowd levels during your visit, you may not get in at all.
You will also have a much shorter wait with a Disney Advanced Dining Reservation. It’s hard to comprehend the magic behind it, but if your wish for a table is granted on a walk-up basis, you’re somehow worked into the queue of waiting diners with reservations. In our experience, this means you’re placed in an open ADR slot.
During a recent trip, we had a 5:30 pm reservation at Skipper Canteen, but certain members of our party were getting very hungry and cranky at 3:30 pm. Thinking it was too close to dinner for a snack, we decided to see if the restaurant could accommodate us early.
Despite a number of empty tables, they could not, but after tapping around on the computer keyboard for several seconds, our cast member was magically able to seat us at 3:50 pm instead. Since we were already at the restaurant, we opted to check in and take a seat. We were taken to our table five minutes later.
How and When to Make Disney Advanced Dining Reservations
There are a few different ways to go about booking dining reservations. The first is to plan ahead and decide where you want to eat and when.
Disney Advanced Dining Reservations can now be made starting 60 days before the start of your Disney World trip for most restaurants, according to Disney’s website. For hard to get restaurants, such as Be Our Guest or Cinderella’s Royal Table, you’ll want to login at 6:00 am sharp Eastern time, exactly 60 days before arrival if you are a guest of a Disney resort. If you’re staying offsite at a Good Nieghbor Hotel or other property, you’ll need to make our ADR 60 days prior to the day you wish to dine.
The easiest way to keep track of this date is through your My Disney Experience account which provides a nice little countdown to the number of days before you can book.
Book Your Advanced Dining Reservations on the Disney World Website
Reservations can be made through the Disney website as long as you are logged into your My Disney Experience account. Let me say that again, so it doesn’t get overlooked. In order to make a Disney Advanced Dining Reservation, you must first be logged into your My Disney Experience account, meaning you must make one first. You can find more information on creating a My Disney Experience account here.
Once you’re logged into your account, hover over “My Disney Experience” in the top navigation. A drop down menu will appear. About a third of the way down, you will see “Reserve Dining”. Click and follow the prompts, indicating your party size, the date you wish to dine and the timeframe. A list of restaurants with availability will appear. Select the exact time you want to dine.
From there, you’ll be asked to enter any dietary and accessibility requests and to enter a credit card to hold your reservation. In most cases, this card will not be charged unless you do not appear for the reservation or cancel it at least 2 hours prior to your reservation.
Once your reservation is complete, you’ll receive a confirmation. We recommend that you screenshot this and keep it with your records. We have had a few instances where a glitch in the system has resulted in our reservation not appearing at the restaurant when we arrived to check in. By showing this confirmation screenshot, cast members honored our reservation even if they couldn’t see it in their system.
Book Your Advanced Dining Reservations Using the My Disney Experience Mobile App
Disney World’s mobile app is feature rich and full of functionality, including the ability to make Advanced Dining Reservations. To get started, you will once again need to be logged into the app. From there, tap the hamburger menu in the lower right corner.
From the menu that appears, tap Reserve Dining. You’ll be asked to enter your party size as well as the date and time you wish to dine. You’ll then be given a list of restaurants with availability and the open dining times.
Select the time you wish to dine, provide the requested information, including a credit card, and you’re done. Be sure to screenshot your confirmation number and remember that your credit card will not be charged unless you fail to keep the reservation or cancel at least 2 hours prior.
Book With a Travel Agent and Stop Stressing About Advanced Dining Reservations
If getting up at 6:00 am 60 days before you even arrive for your trip has you feeling a little frazzled, then you may want to consider booking your trip with a travel agent. Most travel agents will book your reservations for you, saving you the early wake up call.
The process is pretty simple. Just book your hotel and tickets with an agent. Around 70 days prior to arrival, they’ll be in touch to receive your restaurant preferences or to help you decide where to eat.
Then, on the date you make advanced dining reservations, your agent will log in at 5:55 am to be at the ready to make your ADRs. It couldn’t be simpler!
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What to Do When You Arrive for Your Disney ADR
When you arrive for your Disney World ADR, there are two ways to check in. The first is to simply walk up to the podium at the front of the restaurant and let the cast member know that you are checking in for your ADR.
They will likely take your name or scan your MagicBand if you have one or your MagicMobile pass. This will allow them to access your Disney ADR via computer and verify the details.
At this point, the cast member will do one of two things. You may be handed a notification device that buzzes and lights up when your table is ready. If the cast member takes this approach today, be sure to stay within close proximity. The alert device has a limited range, and you want to be able to receive your alert when your table is ready. More commonly, you’ll be asked to have a seat until you receive a text notification that your table is ready.
The second way to check in for your advanced dining reservation is less traditional and uses some of Disney’s technology magic. A number of restaurants support mobile check-in through your smartphone. If you are able to use this feature, you will receive a push notification providing you with a link for checking in.
If you don’t receive a push notification, but mobile check in is available, you should find a sign with a QR code somewhere near the cast member greeting station. Simply open your camera, point it at the QR code, and you should be taken to a webpage where you can complete the check in process.
Regardless of how you use mobile check in, you will be texted when your table is ready.
What if I Need to Cancel a Disney Dining Reservation (ADR)?
You’re on vacation and plans change. When they do, no one wants to be held to an ADR at Disney’s Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom when the entire party has decided to spend the day at EPCOT.
It’s simple to cancel an Advanced Dining Reservation via the My Disney Experience app. You can also go online or call 407- WDW-DINE to have a cast member assist you.
Keep in mind that you must cancel at least 2 hours in advance to avoide a $10 per person charge.
We Had Our Heart Set on Eating at a Particular Restaurant, but There Are No ADRS? What Can I Do?
It’s extremely disappointing to plan on experiencing a certain table restaurant only to find that you can’t get an ADR during your trip. If that happens, don’t give up hope. Periodic checks of the reservation system could net you an opening.
As the dates of your vacation draw nearer, openings become more likely. Often people change their plans and cancel reservations, particularly within the two-week window leading up to your departure.
Likewise, people frequently cancel reservations while onsite, so keep checking even after you arrive. A popular cancellation time is early in the morning and late at night, as people cancel to avoid any charges.
If you plan to eat at a number of popular restaurants or character meals, you may want to book your vacation package with a travel agent who has access to a dining reservation service, like we do. This bit of technology is really ingenious, alerting us to openings that match our client schedules. When an opening comes up, we jump on and reserve it.
Similar apps are also available to the general public, though most check for openings with much less frequency. When using these services yourself, you’ll also need to stop whatever you are doing at the moment the alert comes through to grab the opening before it is gone.
Some Things to Keep in Mind When Making ADRs at Disney World
As with anything related to Disney World vacation planning, there are a few particulars to keep in mind:
- First, if you plan to make an ADR at a restaurant within a Disney World theme park or other location that requires ticketed entry, you will need to hold a valid ticket for the day on which you make your ADR. You will not be allowed into the park with an ADR alone. We made this mistake once ourselves. I bought a ticket with fewer days on it, for my daughter because I knew she would be leaving too early on the last day to enjoy any time in the parks. I also did not expect anyone to visit the parks on our arrival day as we got in late. However, thanks to later park hours on that particular date, a few of the kids decided to go to the parks after arriving that night. That meant when we arrived for our dining reservation on what was her last day at Disney World, she was denied entry when she scanned her Magic Band. It was all easily remedied right there and then by purchasing an extra day on her ticket, but if this isn’t in the budget, be sure to align your reservations with days you hold tickets.
- If you’re particular about the time you eat, you may want to book the more popular restaurants toward the end of your trip. Keep in mind that the beginning of your booking window is the end of someone else’s, so others will have been there before you taking up available slots in the booking process. Likewise, the end of your booking window is going to be less crowded as no one with a trip date starting after yours will be able to book yet.
Plan Ahead and Save Some Time
A trip to Disney World should be spent enjoying the wonders associated with a Disney vacation, and while Disney table-service restaurants offer a richly-themed experience, you’re likely to have a more enjoyable time doing something other than waiting in lengthy lines for a table to open. Booking a Disney Advanced Dining Reservation allows you secure a spot with minimal wait, making the rest of your trip that much more enjoyable.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Disney World Advanced Dining Reservations
What will I need to make a Disney ADR?
To make a Disney Advanced Dining Reservation, you will need the dates you would like to book, including backups, as well as times. If you simply say breakfast, lunch or dinner, you’ll have a much wider availability. You will also need to provide a credit card to hold the reservation.;
When will my credit card be charged for my ADR?
While a credit card is required to book a Disney World Advanced Dining Reservation, it most cases it will not be charged. The only caveats to this rule are when you fail to show up for an ADR without canceling. In this case, you will receive a $10 per person charge. You may also be charged up front for certain signature dining experiences.
What happens if I don’t show up for an ADR?
If you fail to arrive for an ADR at Disney without canceling, you may be charged a $10 per person fee.
What if a member of my party decides not to eat with us once we arrive at Disney World? Do I need to rebook or cancel the reservation?
As long as some members of your party do checkin for your Disney World Advanced Dining Reservation, you will not be charged a no-show fee.
Who can make a Disney Advanced Dining reservation?
If the restaurant is located within a Disney World theme park or other venue requiring ticketed entry, anyone with a valid theme park ticket and a park reservation for the day (when needed) can make a Disney ADR. You do not need to be staying at a Disney World resort hotel to make advanced dining reservations.
I am staying at a Disney World Resort. When can I make Advanced Dining Reservations?
Guests of Disney World resorts may begin making Advanced Dining reservations 60 days prior to arrival, beginning at 6:00 am Eastern time. You may make reservations for the entire length of your stay.
I am staying at an offsite non-Disney resort. When can I make Advanced Dining Reservations?
Guests staying at offsite hotel properties may begin making Disney Advanced Dining Reservations 60 days before the day they wish to dine. If you wish to make dining reservations across multiple days, you will need to make your ADRs 60 days before each day you wish to dine.
