Should We Just Give Up on Disney World Online Dining Reservations?

For lots of people, Disney World’s online dining reservations system works just fine.

But for others—especially those who are staying in a Walt Disney world resort, especially if they have the Dining Plan, it can be a major pain, as crack commenter DisneyDiningAgent pointed out the other day in a couple of comments–here and right below it, plus in some email exchanges we had.

Here’s the problems:

• All too often, the dining reservations part of Disney’s “My Disney Experience” website is just down
• It it’s not down, it doesn’t always correctly get that you have the dining plan
• Whether or not that it gets that you have the dining plan, it doesn’t always recognize that you are a resort guest and thus can book out ten days after your arrival date—a major problem if you are beginning to reserve dining at the 180 day mark
• For the meals that require full pre-payment—Cinderella’s Royal Table, Hoop Dee Doo Revue, etc.—it won’t always recognize that if you are using the dining plan, it doesn’t need to charge your credit card—and charges you anyway

The advantage of the on-line system is that it opens each day at 6a, an hour before the Disney phone lines open at 7a (both Eastern).  So if you can successfully use it then, this gives you an advantage in booking high-demand restaurants at the 180 day mark compared to those calling in an hour later.

But if it doesn’t work, then you are wasting your time…

SUGGESTIONS FOR COPING WITH THE FAILURES OF “MY DISNEY EXPERIENCE” DINING RESERVATIONS

For those who aren’t staying at a Disney World resort, or are staying at one but are already 170 days from arrival or closer, then the problems with the website don’t much matter.

On the other hand, for those staying at a Disney resort, with the dining plan, and trying to book on the earliest possible date of 180 days before arrival, this can be a major pain—especially if they are trying to book their whole visit, and/or are targeting very popular dining venues like Be Our Guest.

The trick here is

• First to be sure your account is fully set up before you try to book dining—and specifically that your hotel reservation is associated with it.
• Second, you need to decide if an hour of wasted time at 6a (3a Pacific!) matters to you.  If not, then go ahead and get on the website, but focus only on a few reservations you are targeting that are high demand but don’t require full pre-payment—e.g. Be Our Guest, Le Cellier, and Chef Mickey’s.  Then call a reservationist at 7a at 407-939-3463 to book the rest of your dining experiences. If the website won’t let you book your full 180 days plus ten, or if you decide that the potentially wasted hour isn’t worth it, then just call a reservationist at 7a.

INAPPROPRIATE CREDIT CARD CHARGES

If your credit card ends up being charged in full for a reservation that you meant to use dining plan credits for, don’t despair.  You can fix this, either by calling Disney Dining at 407-939-3463, at your Disney hotel concierge desk if you are staying at a Disney World resort hotel, or when you show up at the restaurant itself.

But any of these fixes is a pain in the—well, you know where…

Note that you still will have to give a credit card for the one-day cancellation penalty even if you are suing dining plan credits.

ADVICE FROM THE INSIDER ON BOOKING DISNEY WORLD DINING

Here’s DisneyDiningAgent’s overall take, from the comments and emails:

“If you are booking past the 180 day mark (because you’re a resort guest) or you have more than 3 reservations to book, I highly recommend you call us to book your reservations at 407-939-3463.

[Moreover], be careful when booking prepaid experiences like Cinderella’s Royal Table or the dinner shows online if you’re on the Disney Dining Plan.

Many times disneyworld.com will not recognize your dining plan and will attempt to charge your credit card for the experience when it should be taking your card only because of the cancellation policy. It’s strongly recommended you call us at 407-939-3463 to book the above experiences.”

It’s continuing systems problems like this that make me think that Fastpass+–entirely reliant on the “My Disney Experience” site–is a long ways off…

What  has your experience been with “My Disney Experience”?

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