Should We Just Give Up on Disney World Online Dining Reservations?
By Dave Shute
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”?
Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook!
13 comments
From an email from DisneyDiningAgent:
“The bottom line is that we can search for and book multiple reservations faster than anyone can online, child activities can only be booked on the phone, prepaid events should be booked over the phone to not get charged…all of that points to the conclusion that people should call to make reservations; it’s easier and for the most part reliable :)”
Thank you so much for this article and for validating that I am not crazy for having this exact experience. I have always booked over the phone, however this year I decided I would get up at 6 am to book a few “hard to get” ADR’s. The system would not let me book past my 180 day mark, so I called (a few times as the system was down for certain restaurants I wanted to book) and at the end of each call the agent would kindly tell me I could make my ADR’s online. Finally I told one agent that I tried and could not book past day 180. She tried on her own personal account and she could not either. She transferred me to a Disney computer expert and he told me that I could not book past my day 180 online despite that I was staying on property with the DDP. This was at the end of March when Disney was doing a lot of computer “upgrading”, so I do not know if he meant it could not be done during that timeframe, or if he meant ever.
Hi again Dave!
I have one more question. If I’m arriving January 25, 2014, my 180 day mark is July 29th. But I’m tryi g to understand,since we are staying on property, I can call and book 10 days earlier? Is this right?
Yes, it’s a bit of process to book online. I booked the Hoop De Doo and had planned on using the DDP, but ended up calling and the cast member said I had to pay upfront and would be credited. I used Disney Gift Cards for payment and she said I’d get reimbursed. I booked the 830 show. When I saw the reservation on My Disney Experience it said to show up for 430. I called to inquire and they said no they had it at 830, but it gave me no comfort when it was telling me 430. They attributed it to a glitch in the system that lasted about a month. Finally now it’s reporting the correct dining time. Have to remember to build in extra time to get reimbursed at check-in. I’m sure all the people on line behind me will love me!
Jean–you can also get your hotel concierge to fix this for you before your dining date–that’ll save you some park time!
Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook!
No Lindsey, the 180 day mark allows you to book ON that date PLUS 10 days. Say I am staying at the Holiday Inn down the street, I can book a meal 180 days out, but to book a meal for the next day (and the next and the next) I would have to keep calling each day, exactly 180 days prior to the day I want to eat. As a Disney resort guest you can call 180 days prior to your check in date and book up to 10 days worth of meals (which is enough to cover most trips unless you are staying more that 10 days) Hope this helps 🙂
Caralee, I have had the same experience many times as a travel agent as well as for my own personal bookings. I think it is a glitch in the system, but some people have been able to book online at 180 days plus 10 with NO problem. I also hate that they keep saying “book dining online” I would prefer to do that if it would work properly. It would also save them a ton of time and manpower if we didn’t have to call them. I can’t understand why their “computer experts” can’t do a better job 🙁
Thank you so much Lacee!! That’s helps a bunch! Just making sure I’m on the ball bc I want to book cinderellas royal table.
I had the same experience as Caralee…I was up at 5a Texas time to no avail. Thankfully, calling at 6a got all the ADRs we wanted. The My Disney Experience site did everything right for me except let me book 10 days out. And I was booking in early June. Ah, well! Hope they get it fixed soon!
I’m approaching my 180 days (4/28). I’ve noticed that the most recent posts are from July of last year. Do you know if the online reservation system has improved since then? Have you seen it working for guests for their “10 days out”. I’m on CST and will be getting up before 5am to try for Cinderella’s Royal Table on our first day and Be Our Guest on our last. Wish me luck!
Andrea, this was a one time thing! While any system can go down at any time, you should be fine!
Good afternoon
I have a trip booked with my boyfriend in June next year, staying on site and on the dining plan. I understand I can book 180+10 days but our trip is 2 weeks. For the days beyond the 10 days will I have to try to book on exactly 180 days out from each day? So log on every day and be able to make reservations only for that one day for day 11-14 of our trip.
Thanks for all the great information on the site 🙂
Hi Becky and thanks–and yes, you have it right…
Leave a Comment | Ask a Question | Note a Problem