Part of the fun of my Walt Disney World trips is looking forward to the food that I am going to get to eat. Just as much as the rides and attractions, I look forward to the dining experiences that Disney World has to offer. With four parks and the entire Disney Springs Area there are so many options to choice from when selecting a place to dine.
If you are a Disney Resort Hotels guest, you can start booking your dining reservations 180 days in advance of your trip and can make reservations for the entire length of your Resort stay – up to 10 days. If you are staying off Disney property, you can still make reservations 180 days in advance of that first day of your trip and continue to make reservations as each 180 day mark arrives.
I think advance dining is great! It guarantees that you will have your most important reservations that you want to experience. This 180 day mark is extremely important not to miss if you have your heart set on reservations like Cinderella’s Royal Table and Be Our Guest Restaurant. There are also some very popular restaurants like the Contemporary Resort’s California Grill and The Polynesians Resort’s Ohana. These are restaurants that if you would like a reservation there I would suggest booking as soon as possible.
Now with all of that being said, I do not want to overwhelm you by thinking that you need to schedule every meal this far in advance. Remember that this is your vacation and I do not know about you but the last thing I want to do is stress out while planning or enjoying vacation. As I said before there are so many restaurants at Walt Disney World that even during your trip you will be able to find really good Table service dining reservations available. When you schedule yourself out for every meal, you really lock yourself into being at a certain place at a certain time, which can add a lot of stress. You never know what may change your plans such as the weather could be bad and you change where you want to be that day. The last thing you want is to feel stressed because you now cannot change because you are locked into a dining reservation. Disney does charge usually a $10 per person for no shows or reservations cancelled less than 24 hours in advance.
My suggestion is to schedule your must have reservations and then leave some of your vacation days wide open to do whatever you wish. There are also so many really good Quick Service Dining options at Disney that are not just your traditional burgers and fries. In an upcoming blog, I will give you a list of some of my favorite Quick Service locations at each park. In addition, you will want to keep in mind the time of year you are visiting because EPCOT has so many festivals involving good food offerings that if this is something you enjoy you will want to have some of the meals while eating around the World Showcase.
If hope this helps you with planning dining on your next Walt Disney World trip and if you are thinking of planning your next trip your Kingdom Magic Vacation Travel Planner will be happy to assist.
