Booking Dining Reservations

Making Dining Reservations is one huge aspect of being a Travel Planner that I offer for each and everyone of my clients. Pre-Covid, Disney opened Dining Reservations to parties 180 days in advance. There were some bonuses and also some drawbacks of booking so far away from your trip. If you are a hyper organized person, then you would probably be just fine…but the majority of people are not. Let us be honest, most of us do not even know what/where we want to eat tonight…and we were supposed to know what we would want our whole family to eat 180 in advance? So, needless to say, I loved the new date change for booking Dining Reservations.

The current Dining Reservation system Post-Covid, allows for booking your Dining Reservations 60 days in advance. Now with the Disney Park Pass reservation system, parties should already know which park they are going to be in. Since there is no park hopping currently, you will want to make sure that your Dining Reservation matches the park that you will be visiting (unless you are eating at resorts/Disney Springs). When booking your reservation, you have to pick a specific time. Try and think forward about when you are normally hungry in the parks. Also, consider not placing too many buffets on the same day or heavy meals so that you are so stuffed you are uncomfortable. I booked our Disney Dining Reservations for the last possible time each night. For us we are interested in the rides, so we are stopping to eat each night at the park closes, ensuring we maximized our ride times.

We are typically Quick Service meal people, so that we can control when we eat based on how we are feeling that day. Also, because I wondered how my littles would handle it. However, I have slowly been adding in more and more Table Service Meals whenever I travel alone. My Sissy and I were thrilled to book a Table-Service meal for each night we will be in the parks, allowing us to experience a new MAGICAL aspect of Disney. With the luxury of no kiddos on this ADULT ONLY trip, we can take our time and enjoy these nicer experiences.

Here are our picks for this trip:

Magic Kingdom ~ The Plaza

Honestly, this was kind of a last choice for us. Nothing is wrong with the experience, but we wanted a good Table Service meal. We are not quite ready for the more Deluxe experiences in Magic Kingdom just yet and couldn’t fathom paying the new Be Our Guest prices just yet when we aren’t huge portion eaters. This restaurant fit our needs perfectly of just being a simple meal without too many frills to finish our first park day.

Hollywood Studio ~ Oga’s Cantina Brunch & 50’s Prime Time Diner

Oga’s Cantina is the hip spot to be in Galaxy’s Edge and NEEDS a reservation. We decided it would be a great start to our day to have some brunch drinks and food. With our Star Wars inspired outfits, we wanted to have the perfect backdrop for fun photos.

50’s Prime Time Diner just makes me happy. I love a 50’s theme diner with extreme passion. Seriously, on road trips, I make our family stop at them all. More than likely I will be kicking back with a giant cheeseburger and a milkshake to dip my fries into!

Epcot ~ San Angel Inn

San Angel Inn has been on my dream dining list for so long. I was just always so scared about how close it appears that people are sitting with my littles. But every time I ride the Three Caballeros Ride, I dream about getting to eat there and have their cheese dip. Well the kids are at home and with social distancing happening, this was the perfect time to try.

Hollywood Studios ~ Sci-Fi Dine In Theater

Seriously, who does not want to sit in a Classic Car themed table and watch a movie with their meal. I know I have been dreaming of getting this this experience after recommending it to so many clients and friends.

Magic Kingdom ~ Tony’s Town Square

This is where we will be celebrating Sissy’s birthday. More than likely, one of us will HAVE TO order Spaghetti and Meatballs so that we can recreate the iconic scene from Lady & the Tramp. We love Italian everything, so hopefully this experience lives up to our dreams.

Well, if you are still with me…this is exactly why people get a Vacation Planner, so that we can spend the time getting you just the right spot at just the right time when the whole world is also making reservations in the wee hours of the AM. You will need to have a credit card on file to reserve your dining experience. Also remember, that you can cancel your reservations, but it has to be before 11:59 pm the night before your reservation or you will be charged

What is your favorite Table Service Meal?

What do you order to get the most “bang for your buck”?