Do I REALLY Need to Book my Disney Dining 180 Days Out?!

Good Question! The answer is: It depends. In order to answer this question, you must ask yourself the following questions: Do I want to eat at a popular table service location? Do I care what day I eat at this location? Will it ruin my trip if I can’t eat at this location? Do I care what time I eat at this location? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then YES you need to book your Disney Table Service 180 days in advance. These reservations are called Advanced Dining Reservations (commonly referred to as ADR’s)

So, what constitutes a popular table service location? These are restaurants that typically book up pretty fast. Most all Character dining spots are hard to book. Some are not as popular than others. There are also some non-character dining options that are hard to get. The only way to know is by doing your research.

The most popular character dining locations are:

• Cinderella’s Royal Table – located in the Castle at the Magic Kingdom, you get to meet all the princesses, and sometimes a prince or two.
• Be Our Guest – located in the new fantasy land area of Magic Kingdom, at dinner you can meet the Beast!
• ‘Ohana – located in the Polynesian Resort in the Magic Kingdom area, you meet Lilo and Stitch (breakfast only)
• Chef Mickey’s – located in the Contemporary Resort in the Magic Kingdom area, you meet the fab 5 and chip and dale.

*note: characters area always subject to change

Other non-character restaruants that are popular:

• Most any NEW restaurants – as of now, or soon, include: Space220, Oga’s Cantina, Roundup Rodeo BBQ.
• Be Our Guest Breakfast and Lunch – located in the new fantasy land in Magic Kingdom
• Dinner at Epcot restaruants that view the lagoon (fireworks!!!) – Rose and Crown Pub, Spice Road Table, and La Hacienda de San Angel.
• ‘Ohana Dinner – located in the Polynesian resort in the Magic Kingdom area
• Victoria and Alberts – located in the Grand Floridian Resort in the Magic Kingdom area

If you are wanting to dine at any of the listed restaurants, you should definitely make your ADR’s 180 days in advance. If staying at a Disney Resort you can make your reservations for your entire stay – up to 10 days. The trick here is that the 180 days is counted from your check in day. So you should start by booking your most wanted dining reservation near the end of your stay. (i.e. book Cinderellas Royal Table for day 6 of your stay – this allows you to actually book this ADR at 186 days in advance)

If you are not sure where you want to eat or if you are not a big planner, it doesn’t always mean that you wont be able to eat at popular restaurants. While it is true that there is a possibility you will not be able to experience a dining experience if you don’t book far enough in advance, some early or late reservations will pop up to snag. Every once in a while, you will even get lucky and find a prime time reservation. That is the beauty of the My Disney Experience App. In the App, you can continue to check for available reservations any time throughout the day or night. Most of the time, even a week before my trip, I can get a 9pm Ohana reservation. But, I have never been so lucky to get a Cinderella Royal Table last minute.

If you don’t get an ADR for any of the most popular restaurants, it doesn’t mean you are missing out on good food! There is amazing food all over Walt Disney World. Some of our favorite alternative dining options are:

• The Crystal Palace – Magic Kingdom – meet Pooh and friends
• Akershus – Epcot – Norway – meet Princesses (except Cinderella)
• San Angel Inn – Epcot – Mexico
• 50’s Prime Time Cafe – Hollywood Studios
• Kona Cafe – Polynesian Resort

There are also a lot of Quick Service (aka Counter Service) restaurants that have amazing food! Two of my favorite Quick Service places are Satu’li Canteen at Animal Kingdom and Katsura Grill at the Japan Pavilion in Epcot.

When the parks reopen and we are all able to head back ‘home’, what are the top 2 restaurants that you want to eat at first?! Comment below! Don’t forget to subscribe to get email notifications for new blogs! Thank you for reading!