Photo Courtesy Of Disney Parks
Disney Dining
When booking a trip to a Disney park, one of the biggest things you need to think about is Table Service Dining. Each park you will travel to will have multiple restaurants and they all vary in popularity. Some tend to fill up in minutes and others you can book at the last minute. Yet, it can be hard to know when to book a dining reservation in months, when you don’t even know what you want to eat today. However, for some of the best restaurants it is best to do so. I would always review the menus of the restaurants as while the restaurant may be popular, if there is nothing for you to eat what is the point of going there?
A family member that traveled with me once asked me if it is really necessary to book the dining so far in advance of your trip, and my answer was if you want to eat at the best restaurants and not be turned away, then yes book in advance. I have seen many people walk up to the counter hoping for a spot to be turned away as the restaurant is totally booked.
Photo By Monique Duke
Disneyland Dining
With Disneyland you have a 90 day booking window and some of the most popular restaurants are the character dining restaurants and especially Blue Bayou. Blue Bayou is the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. This restaurant has good food and if you get there early you can request waterside dining.
Disney World Dining
When it comes to Disney World there are hundreds of restaurants and many can be very popular. Even with the 180 day booking window you will find that there are many restaurants that are full even if you call when dining opens up. My advice for Disney World is to try to figure out which parks you want to go what days. While deciding this can be difficult, the best way would be to look at crowd calendars. A crowd calendar estimates what days would be best per park based on historical data - then book your dining reservation around that. You will find that they tell you what park would be the most and least crowded and I tend to book my dining around that. Then you should look at the restaurants and their menus and even look online for dining reviews. Just understand that some restaurants will fill up and you should have alternates. As someone who has eaten at many of them, there are many amazing restaurants for everyone.
Photo By John Dziak
Which are the most popular restaurants? The park restaurants really fill up quick however Be Our Guest, Le Cellier, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Chef Mickey’s and Crystal Palace tend to fill up the quickest. In fact right now Be Our Guest is so popular the people calling in right at 180 days in the early morning are finding it totally booked.
If your restaurant of choice is booked, I would book an alternative then check back often. People cancel reservations all the time and you could get lucky.
As part of DisFanReview's re-launch, we are beginning an all new feature entitled, Tuesday Travel Tips! This regular feature will fill you in on all the inside info you need to enjoy...and survive your Disney Parks vacation. Disney travel guru John Dziak, of My Disney Vacation will be your guide to all things Disney Travel!
As part of DisFanReview's re-launch, we are beginning an all new feature entitled, Tuesday Travel Tips! This regular feature will fill you in on all the inside info you need to enjoy...and survive your Disney Parks vacation. Disney travel guru John Dziak, of My Disney Vacation will be your guide to all things Disney Travel!
2 comments:
This is good advice! We always make priority seating reservations through Disney Dining! We always do the first lunch seating at Blue Bayou. IMHO, this is the best time to go for fresh food, and the best chance of sitting water side. We have come to realize that Blue Bayou can only accommodate certain sized parties for water side reservations, so it's good to know that if you have a party of more than 6 people, it may not be possible to get water side seating, although they will get you a table close by and in a good location. Thanks for this post!
Thanks for your comment Issac! Nothing beats Blue Bayou. Except maybe Big Thunder BBQ. But, that is only because It's an all you can eat. AND it's BBQ!!!
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