Booking Advanced Dining Reservations

Using the My Disney Experience Website & App

Actually using the My Disney Experience website or app to make your advanced dining reservations (ADRs in Dis-speak) is actually pretty simple. Getting what you want can be a little trickier.

Making reservations using the website

Step 1: Be Prepared

Your booking window opens up 180 days prior to your arrival. To be more precise, at 5:00 am central time for online reservations and 6 am if you’re calling in. If you’ve got your heart set on a specific reservation, you’ll want to be logged on and ready to go by 4:55am. By ready to go, I mean you have already linked your resort reservation and your profile is complete (phone, address and credit card info saved).

The website is notoriously glitchy. I often find I have the fewest problems using an Incognito window in Google Chrome.

If you’re trying for any of the harder to get reservations like Be Our Guest, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Chef MIckey’s, etc – then start with those, rather than going in consecutive order.

Step 2: Click on Find a Table

Step 3: Choose a Restaurant

Below is the reservation booking engine. You can browse all choices by scrolling, or narrow your choices by clicking on the All Parks & Resorts tab on the left to choose a specific park or resort, or filter by other options like dining experience (like Character Dining, Shows, etc), price range, type of cuisine, guest rating, and what type of dining plans are accepted.

This is great for doing research, but if you’re trying to make reservations at 5am 180 days in advance, time is of the essence – you should already know exactly what you want. Type the first few letters into the search bar on the top right and then select your choice.

You’ll be taken to the main page for the restaurant, which is chock full of info, including a link to view the menu with pricing (in the light blue box next to the big picture).

Step 4: Select a Time

Utilize the check availability box to search for times.

Step 5: Confirm Your Reservation

Next you’ll be taken through a couple of pages to confirm the reservation. First, you’ll need to provide a credit card to hold the reservation (if you followed step 1, this info will automatically populate). You won’t be charged unless you are a no show – then there is a $10 per person penalty, so make sure to cancel any reservation you don’t plan on using at least 24 hours in advance

Tip: store your credit card information in your profile BEFORE you begin this process so you don’t have to enter it every time – this will save a lot of time and you can move on to the next reservation to be made.
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The next (and last) page you’ll go through requires you to enter your phone number and check a box indicating you understand all the policies. There is also a spot to enter any special requests like dietary restrictions. Then you click confirm and you’ll be given a confirmation number. Rinse and repeat for each reservation..

Tip: When you’ve finished making your reservations, go to the My Reservations and Tickets tab to view a list of all your ADRs. Take a screenshot and save this as a backup. Every once in a while, a reservation disappears from this system, so this way you’ll have proof.

Using the My Disney Experience App to Make Dining Reservations

As with the website, make sure you are logged in, your resort reservation has been linked to your account, and your phone number, address and credit card info are stored.

The home page of the app is shown to the right. If you scroll down, you’ll see your resort information (if you have already linked it.

Click on “Reserve Dining” and follow the prompts. Initially, only the Party Size option will be visible. After you select that, the calendar will appear, then the search by time tabs.

Next, you’ll be taken to the restaurant screen. You can narrow down the time by scrolling right or left. To select a restaurant, scroll down until you find it, or click on the funnel near the bottom right to narrow down your choices to a particular park or area.

After clicking on the time of your choosing, you’ll end on a Review & Confirm page, where you’ll need to enter your email, phone number, and credit card and agree to the terms and conditions. You may also enter any special dietary requests.

Just like on the website, it will go faster if you have already saved your personal info and credit card under your profile.

As a service to guests who book their Disney packages through me, I’m happy to make your dining reservations for you if you provide me with a list. Contact me for more information at rebecca@magicaltravel.com
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