Best way to get ADRs for party of 9

[RoseMom]

Looking to get ADRs for a party of 9 for our upcoming summer trip. My booking window isn’t until next month. I normally am only responsible for getting reservations for 4 of us and I’m seeing a lot less availability for a party of 9. No one else has a MDE account in our party of 9 except myself and honestly I’m a little worried about having someone create an account now and screwing up our park tickets, etc. Should I book what I can online at 6am on the day our booking opens for our party of 9 and then call guest services when they open to try to get the other ADRs that look like they may have us divided into 2 groups? Or, should I risk having one of the other adults create a MDE account and us make separate ADRs (one for 5 people and the other for 4 people) close in time together?

 

[DisneyDadWV]

I work with a guy who recently tried to book ADR's for his extended family trip of 14. It showed no availability for the places he tried to get also. He eventually called and was told there are only a few spots that will allow you to book a party that large, Hoop de Do for one. He had to make 3 reservations of 6, 6 and 2. So, if you see no availability it might be because of your party size. Why Disney IT can't put that online somewhere..that's another story in itself. I would call if you can't get things booked online and see what they say.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would recommend calling before your 60 days and asking the best way to book. Also, you may wish to look for a party if 10 as that may offer more options too?

 

[Redsred3]

I am actually in the same boat. 9 of us this time. Usually 4. I’m the one who does all the managing and I have everyone’s profile with their park ticket attached etc. I realized I need another person to help, and made my 18 year old daughter create a MDE login. It didn’t give her an option to link to the existing one that showed on mine, that had her ticket and hotel reservation. And now two of her were showing on my friends and family list . I realized that was going to be an issue as she wouldn’t be able to book the 60+6 days, only 60. So I chatted with a castmember online and she linked and fixed everything. She told me if you go under your friends and family and do “add guest” it will send them a link to create, and hopefully link to everything to make it easier. I haven’t done this yet since the castmember fixed things, but maybe that would work for you. Good luck and I hope you get everything you are looking for!

I’m also a bit anxious to book dining this go around. Space 220 is a must do for our group and I know how hard that is to get one table at, let alone 2 tables at the same time. I usually rely on some of the other alert services if I can’t get a reservation, but not sure how that would work in this case.

 

[Dulcee]

Our last two trips were with large groups (10 and 11). I had to break many reservations into two (made a separate MDE account for the second one so I could do all the booking myself). A few restaurants I was able to find for our party size.

Split reservations I tried to get times that were the same or within 5 minutes. Most restaurants when we checked in and mentioned the two parties were together had no problems either making a combined table for us or seating us at next door tables. Of the two trips, there was only 1 night where we weren't accommodated so we just split into two groups as defined by the reservations.

 

[Vickie1016]

Agree with everything PP mentioned.

Last summer we had extended family bringing us to party of 10. Most reservations had to be split 5&5 or 8&2. Myself & DH each have MDE accounts so we each made a reservation under each account. For each restaurant, we were able to make the reservations about 5 minutes apart.

Doing it this way you are not guaranteed to be seated together. But in our experience, arriving at the check in podium about 10-15 minutes prior to the reservation time & politely explaining the to the CM our situation, we were seated at one big table or two tables next to each other. ( Some locations simply do not have tables for a party larger than 8 to be seated. )

Happy Planning!!

 

[daneenm]

I just did my reservations for our party of 7 in mid-March. I was so worried that I would have to split every reservation, but we only had to split 3 in the end (caliGrill, Boathouse, Garden Grill). I was pleasantly surprised. Good luck to you!

 

[Shughart]

We were a party of 9 in 2016. Grandma/Grandpa, Mom/Dad/daughter/son, BIL/SIL/nephew. I called the dining number the morning our window opened up and got everything we needed except T-Rex, they told me to call them directly. I did and had no problem. We were able to get all of our reservations. We also had no problems 6 months later showing up with 1 extra when my other sister in law found out at the last minute that she could join the trip

 

[jenyanifer]

I just went through this for our trip in May for the same number of people. I originally went through and made reservations for 5 and 4 (all were 15 minute apart, too), but then called and spent an hour on the phone with a lovely representative from Disney Dining who recommended doing 6 and 3, and put everything under my name (which I couldn't do online). She was also able to get the reservations within 5 minutes of each other. She said the restaurant staff should clue into the large party since the 2 reservations both show up under my name, but also to check in with them ahead of time to let them know about our large party. So, definitely make your reservations, and then see if Disney Dining can work their magic!

 

[kevtlas]

We always go with big groups (9 is small for us lol), and usually have to book split reservations, then call and ask to have the tables put together if possible, or to be seated near each other if not. Doesn’t always work out, but has more often than not.

 

[cme2525]

I had success booking larger parties for DS locations using Open Table - Boathouse, Summer House & The Edison all were able to be booked for a party of 9 with no table splitting/duel reservations.