Got all my dining reservations!

[megankj]

Just a note of encouragement to other folks looking to make some competitive dining reservations. Over our 3 day visit (2 park days plus arrival), I just finished making the following for 2 people:

• Dinner at at Trader Sam's (7:35- 5 mins later than I wanted)
• Late lunch at Lamplight Lounge (3:30- exactly when I wanted)
• Early lunch at Cafe Orleans (11:30- exactly when I wanted)
• Drinks at Oga's Cantina (5:30- exactly when I wanted)

Here's what I did, if anyone is curious. I did try it (stopping before confirming any times) a few times the week before, just to make sure I knew what I was doing. I also confirmed that I had a credit card on file.

I followed the process below for 3 consecutive days, 60 days prior to each reservation I was looking for:

1. Set an alarm for 5:50am to make sure I was awake and remembered I needed to book. Pour myself some coffee. I'm typically up by this time anyway, thankfully!
2. Set a second alarm for 5:58 to open the app and begin the process.
3. Open the Disneyland app; use the search function to navigate to the restaurant I'm booking.
4. Choose "Reserve Dining" and select the date I'm booking for (should be the latest available date).
5. Confirm the number of people in my party. Scroll through the time options and select a time just prior to my ideal booking time.
6. Close the error message that pops up, which is appearing since it should still be 5:58 or 5:59.
7. Hover my finger over the time I'm looking to book, scrolling occasionally to make sure my phone doesn't fall asleep. Watch the time, and the second it clicks to 6:00, click the desired time.
8. Of the options that pop up, choose the closest one.
9. Complete the questions asked and finish booking. Check my email and/or Future Plans in the app to make sure the new reservation shows up.
10. On the day when I was booking 2 reservations, I started with the most competitive one and then moved on to the other once the first was finished. If you need to book two really tough ones, you may need to enlist help but I had no trouble booking Cafe Orleans at 6:02.

It's a bit crazy that this is required, but it really wasn't bad as long as I was prepared! On the first day, I set another alarm for 3am in case they came online early (as I'd heard happens occasionally), but since I couldn't fall back to sleep, I decided it wasn't worth it to continue to do that the next three days!

Anyway, I figured I'd type all this out in case it helps others. Happy planning and safe travels!

 

[abby2525]

I pretty much did the same as you but still couldn't get Oga's or TS's. Got Storyteller's but that's not a hard one to get. I'm glad fo you, we will keep watching. Enjoy!

 

[Dug720]

Interesting. I've been on at 5:59 each morning since the 23rd and I've never seen Oga's pop up. I don't care since I don't do Star Wars, but... I figured it was one that just wasn't loaded at 6am.

 

[megankj]

I pretty much did the same as you but still couldn't get Oga's or TS's. Got Storyteller's but that's not a hard one to get. I'm glad fo you, we will keep watching. Enjoy!

Fingers crossed they will pop up for you!

 

[megankj]

Interesting. I've been on at 5:59 each morning since the 23rd and I've never seen Oga's pop up. I don't care since I don't do Star Wars, but... I figured it was one that just wasn't loaded at 6am.

That's so strange! I looked probably 5-6 times including today when I actually booked, and it was never there early but always there right at 6.

 

[wabbott]

bookmarking thread

 

[Dug720]

That's so strange! I looked probably 5-6 times including today when I actually booked, and it was never there early but always there right at 6.

Yeah, never popped up when I searched at 6. So weird.

 

[skellinton]

Thanks for the tips, I am out of practice and hoping to make my reservations next month.

 

[brightlined]

Weirdly, I spotted a couple of morning Oga's reservations (9:15a, 9:30a) available for August 25th (60 days) around 6:30am PT this morning. I was surprised.

 

[Hobbes]

Do all restaurants need a credit card to book nowadays? Out of practice since we last went to WDW in 2017!

 

[Dug720]

Do all restaurants need a credit card to book nowadays? Out of practice since we last went to WDW in 2017!

Yes. But it's to hold the reservation and give them something to charge if you no-show or don't cancel within the 2 hour period.

Some things like the WOC Dessert Party require pre-payment.

 

[Cfiiitz]

I’ve been pretty lucky all week but I can NOT get an afternoon or evening spot at Plaza Inn! I can get the character dining brunch or the magic happens parade dining package but no regular reservations. We were flexible about what day we go and tomorrow is the last day. Wish us luck!

 

[irlandaise]

Cfiiitz here are some four-leaf clovers for you for good luck!

 

[laugard]

I’ve been pretty lucky all week but I can NOT get an afternoon or evening spot at Plaza Inn! I can get the character dining brunch or the magic happens parade dining package but no regular reservations. We were flexible about what day we go and tomorrow is the last day. Wish us luck!

Are you just wanting to go for the regular lunch/dinner menu? Plaza Inn doesn't do reservations for that, it's walk-up. They only offer reservations for the character meals and parade and/or fireworks dining packages.

 

[Cfiiitz]

Are you just wanting to go for the regular lunch/dinner menu? Plaza Inn doesn't do reservations for that, it's walk-up. They only offer reservations for the character meals and parade and/or fireworks dining packages.

Oh my gosh!! No wonder I couldn’t find it thank you for the info.

 

[laugard]

Oh my gosh!! No wonder I couldn’t find it thank you for the info.

Glad you can check it off the list! Enjoy the rest of your visit!

 

[julesann]

This is great. I just realized I will be backpacking the entire time I need to make my 60 day ADRs so I need to get my dbs to do it. They always let me get up each morning and manage it so this is just perfect to give to them in a few months. Thank you!!!

 

[mwbilli]

Question, the 6am reservation window start, is that eastern time or pacific time?

I was on this morning at 6am eastern time but the reservations did not become available until 6am pacific. I thought I had read that eastern time was the time they were released and I am trying to figure out if today was an anomaly or if it is pacific time.

 

[megankj]

Question, the 6am reservation window start, is that eastern time or pacific time?

I was on this morning at 6am eastern time but the reservations did not become available until 6am pacific. I thought I had read that eastern time was the time they were released and I am trying to figure out if today was an anomaly or if it is pacific time.

In my experience, it was always 6am Pacific- but I did hear that some people had randomly had luck looking at 3am Pacific/6am Eastern. I never saw that in any of my trial runs/random checks, and after the first morning getting up to check and never going back to sleep, I decided it wasn't worth continuing to set a 3am alarm for two more mornings.