Why cant I find any times for Storybook dining ?

[Suejacken]

I was able to get Storybook dining for a party of 11 at exactly day 180. I was online at 6am and it was the first reservation I made. I wanted an early time because we have three kids in group. The other time that came up was 8:30 and that would be too late for the kids

 

[asfarrell]

I’ve been trying to make dummy bookings for 8 people for Storybook dining but can’t find ANYTHING even at 180 day out !!!

We’re actually not going till Xmas but I just wanted to see what availability would be like and apparently it’s nothing at all !!

Is it really such a hard ADR to get ????

I do the same thing every day for my September trip..I NEVER see Storybook available...on my 180 days, I will go ahead and reserve a substitute dinner, in case Storybook never becomes available...but I will look every day, one million times until our trip..lol!

 

[asfarrell]

I try reserving all numbers. Sometimes a better time will come up for 4, or 6, then i just go in and modify. It's easier to subtract from a reservation than to add to it.

Is there any kind of penalty or a chance of losing reservations if we do this? Because I always can find reservations for other party numbers...lol...and can add guests? We have 3, I can find 2 all day but never 3's...

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Last time we were trying to find nearby times, because we booked late and were a party of 6. I could find reservations for 4 all day long. Sometimes I'd book a party of 4, then you can go into your MDE and modify it down to less. As far as reservations go, as long as 1 member of the party shows up it's no penalty. 100% no show will garner a 10.00 each penalty.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I do the same thing every day for my September trip..I NEVER see Storybook available...on my 180 days, I will go ahead and reserve a substitute dinner, in case Storybook never becomes available...but I will look every day, one million times until our trip..lol!

Last trip, we had several split reservations, for a party of 2 and 4 respectively. I drove myself practically insane trying to get a Trattoria Bon Voyage breakfast. During the week of, we had several to choose from for parties of 6. Within the week of, just about everything pops up as available. To make myself feel better, and for just general learning purposes, I go to the WDW website and look for reservations. I "pretend" I'm already at the park. Let's see what's available for breakfast/lunch/dinner tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, even the following week. You would be surprised what pops up. It's almost become a hobby of mine, lol. For ourselves, we have dropped 5:30 PM reservations for BOG twice now, the day before and day of. One time, we had to drop a 6:00 PM Akershus. I see Storybook all the time within a couple of weeks out. Sometimes people have to change their travel plans, sometimes they alter what park they're going to. I can't remember a trip where we didn't change at least 1 well planned day because we decided to do something else.

ETA: I just looked at tomorrow for dinner reservations, party of 6 and Storybook popped up for 6:05 and 8:35
For a party of 4, Akershus 5:10 & 8:00, BOG, 5:50 and 8:50 (Storybook available for same time as party of 6)
Party of 2, Akershus 8:50, Storybook 6:40, no BOG

Very fond of PPO breakfasts, practically everything open for party of 2 (even CRT) except Garden Grill
Everything for party of 4 including GG

 

[blistex]

I suspect with the free dining offers going on and the opening of star wars things are getting pretty crazy both crowd and ADR-wise - I was on right at 6 AM this morning for my ADR window and for the first night of my trip ALL the big ones were already completely gone. I got a CRT for 180+4 - there were no dinners and only one lunch time available and that was the first available. I stopped even trying for Storybook; I think it will be easier to get day/week of than it seems to be right now!!

 

[Alice121078]

I’m having the same experience. Trying to book a dinner for 3 180 days out and nothing...

 

[Brett Wyman]

Its a new hot property right now. I spent about 10 minutes booking other high demand ADRs first and by 6:10am on a 180+7 day I already couldn't get a table for 6. I was checking for the 187th day. I had to get a table for just 2 instead. By 6:15am there was zero tables available for any number of people. So it's filling up in the first day 10 minutes of the 180 day window and if people have resort reservations it can be full before some other people can even check. On this day resort only people completely booked it up.

 

[siren0119]

Its a new hot property right now. I spent about 10 minutes booking other high demand ADRs first and by 6:10am on a 180+7 day I already couldn't get a table for 6. I was checking for the 187th day. I had to get a table for just 2 instead. By 6:15am there was zero tables available for any number of people. So it's filling up in the first day 10 minutes of the 180 day window and if people have resort reservations it can be full before some other people can even check. On this day resort only people completely booked it up.

Just curious, are you booking for 2 and planning to modify the reservation to accommodate 6? Have others had success in doing that without resulting in the restaurant being overbooked?

 

[Brett Wyman]

Just curious, are you booking for 2 and planning to modify the reservation to accommodate 6? Have others had success in doing that without resulting in the restaurant being overbooked?

I'm hoping to modify to 6 sometime in the next 6 months. If not then just two from our party will go. My daughter with her Nana.

 

[Alice121078]

Yep, I found two times tomorrow for a party of 3. Good to know!

 

[CaleCakes]

Persistence paid off! I found a 4:40 pm on my arrival day June 1! I wasn't going to keep looking because I told myself since I got the Frozen Ever After Dessert party I wouldn't do a character meal, but I saw it and couldn't resist. Very exciting!

 

[magsnwonderland]

Glad you finally got it! I was online this morning at 6 when our 180+ opened and they were already gone for our entire (4 night) stay. I only got 2 of our 5, so I booked alternates just in case, but I'm going to keep checking and hope that eventually something will pop up during our stay.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Glad you finally got it! I was online this morning at 6 when our 180+ opened and they were already gone for our entire (4 night) stay. I only got 2 of our 5, so I booked alternates just in case, but I'm going to keep checking and hope that eventually something will pop up during our stay.

Last night I was browsing through the cancel threads at the top of the page, different months. I noticed quite a few of them were for Storybook. Just be sure to check the cancel threads for your month. People are usually happy to coordinate with you. I’ve passed several off that way myself.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

We’re actually not going till Xmas but I just wanted to see what availability would be like and apparently it’s nothing at all !!

Is it really such a hard ADR to get ????

I think you'll be fine getting an ADR if you're staying onsite and have the 180+ window. I was able to get it for my trip easily at 180+5.