With the introduction of RFID technology at Walt Disney World, the focus on planning vacations (or even day trips) has increased exponentially. The system at Walt Disney World is now set for pre-booking in all aspects and because of the trend, Advanced Dining Reservations, or “ADR’s”, have become critical to sitting down to the meals you look forward to on your trips. We’re bringing you everything you need to know about ADR’s and how to make them work for you.
What is an ADR?
In standard terms, an ADR is just a restaurant reservation. Walt Disney World calls them Advanced Dining Reservations because they can be made up to 180 days in advance. If you’re staying at a Walt Disney World resort, they can be made 180 days from the beginning of your trip for up to ten days of vacation.
Do I really need a reservation to dine?
In nearly all cases now, yes. With crowd levels climbing, free dining promotions being offered throughout the year, and information about dining experiences becoming more widely published, reservations are required at Walt Disney World restaurants in order to avoid long waits and sometimes in order to dine at all.
How do I make an ADR?Â
If you’ve never used the system before, it’s often easiest to call 407-WDW-DINE the first time and let a Walt Disney World booking assistant guide you through. You’ll need the dates you’re looking to book reservations for, the times, the number of people in your party, and a credit card to guarantee. The credit card won’t be charged for most reservations (dinner shows do require pre-payment) but a hold will be placed on the card in case you miss your reservation. More on that later.
If you’d rather do things the electronic way, dining reservations can be made at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/ for all restaurants on property that use reservations. Dining reservations can also be made in the My Disney Experience app, but at this time the app is still glitchy and it is often much more reliable to use the website.
Here’s how an electronic reservation works.
First, select the restaurant you wish to dine at, or use the checkboxes to filter for different experiences if you’re not sure what you’re looking for. You won’t need reservations for any restaurant noted as “quick service”; only table service restaurants require reservations.
Once you’ve selected the restaurant, pick your dates and times from the dropdowns on the right. Hint: if your window of time to eat is flexible, choose “breakfast”, “lunch”, or “dinner” instead of a specific time. This selection broadens the search to the entire time that the restaurant serves that meal.
Click “Find a Table” and wait for the results. If there are no available tables for the time and date selected, you’ll see this: Hint: If you have a party of two and cannot find a table, change the party size to 4. The system knows how many two-top tables the restaurant has and will not look at bigger tables unless your party size is larger. You will not be charged if your party size is smaller when you arrive at the restaurant.
If there are openings for the time and date you’re searching for, the screen will look like this and you’ll choose the time you prefer from those available.
Once you’ve selected a time you’ll be led through a series of screens confirming your party names (the only mandatory entry is who’s responsible for the reservation)
and credit card guarantee information. For most reservations, a credit card guarantee is required. No hold or charge will be applied to your card unless you miss your reservation by several hours. At that point, you’ll be charged $10 per person on the reservation. So, a missed reservation for a party of 4 will net a $40 charge to your credit card, usually at the end of the night of the missed dining.
Once you’ve entered your card number and confirmed that you understand the terms of acceptance, you’ll confirm your reservation. Shortly after you’ll receive an e-mail confirmation. Be sure to take a screen shot of or write down the confirmation number, as you’ll need it to make any changes to the reservation or should the system go down. You can also use this confirmation number to link dining reservations to your My Disney Experience account.
How far in advance can I make an ADR?
Advance Dining Reservations can be made beginning at 7 a.m. Eastern by phone (407-WDW-DINE) or 6 a.m. Eastern online 180 days in advance of the date you’re reserving for. If you’re staying at a Walt Disney World resort (not including the Swan, Dolphin, or Shades of Green), you can make up to 10 days of reservations 180 days from the first day of your vacation.
Which restaurants are “must-haves” for ADRs?
Be Our Guest is the number one restaurant for hard-to-get reservations. ‘Ohana dinner, Cinderella Castle meals, Akershus meals, Crystal Palace breakfast, and Chef Mickey’s are some of the more difficult locations to nail down.
I can’t get the ADR I want. What can I do?
Many people try each day to search for the reservations they want, often spending hours at a time looking. The smartest way to get what you want and save hours of your life is to use the reservation sniper at WDWTools.com.