Disney may be going back to 90-day booking for dining.
According to this morning’s Mouse Planet park update for Walt Disney World, it appears Disney may be making a change to their dining reservations system. Apparently they are going back to a 90 day window for advanced booking, from the 180 day window that currently exists. There will be three exceptions, Chef Mickey’s, Cinderella’s Royal Table, and Victoria and Alberts.
It’s about time. This is great news and a great decision should it come to pass. I always thought that having to book restaurants half a year before you go on vacation was absolutely absurd. For one thing, I don’t always plan my trips that far out and I know others don’t either. If you booked your trip any less than six months away you don’t get a fair shake at decent ressies. That seemed like an awful stiff price to pay for not knowing if you had the vacation time or funds to go on a trip that far in advance.
My extended family and I are scheduled to go to Walt Disney World in January, and it is amazing to me that we are trying to figure out where we are going to eat now. Let’s hope this change is made and in the future we can take our time a bit more.
Mike said,
July 9, 2008 @ 1:06 am
I agree this is a good thing
Eric said,
July 9, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
Looks like this will only be a temporary change, however, as Disney implements a new reservation system.
From touringplans.com:
“Advance Dining Reservation Window Changing to 90 Days Soon
Details have not yet been finalized, but Disney will begin transitioning to a new reservation system sometime in the late summer or early fall. As a result, Disney will only be accepting Advance Dining Reservations up to 90 days in advance starting around August 1.
The reservation window starts growing again once the move to the new reservation system is underway, and Disney expects to be back to the full 180-day window sometime in the fall of 2009.
We’re told that this does not affect any existing reservations. We’ve also heard (but not confirmed) that Cinderella’s Castle, Chef Mickey’s and Victoria and Albert’s will still have 180-day windows.”