Making Disney Dining Reservations Online

It's time to make your advanced dining reservations (ADR's) for your upcoming Walt Disney World vacation. Back in the "old days" (prior to June 2009) in order to make your reservations you would have to write up a list of places, dates and times and then call the reservations call center where a cast member would check availabilities for you and book your reservations. After each reservation, they would read their "please allow so much time to arrive at destination, all Walt Disney World restaurants are non smoking, there are no characters at this meal" spiel. Calls can take anywhere from five minutes to fifty and beyond. And the hold times? Crazy. But now there is an alternative to these phone calls. Disney is offering online dining reservations and your reservation experience will never be the same.

The information Disney is now displaying on their website for restaurants is also expanding. Start at www.disneyworld.com and move your mouse over "discover" at the direct right of the Walt Disney World logo. Select "dining" and explore the cuisines, themes, locations and photos of all their restaurants, table service and counter service alike. You can start here to select the places you're interested in.

When you're ready to reserve, go to "book" at the top of the page and select "dining reservations". You can search through the list of restaurants that pop up, or you can filter by Location: Theme Parks and Water Parks, Location: Resorts, Other Locations (Downtown Disney, Boardwalk, etc.), Cuisine, and Dining Experience. The filters take only a few seconds and pull up a list of all the restaurants in the area you have selected. The filters are an excellent tool, particularly if you haven't selected a specific restaurant yet. For example, if you know your plans will have you at Epcot that day, you can see a full list of Epcot eateries and can choose from there, based on the description.

So once you have applied your filter, your next step is to scroll through the selections, looking for the restaurant you have chosen or one that appeals to you. All restaurants are listed and those that take reservations will have a "book a reservation" button on the left side of the description. Once you have decided on a location, click this button to move to the next step.

The restaurant page will come up along with the reservation information. Select your date first. The availability is for up to 90 days. Next, select the time you would like to dine. Make sure to select am or pm. Next, enter in the number of adults and children and the children's ages. Confirm everything is correct and then click on "check availability".

The system will search through availability and will present you with the closest time to your request. Underneath your selected restaurant, Disney will also offer several alternative restaurants located in close proximity to give you options. Select the reservation you want and go to the security check. This is an area where you must type in a word or two that are displayed in a wavy font. If you have trouble, you will have another chance with another word or words. Once you have the correct words, click on "add to cart".

The next step brings you to your "cart." Here you have the choice to continue searching (adding more reservations) or checking out. When you are ready to check out, you need to add your name (first and last), an email address and a phone number you can be reached at on vacation. You need to agree to the guest policies defined and then you are able to check out. With most reservations you will not need a credit card guarantee and are able to "check out" with no financials whatsoever. You can view your final reservations and add any celebration information you choose. Disney will email you a copy of your ADR's for your records and you are set to go. At any time, you can search for all of your reservations by logging in and checking "My Disney Vacation."

Phoning the Disney call center to make your reservations is certainly a great way to speak with a "live" person and to have the ability to ask questions. But the online reservation system is truly a great alternative for those who embrace the information age and prefer to self service. The online reservation day begins at 6:01 Eastern Standard Time and planning is now easier than ever!