Advanced Dining Reservation Strategy

This guide will show you all the top tips, tricks and strategies to use before a trip so you can grab every restaurant reservation before stepping foot in the parks. Follow along with the guide to see some of the most commonly asked questions and how-tos for getting a reservation to your must do restaurants at Walt Disney World!

What is an Advanced Dining Reservation?

Advanced Dining Reservations (or "ADRs") are a way to book a specific time for a meal at a restaurant which offers it at any location across Walt Disney World resorts and theme parks. It is not possible to just walk up to most restaurants on property at many restaurants are booked up 60+ days in advance (more on that later).

While there are "Walk Up Lists" for many restaurants, the most popular restaurants do not offer them because they are completely full before the park even opens for the day. 

Instead, you will need to make a reservation for that restaurant.... and it's definitely part of the thrill when planning your vacation!

Strategies for Hard to Get Advanced Dining Reservations

You will be able to book restaurant reservations 60 days before your trip starts beginning at 6:00am EST. You definitely need a plan before your vacation begins! Here's the 1-2-3 for securing hard to get reservations:

1. Make a list the day you book your trip with a Famvia Travel Advisor. Everyone has their favorite restaurant they go to each time they visit Disney or maybe you saw a restaurant on Instagram that looks epic. Start making a list as soon as you book your vacation with a Famvia Travel Advisor!
2. 62 DAYS BEFORE your trip begins: have your restaurant plan in place. Why 62 days? Well you do not want to be scrambling last minute to put your plan together. You also do not want to be scrambling the morning of to rank your restaurants. You want to make sure to have all of the restaurants ranked from 1-X with #1 being the top restaurant you want to do. Your plan should be tied to the restaurants and not parks. You will want to shift your park days to match your highest priority restaurants. If you want hit Space 220 then that is your priority, not trying to find Space 220 on Wednesday only because that's the day you want to go to EPCOT. If it's the #1 priority, be flexible!
3. 60 DAYS BEFORE your trip begins: get up EARLY on Booking Day! Bookings officially start at 6:00am EST, BUT we have seen them open up at 5:45am or earlier - there's no guarantee but it does happen often. Because you are able to book for your entire trip (up to 10 days in advance), you will try to secure the hardest reservations farther out in your schedule. For example, Victoria and Alberts is probably not going to be available on day 1 of your trip, but because you can book for your entire trip window, you will search for V&As on day 3-5. Once you have that reservation (or if it's not available anytime), you skip to the next one. Follow your plan, trust the plan!

After you finalize your bookings, and because you followed our guide, you will be included to let out a "WOOO!!!". We do this every time. Every. Single. Time. Oh and it's ok if you wake up the family. Because you are going to Disney World and you just got everyone's favorite restaurants!

Which restaurants accept Advanced Dining Reservations?

There are over 400 dining options across Walt Disney World; however, not every place will offer reservations. There are hundreds of quick service locations and snack carts. To help you filter them out, we've listed out the top advanced dining restaurants by park below, in the order of hard-to-get-ness. The more in demand a restaurant is, the higher it is on our list:

Animal Kingdom

• Tusker House Restaurant
• Tiffins Restaurant
• Rainforest Cafe at Disney's Animal Kingdom
• Yak & Yeti Restaurant

EPCOT

• Space 220 Restaurant
• Space 220 Lounge
• Coral Reef Restaurant
• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
• Monsieur Paul
• Garden Grill Restaurant
• Le Cellier Steakhouse
• Biergarten Restaurant
• Chefs de France
• Rose & Crown Dining Room
• San Angel Inn Restaurante
• Shiki-Sai: Sushi Izakaya
• La Crêperie de Paris
• La Hacienda de San Angel
• Takumi-Tei
• Nine Dragons Restaurant
• Teppan Edo
• Tutto Italia Ristorante
• Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria
• Spice Road Table

Hollywood Studios

• 50's Prime Time Cafe
• Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant
• Hollywood & Vine
• Roundup Rodeo BBQ
• Oga's Cantina
• Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano
• The Hollywood Brown Derby

Magic Kingdom

• Cinderella's Royal Table
• The Crystal Palace
• Be Our Guest Restaurant
• Jungle Navigation Co. LTD Skipper Canteen
• Liberty Tree Tavern
• The Plaza Restaurant
• The Diamond Horseshoe
• Tony's Town Square Restaurant

What time can I book Advanced Dining Reservations?

You can book Advanced Dining Reservations 60 days before your trip begins. The booking window opens at 6:00am EST.

How far in advance can I book an Advanced Dining Reservation?

You can book up to 10 days in advance at 60 days out, meaning you can book the restaurant reservations for your entire trip on launch day. You do not need to get up every day at 6:00am EST to book for the next day of your trip.