"I want to book food and fastpasses at the same time" Update: Pg. 2

[Moana of Motunui]

My family is killing me. They want to book food when we book fastpasses. Meaning- there will be no food options left!!! Our food opens up in about 2 weeks. I know I'm booking food when it opens because I am not waiting.

They want to go to breakfast at Ohana and Chef Mickey, get dinner at Be Our Guest (well, if we don't get this one we aren't going to cry about it), and possibly get dinner at Coral Reef. All of these are restaurants you need to book at 180, not at fastpasses time. That's what... 60 days out?

Ugh they're impossible.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Some one gave me this tip and granted I was not looking to book a Disney owned place but after you book fast pass why not call the reastrant and see what they have I hear they have more openings then what you see online

 

[NYCgrrl]

I'm having enough problems booking ADRs with out adding character meals to the equation.
You have my condolences.

 

[Haygar2]

I'm with you. Book your food. When your fast pass window opens you might be able to move stuff around. I book fast passes around our food. However, I book the first 3 as early I as I can so I have the opportunity to add more after. And we eat a late dinner. I don't believe that the restaurants that you are looking at have extra openings than what they are showing online. That works for Landry owned restaurants (Yak & Yeti, Rain Forest) but I've never heard it working at the ones you mentioned.

 

[bumbershoot]

Some one gave me this tip and granted I was not looking to book a Disney owned place but after you book fast pass why not call the reastrant and see what they have I hear they have more openings then what you see online

You're talking about rainforest cafe, right? That's unique. Raglan Road is another that's not owned by Disney that you can book in other ways.

The restaurants the op wants are NOT on that list. Unless someone cancels between the OP looking online and calling, the CMs have nothing different for her by phone.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

You're talking about rainforest cafe, right? That's unique. Raglan Road is another that's not owned by Disney that you can book in other ways.

The restaurants the op wants are NOT on that list. Unless someone cancels between the OP looking online and calling, the CMs have nothing different for her by phone.

Right sorry I did not mean to give bad advice I was hoping if that tip helped me it would help someone else

 

[Hopefully]

Right sorry I did not mean to give bad advice I was hoping if that tip helped me it would help someone else

It was nice to want to help. But as @bumbershoot stated Rainforest Cafe is in a unique group of non Disney owned restaurants that this tip will work at. None of the restaurants that the OP were asking about are in that group.
That tip was specific to help you.

 

[VAfamily1998]

At 180 days, book what YOU think is right. Don't ask them, don't tell them, just do it. Then at the 60 day mark when you are booking fastpasses, see if what they are suggesting is available. If it is, great! Book it! But if not, you can go to them and say "I'm sorry, but there are no reservations available for restaurant X at 6pm on Tuesday--but it IS available at 6:30 on Monday (or whatever you have the reservation for.)

 

[LilyWDW]

I would be getting up and booking them anyway. After you do ADRs then you can try to change things, but at least you have the reservations ready to go anyway.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

Yes do your reservations right at 180 days. You can always attempt to cancel and change later if what your family wants is available. Also, it might be worth explaining to them why you need to book so far in advance- it might be worth emphasizing to them how busy and in demand everything at Disney is! have fun!

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

I feel your pain.. my future in laws went to Disney for the first time 2 years ago and complained that they ate chicken nuggets and burgers all week and the only restaurant they could walk into was Hollywood and Vine I told them they would need reservations for the restaurants and they know how much planning I put into my family's Disney trips.. still it seemed like they didn't believe me until they tried to walk up to a restaurant and was told they needed reservations.

I took my fiancé back this past May on a short trip planned completely by me (ADRs and FPs) and he LOVED it.. so much that he is super excited about our Disney wedding in April and let me book a week long honeymoon stay at Disney. He hates being on a schedule and being told what time he needs to be at a certain place.. so I made it seem like we were "deciding" on a restaurant the day of. For example on our Epcot day we were strolling around World Showcase and walked by Spice Road Table.. I said this place has really good food let's eat here (I already had an ADR ). He STILL talks about the food at Spice Road Table, Tiffins, Cape May and even Cinderella's Royal Table

 

[Moana of Motunui]

Oh no I'm totally booking my food at the 180 mark. If they don't like what I book then oh well.

I'll eat and meet Mickey while they eat Mickey waffles at the resort food court. I'm already dreading this trip and I shouldn't be.

 

[leahlefler]

That is really tough - I would book the reservations anyway. You can always cancel them at any time (at least 24 hours before the reservation) without penalty so there is no reason to wait. I decide on our "main" park by looking at estimated crowd calendars, and base our lunch restaurant off the main park we will be in that day. We do have park hoppers, so sometimes I book a different restaurant for dinner if I think we might hop over to that park. For instance, the Magic Kingdom has extra magic hours in the evening on the day we plan on being in Animal Kingdom. I plan on eating lunch at Animal Kingdom and dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern, so we can be in the MK for the EMH that evening. If we decide not to do that, I can always cancel the dinner plan as long as we are a day in advance! I don't worry about the fast passes until much later. The restaurants are adjustable after you book them - it isn't like it is written in stone when you put down a reservation.

 

[Haygar2]

I'm already dreading this trip and I shouldn't be.

Don't dread it! You will be at Disney! It will all be okay. Our husbands and kids just don't understand how much effort and planning we put into these trips. When everything goes well and you have great food, they think "see...you didn't have to pull your hair out. This is great" Meanwhile we've put blood sweat and tears into the trip. We get you. We understand. You've got this and you will have a great time.

 

[bumbershoot]

Our husbands and kids just don't understand how much effort and planning we put into these trips.

I have a feeling the OP is dealing with more than spouse and kids though.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I have a feeling the OP is dealing with more than spouse and kids though.

That's for sure. Know the feeling.

 

[buddyjo143]

I took my fiancé back this past May on a short trip planned completely by me (ADRs and FPs) and he LOVED it.. so much that he is super excited about our Disney wedding in April and let me book a week long honeymoon stay at Disney. He hates being on a schedule and being told what time he needs to be at a certain place.. so I made it seem like we were "deciding" on a restaurant the day of. For example on our Epcot day we were strolling around World Showcase and walked by Spice Road Table.. I said this place has really good food let's eat here (I already had an ADR ). He STILL talks about the food at Spice Road Table, Tiffins, Cape May and even Cinderella's Royal Table

I can't imagine trying to do that. If I couldn't manipulate us to the location or he said no, I would have a forfeited reservation or one of us would be hungry and it would get ugly.

 

[wedowdw17]

To be honest, many just don't understand what it takes to plan a Disney vacation if you want to do popular attractions and eat at popular restaurants. I wouldn't have known it either if I didn't do a ton of research. It also helps that I am an obsessive planner by nature, so this kind of trip suits me well. Our first trip, I tried to get my family involved, but they were just like "do whatever you want and I'm sure it will be fine". I got weird looks from my husband for booking ADRs 6 months out. Needless to say, after they saw how smoothly it went last time, I have no strange looks this time AND I even got them to give me their favorite ride/restaurant from last trip to work into this one They're learning....

ETA: Book at 180 days....there's no penalty for doing it, and my guess is your family will be grateful about 120 days from now

 

[Bob Dolewhip]

I was The Planner for our last trip and luckily everyone let me do my thing. I asked everyone what their must do/must eat lists were and then I did my best to make it happen. You have to book your restaurants first, no way around it. Tell them if you don't book it at 180 days you will not be able to get a reservation there. If you can't get a fastpass you can still go on a ride, but no reservation means no table.

 

[marikujawa]

My family is killing me. They want to book food when we book fastpasses. Meaning- there will be no food options left!!! Our food opens up in about 2 weeks. I know I'm booking food when it opens because I am not waiting.

They want to go to breakfast at Ohana and Chef Mickey, get dinner at Be Our Guest (well, if we don't get this one we aren't going to cry about it), and possibly get dinner at Coral Reef. All of these are restaurants you need to book at 180, not at fastpasses time. That's what... 60 days out?

Ugh they're impossible.

Just book the places you mentioned as soon as your window opens - there will be plenty of restaurants available at 60 days out, just not the most popular ones. If the problem is them not believing you, just have them go to the Disney site and search availability 60 days from now. When they see the places they want listed as having no availability, they will be more likely to follow your lead.