On-line vs. Phone

[runner110]

I posted this on another thread, and it was a little off topic, so I thought I'd try again on a new thread.

If we arrive on January 23, can we make reservations for our entire week starting on October 23? And is it best to use the on-line system, or stick with the old way?

Thanks.

PS - I still owe everyone the trip report from our non-Disney Universal and SeaWorld trip in August, but in the meantime, you can read into how it went by the fact that I'm trying to book a WDW trip only a few months later!

[rph13]

If I am counting correctly you can book on Oct 26th for Jan 23rd. If you go to the WDW website and click on Book then Dining there is a calender there that shows that people today (10/19) can book for trips starting on Jan 17th.

You can do the 90 plus 10 days if you are staying on site and have a confirmation number.

I would do a combo of the online and phone system, that is what I did last month for our trip that start 12/28. I did get most of our ADR's thru the online system but I called about Crystal Palace (the online system did not tell us it will be closed starting 1/1/10), T-rex required me to call them directly, don't know why, the online system has worked for others and I was looking for a Fantasmic dinner package.

Sorry to hear that Universal/seaworld trip did not go well. We went to Universal last year for the week between Christmas and New years and had a great time, with very little lines and really good weather.

[danyoung]

Save this site - it's totally invaluable!!!

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/pscalc/dispscalc.html

It's just a quick calculator that will give you the dates you need to call. Rumor has it that your online window will open up anywhere from 1 to 6 hours early, so it's best to use it to try and get everything you want. If you miss out on something that seems to be booked up, then try the phone system. You might also want to repeat call over the next few days to see if anything opens up (as it quite often does!). Disney plays a strange game with their reservations - they don't always put everything up for booking all at the same time. So sometimes you can keep calling and eventually get what you want.

Good luck!

[runner110]

Sorry to hear that Universal/seaworld trip did not go well. We went to Universal last year for the week between Christmas and New years and had a great time, with very little lines and really good weather.

The Universal/SeaWorld trip wasn't bad, but it wasn't Disney. It was a theme park vacation, as opposed to one having the magical nuances and escape from reality impact of a Disney trip. We had fun, but it made us miss WDW.


Save this site - it's totally invaluable!!!

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/pscalc/dispscalc.html

It's just a quick calculator that will give you the dates you need to call. Rumor has it that your online window will open up anywhere from 1 to 6 hours early, so it's best to use it to try and get everything you want. If you miss out on something that seems to be booked up, then try the phone system. You might also want to repeat call over the next few days to see if anything opens up (as it quite often does!). Disney plays a strange game with their reservations - they don't always put everything up for booking all at the same time. So sometimes you can keep calling and eventually get what you want.

This is a great link! The magic date is 10/25. That gives me a few more days to decide.

Thanks for your help!

[mamanetfille]

I think I replied to your post on the other thread - hope you see it :-)

[rph13]

The Universal/SeaWorld trip wasn't bad, but it wasn't Disney. It was a theme park vacation, as opposed to one having the magical nuances and escape from reality impact of a Disney trip. We had fun, but it made us miss WDW.



This is a great link! The magic date is 10/25. That gives me a few more days to decide.

Thanks for your help!

I hear you on the Universal/Sea World not being a total escape from reality like a Disney trip usually is. I think our trip to Universal was a little more magical because for the first time our kids really are old enough to do a few things on their own and DH and I spent some really nice time with just the two of us. Dinners, movies and just wandering the parks and picking the rides we wanted to do. We are planning on duplicating this during our upcoming WDW vacation.

Great link that danyoung sent and it even tells you that you can make ADR's a day earlier than when I counted back!:)
Good luck, I hope you get all the ADR's you want!

[runner110]

I think I replied to your post on the other thread - hope you see it :-)

Yes, I saw it. Thanks for your reply.

[runner110]

As a follow-up to this post, I logged on at 6:30am today (90 days out) and got every reservation I wanted at the exact time I'd hoped for. Including tough ones like Chef Mickeys at 7:00 on a Saturday evening and Kousinna at 7:00 on a Friday. The system worked perfectly.

[danyoung]

Good to hear - maybe they've finally got all the bugs worked out!