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cc_TheToph
08-01-2005, 11:10 AM
Good afternoon, all. First post after long time lurking on and loving these boards. Of course, everyone's first post must be a question about an upcoming trip...


I will be there in late October - GCH Concierge, Theme Park View (What's a second mortgage, right? It's DL's 50th, after all!) - and have been told different things about making dining reservations. I am looking to get a Princess Lunch PS at Ariel's Grotto and a Waterside Table at the Blue Bayou. I am trying to determine when to call for reservations.

On the Internet, I have read 60 days in advance, with the first available call time for the day being approximately 7:00 PST. However, in one e-mail from Disney Vacation Planning, I was told 45 days, and in another I was told 30 days.

Please, someone, offer me clarification. Do I start calling 60 days out at 7:00 a.m. PST or is there some information I am missing? Do different restaurants have different times? I will have my two daughters with me, so I must get the Princess Lunch. And my wife and I will do what we have to to get into the BB at 11:30 for lunch.

Help me, MousePad Users. You're my only hope!


P.S. Also, I want to take my wife to Catal for our anniversary... can this be a romantic atmosphere? The food sounds great to us both.

stan4d_steph
08-01-2005, 11:16 AM
If you're using Vacation Planning, you can give them all of your PS requests and they should be able to make those for you.

Catal is a good place to go for a romantic dinner.

tlovesdis
08-01-2005, 12:17 PM
Definately call VP! It's way eaiser than trying to do it yourself. As for the 60 or 30 days out for ressies, it depends on the restaurant. When we went in December, VP was able to make about 1/2 of mine 60 days out and the other 1/2 30 days out.

kimc0486
08-01-2005, 12:33 PM
A side note, another great romantic place to eat for your anniversary dinner is Napa Rose.

yeartolate
08-01-2005, 01:29 PM
While I was on hold, the message said 60 days. That being said, I am leaving in a week and got every reservation I asked for.

Wendi
08-01-2005, 01:35 PM
You can make PS 60 days in advance. If you want a near guarantee on waterside seating for Blue Bayou, make an 11:30 lunch reservation - the number of reservations they make for that time are equal to the number of waterside tables, so you can't miss!

The phone lines open at 8am Pacific.

Surfingstitch
08-01-2005, 02:47 PM
I just made a res for BB in sept and oct.

According to the recording it is 60 days.

Hank919
08-01-2005, 04:18 PM
Question I have does VP charge for this service and how do I contact them

adriennek
08-01-2005, 04:58 PM
A side note, another great romantic place to eat for your anniversary dinner is Napa Rose.

What She Said.

But if you're a lurker - long-term or short-term - you knew I was going to say that, didn't you? ;)

Adrienne

minniemom
08-01-2005, 05:06 PM
I just made a res for BB in sept and oct.

According to the recording it is 60 days.

How far into OCT? 60 days from today is only OCT 1ST. The only reason I know that is because that is our last day in DLR and I waited til today so I could make all my reservations at once.

tlovesdis
08-01-2005, 08:37 PM
You can make PS 60 days in advance. If you want a near guarantee on waterside seating for Blue Bayou, make an 11:30 lunch reservation - the number of reservations they make for that time are equal to the number of waterside tables, so you can't miss!

The phone lines open at 8am Pacific.

Not every place takes ressies 60 days out. I tried for our last trip and couldn't make a few until 30 days out!

As for BB, I have had ressies at 11:30, showed up early, and did not get a waterside table!

I think I have bad luck with ressies for some reason!!! Not fair (said in a very whiny voice!!!!)

VP phone number is 714-956-6833
VP email is vacationplanning@disneyonline.com

SCUBAbe
08-01-2005, 08:45 PM
They mesage on the dinning # says you can make PS 60 days out. i called saturday morning at 10am and made a PS for sunday and we got 11:30am PS. i was surprised. i thought for sure it would be later or not at all..:)

MsYumiBr
08-01-2005, 08:52 PM
You have concierge at the GCH. They are miracle workers. You can call them now because you have reservations if you can't get VP. They are happy to help you and will write up a nice itinerary for you with confirmation numbers and everything if you ask them. I love this because all we have to do is show the itinerary to the restaurant and you are whisked off to your table (relatively speaking of course). It saved my nerves when there was a line of about 30 people standing in the pouring down rain for Jazz Kitchen and I had that piece of paper with the confirmation number. Yay for concierge!

cc_TheToph
08-02-2005, 05:41 AM
It looks like there is some conflicting information out there or, at the very least, different restaurants have different timeframes.

Thanks for all your help.

I am a hands-on guy... I make my own 20+ page itineraries for Disney trips with maps, locations, paths... even trivia and history. Type A personality, and all (at least for Disney, in everything else I am L-A-Z-Z-Z-Y) :)

Anyway, I am a little concerned about leaving familial happiness & accord in the hands of others (i.e. the concierge). Should I trust them? Have them build my dining itinerary? Or should I just call at 60 days and do it myself?

Also, has the POTC settled on its rehab schedule yet? That would certainly ruin my Blue Bayou plans.

Thanks, again. You all rock!

MsYumiBr
08-02-2005, 06:29 AM
By all means make your own itinerary. Just tell the concierge which restaurant at what time. They can do it while you are on the phone with them starting 60 days out. I have heard the've changed it to 45 days as well. However, I know concierge made and changed my reservations around while I was on the phone. Just make your plans, call them and have them do the leg work. They'll get confirmation numbers for you which is a step beyond what I could do by myself. I'm hands on too but it's so much better having a piece of paper in your hands with the resort logo on it when you go to actually eat. Believe me. Before I showed them my itinerary, the restaurants were looking everywhere for my reservations and nearly told me that they didn't have it even though I personally called and made them. I just told the concierge after-the-fact and they made up the itinerary for me. You could do that too. That way you can still be hands on and get the "magic" itinerary. It helps remember everything you planned too. Try to limit your shows and meals to one a day. I had two or three things planned every day for our firs trip and it was hard trying to get places on time.

yeartolate
08-02-2005, 08:15 AM
They must have opened up alot more tables for reservations --- I just got off the phone with them and nailed Blue Bayou (exact time ) and Goofy's for my vacation starting Saturday.

I have 6 standing reservations and I got exact times I was looking for!

hlbtimes2
08-02-2005, 08:47 AM
Now, if they would just release the fall calendar so we can all make plans around park hours and entertainment.

Rteneyck
08-02-2005, 10:17 AM
I just spoke with Disney Dining and they are taking reservations for the princess B/L only 30 days out. The person I spoke with said that all of the others were 60 days. She said most of the princesses will be there along with Ariel now ( I guess since it is Ariel's Grotto). I too hope they walk around and interact - they didn't do much of that at the PB - they mostly stood at the entrance.

Surfingstitch
08-04-2005, 07:21 AM
How far into OCT? 60 days from today is only OCT 1ST. The only reason I know that is because that is our last day in DLR and I waited til today so I could make all my reservations at once.

I made it for the Oct 1, because we may have another mini vaca then.

infinite
08-04-2005, 12:47 PM
We made our reservations yesterday for the end of Sept. up to Oct.1

We were able to reserve Storytellers, Goofy’s Kitchen and Blue Bayou. The only thing we WEREN”T able to reserve were balcony tickets for fantasmic, he said those are 30 days prior, we were put on a list to have the concierge service all for us, but he told us they sell in 3 to 5 minutes, and were weren’t even the first people in the list to call for reservations.

VP is free if you are a guest at one of the Disney hotels ( I believe), they were even able to put different gift items in our room on different dates, after all this they send they are sending us an itinerary.

I Heart Disneyland!
09-04-2005, 09:11 PM
What's the number to call to place reservations ahead of time?
Thanks!!! (I looked through the thread and didn't see it.)

Niwel
09-04-2005, 10:04 PM
What's the number to call to place reservations ahead of time?
Thanks!!! (I looked through the thread and didn't see it.)
Dine Line: 714 781-DINE

I Heart Disneyland!
09-04-2005, 10:43 PM
Dine Line: 714 781-DINE

Thanks so much Niwel!!! I'll be callling tomorrow to set our reservations for October! I am so giddy!!! :geek:

texas minnie
09-05-2005, 07:06 AM
[QUOTE=Wendi] If you want a near guarantee on waterside seating for Blue Bayou, make an 11:30 lunch reservation - the number of reservations they make for that time are equal to the number of waterside tables, so you can't miss!

[QUOTE]

Wow! Is that true? I just made ressie's for BB, 11:30, and asked about waterfront. I was told it is first come, first served on those.

pisces
09-05-2005, 12:49 PM
I tried calling vacation planning by phone, last year, and was dissatisfied, with being put on hold, and being told that some restaurants did not book 60 days, but 30.

What helped, for me, was contacting Vacation Planning for all reservations by email, that way I could print out a written record of the request, and a printed record of any reply....and they always responded to my emails.

No being put on hold, with email.