NEWS: Disney World Dining Reservations For Hotel Guests Opened Today. Here’s What’s Happening!

Disney4me · June 18, 2020

Disney World dining reservations opened up today for guests who have hotel reservations between June 22 and July 10, 2020. Only a few restaurants will be open — all located at the Disney Vacation Club resorts that are opening on June 22nd — but that hasn’t stopped the classic booking day Disney phone line jam!

wdw-riviera-resort-grand-opening-topolin

Topolino’s Terrace

We’ve gotten through on the phone lines, though, and we’ve got details! Let’s dive in and see how many of your questions we can answer!

You May Be On Hold For a While

Currently, guests are only able to book by phone, so technologically we’re returning to the days of yore…before anyone could book their dining reservations online via My Disney Experience. Which means we’re in for hours on hold.

The Wave

You’d think that with such a relatively small sample space — ONLY guests who have hotel reservations between June 22 and July 10th are allowed to book right now, and they can’t book anything past July 10th — that the phone lines wouldn’t be as overwhelmed as they are with a big new restaurant opening. But that doesn’t seem to be the case this morning. Our four team members here at DFB were on hold for 45 minutes to an hour — one of us was given a more than 2-hour estimated wait time. And we called at 7AM on the dot!

Tonga Toast for Sunday Brunch? Yes, please!

So here are a few tips for you if you’re still on hold:

An hours-long wait time is not uncommon: It’s true. We’ve been through this over and over again. So take the dog for a walk, jump on your exercise bike, feed the baby, write that blog post ;-). Believe me, you have time. Just keep your phone with you and try not to hang up while you’re getting other things done.
Cast Members might not have all the information they need: Again, all too often this is the truth. And right now it might be even more the case. Things are changing SO quickly at Disney World right now that it’s hard for anyone to have all the details and updates in line. So go easy on your Cast Member if they don’t have all of the details and information they need to make your booking. You’ll get through it together.
When you do get through, get confirmation numbers for ALL dining reservations. Your My Disney Experience account might not update immediately, so make sure you have confirmation numbers so nothing goes awry.

Other Dining Reservation Details You Should Know

Eventually, after almost an hour of waiting, one member of our team did get through to talk to a Cast Member, and that means we got some questions answered and some reservations MADE.

According to the cast members we spoke to, guests can ONLY book reservations during the length of their stay — so you can’t book ANY dining beyond your hotel reservation. But you CAN book at other hotels besides your own.

Grand-Floridian-Cafe-Atmosphere-003-700x

Grand Floridian Cafe Dining Room

Disney is not booking any dining past July 10th at this time (yes, we tried to get some theme park dining reservations for July 11th — no dice). Those later reservation dates — and theme park restaurant booking — will likely come with the updated online booking process for dining reservations.

The cancellation policy is the same as it’s always been! You gotta cancel within 24 hours before your reservation time — if you don’t, you’ll be charged the standard fee of $10 per person. As a reminder, character meals are currently not available (except for a modified experience for breakfast at Topolino’s Terrace) and hours are subject to change.