Table Service Restaurants at Disney World
You’ll want to plan a few table-service restaurants for your vacation. Table service restaurants range from standard options to character dining and signature dining experiences, which we discuss further below. Most Disney restaurants take walk-ups based on availability. However, you should attempt to secure advanced dining reservations whenever possible. (You will likely not get seated on the whim for any character meals. They are almost always packed.)
Per Disney, here’s what you need to know for making ADR’s:
- Guests with a Valid Disney Resort Hotel Reservation: Make reservations for your entire length of stay (up to a 10-night stay) up to 60 days before your arrival!
- All Other Guests: Make reservations up to 60 days in advance. (If you’re staying off-site, you must do this day by day.)
- At approximately 6:00 a.m. daily, new reservation booking windows become available for select Walt Disney World restaurants.
When you arrive at the restaurant, you will need to check in. If you have location services turned on and notifications allowed, you’ll receive a message on your phone to let you check in. This will happen when you get close enough to the restaurant for them to detect that you’ve arrived. If you have any special celebrations or food allergies, you will enter them in the app at this time. (The app will prompt you to do so.) If you prefer, you can also check in at the podium.
If you don’t have a reservation, you can also check the walkup list in the My Disney Experience app or at the podium if you are near the restaurant—most table service restaurants only seat guests until 2:00 p.m. I have found that the walk-up lists tend to show at capacity by about 1:30 p.m. However, I nearly always get seated if I am physically near the restaurant and request a table.
See our best table service restaurants ranked for our favorite choices.
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