Disneyland dining reservations are important to have before your trip because popular restaurants will rarely have walk up availability. You can make dining reservations for Disneyland starting 60 days in advance of your trip date which gives you plenty of time to plan.
But what happens if you miss out on some of the best Disneyland dining reservations? Or you need last minute Disneyland dining reservations?
Keep reading for all our tips on making sure you get a spot at every Disneyland restaurant you want to enjoy!
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1. Plan Your Disneyland Dining Reservation in Advance
Disneyland reservations become available 60 days in advance right at 6AM PT. You can book online or via the Disneyland app.I recommend booking online over calling the Disneyland reservation line because it will be more quicker. Some reservations go quickly and you don't want to miss out!
The two most popular reservations at the moment are easily Oga's Cantina and Trader Sam's. Usually if you are logging on right at 6AM PT at your 60 day mark you can easily get the rest of your dining reservations! But those two are the trickiest even if you're online right on time.
If you end up missing your window to book dining reservations then not to worry, there's still options!
2. Set Up Disneyland Dining Notifications
This is the best way to get a Disneyland dining reservation if you missed out when they were first released! I've had great success using this option whether I was planning a trip last minute or trying to get a spot at a hard to get restaurant.
There's a few websites that offer options for free and paid notifications for when spots open up at popular Disneyland restaurants. You pick the date, restaurant and time of day (lunch or dinner) for the dining reservation you want. Then you will be notified immediately either by email (free) or by text message (usually paid) with a direct link to make the reservation.
Here are two well-known options we've used:
- Mouse Dining
- This free service allows you to have up to six active searches at a time. You will get an email when the system finds a reservation.
- You can also opt to pay for text message alerts for only $9 a month. I prefer to receive text messages since I will usually see those before an email.
- Mouse Watcher
- This is a paid service and each active search starts at $5 (works for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner though!). Subscriptions start at $19/month if you need multiple restaurants.
- BEST OPTION! We had the best luck with this paid service. Perfect for the most difficult to get reservations.
The main difference between these options is how often the websites search because the more often they search, the easier time you will have finding a cancellation. I have personally used of these websites and have had the most luck the Mouse Watcher reservation finder. I usually find that I get the notifications from Mouse Watcher quickest although Mouse Dining isn't too far behind.
If you have your heart set on a certain reservation, you'll have the best luck by using all the options available to you so you have more than one searching at a time!
3. Change Your Disneyland Party Size
This can apply to small parties and large parties. If you have a party of two and no reservations are coming up, it might be best to try searching for parties of 3-4 instead and you may have better luck!
For larger parties you can try splitting the party in half and see if that yields better results but realize you can't be guaranteed that your party will be sat together. You can also try calling the Disneyland dining reservation in advance and try to get your party seated together.
4. Don't Give Up on Your Disneyland Dining Reservation!
Don't give up once you arrive! Disneyland's cancellation policy is to charge $10 per person if you no show for your Disneyland dining reservation. In order to avoid this cancellation fee guests need to cancel 24 hours in advance of their dining reservation.
Because of this you might have some good luck checking each day of your trip for last minute availability as guests cancel reservations!
Plus if you still have your dining notifications enabled you'll receive those notifications during your trip so don't give up hope!
5. Join the Walk Up List
If you have your heart set on a restaurant and nothing else has worked then the day of your park visit go straight to the restaurant in the morning and ask to join the walk up list. They will take your contact information and send you a text if they can get you a table. But remember, you need to do this as soon as possible in the morning otherwise the walk up list can fill up.
There's never a guarantee you can get a Disneyland dining reservation this way but many people have had success with this option that it's worth a try.
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