One of the greatest parts of a Walt Disney World vacation is dining at your favorite restaurants — and ones you’ve never treated yourself to before. To make sure you can have the breakfasts, brunches, lunches and date-night dinners you want — not to mention special reservations for Disney date night — you’ll need to know how to make Disney dining reservations with the app.

Insider Tip: It’s smart to make reservations as early as possible. You can start 60 days before your park day reservation, as early as 6 a.m. or sometimes even a few minutes before.

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You could opt to make your dining arrangements by phone, but using the My Disney Experience app is faster and more convenient. Let’s dive into how to make Disney dining reservations!

How to Make Disney Dining Reservations Using the My Disney Experience App

There are two options for how to make Disney dining reservations using the app: By searching for all restaurants available or by seeing if one restaurant has availability. Let’s go over how to do each one.

How to Make Disney Dining Reservations When Searching for Any Available Restaurants

Open the My Disney Experience app and click the Plus Sign on the bottom.

Click Check Dining Availability.

Set your Party Size, then select the date for your reservation.

If you want to filter by park, resort or another area, tap the Funnel icon (bottom-right).

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Using the Search by Time option, search by mealtime or in half-hour time slots. The mealtime option is the quickest way to scan availability. Also know that searching by time slots usually shows available reservations a bit before and after that time window.

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Scroll to see the Disney restaurants that have reservations for that day and time. When you find one you want, click the reservation time.

After this, you’re usually asked if you want to add anything extra to your reservation. Make your selections or click Skip.

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Confirm your contact information and credit card. While you need a credit card to reserve Disney dining, you won’t be charged right now — it’s for if you miss your reservation and will be charged the fee (I go into that more later on). You’ll also be able to use whatever payment method you want to pay for your meal.

Click the Book Now button at the bottom of the page. Review the reservation details to make sure they’re correct.

How To Make Disney Dining Reservations at a Specific Restaurant

Open the My Disney Experience app, and tap Search on the bottom.

Type the name of the restaurant in the Search Bar, then select it from the options.

Scroll to the left and click Reserve Dining.

Add your Party Size, then select the date from the calendar.

Use the Search by Time option to search by mealtime (the quickest option) or in half-hour time slots. Time slots will show you available reservations slightly before and after that time window, too.

Select the time you want. The next screen will offer Reservation Add-Ons. Make your selections or choose Skip.

Confirm your contact information and credit card. You need a credit card to make dining reservations, but you won’t be charged anything. You also don’t have to use that card at the restaurant.

Click the green Book Now button. Double-check the details of your reservation on the review page.

Do I Need Disney Dining Reservations?

You don’t need to know how to make Disney dining reservations for every restaurant on the premises. Quick service spots don’t have the option to make reservations — you’ll order via the app or in person, then take your food and see if you can grab a seat somewhere.

Also, many restaurants at Disney World that take reservations also have walk-up lists that you can join. If you’ll be able to get a table and how long you’ll have to wait for one depend on availability, though.

Then there are restaurants that are reservation-only, like Monsieur Paul in the France Pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase. (Get a sneak peek at the mouthwatering multi-course meal from there.)

That said, even if the restaurants you’re interested in don’t require reservations, it pays to make them. A good strategy is to make more reservations than you’ll need, then cancel them as your plans shift.

How to Make Disney Dining Reservations With a Walk-Up List

To see if the restaurant you’re interested in has a walk-up list, search for it in the My Disney Experience app. See if there’s a Join Walk-Up List option. If there is and you’re close to the restaurant, you should be able to join it.

I Can’t Get a Reservation for a Disney Restaurant I Want To Go To. What Do I Do?

Some restaurants are harder to get reservations for than others because they’re so popular. Instead of checking the app multiple times a day, use Stakeout.

You can create alerts for specific Disney dining reservations. When there’s availability, you’ll get a push notification on your phone. You can then head into the My Disney Experience app to snag that slot!

It’s smart to use Stakeout as your vacation approaches, like within that final month and even throughout your trip. It’s most common for reservations to open up the closer the date is because people are making last-minute changes.

Can You Make Overlapping Dining Reservations?

No, the My Disney Experience app won’t let you make dining reservations if you already have reservations around that time.

What Happens if You Are Late to a Disney Dining Reservation?

Running late to a Disney dining reservation? There’s an unofficial grace period of 15 minutes for Disney dining reservations. If you make it there within that window of time, you shouldn’t have a problem getting a table.

If you’ll be later than that, speak to the Cast Member at the host stand to see if they’ll help you.

You can try to call the restaurant, but you’ll probably be on hold forever. However, if you do get through and a Cast Member tells you “no” over the phone, it still pays to ask in person.

We were extremely late to our Morimoto Asia reservation, and over the phone, the host said we lost our table. We still went to speak with them in person, and they were able to seat us. You never know.

We have an in-depth article on this topic if you want to learn more.

How to Modify Disney Dining Reservations

To modify or Disney dining reservation using the My Disney Experience app, click the Three Horizontal Lines on the bottom-right.

Select Future Plans from on the left.

Scroll down to find the reservation, then select Cancel or Modify.

Choosing Modify will show you availability for another date and/or time if there is any. Note that some Walt Disney World reservations don’t allow modifications.

 

If you select Cancel, you’ll be asked to confirm the cancellation.

How Soon Do You Have To Cancel Disney Dining Reservations?

As soon as you know you don’t want your Disney dining reservation, cancel it. Do this a minimum of 2 hours before your reservation. Otherwise, you could be charged a fee of $10 per person.

Note that some restaurants have stricter rules when it comes to cancellations. When you book your reservation, your email confirmation will have details about that restaurant’s cancellation policy.

Within that 2-hour time frame, you can use the My Disney Experience app to cancel the reservation. If your reservation is sooner than that, you’ll need to cancel either via the phone or in person.

Is There a Fee for Canceling or Missing a Disney Dining Reservation?

By canceling according to the restaurant’s policy — usually 2 hours or more before your reservation — you can avoid being charged a fee.

We’ve let Disney dining reservations simply pass by, and we’ve been charged $10 per person for not showing up.

However, when we’ve spoken to someone to cancel, the fee’s been waived, even if the reservation was sooner than 2 hours.

Wrapping Up

The My Disney Experience app makes it easy to make, modify and cancel dining reservations from 60 days before your trip right up until the day of. Staying on top of your reservations can prevent unnecessary fees, and using the Stakeout app can help you get the reservations you’re after without being glued to your phone.

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