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Planning

How to make Disney World dining reservations

The short answer

Book in the My Disney Experience app or on Disney's website at 6:00am Eastern, 60 days out. If you stay at a Disney resort, day 60 before arrival books your whole stay, up to ten nights; off site, each day opens 60 days before that day. Cancel at least two hours ahead at most restaurants or pay $10 a person. Of the 196 sit-down restaurants we cover, 97 book through Disney, 6 are walk-up only and 5 book elsewhere.

When does your window open?

Enter an arrival date to see when each window opens.

Disney’s own restaurant pages state the resort rule: reservations “up to 60 days in advance of their arrival, for the entire length of their stay (up to a 10-night stay)”. Most planners and planDisney give 6:00am Eastern; one planDisney answer says the website quotes “between 6:00 and 7:00am”, so be logged in before six.

Why resort guests get the hard tables

On day seven of a week-long stay, a resort guest booked that dinner on the same morning as their first night — seven days before an off-site guest’s window for that date opens. For most restaurants it makes no difference. For the handful that go in minutes, it is the whole game, and it is why the hardest tables can look gone the moment an off-site window opens.

The tables that go at 60 days

Our own rating, restaurant by restaurant. Gone within minutes of the window opening:

Book on the day your window opens — these fill well ahead, but not in minutes:

Missed it? These also take a walk-up waitlist

Disney lists these as taking reservations and a same-day walk-up waitlist in the app, so a full booking calendar is not the end of it.

No reservations at all — walk-up waitlist only

The 60-day window does not apply. Join the waitlist in the app on the day, at the restaurant or near it.

Not booked through Disney

These are on Disney property but Disney’s system does not take their reservations. Book with the restaurant or its hotel directly; Disney’s window and fee do not apply.

Cancelling, changing and the fee

  • A credit card holds every booking. Disney charges a per-person fee to it for a no-show, or for cancelling outside the restaurant’s policy.
  • At most restaurants that is two hours: cancel before then and nothing is charged; after it, or not at all, and it is $10 a person. Most bookings cannot be changed inside two hours either.
  • Some take longer. Character meals, dessert parties, dinner shows and dining packages can need 24 hours to seven days. The rule for your booking is at the foot of its confirmation email.

Sources

  1. Walt Disney World official — restaurant pages: “Disney Resort hotel Guests can make reservations for dates up to 60 days in advance of their arrival, for the entire length of their stay (up to a 10-night stay)”; the credit card given at booking is charged a per-person fee for a no-show or a cancellation outside the restaurant’s policy. — Disney official · checked
  2. Walt Disney World official — the dining finder, read daily (last on 22 September 2026): which restaurants take reservations, which are walk-up waitlist only, and which Disney does not book. — Disney official · checked
  3. planDisney, 20 June 2026 — advance dining reservations can be booked beginning at 6am Eastern, 60 days before your check-in date. — reported by · checked
  4. planDisney, 19 December 2025 — reservations open at approximately 6:00am daily; the Walt Disney World website says they typically open between 6:00 and 7:00am. — reported by · checked
  5. planDisney, 3 November 2025 — most table-service restaurants can be cancelled up to two hours before the reservation without a no-show fee; character dining, dessert parties and dinner shows often need 24 hours or longer. — reported by · checked
  6. planDisney, 16 October 2023 — some restaurants, dining packages and dessert parties require cancellation anywhere from two hours to seven days ahead; the policy is at the foot of the confirmation email. — reported by · checked
  7. Disney Park Nerds, 12 February 2025 — Disney charges $10 per person for a cancellation within two hours or a no-show at most restaurants, and does not allow most modifications within two hours either. — reported by · checked
  8. WDW Prep School, 25 March 2026 — how and when to make every Disney World reservation: Disney lists 6:00am for the 60-day mark; availability often appears a few minutes early and trickles in after. — reported by · checked