hi Coffee,
It is a veeeery wise ideas to make reservations if yo uare going to dine at any of the sit down resturants at wdw.
If not you will be waiting sometimes up to a couple hours to be seated
Just wanted to comment on this tip a little more. There have been recent changes to some of Walt Disney World's policies the last couple of months regarding dining reservations. Disney will accept dining reservations 180 days out. Sounds like along time, but it is wise to know that there are many popular sit down restaurants that will fill up right away. Many places will actually fill up even on the first day of booking.
Example: My wife and I are going December 1-15 this year. Part of our stay will be at WM. We plan to eat at a sit down restaurant our first night there on December 1st. 180 days before December 1st is June 5th. So on June 5th, I can make a reservation for any WDW sit down restaurant for December 1st, and only December 1st. If want to eat at a sit down restaurant on December 2nd, then I have to make a reservation the following day (June 6th) for this day. Make sense. I hope I didn't confuse anybody. So if you expect to eat at a sit down restaurant at WDW, I would suggest checking WDW's website and have plan of what places you want to eat.
I mentioned there have been a few changes to this policy as well. The biggest change to this policy is that WDW now requires a credit/debit card to make reservations for certain restaurants. Mostly to the ones that tend to book completely at exactly the 180 day window.
This is what the policy states: If a Guest cancels within one day of the reservation or if the dining party is a "no show" for the meal, a cancellation fee of $10 per person will be charged to the credit card used at the time of booking.
So what this means is; if you have a reservation for 4 people and you don't cancel in enough time, or fail to show up, WDW will charge you credit card $40. The main reason WDW started this is because several people would make multiple reservations for one restaurant, for the same day, different times; then pick a time that was most convenient for them to go, without canceling their other reservations. This would leave other guests without the option to make reservations, and would often leave empty tables in the restaurants. By doing this, WDW is hoping it will cut down on the number of multiple reservations by one guests; and will open up more reservation opportunities to other guests. I have seen other forums argue and debate over WDW doing this, so I'm hoping not to start a debate here. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up as to what WDW is now doing.
So my best advice for this is to plan far enough in advance. Look at WDW's website to get an idea of where you would like to eat and be prepared to make reservations 180 days out before your vacation dates. Reservations can be made online or by calling WDW. If you want to know more about it, I'll do my best to answer any questions. I haven't been to WDW since this new policy, but have learned quite a bit about it through other forums.
Also, note there are 3 or 4 restaurants that will charge your credit card for the complete meal right away because of their popularity and their ability to completely book up.