Booking late for Disney?

[acmom]

We were tentatively planning to go to Disney in late Feb 2015, but then got an email last week with some good deals so may move it up to Nov. 2014 so we would have better weather, lower crowds and cheaper prices.

But I was looking at dining reservations and most of the big character meals are unavailable for all meals, all days we would be there. :( I will keep checking back (any suggestions on best times/ways to check if things have opened?), but what other meals have been fun for your kids besides character meals? My kids will be 4 and 6 when we go.

[KrisM]

Keep checking, especially at the time when people have to pay their trip in full. It think 45 days. Some will change their mind and not go and things will open up. But, just check and a lot of things opened for us. What meals do you want? We enjoyed Tusker House and Akershus and found 2 was plenty. Not a character meal, but the kids really liked both dinner shows (Spirit of Aloha and Hoop De Doo Revue) as well as the Sci Fi Restaurant at DHS.

[acmom]

Thanks! I need to do the math and figure out when the 45 day mark is. Did you just check each day or every so often? I don't have too many specific meals in mind as we have done a bunch of them before but I was hoping for a princess one so we could knock off a few of those signatures, as well as maybe Hollywood and Vine bc my kids are big Disney Junior fans.

Glad to hear the dinner shows were fun - I think I could still get either of those. Did you like one better than the other?

[acmom]

Haven't been since the new fast pass system...will I have issues with getting fast passes too bc of our late booking???

[klwa]

Haven't been since the new fast pass system...will I have issues with getting fast passes too bc of our late booking???

You're not within the 60 day window, so FP shouldn't be a problem.

[KrisM]

FP+ is 60 days, so you are good there. If you want Anna and Elsa be prepared on that 60 day mark!

I checked daily to every couple days. Depended on how often I remembered. We wanted to try the Dessert Party for the fireworks and it was booked when we decided. I tried daily and finally got it the day before the party - so while we were in Disney. I did it on my phone.

[acmom]

FP+ is 60 days, so you are good there. If you want Anna and Elsa be prepared on that 60 day mark!

I checked daily to every couple days. Depended on how often I remembered. We wanted to try the Dessert Party for the fireworks and it was booked when we decided. I tried daily and finally got it the day before the party - so while we were in Disney. I did it on my phone.

Thanks - Im sure DD would love Anna and Elsa so I will set an alarm on my phone for that!!

Any preference of one show over the other? I can still get both...would that be overkill? I think we are going to stay at Beach Club...so Poly would probably be a little easier/quicker to get too, but both would be doable.

[KrisM]

We did both. One on a Tuesday and one Friday. Kids enjoyed them and it was a nice break. There are kids meals at the Aloha and kid-friendly fare at Hoop de doo. I think they may have liked Hoop De Doo a bit more, but they did enjoy the fire jugglers/eaters, learning to hula, etc quite a bit as well.

[brittone2]

We booked only a few months beforehand (feb 2014 trip) and ended up finding a lot of ADRs we wanted. Some took checking in every few days for openings, but we were able to do it all with a pretty short period of planning. I want to say we booked in Oct 2013 for Feb 2014? We had ADRs for things like very early Crystal Palace bkfast, California Grill (we did just sushi so it was faster, and did the earliest dinner ADR) Tusker House bkfast, Kona breakfast, lunch at BOG, dinner at Boma. My kids enjoyed Morocco in Epcot for dinner, Via Napoli was kid friendly, they liked Les Halles for ham and cheese sandwiches using a snack credit. Oldest loved fish and chips in the UK.

We were able to book the dessert party (and we really enjoyed that), but that was during the period they changed how far out you could book it. I happened to be on the Disboards on the day someone announced the change in how far out you could book, so I snagged it easily. I apologize that I can't remember how far out you can book that now.

[acmom]

Thanks all! Looks like a lot of good other dining options to check. And I'll keep checking for character stuff- already lucked into a Akershus dinner! :)

[acmom]

We booked only a few months beforehand (feb 2014 trip) and ended up finding a lot of ADRs we wanted. Some took checking in every few days for openings, but we were able to do it all with a pretty short period of planning. I want to say we booked in Oct 2013 for Feb 2014? We had ADRs for things like very early Crystal Palace bkfast, California Grill (we did just sushi so it was faster, and did the earliest dinner ADR) Tusker House bkfast, Kona breakfast, lunch at BOG, dinner at Boma. My kids enjoyed Morocco in Epcot for dinner, Via Napoli was kid friendly, they liked Les Halles for ham and cheese sandwiches using a snack credit. Oldest loved fish and chips in the UK.

We were able to book the dessert party (and we really enjoyed that), but that was during the period they changed how far out you could book it. I happened to be on the Disboards on the day someone announced the change in how far out you could book, so I snagged it easily. I apologize that I can't remember how far out you can book that now.

What/where is the dessert party? And how did the kids like Boma? I made a reservation for there thinking it would be fun to check out Animal Kingdom Lodge.

[brittone2]

What/where is the dessert party? And how did the kids like Boma? I made a reservation for there thinking it would be fun to check out Animal Kingdom Lodge.

The dessert party is hosted at Tomorrowland Terrace. You pay per person for access to a dessert buffet (decent) and fireworks viewing. Some people dislike it because the fireworks from that location appear to be off to the right of the castle vs. more centered behind the castle. Some people (like me) love it because it was nice to enjoy the fireworks 1x without being elbow to elbow with people. You have a reservation and assigned seating. Most people get up and view the fireworks from the railing vs. sitting at their table. We felt it was worth it, but I dislike being elbow to elbow in huge crowds. To me, it was pretty relaxing and worth it. You can find photos online of what the view is like, and that way you can know how you might feel about the off center view. I can't recall how far out you can book it now. I think it was closer in originally (like 60ish days?) and then it got bumped so that you could book a lot further out. I happened to hit on the Disboard thread on the day they changed it for our travel dates, so we were able to book it for that reason.

We liked Boma mostly for the waiter we had and the ambiance of AKL. We like all sorts of ethnic food, etc. but I didn't find the food that fabulous. Kind of buffet-y (a little overdone) tasting ;) There are some less ethnic/more plain options if your kids aren't into the spices, etc used in some of the dishes. The food was fine and I would do it again I think, it was just kind of that buffet situation where it can get a little overdone sitting under heat lamps. Maybe we were there on a bad night. We enjoyed exploring AKL and checked out the savannah with night vision goggles after dinner, which was a lot of fun.