Whether or not you "need" to make a priority seating depends on your personality, the time of year of your visit, and which restaurants you are planning on visiting. If you want to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table you will need to call 60 days in advance. This place is small, and books up very fast. There are a few other restaurants that have a tendency to book fast, as well. 1900 Park Faire Character Breakfast, California Grill (especially during the Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks), Crystal Palace, Rose & Crown during Illuminations.
During holidays, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve until New Year's Day, all the restaurants will be filled. Everything else, you can most likely make priority seatings when you arrive in Florida; either early in the week or on the day you want to dine. And in a lot of cases you can just show up at the restaurant and be seated with little or no wait.
How do I make a Priority Seating (PS)?
Priority seatings are made by calling 1-407-WDW-DINE (1-407-939-3463). There are also a few toll-free numbers, but these have been known to be working one day, and turned off the next. The toll-free numbers are:
1-800-446-5365, 1-800-438-9876
When can I make a Priority Seating (PS)?
In the past, all the restaurants would accept priority seatings 60 days prior to the date of the meal. However, they are experimenting with allowing certain restaurants to accept priority seatings 120 days prior to the date of the meal. In general the schedule is:
- Animal Kingdom: Donald's Breakasaurus - 120 days
- Disney/MGM Studios: 60 days; all restaurants
- Epcot:: 120 days; all restaurants
- Magic Kingdom: 60 days; all restaurants
- Resort Hotels: 120 days; all restaurants
Guests have reported variations in this schedule, especially with the Epcot restaurants. It is advised to call at the 120 day mark, and ask. If they tell you no, ask them to verify in their computer. Better to ask, then accept what they tell you, and find out later that the restaurant is already booked.
Help!, How do I choose where to eat?
Choosing a restaurant is the hardest decision. Examine your budget, the type of cuisine your family likes to eat, whether you want buffet, sit-down, or counter service food. Then read the menus that are on line. If you want to see other people's opinion of certain restaurants, a good place to gather opinions is rec.arts.disney.parks. You can also search rec.arts.disney.parks on dejanews, to see what people have already said about a particular restaurant.
Where can I see the menus?
The Walt Disney World Information Guide has an almost complete listing for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners everywhere on Disney property.
Where can I eat with Characters and who will I see?
There are several character dining options for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Check out the official disney.com dining site. Select "Character Dining" in the "What are you looking for in a restaurant" section.
There is also a character dining FAQ on the Walt Disney World Information Guide an unofficial site, hosted by Deb Wills.
What is this $50 coupon I keep hearing about?
In the 1998 "Walt Disney World for Adults", written by Rita Aero, was a set of coupons. One of these coupons was for up to $50 off your bill at the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin resorts. The coupon was good until 12/31/98, and there are currently no plans for a coupon for 1999. These coupons are no longer valid, and there are no plans at this time for them to be included in future editions of Rita's book