180 Days!

Hurrah! We've finally reached the 180-day mark on this vacation planning journey so let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The hard stuff is done! Now it's all fun and games. In this post I'm going to share my plan for securing dining reservations, as well as discuss the new restaurant set to open at Animal Kingdom! We'll end the post with an overview of Universal Orlando dining options and the very cool new Willy Wonka-inspired eatery.

First up, dining reservations. Disney opens the dining portal 180 days before the date of arrival but a little-known secret is that a Disney resort booking qualifies you to make dining reservations up to 189 days before your trip - that could essentially put you ahead of other people arriving the same day but not staying on property! The steps to securing these early reservations are easy: log into the My Disney Experience section of the Disney World website, then select the first day of your itinerary and add dining reservations. The remainder of your trip (up to 10 days beyond your date of arrival) should become available for you to book dining reservations on those days, as well. There are a few restaurants that you should absolutely prioritize when making your selections because they will book up quickly:

• Cinderella's Royal Table Character Breakfast (Magic Kingdom - full prepayment required)
• Victoria and Alberts (Grand Floridian Resort)
• Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom)
• California Grill (Contemporary Resort)
• Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue (Ft. Wilderness - full prepayment required)
• Mickey's Backyard BBQ (Ft. Wilderness - full prepayment required)
• Spirit of Aloha Luau (Polynesian Resort - full prepayment required)
• Le Cellier (Epcot Canada Pavilion)

In almost all cases, a credit card is required for booking but will not be charged unless the reservation remains unused or isn't canceled more than 24 hours in advance. Also, I highly recommend that you take the time to book the restaurants you really want to visit for multiple days in case there are changes in your itinerary. Here's an example of my itinerary below:

• Friday 9/16/16: Dinner at California Grill (Contemporary Resort)
• Saturday 9/17/16: Lunch at Wave of American Flavors (Contemporary Resort)
• Sunday 9/18/16: Dinner at Hollywood Brown Derby (Hollywood Studios)
• Monday 9/19/16: Lunch at Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzera/Dinner at Le Cellier (Epcot)
• Tuesday 9/20/16: Dinner at Tiffins (if it's open) or Yak & Yeti (Animal Kingdom)
• Wednesday 9/21/16: Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern/Dinner at Be Our Guest (Magic Kingdom)
• Thursday 9/22/16: Lunch at San Angel Inn (Epcot)
• Friday 9/23/16: Lunch at Flying Fish Cafe (if it's open - Disney's Boardwalk)

Unfortunately, it can be rather difficult to nail down an itinerary 6 months in advance because Disney doesn't always update their park schedules that early. I definitely recommend using a crowd calendar to get an idea of which park to visit each day (this option at TouringPlans is reliable). I've decided to book ALL of my restaurant choices for each day of my trip so that I can be assured of my dining plans regardless of any changes.

The Disney dining portal opens at 6am EST and the phone reservation system is available at 7am EST. I recommend logging into the My Disney Experience section of the Disney World site before 6am EST to prompt your first, and most important, reservation so that you can hit the 'find a table' button as soon as the portal is open.

Now is a great time to discuss Tiffins, the new signature restaurant opening at Animal Kingdom later this year. While there still isn't an estimated opening date, the theme sounds quite wonderful and the menu preview, as reported by Disney Food Blog, looks delicious! Currently, there are only three major options for sit-down dining at Animal Kingdom (Rainforest Cafe, Tusker House, and Yak & Yeti) so the park is overdue for some fresh tastes. 

(photo courtesy of Universal Orlando)

If you're anything like me, the mere thought of Willy Wonka gets you all giddy inside. The original movie and the re-imagined 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' created a sense of wonderment that can only be described as 'child-like'. I am so glad that Universal Studios announced the addition of The Toothsome Chocolate Factory because it will be a wonderful escape for the often cluttered CityWalk area. If you're unfamiliar with the Universal Orlando resort, CityWalk is a dining/shopping/entertainment area that is open to the public and must be traversed to reach the actual theme parks. While it has several wonderful dining options already, The Toothsome Chocolate Factory promises a fun, new experience that everyone can enjoy. Like Tiffins, it is slated to open later this year but does not have a date yet.

Dining at Universal Orlando is a bit less rigid but can be an organizer's nightmare. Many restaurants are available for reservations via Universal's website, however there isn't a predefined window in which you should book. For example, at this moment Mythos is only booking through April 10, 2016 but Bob Marley - A Tribute to Freedom has openings through June 13, 2016. Thankfully I've never witnessed any difficulties with obtaining reservations for the restaurants I wanted to visit at Universal Orlando but I recommend checking back often to see when your options are open.

Stay tuned because my next post will explore the fun annual events at Disney World and Universal Orlando, including expectations for my most anticipated visit to (finally!) see the Epcot Food & Wine Festival later this year!