Whether it was in Disney World or in your hometown, restaurants experienced limited capacity restrictions beginning in March of 2020 that seemed to all but erase reservation availability. Since then, however, capacity has more or less returned to normal — but has Disney’s Advance Dining Reservation process gotten any easier?

A lack of available dining reservations seems to be a hot-button topic and many readers have reached out with concerns. This led us to wonder if there were actually NO/very limited Advance Dining Reservations in Disney World. We put on our investigator hats and got to work to get an answer!

We actually got a pretty quick answer and realized that yes, there are plenty of dining reservations available. However, they may not be the reservations that you’re looking for!

What actually IS available right now?

We conducted several searches to see which Disney World dining reservations would pop up, and we got a decent amount to choose from no matter what date we chose! We started with an ultra last-minute dining reservations and searched for the following calendar day. If you wanted to book a reservation for, say, tonight, we were able to find a 7:00PM dinner reservation for two at Be Our Guest Restaurant. Not bad if you want to dine in the Beast’s castle with little to no notice!

Other options that popped up within 24 hours of the reservation time included Oga’s Cantina and La Crêperie de Paris, one of EPCOT’s newest restaurants. These are just a few of the many dining reservations we found. If you wanted to eat at a table service restaurant within 24 hours at Disney World, there appears to be plenty of options available (they just may not be your first choice!).

If you want to improve your odds of finding your top-choice reservation, then you’re going to want to book as early as possible. So, our next search was for 60 days out — the furthest you can currently book — and found multiple reservations available at restaurants like Le Cellier, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Citricos, and Steakhouse 71.

Click here for a list of common mistakes to avoid when booking a dining reservation in Disney World!

So what is so difficult to find?

There are a few table service restaurants that have been known for years as spots where it is pretty difficult to find an Advance Dining Reservation. This was true before the closures and it remains true to this day! Amongst all of our searches, we had a hard time finding much, if any, reservations for restaurants like Cinderella’s Royal Table, California Grill, ‘Ohana, and another new EPCOT restaurant, Space 220.

However, as we were digging, we DID manage to find a lunch reservation for 2 at 11:40AM for ‘Ohana 60 days in advance! So in some instances, they are available — you might just have to click around for a few minutes to see if it pops up.

These reservations are not impossible to find, but they are still tricky to come across and require a little extra planning. Next, we’ll tackle a few tips that we can provide to make your reservation search process a bit smoother!

Click here to find out which reservations will be the hardest to get a reservation for in 2022!

Tips for securing the perfect dining reservation.

Like we mentioned earlier, the best way to improve your odds of getting your first choice Advance Dining Reservation (ADR) is to be ready to book right when your ADR window opens up for your trip 60 days out. Reservations become available at approximately 5:45AM EST, so you’ll want to make sure you set your alarm that morning!

When it comes time to book, book those mega-popular restaurants first before the reservations are gone. These include but are not limited to ‘Ohana, Cinderella’s Royal Table, Space 220, Chef Mickey’s, and California Grill, though a number of other restaurants could have fluctuating demand throughout the year.

Searching for reservations at non-peak times may increase your odds of success. If you don’t mind eating a late lunch or an early dinner, you may find more options to be available. And if you ultimately cannot find your top choice restaurants, keep checking! Plans change all the time, and last-minute reservations may pop up as other guests adjust their own dining schedules.

You may want to consider backup choices if your top picks aren’t available — you may find a new favorite restaurant! For example, if you can’t find a reservation at Chef Mickey’s, consider Topolino’s Terrace!

As a last-ditch effort, you could check on Mobile Dine Walk-Up Waitlist once you’re actually in Disney World to see if table service restaurants are accepting day-of, last-minute walk-ups. We’ve heard many success stories of guests being able to be sat at hard-to-get restaurants day-of with just a few minutes’ notice!

Click here to read some of our top picks for DISHES to order in Disney World for 2022!

In short, be ready to book your dining reservations at the stroke of 5:45AM the day of your 60-day Advance Dining Reservation window, and if your favorites don’t pop up, keep checking! We hope this makes what can be a stressful process of booking Advance Dining Reservations a bit smoother. Keep following for more Disney World dining tips and tricks!