The Worst Time to Book a Dining Reservation Near Magic Kingdom

There are a lot of things to consider when you book an advance dining reservation in Disney World.

‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

First, you have to figure out WHERE you want to eat and be ready to book the reservation 60 days in advance of the first day of your Disney World trip. Then you’ll have to make sure your itinerary leaves you plenty of time to get to your reservation, especially considering that there may be penalties for missing it. But there may be one thing you’re not even thinking about when you book a reservation near Magic Kingdom.

This comes after we had an eye-opening experience recently. Here’s the thing: you may want to re-think making an advance dining reservation anywhere in the Magic Kingdom area — including at the Magic Kingdom-area resorts — on nights that have Evening Extended Hours.

Magic Kingdom Extended Evening Hours presents a unique problem

So here’s the situation. We had an experience recently that made us realize that this is a real issue. We were leaving Disney’s Contemporary Resort one evening around 9PM. Now, 9PM is when Extended Evening Hours usually happen, and this was a night that Extended Evening Hours were happening at Magic Kingdom.

Contemporary Resort Monorail

Well, the line for the Monorail was VERY long because everyone was headed to Magic Kingdom for the evening. That’s because guests staying at the Monorail Resorts in the Magic Kingdom area all get access to Extended Evening Hours. We ended up having to wait 45 minutes for the Monorail. If we’d had a dining reservation at any of those resorts around that time, we would have certainly missed it.

Citricos at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

We found that the rush for the Monorail was very similar to the rush at the end of the evening when leaves Magic Kingdom — yes, it was that chaotic. Honestly, we think it might be a good idea to keep this in mind if you want to make reservations at any of the three Monorail resorts, including Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, or Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. This could also be a problem if you’ve booked a reservation at that time for an EPCOT restaurant.

California Grill at Disney’s Contemporary Resort

Our advice is to check Magic Kingdom’s hours and Extended Evening Hours on the Disney World calendar before committing to reservations in the area, especially if your plans involve using the Monorail.

Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney news, resources, and tips.

This is the Leading Cause of Missing Your Dining Reservations in Disney World

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