Thanksgiving Dinner

[Erin C.]

Hopefully this is the correct area to post this question...if not .... let me know.

We will be at WDW during Thanksgiving. How hard is it going to be to get a dinner reservation on Thanksgiving Day? I am hoping for Crystal Palace or Liberty Tree Tavern. Or should we plan to go outside the parks?

[buzznwoodysmom]

If you want either of those for this Thanksgiving I suggest you get on the phone or online to try booking it as soon as possible. We are going to be in WDW for Thanksgiving and I booked all our ADRs this weekend. Actually I had to call for the Thanksgiving dinner ADR. For some reason it wouldn't allow me to book Thanksgiving dinner online, and another Intercotee told me they had the same problem. I would guess that Liberty Tree Tavern will be completely booked very, very soon.....If it isn't already booked solid for Thanksgiving day. Get to those ADRs ASAP, and good luck.

[Erin C.]

Got it....since we don't check in until 11/24 I cannot make my reservations until Wednesday. Thanks for the info....

[Mickeydream]

We will also be there for Thanksgiving (meet and greet?) and made our ressie for HDDR for a late dinner. Good luck with your ADR's.

[AdventurerKim]

Thanksgiving is always full, so make your ADR as soon as the phones open the day you can. We got all of our ADR's for Thanksgiving week at the times we wanted (a first!), including Cape May Cafe on Thanksgiving night. We called right when the phones opened.

[jnfr2424]

Last year we booked the trip late (June) and it was 180 days out so there was NOTHING avail for Thanksgiving. Due to the fact that I had tickets for La Nouba the only place we could eat was Fulton's it was ok but this year I will be on the phone bright and early Thursday to make our ressies for Thanksgiving @ 1900
Good Luck to everyone!

[mouseneer]

Thanksgiving 2008.... our first eight choices were fully booked,so we had to settle on Hollywood and Vine. I tried to make our ADR's in July. Good Luck.

[wdw_bound]

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at the Fort a few years ago. It was two credits on the DDP, but worth it. It is basically Mickey's Backyard BBQ, but with a traditional menu (turkey, ham, stuffing, etc.). Good character interaction, live music, and the kids got to make their own dessert.

One piece of advice: get there early. Seating is first-come first serve at picnic tables (it is outdoors in a covered pavillion).

Have a great trip!

[mouseketeer mom]

We're spending our Thanksgiving dinner at Ohana's this year, and Thanksgiving breakfast at Chef Mickeys. We've done the Luau on Thankgiving day in the past and enjoyed that. The online system doesn't seem to be allowing Thanksgiving day ADR's to be made online. We had to call for ours.

[Erin C.]

Thanks for the info everyone!!! When I called WDW-Dine she said I can call on on the 26th. So...now my question is....am I correct to say that the on-line reservation is open at 6:00 am and the phones at 7:00 am?? If not, PLEASE let me know the best time to call. We don't usually do many ADR's (as I am sure you can tell - ) so I just don't want to drop the ball on this one!!

[mousetrapper]

I booked our ADRs last week. I went online first at 6 am - just kept refreshing the page until it showed the first day of my trip on the calendar. Then I called in at 7 am (I explain why below).

In another post I described all the problems I had, so I'll share with you just in case you make the same mistakes I did...

Be sure you have your WDW resort confirmation number in front of you whether you're online or call in. I had booked my vacation through Southwest Airlines and so WDW had no record of my stay. If you booked through WDW you should have that number. You need it when you register online for ADRs and the CM will also ask for it when you call.

If you're not sure, call WDW ahead of time to be sure you're in their system and you have the right number.

Because I didn't have any such number (only the confirmation number from Southwest), I was only able to book the first day's worth of ADRs online. Then when I called at 7 am there was all kinds of confusion (which consumed precious time!) and I had to make a few calls to straighten everything out.

The other mistake I made was that I forgot one of my ADRs. I had written everything down but my handwriting isn't the best, so I skipped over one breakfast I wanted. So, again, I had to call back...

Just try to have your ducks in a row before you go online or call! I have other tips too but my goodness, this is one long post...

[Erin C.]

Thanks so much for the great advice mousetrapper...wish me luck...going to bed now...got to get up at 6:00 am to start the ADR process!!!

[mousetrapper]

Good luck!

Let us know how everything turns out.

[Erin C.]

Woo Hoo.....so far so good...I am having trouble getting Thanksgiving res but I do have one at LeCellier on Sunday the 29th for my daughter's 16th birthday!! I will keep trying!! The one on Sunday was the most important. Stay tuned for more....

[Erin C.]

Got an 11:30 am reservation at Liberty Tree for Thanksgiving dinner....a little early but there was nothing available for lunch or dinner at Crystal Palace and the only reservation at Liberty Tree was 11:30. So....all in all my ADR's are a success!!!! 90 days and we will be there to celebrate Riley's 16th birthday!!!

[jnfr2424]

I booked our ADRs last week. I went online first at 6 am - just kept refreshing the page until it showed the first day of my trip on the calendar. Then I called in at 7 am
Just try to have your ducks in a row before you go online or call! I have other tips too but my goodness, this is one long post...

Thank you for this long post! 8/27 is my 90 day mark and I am already a nervous Nelly about not being about to get the ADR's wanted for the Turkey day vacation especially seeing what others are posting about their ADR experiences! I am about to download the dining resrvation planner from intercot and I am going to make sure I have my reservation number ready to go
Again thanks again for the info and wish me luck and some pixie dust too!

[mousetrapper]

Excellent! So glad you were able to get those ADRs. An early Thanksgiving "dinner" just means you'll have more time to enjoy the parks (and work off those calories)!

We had dinner at LTT on Thanksgiving 2007 and really enjoyed it. Very traditional T-giving fare + great atmosphere and character interaction.

We also loved LeCellier on our last trip. I hope your daughter has a wonderful birthday celebration. You probably already thought of this, but you may want to let WDW dining know about the special day. They'll do cakes for special celebrations.

[mousetrapper]

Thank you for this long post! 8/27 is my 90 day mark and I am already a nervous Nelly about not being about to get the ADR's wanted for the Turkey day vacation especially seeing what others are posting about their ADR experiences! I am about to download the dining resrvation planner from intercot and I am going to make sure I have my reservation number ready to go
Again thanks again for the info and wish me luck and some pixie dust too!

I'm so glad to help! I know every experience is different but I like to share my experience with others just in case the same things happen to them.

Another tip I've learned (most likely from other posters here) is to make the "tough" ones first - i.e. for your Thanksgiving ADR, ask immediately to book "X restaurant for dinner on Nov. 26 at about X time" - or instead of giving a specific time, just say "first available" or "any available time" if you really just want to get in and aren't concerned about the exact time. (I also used this strategy when I used to book CRT for breakfast! Ah, those were the days...I remember if I didn't take a time immediately it would be gone as I was mulling it over!)

Once that one is in place, you can go back and fill in the other ADRs you want. (This may not apply to you since it sounds like Thanksgiving Day is actually the first day of your vacation.)

I would think this also works for online ADRs, although I wasn't able to book anything but the first day of our vacation online, so I don't know for sure.

Anyway, good luck! One order of pixie dust, coming up..........

[Erin C.]

I know....I actually prefer the early dinner anyways....and yes, trust me by the time I am done everyone will know its Riley's b-day!!!

We surprised her with a trip to Disney for her 13th!!! We literally told he when she got home from school and her bags were packed and told her we were leaving for the airport in one hour!!!

[mousetrapper]

I know....I actually prefer the early dinner anyways....and yes, trust me by the time I am done everyone will know its Riley's b-day!!!

We surprised her with a trip to Disney for her 13th!!! We literally told he when she got home from school and her bags were packed and told her we were leaving for the airport in one hour!!!

Talk about magical! How wonderful. Enjoy!