The system has been incredibly wonky over the last month or so
(which is to say more incredibly wonky than usual)
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For a few minutes, I was getting what could be normalish availability for Teppan Edo and Skippers, but not CM or BOG. I think itâs really hit or miss if itâs functioning properly right now. So sorry itâs not behaving properly for you!
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Thanks for your help! Luckily I got everything I wanted (just not always when I wanted) when my booking window opened. Although I accidentally booked CM for 2 and I need it for 3. I wanted to be able to tweak times and maybe switch a restaurant or two if/when they extend park hours. I guess I will just keep trying (akin to banging my head on a wall).
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Thank you for sharing this topic. I am booking reservations for June and have booked the campgrounds as a leading reservation. Trip is booked for 6/26- 7/3 and my leading reservation is for 6/16-7/3. I am booking for 8 and based on what I have read from others in this forum, I will have access to one dayâs restaurants per day. Planning on canceling my leading reservation in the beginning of May. I will share my experiences to try and help others.
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So this discussion has me a little puzzled. I never heard of this technique until now.
The last time I did a lot of advance planning for a WDW trip was in 2011, when ADRs could be booked 180 days out. (Iâve been to WDW a few times since, but those were sorta last-minute things.) Now Iâm planning for a bigger trip in October. I think I get the gist of how this works, but I have a few questions about specifics.
Background: Weâve already booked two packages to cover five people â three in one room and two in another (at Pop, if that matters). Both reservations were made under my MDE account, with one room in my name and the other room in my brotherâs name, and these are packages including park tickets. This is NOT a split stay â weâre booked for October 15-24, but arriving very late on the 15th and leaving first thing in the morning of the 24th. Therefore we only need ADRs for October 16-23.
We want some hard-to-get ADRs â Ogaâs didnât exist last time we were there, and Space 220 may be open by then. We also want to get a few old favorites, including Le Cellier. Oh, maybe also BOG. (My wife and I have been before, but the other three in our party have not and really want to go.)
So to employ this technique, I understand Iâll have to make another reservation beginning October 5 or 6. Here are my questions:
- What should the check-out date be for the leading reservation? October 24?
- When should I book the leading reservation? Now?
- Will I be able to put yet another reservation under my MDE account, with two already in there?
- Would a leading reservation beginning October 5 allow me to book ADRs for all dates through October 23?
- It seems to me that if somebody were to compare the leading and ârealâ reservations, it would be obvious which is legitimate⌠e.g., I have park tickets and park reservations already for October 16-23, and the leading reservation wouldnât even have park tickets associated with it. Are there âgotchasâ I should plan for?
Any other advice that you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
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- What should the check-out date be for the leading reservation? October 24?
- Yes
- When should I book the leading reservation? Now?
- Any time before the 60+10 day for your first day of your stay (my quick math says August 6th with a reservation starting October 5)
- Will I be able to put yet another reservation under my MDE account, with two already in there?
- Yes, not a problem
- Would a leading reservation beginning October 5 allow me to book ADRs for all dates through October 23?
- You would be able to book for each day one at a time starting with October 15th on August 6th. But plus side is you wouldnât have to wake up early each day and if you missed a few days you could catch up. Just try to give yourself as many of the 60+10 days as you can, and no less than, say 60+4.
- It seems to me that if somebody were to compare the leading and ârealâ reservations, it would be obvious which is legitimate⌠e.g., I have park tickets and park reservations already for October 16-23, and the leading reservation wouldnât even have park tickets associated with it. Are there âgotchasâ I should plan for?
- No one will notice or care, at least based on years of people doing this. No guarantees, but itâs unlikely to change because you are actually giving them money to hold your reservation, even if it is refundable. Disney likes to have your cash for a few weeks. It helps them manage their cash flows - like taking out thousands of small loans.
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Thanks, Jeff! I really appreciate the quick reply. Your response made me think of a couple followup questionsâŚ
First, does the leading reservation have to cover five people? I recall being able to book ADRs for a greater number of people than I had listed on a reservation before, so guessing I only have to list one person on the leading reservation (me, I guess). But then Iâll be double-booked â Oct 5-24 on the leading reservation, and Oct 15-24 on the ârealâ reservation. Seems like it could be a problem.
Second, isnât it a dead giveaway what Iâm doing if I have a room reservation beginning Oct 5, but donât make any ADRs for dates prior to October 16?
Thanks again for your help with this. 
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No, just one. You can make dining reservations for as many people as the system will let you as long as the lead person on the hotel reservation is on the dining reservation. There is no problem with you being double booked at two resorts.
Perhaps if someone at Disney was assigned to look for people doing this and to stop / prevent it. But by all accounts they are not currently focused on this.
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Oh, so I guess it makes sense that the leading reservation should be at another resort. Maybe at one of the All StarsâŚ
Yeah I would find the cheapest room or campsite you can that has availability for all your dates.
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Iâve seen others mention campsites for leading reservations. Is there some advantage to using a campsite for that vs. using a resort?
Just cost. You only have to deposit one nightâs stay for the whole leading reservation, then the entire thing is refundable. So it really doesnât matter that much. Itâs about $100 for a campsite vs. about $150 for a value, etc.
Having just booked two rooms at Pop recently, I can vouch that the deposit is $200 per room. Maybe because itâs the rack rate⌠hoping for a discount offer to come up for my dates.
Thanks again for all your help on this, Jeff. 
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If you did a package itâs $200 deposit period no matter the nightly cost of the room. A room only rate is one nightâs cost so it varies depending on the going rate of the season and the price of the hotel.
I thought that the advantage to getting the campsites is that you can book for longer than 14 days there. I paid a down payment of $210 for my campsite.
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Oh that may be true as well. I think there is a 14-day limit that @Tall_Paul1 encountered, but it might have been on rooms with the seasonal discount. You may want to just play around with it when youâre booking and see what options are available for the dates you need, then book whatever is cheapest.
Okay, thatâs something to keep in mind. If thereâs a 14 day limit on a resort booking, then a leading reservation beginning Oct 5 would mean my check-out date on the leading reservation would be Oct 19, which is before my actual check-out date of Oct 24. So I might need a second leading reservation to cover ADRs from Oct 20-23, beginning Oct 10?
ETA: Or, I could make the leading reservation for the dates Oct 9-23, which is a 14 day reservation and covers all the dates of my actual reservation except the check-out day (which doesnât matter for ADRs). The only problem with this idea is that I donât get 60+10 that way; I think it would be 60+5.
I had a leading reservation for 22 days from May 18-jun 9 no probs at asmovies
And I didnât really need past the June 7th because the other res kicked in by then since it was a 12 nighter
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Hmmm⌠I guess Iâll have to just try making a reservation and see what it allows me to do. Thanks for your advice.
Okay, it looks like availability for my leading reservation dates is really limited, with some resorts unavailable and some room types already booked up. Iâm guessing availability is limited to those hotels currently open? This makes me think I should book something now, even though I wouldnât otherwise have to do it until August.