*** Official August 2021 thread ***

[jbrinkm]

I made dining reservations so it's starting to feel real!!! I am really excited to try Saana and I surely hope all you people haven't psyched me up for nothing I'm also planning a meal at my favorite Skipper's Canteen.

We'll be trying Sanaa for the first time this trip also. We really didn't have great restaurants last time - the only one that was really good was Be Our Guest when it was still QS. So we're not doing too many ADRs this trip, but I'm excited about the ones I do have - including Sanaa!

 

[scrappinginontario]

This is the first time in many trips that we won’t have the DDP. Booked 6 ADRs but will cancel 2 most likely as the price of Cinderella’s Royal Table snd ‘Ohana is steep if they don’t bring the DDP back.

Excited to try Sanaa for their bread service that we’ve heard so much about!

 

[Juventus]

August 15 -21 at the Swan

Super pumped as, due to promises made by Disney when I tapped into DHS back in March 2020 and went straight to guest relations and told them I was leaving half way into our 12 day trip due to covid fears (this was a day before the announced closure), we have 3 experience access passes for each day of the trip! (Essentially 3 wide open fastpasses for each day good for any ride except RotR).

 

[jbrinkm]

I don't *think* that new dining has been released yet for the 7-8pm extension of hours at HS - has anyone seen any restaurant availability for that hour?

 

[jbeyes]

I don't *think* that new dining has been released yet for the 7-8pm extension of hours at HS - has anyone seen any restaurant availability for that hour?

I have been watching too and I haven't seen anything added yet.

 

[Marvin1968]

I don't *think* that new dining has been released yet for the 7-8pm extension of hours at HS - has anyone seen any restaurant availability for that hour?

I’m thinking it will probably be around July 1st then August will open up. Watching for a late Oga’s to open up.

 

[Mr. X]

What time does ADR open up when you are 60 days out, tomorrow is 60 days for me.

Also, starting to get concerned that there may be a lot of ride maintenance going on during our trip. It seems like they've waited till the last minute to get things in shape for the 50th. Also got word its highly likely that the monorail station at our resort (Poly) may not be ready during our stay. (Confirming with our TA now)

 

[Gary Stocker]

What time does ADR open up when you are 60 days out, tomorrow is 60 days for me.

Also, starting to get concerned that there may be a lot of ride maintenance going on during our trip. It seems like they've waited till the last minute to get things in shape for the 50th. Also got word its highly likely that the monorail station at our resort (Poly) may not be ready during our stay. (Confirming with our TA now)

6am EST...but sometimes a little earlier (like 5 minutes). My availability was around 5:55am which I think helped in the success I had with all of my ADRs. Sometime Disney tech works in your favor.

 

[MomOTwins]

What time does ADR open up when you are 60 days out, tomorrow is 60 days for me.

Also, starting to get concerned that there may be a lot of ride maintenance going on during our trip. It seems like they've waited till the last minute to get things in shape for the 50th. Also got word its highly likely that the monorail station at our resort (Poly) may not be ready during our stay. (Confirming with our TA now)

They actually just updated the official ADR start time to 5:45am (this is online/in the app, phone is still 7am). Had been six with an unofficial earlier open around 5:45 but now they've made it official.

Refurbishments don't seem to be to be any worse than they usually are, and in truth there are only a couple. Most of the closures are things that have been closed the entire time since Covid, most likely just waiting on adequate staffing to return. Character meet and greets were of course suspended at Covid and not likely to return until kids can get vaccinated. This is what I see is closed at the parks in August, with the ride maintenance/refurbishment closures in bold:

MK
Hall of Presidents (down because they are making the new Biden animatronic)
Railroad (down due to tron construction since before Covid)
Main Street candy shop (refurbishment)
Monster's Inc. (never reopened after Covid--no clue when it will return)

Epcot
Canada circlevision (refurbishment)
Turtle Talk (never reopened after Covid--no clue when it will return)
Epcot monorail (never reopened after Covid--no clue when it will return)
Future world overhaul (multi-year major refurbishment to shops and grounds; however, no rides are temporarily closed)

HS
Live shows -- Beauty and the Beast, Indiana Jones, Little Mermaid, Jedi Training, Fantasmic, Star Wars spectacular (never reopened after Covid--no clue when it will return)
Launch Bay (never reopened after Covid--no clue when it will return)

AK
Finding Nemo (never reopened after Covid--no clue when it will return)
Boneyard (never reopened after Covid--no clue when it will return)

Now hotel refurbishments, yes there are a bunch, but there are always a bunch of refurbishments--in the last 5 years, not a single year went by without more than one hotel undergoing a refurbishment. I do agree that the monorail station is unlikely to be open by August, but frankly, anyone who told you otherwise was in dreamland--those kinds of major projects always take longer than you think, especially since they have to do some of the work outside of the monorail's operating hours at night.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I found when making my ADRs last Friday that I had to do so on my phone. In spite of logging in fresh into MDE on my laptop, ADRs did not seem to recognize my linked reservation so only displayed options up to 60 days from current date. Not sure if anyone else faced a similar situation or, can offer a suggestion for next time?

I prefer to book online when I can as I find it easier than using my phone.

 

[MomOTwins]

I found when making my ADRs last Friday that I had to do so on my phone. In spite of logging in fresh into MDE on my laptop, ADRs did not seem to recognize my linked reservation so only displayed options up to 60 days from current date. Not sure if anyone else faced a similar situation or, can offer a suggestion for next time?

I prefer to book online when I can as I find it easier than using my phone.

The only thing I find helps with a glitch like that is switching to a no-cookies browser, like (e.g. Incognito for Chrome, or InPrivate for Edge). That helped me get through an issue where it wasn't letting me make park passes for all of our days.

 

[scrappinginontario]

The only thing I find helps with a glitch like that is switching to a no-cookies browser, like (e.g. Incognito for Chrome, or InPrivate for Edge). That helped me get through an issue where it wasn't letting me make park passes for all of our days.

Thanks! Great tip although the only computer I have is my work computer and it doesn't allow for private browsing but good suggestion. Hopefully it helps others.

 

[MomOTwins]

Thanks! Great tip although the only computer I have is my work computer and it doesn't allow for private browsing but good suggestion. Hopefully it helps others.

Sorry, Disney IT is the worst

 

[CeCe0906]

Staying at Dolphin Aug 2-6, Disney 3-5, with a day trip to Universal on 6th, before a late flight home. Taking my 8 yr old granddaughter on first Disney trip. Park res for MK, AK, and HS, plan to park hop to Epcot.

 

[Mr. X]

Only able to get 2 of my ADR choices for Aug 29th through Sept 4th. UGHHHHHH

Wondering if something is wrong with the system. It looks like every restaurant is booked on some of the dates/time. Makes no sense.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Well, it's our ADR day (Aug 29th through Sept 4th). We were only looking for Oga reservations. We wanted both an early lunch and late dinner on two days, but only managed to grab a 3pm time on one day.

For others who may be interested....yes, the system is glitchy. We were finally successful on a desktop computer with a private browser, but we also tried through the app, through a phone's private browser, and through a desktop without private browsing. We logged on everywhere around 5:30am and tried earnestly refreshing different devices around 5:45am. Nothing really seemed to be working until about 6:00am, and then we finally managed a reservation for 4 by 6:10am.

We tried different days, times, and party sizes. Reservation times were mostly non-existent, but every now and again would randomly pop in and out. I was wondering if I should just grab a 1 or 2-person reservation when a 4-person reservation finally showed. So keep trying! We'll keep looking for a better time, but I'll take it at this point!

By the way, as others have mentioned, the system showed all our vacation week in blue, meaning we could click on the days and seemingly make a reservation. However, I noticed sometimes the messages were different and finally realized it was not always recognizing our reservation.

If you see, "Sorry! There are no times available....", it seems to indicate it recognizes your vacation dates and you are actively searching for dining. If you see, "We were unable to check for available tables..." (especially if it's already past 6am), it seems to indicate the system is not properly recognizing your ADR dates and you may not actually be searching for dining. At that point, try logging back in or switching back and forth between devices.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Oh, and I should mention we were looking for ADRs on days 4 and 6 of our vacation, which I thought would give us a really good chance. However, those days were basically sold out for Oga's, although the reservation we grabbed was for day 4. We saw more availability for day 7. So, if you are looking for reservations for the first few days of your vacation, particularly for popular spots, it may be difficult, but you never know.

 

[figmentfinesse]

One more day until we can say we are going next month!!!

 

[Mr. X]

Well, it's our ADR day (Aug 29th through Sept 4th). We were only looking for Oga reservations. We wanted both an early lunch and late dinner on two days, but only managed to grab a 3pm time on one day.

For others who may be interested....yes, the system is glitchy. We were finally successful on a desktop computer with a private browser, but we also tried through the app, through a phone's private browser, and through a desktop without private browsing. We logged on everywhere around 5:30am and tried earnestly refreshing different devices around 5:45am. Nothing really seemed to be working until about 6:00am, and then we finally managed a reservation for 4 by 6:10am.

We tried different days, times, and party sizes. Reservation times were mostly non-existent, but every now and again would randomly pop in and out. I was wondering if I should just grab a 1 or 2-person reservation when a 4-person reservation finally showed. So keep trying! We'll keep looking for a better time, but I'll take it at this point!

By the way, as others have mentioned, the system showed all our vacation week in blue, meaning we could click on the days and seemingly make a reservation. However, I noticed sometimes the messages were different and finally realized it was not always recognizing our reservation.

If you see, "Sorry! There are no times available....", it seems to indicate it recognizes your vacation dates and you are actively searching for dining. If you see, "We were unable to check for available tables..." (especially if it's already past 6am), it seems to indicate the system is not properly recognizing your ADR dates and you may not actually be searching for dining. At that point, try logging back in or switching back and forth between devices.

We are a party of 5 so I am thinking that might be an issue since we are a large party. I find it hard to believe every restaurant at the resort is booked for the times I am entering. I tried a smaller aize party and got the same response. Both app and browser.

Decided to call and there’s a 2 hour hold.

 

[scrappinginontario]

One more day until we can say we are going next month!!!

Hard to believe as it's been 'in the future' for so long, it's hard to believe it's almost 'next month'.

I will say it's a tiny bit overwhelming emotionally as only today for the first time in months am I able to book a hair appointment or go to a mall. The thought of Disney with basically no restrictions takes conscious effort not to be overwhelmed....but we'll get there. Baby steps.