Disney Confirms Future of Dining Reservations Following Park-Wide Shut Down

in Walt Disney World

A family of four, two adults and two children, are seated at a table in a lively restaurant. They are smiling and posing for a photo with a person dressed as a chef Mickey Mouse character, who has arms open wide in a friendly gesture. Food and drinks are on the table.

Credit: Disney

After several hours of disruption, the Walt Disney World dining reservation system is once again fully operational. As of 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time this morning, guests can once again book, view, and modify dining reservations across the Florida-based resort. However, guests visiting Disneyland Resort in California are not so lucky—the reservation system on the West Coast remains offline, with no official update from Disney on when it will return.

The issue, which affected both coasts, began early Wednesday morning, with system-wide outages reported on both the My Disney Experience app and Disney’s websites. Disney has not released an official statement regarding the cause of the disruption, but the downtime left guests scrambling to secure some of the most coveted dining experiences during one of the busiest times of the year.

A large crowd of people, including families with children and strollers, sit and stand closely together outdoors under a cloudy sky, appearing to wait for an event at a theme park. Lamp posts and trees are in the background.
Credit: Inside the Magic

Walt Disney World Dining System Restored

A joyful character meet-and-greet at a themed restaurant, where a woman and a young girl share a smile with Donald Duck in a safari outfit.
Credit: Disney

For Walt Disney World guests, the disruption began around 6:48 a.m. ET, when the dining reservation portal failed to load. Instead of the usual prompts for party size, date, and time, users were met with a completely blank screen—both on the app and the official website. At its peak, the system showed a generic maintenance message: “We’re Down for Maintenance! Try your Online Dining Reservation later.”

By 10:00 a.m. ET, the system had been restored. Guests can once again search for availability, modify existing bookings, and make new dining plans for restaurants across all four theme parks, Disney Springs, and the resort hotels.

We successfully tested the system shortly after it came back online by booking a dining reservation at Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on October 17. Everything worked without issue—from selecting the party size to confirming the reservation in the new digital reservation summary screen.

Disneyland Guests Still in Limbo

While the East Coast system appears to be back to normal, the Disneyland Resort dining reservation system is still down as of the time of publication. The outage affects the Disneyland app and website reservation portal, where guests are still being shown the “We’re Down for Maintenance!” message.

This means no reservations can currently be made or modified for any table-service locations at Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure, or the three on-site Disneyland Resort hotels.

Mobile ordering for quick-service locations is still available, which offers some relief to guests, but it’s far from a complete solution. For many guests—especially those visiting for fall festivities like the Oogie Boogie Bash or planning to dine at signature locations like Blue Bayou, Carthay Circle, or Napa Rose—the inability to secure a reservation can be a major disruption to their carefully planned itineraries.

Disney has yet to comment publicly on when the Disneyland dining reservation system is expected to be restored.

A Critical Time for Disney Dining

A young girl in a yellow dress smiles while reading a menu, accompanied by Cinderella, at Auberge de Cendrillon
Credit: Disney

The timing of this system outage couldn’t be worse. Both coasts are currently in the thick of Halloween event season, with Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Florida and Oogie Boogie Bash in California bringing in large crowds. These after-hours events often feature exclusive dining opportunities, from themed prix-fixe meals to rare character dining experiences, which require advance reservations.

In addition, park attendance has been noticeably strong as guests return for long-delayed vacations and Disney continues rolling out limited-time seasonal menus. Whether it’s pumpkin-spiced treats at Sleepy Hollow or new cocktails at Trader Sam’s, guests are eager to secure a seat.

Dining has long been considered one of the most memorable parts of a Disney vacation—and a core part of planning. For guests booking 60 days in advance, dining reservations often determine park plans, Lightning Lane strategies (where applicable), and even hotel selection.

A Familiar Problem?

This isn’t the first time Disney has dealt with dining reservation issues in 2025.

Earlier this year, during the opening weeks of The Beak and Barrel—a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed lounge in Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland—the dining system experienced intermittent downtime due to overwhelming demand. The Beak and Barrel, which offers handcrafted drinks, savory snacks, and appearances by an animatronic parrot named Rummy, has become one of the hottest reservations on property.

At the time, Disney was forced to issue a temporary virtual queue for guests trying to book the new bar, citing “technical difficulties” as guests were locked out of both the app and the website.

Interestingly, while The Beak and Barrel still requires a reservation at Walt Disney World, its spiritual cousin, Oga’s Cantina, has recently shifted away from that model at Disneyland. The Star Wars-themed bar in Galaxy’s Edge no longer requires reservations, a change many see as a possible trend toward more flexible dining experiences at high-traffic locations. However, the Walt Disney World version of Oga’s Cantina still does require an advance booking, maintaining the reservation-only format for now.

What Guests Should Do

For those planning to visit Walt Disney World in the next few days, you can now safely return to your normal planning routine. Dining reservations are functioning as expected, and we recommend checking availability as soon as possible—especially for hard-to-get locations like Cinderella’s Royal Table, Be Our Guest, and ‘Ohana.

For Disneyland visitors, keep checking the Disneyland app and website for updates. If you’re in the parks and hoping to dine at a table-service restaurant today or tomorrow, speak with a Cast Member in person at the restaurant or visit Guest Relations, as limited walk-up availability may still be an option in certain cases.

And if you’ve got your eye on a special Halloween dining experience or a premium character meal? Have a backup plan ready—just in case.

Disney’s dining system outage today serves as a reminder of just how important digital infrastructure has become to the modern theme park experience. With so much of the guest journey—reservations, mobile orders, Lightning Lanes—relying on Disney’s internal systems, even a few hours of downtime can ripple through vacation plans.

Thankfully, Walt Disney World is back online, and with luck, Disneyland’s system will follow soon. But in the meantime, guests headed to California should remain flexible, stay informed, and be ready to pivot when needed.

We’ll continue monitoring the situation and update you as soon as Disneyland’s dining system is restored. Until then, keep those snacks handy—and maybe bring a little extra patience to the table.

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