Examples, glossary, tips & tricks.
The type of filtering this site uses is quite different than what you might see elsewhere. Its goal is not to allow you to find a single specific restaurant but instead to let you find the best way to create a reasonable list of restaurants to choose between.
Each filter holds a set of mutually exclusive decisions—no restaurant will appear in multiple filter choices at the same level. You are able to freely switch between choices in a filter after making a choice so there isn't a penalty to exploring its effect, including how it limits and reduces the counts of other filters. It's only once you make choices in multiple categories where filter choices begin to be disabled.
When you create a smaller result set, it's often the case that some filters have a choice which is true for all displayed restaurants. When this happens, it will be indicated in the sidebar and the reference row at the top of the page.
After you have a good idea of where you're staying, how many days you'll be there, and what parks you want to focus on, it should become obvious you'll find yourself in a lot of different situations. Once each day is loosely outlined, you'll be able to use the filters based on location. For example, if you're at Epcot you may want to filter by park or by the Crescent Lake resorts which are walkable from Epcot.
You'll also need to balance the type of dining you want to do. A mix of full-service and counter-service/fast casual meals makes a lot of sense, as well as limiting the number of all-you-care-to-eat-style meals which are as expensive as they are filling.
These two sets of limitations should really let you focus in on the dining experiences that make the most sense to you. Which of the buffets looks the best to you and will you be really close to it one day? Pencil that in for supper then look for some light fare for lunch in the same area.
Start with the filters that are currently the most important—it's likely this will switch between location and type of dining—then look at the remaining filters to decide how to make your next decision. Ultimately, you should be exploring these ideas as you add and remove filter choices, but never expanding the scope of your choices by much.
Advance Dining Reservations are usually made six months before your trip and it's important to book them as soon as this window opens for the most popular restaurants.
You'll notice that not all full-service restaurants accept reservations (mostly the case with lounges). If you're dead-set on trying to get into Tutto Gusto without a reservation, there's no guarantee you'll get in, but some of these experiences are special exactly because of that difficulty.
For everything else, selecting the restaurant will tell you whether reservations are accepted or not. Note which reservations need to be made and book them when the 180 day window opens. If you aren't able to book a popular restaurant or are booking something within the window, filtering by reservations, along with your other criteria will quickly help you find a replacement if necessary.
You might as well start by looking for restaurants without reservations. There is a small chance you'll find something the night before when guests are taking advantage of the ability to cancel without penalty, but day-of reservations are going to be hard to come by.
At this point, it's pretty safe to assume you know where you are or where you're going to be when you're looking for a restaurant. Looking for a place nearby that doesn't need reservations is going to create a pretty small list for you to look through and pick a winner.