booking guesthouses in advance
hi everyone, i am planning a driving trip in iceland between 9 - 15 april this year and will be looking at staying in guesthouses along the way. is advance booking required or will there be rooms/beds still available if i leave it to till the night before getting to a destination to book a place?



i haven't as yet planned a rigorous itinerary. was hoping to just drive along the ring road and making decisions regarding the next destination as i go along.
it's fine to do so, in april. however, it needs to be mentioned that driving in iceland in winter might be way more difficult than you expect, even if you have arctic driving experience. about booking accommodation along the way, it does take quite a lot of time on logistics. see if you can spare yourself time by selecting beforehand where you want to be.
hey kristi! yes, you can make dining reservations even before you have a room reserved! you can make reservations up to 180 days prior to your visit. book online or call 407-wdw-dine or (407) 939-3463. you are looking at a fantastic time to see disney world! there are tons of special holiday happenings, like the candlelight processional and mickey's very merry christmas party that make it all the more magical. thank you for thinking of the disney moms panel when you had a question; please let us know if we can help again. i hope that your december trip is full of that special disney magic and memories! you can book room reservations or plan a magic your way vacation package as far as 499 days in advance. this will allow you to book a room, add tickets, possible dining plans and more, with only a small deposit and a payment plan. i checked with a cast member in guest services regarding your question, and they notified me that they are currently taking reservations for disney vacation packages about 500 days in advance. when i calculate your desired visit dates, i see that you are very close to being able to reserve them. hi helen! unfortunately, you will need to make reservations on multiple days. enforcement of the 180 days + 10 day window is pretty strict, so its not likely that you'd be able to make all of your dining reservations at one time. i've often found that if i've tried to make reservations early and find them full already, i have luck trying back on the exact 180 mark. availability does often open up later around that day, so its always good to check back if you're unable to get a reservation for a very popular reservation. hope you have fun planning your trip! hi kimberly! if you are staying in a disney world resort, you can make dining reservations for up to 10 days of your trip, so you will be able to make your restaurant reservations for every day of your trip starting on 11/1/12. do some research and have a list made of where you would like, including back up restaurants just in case your first choices are booked up. have a magical day! leslie connecting rooms are available for request at many of the resort hotels on the property! during the booking process, you will make separate reservations for each resort room and name the people staying in each room. when you call to make your request, make sure you explain your situation and the mobility issues of your party. this will make your request a higher priority, especially for a ground-floor room. i would recommend requesting buildings 62, 63, 64, or 16 as your first choices as buildings 62-64 have elevators, and those four are not too far from the hospitality house. other good options close to the hospitality house would be buildings 11, 12, 13, or 14. however, these are usually filled by disney vacation club members booking that hospitality house category. do make sure you request a ground floor room for any buildings as taking the stairs to one of the upper units would not be suitable for someone with mobility issues.   rest assured, that the bus service at disney’s old key west resort is convenient and easy to use. so even if you end up a bit further away, it’s not difficult to take the bus to the main area of the resort. hop any theme park bus to get to the hospitality house, and any disney springs bus to return to your resort bus stop! since the party does not officially begin until 7 pm, you are more than welcome to book an advance dining reservation for 6 pm. during this time, magic kingdom is still open for regular park guests, and party guests are beginning to arrive. if you won’t be staying for the party, and your meal isn't completed until after 7 pm, a cast member will walk you from the restaurant to the exit after dinner. hi kerry, if you will be arriving at the walt disney world resort on 27 october 2016, you will be able to start making your dining reservations on 29 april 2016. advance dining reservations can be made online at 6:00 am est (11:00 am here in the uk) or by telephone at 7:00 am est (12:00 noon here in the uk) by calling 0800 16 90 748. if you will be staying at a disney resort hotel, you will be able to make dining reservations for the first 10 days of your stay on 29 april 2016. it is also possible to see how many days there are to go until you arrive at the walt disney world resort when you sign into my disney experience on the walt disney world website in the my plans section. wishing you a magical trip filled with memories which will last a lifetime! emma welcome back to the moms panel daphne, thanks for your patience as i researched a response to your question. i called disney resorts and the walt disney travel company. i'm afraid that qualifying for that free dining promotion may be more complicated than you originally thought. the cast members to whom i spoke said that guests who do not check in on the stated start date of their vacation run the risk of having their entire reservation cancelled. they assured me that they would work closely with guests who arrive late due to cancelled flights and other circumstances outside the guest's control. however, booking a day early to qualify for a free dining promotion would not fall under that same category. therefore, i would not advise you to change your reservation unless you can foresee arriving on november 29th. it might be worthwhile to check with your airline to see if they allow any flexibility in your date of departure. it also wouldn't hurt to call the agent through whom you originally booked your vacation to see if they could offer any other solutions. otherwise, it doesn't look like free dining will be in the cards for your family on your upcoming trip. i wish i had more encouraging news. don't be dispirited! you'll have a fabulous vacation this november whether the free dining promotion works out or not. in all my years of traveling to walt disney world, i haven't qualified for free dining once, but i'm hopeful that someday the stars will align properly and i'll get to take advantage of a free dining promotion. i hope you will be able to also. best wishes and thanks again for the question! jill