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Old 03-26-2018, 09:38 PM   #1
Dreaming of DisneyWorld
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Tips for booking Dining with Imagineer

I would really like to book Dining with an Imagineer; but, every date I attempt to book has zero availability. Any tips on getting into this?
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Old 03-27-2018, 11:59 AM   #2
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I would guess that like any hard to obtain ADR, you would have to be online at exactly the opening time on your 180 day mark. Then aim for a day later in your trip (assuming you have a resort booked already). By going for later than your first day, fewer people will have access to those days since they are beyond the 180 day mark.
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Old 03-27-2018, 09:23 PM   #3
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We were able to have this remarkable experience two years ago. I literally tried ten or twelve times a day to book the meal, and about four to six weeks out I was able to get us in - someone must have cancelled. It helped, of course, that we were a party of two.

Keep trying!!!
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Old 04-12-2018, 04:14 PM   #4
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I would really like to book Dining with an Imagineer; but, every date I attempt to book has zero availability. Any tips on getting into this?
You can do this?
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Old 04-12-2018, 04:38 PM   #5
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I found it. Have to be at least 14 yrs. old. We have an 11 yr old with us. Too bad, because he's the one who would have loved it the most.
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Old 04-12-2018, 06:19 PM   #6
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I found it. Have to be at least 14 yrs. old. We have an 11 yr old with us. Too bad, because he's the one who would have loved it the most.
What sort of Imagineer you get can vary beyond what you’d think it would be, I’ve seen said.

I read of a family who booked this expecting an attractions designer and developer or something else similarly exciting. Instead, they got someone who worked in what amounted to marketing. The person talked about how Disney works up product ideas and develops advertising. While the person tried to describe the work interestingly, they were really disappointed, the review said.
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Old 04-13-2018, 01:49 AM   #7
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What sort of Imagineer you get can vary beyond what you’d think it would be, I’ve seen said.

I read of a family who booked this expecting an attractions designer and developer or something else similarly exciting. Instead, they got someone who worked in what amounted to marketing. The person talked about how Disney works up product ideas and develops advertising. While the person tried to describe the work interestingly, they were really disappointed, the review said.
I think that's a really good point, as I would think a lot of people have a very narrow definition in their minds of what an Imagineer is and obviously Disney has a much wider one. Personally, as someone who works in communications, I'd find that person fascinating, but I appreciate that a lot of people probably wouldn't....
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Old 04-13-2018, 01:37 PM   #8
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What sort of Imagineer you get can vary beyond what you’d think it would be, I’ve seen said.
I still think no matter what, my son would enjoy it, but I see you the point in what Imagineer can encompass.
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Old 04-13-2018, 01:46 PM   #9
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Sounds like he’s a curious and openminded young man.
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Old 04-13-2018, 05:31 PM   #10
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Sounds like he’s a curious and openminded young man.
He is an advanced 11 yr old who likes to have a finger in everything. lol. This summer alone he is taking acting, cooking & rock climbing lessons.

But, I understand why Disney has an age limit. Maybe some other vacation we can swing it.
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Old 04-16-2018, 10:05 AM   #11
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We got an imagineer who worked in marketing and he was incredible!! I'm going to try again for our trip next year,
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Old 04-24-2018, 06:57 PM   #12
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We were lucky enough to get Peter Ricci, who designed the AwuaDuck on the Disney Dream and Fantasy. The day of our lunch was the last day they worked on the new Star Wars attraction in the Studios. It was a fabulous experience!
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Old 04-25-2018, 01:52 AM   #13
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We were lucky enough to get Peter Ricci, who designed the AwuaDuck on the Disney Dream and Fantasy. The day of our lunch was the last day they worked on the new Star Wars attraction in the Studios. It was a fabulous experience!
Oh wow, I can imagine it was. That sounds amazing.
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Old 05-16-2018, 04:32 PM   #14
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So, we did this last year at The Hollywood Brown Derby and were so looking forward to it. I am more than sure that people have had better experiences but just to give perspective, we were greatly disappointed and would not do this again.

I can appreciate that you may get an offbeat type of imagineer but the person we got, while lovely, was just not what we were expecting. I am still not sure what her job actually was. She was very pleasant and enjoyed talking about how she worked her way up from an intern but shared little information on how things worked and was extremely vague when asked specific questions. The meal was lovely and it was so fun to eat in the bamboo room.

I guess our expectations may have been too high but we really did not get much out of the experience. I had more fun at a seminar at the Food and Wine Festival which cost 15 bucks. We got to make recipes, keep them and we got very good information on various cocktails and ingredients. We also got a lovely trivet which I use all of the time. At the Dining with an Imagineer, we got nothing for lots more money. Not even a pin.

Just my humble opinion.
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