TouringPlans Reservation Finder is gone. What are the free alternatives?
TouringPlans’ free Reservation Finder stopped working in October 2023, after what TouringPlans called “technical changes by Disney”. Its notice now suggests you “explore other services” if Disney’s own site does not meet your needs. If what you valued was free email alerts, the closest free options today are MouseDining (6 free email alerts at a time), Thrill Data (free dining alerts, without a booking link in an independent test), ThemeParkIQ (3 free email alert credits a month) and MagicFinders (3 free alerts at a time, up to 2 of them restaurants; that’s us).
By MagicFinders · published 2026-08-16 · updated 2026-09-02 · last verified 2026-09-02 · corrections: hello@magicfinders.com
Disclosure: we make one of the tools listed below (MagicFinders). Names are used only to identify the tools. Nobody here endorses this page.
What happened to the Reservation Finder?
The Finder ran for about 10 years, free. In TouringPlans’ words, it “helped secure thousands of Disney dining reservations.” It broke in October 2023. TouringPlans’ own notice gives three reasons. Disney’s own availability page now searches several days at once. Demand for table-service dining is lighter. And, in its words: “Technical changes by Disney made it more difficult to maintain our service.” The page now suggests readers “explore other services” if Disney’s own site does not meet their needs. (Read on 2026-09-02.)
Any alert tool can stop working when Disney changes its site, and that includes us. So when a table really matters, set alerts on two tools.
What did people value about it?
- It was free.
- It emailed you (and texted, if you asked).
- It ran on the web, no app to install.
So the closest replacements are tools that still send free alerts by email, on the web. The table below also lists a free phone app and a paid tool with one-time passes, and the free-tier column says which is which.
What are the options now?
Six tools you can start free or buy once, checked on 2026-09-02. Five have free alerts. PixieWire’s alerts are paid, but every pass is a one-time price from $4.99. Some other paid plans in this table are subscriptions. “—” means not stated or not verified by us. The full comparison has more tools and more facts for each.
| Tool | Free tier | Paid step-up | Resorts | Dining, events, hotels | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thrill Data | Unlimited free dining alerts for WDW, Disneyland and Universal Orlando. In a 2025 test, its free alerts had no booking link. | Thrill Data Plus is a single membership sold in six lengths: 2 days $25, 7 days $30, 10 days $35, 31 days $45, 1 year $75, or lifetime $300. It never auto-renews. | WDW + Disneyland (+ Universal Orlando) | Dining, plus Enchanting Extras experiences and event-night alerts (Plus). It also alerts on Lightning Lane, Park Pass, wait times and ticket availability. It lists no hotel-room alerts. | 2026-09-02 source |
| MouseDining | Free: 6 alerts at a time, by email only. | $9 a month (50 alerts at a time) or $90 a year (100 alerts at a time). Paid plans add text alerts to up to 3 phone numbers. | WDW + Disneyland | Dining, plus events and tours such as dessert parties, Savi's Workshop and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique (added in 2022). We found no hotel-room alerts. | 2026-09-02 source |
| PixieWire | No free alerts. Its availability data is free to read. | One-time passes: Single Watch $4.99 (1 alert, 61 days). Month Pass $14.99 (25 alerts, 30 days). Trip Pass $24.99 (25 alerts, 90 days). Annual Pass $69.99 (50 alerts, 12 months). | Walt Disney World and Disneyland. One pass covers both. | Dining at 144 restaurants on both coasts, with a public availability calendar and difficulty score for each. Hotels: not mentioned on its site. | 2026-09-02 source |
| ThemeParkIQ (IQ Brands LLC) | 3 alert credits per month, email | Yearly Supporter: $20 a year for 10 alert credits a month, by email and push, with no ads. Pro: $9 a month or $90 a year for 45 alert credits a month, by email, text and push. Credit packs: 10 for $5 or 20 for $9, and they never expire. | WDW + Disneyland | Dining alerts for 140+ restaurants and dining events across both resorts, wait-time alerts at both resorts, and park-reservation alerts for Disneyland. No hotel room alerts. | 2026-09-02 source |
| Stakeout (Wildcard Software LLC) | Free: one active alert at a time, by push notification. Text alerts need a paid plan. | App Store in-app purchases: Premium Membership $9.99 (WDW Prep School lists it as monthly), Premium Pro Membership $19.99, Premium Limited Upgrade $14.99, and a 60-Day Vacation Pass $24.99. | WDW + Disneyland | Dining and bookable experiences at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Hotel rooms are not listed. | 2026-09-02 source |
| MagicFinders that’s us | 3 alerts at a time, up to 2 of them restaurants, by email. Each restaurant or event alert covers one date, and a hotel alert covers one stay. | $24 one-time Trip Pass: 12 alerts at a time, of any kind, up to 7 days in a row on each dining or event alert, and 90 days of checking, counted from your first check. | WDW + Disneyland | Dining, events and experiences, and resort hotel rooms. A room alert can carry an optional nightly price cap: the average room rate per night, before tax. | 2026-09-02 source |
Not free, but worth knowing: MouseWatcher (single alerts from $5, subscriptions from $19 a month) sent the most alerts, 82 in ten days, in WDW Prep School’s unaffiliated test (published 2025-11-05, updated 2026-01-14). Thrill Data got 6 in the same test. The author said Thrill Data’s low count was likely due to a technical glitch. MagicFinders was not part of that test (it did not exist yet).
Where does MagicFinders fit?
If the Finder was your free email backstop, MagicFinders is built to be the same thing with a wider net: 3 free email alerts at a time, up to 2 of them restaurants, for restaurants, events and resort hotel rooms at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Each restaurant or event alert covers one date. For restaurants and events, you can set an alert up to six months ahead, and it starts checking the morning Disney opens your date. For more, the Trip Pass is a $24 one-time payment: 12 alerts at a time, up to 7 days in a row on each dining or event alert, and 90 days of checking. Nothing renews. We watch, you book in your own Disney account; we never ask for your Disney login. If you want unlimited free dining alerts and don’t need a booking link, Thrill Data is the better pick. If you want the most alerts for a hard WDW table and will pay for them, MouseWatcher is.
Has anything else changed since 2023?
Two things TouringPlans pointed at still hold. Disney’s own availability search now checks several days at once, which is worth trying first. And in July 2026, Disney Tourist Blog wrote that most Walt Disney World restaurants had same-day availability. It named Space 220 Lounge at EPCOT as one of the few that fills up more than 60 days ahead (source).
Alerts matter most for tables and events that sell out. Planners name Disneyland’s Blue Bayou as one of them (see our Disneyland restaurants page). Dessert parties, dining packages and resort hotel rooms can also sell out on busy dates. We are still collecting our own numbers for these. Booking windows are on when to book at Walt Disney World and when to book at Disneyland.
Restaurant, event or resort room. When our check finds an opening, we email you. You book on Disney’s site.
Related: All the tools compared · Disney hotel room alerts · When do Disney reservations open? (calculator) · Trip Pass · About MagicFinders
MagicFinders is an independent notification service, not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by The Walt Disney Company or TouringPlans. Disney, Walt Disney World and Disneyland are trademarks of Disney Enterprises, Inc., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. We use them only to identify the places these tools cover. Other product names belong to their owners.