Just back: 7 days, no ADR's. How'd we do? Update 11/13 page 2

[eliza61]

There is a small underground group of disser who for whatever reasons don't like making ADR's, for my family the reasons are pretty simple:
1) We never seem to keep the darn things. :confused: No matter how many plans and schedules I seem to make, we are never where we're supposed to be. :confused3 We missed the 2 lousy ones I did make.
2) In real life, I'm on a plane 2 to 3 times a week. The thought of keeping another reservation while on vacation breaks me out in hives. No matter how fun.

My cast of characters: Myself (age unknown) DH (50) pirate: Ds (16) :charac4: and Ds(14) who was celebrating his Bday :goofy: One good thing about my sons is that they are teenagers. Translation: If it is not moving and they can put ketchup on it, its fair game. Picky eaters they are not.

Anyway, after 6 full days we did pretty good. 4 of the 6 days we ate 2 TS meals and we were turned away from a walk up only twice. Once at Sci fi diner for lunch and the other turn down was at the Plaza restaurant in MK again for lunch. Both times we tried to eat at noon. :scared1: Yeah, we really believe in magic some times.

Generally, we ate "off-hours". Dinners were usually around 7:15 pm, a few times we had early dinners or late lunches around 4:00 pm.
I checked with the concierge every morning on our way out to see what was available.

Day 1. My first ADR was at Tony Town square for dinner in the MK and of course my family wanted to go to Epcot. :headache: We stayed at the Beach club and since epcot is within walking distance we decided to go there first. I warned every one in advance that we would be missing this adr. (another reason I hate adr's is because I always forget to cancel the things then I feel guilty. I imagine some poor starving family with their noses pressed against the windows of Tony's staring at an empty table that my butt should be parked under) For lunch we did the Electric Umbrella around 1:00 pm we had a basic but good lunch of burgers and fries. Dinner: Eureka!! we stopped by nine dragons in China around 6:30 and they were able to get us a table at 7:15pm. The food was good but the service was a little rushed. I swear we we're outta there in 1 hour flat. No lingering over dinner here. :rolleyes:


Day 2: We woke up and decided to start the day with a big breakfast. Now where to go? The Beach club has a character breakfast in its lobby but I knew we would strike out there so we decided to try the Yacht club. Inside the Yacht club is a restaurant I call wdw's best keep secret. The Yacht club galley. We were able to get a table immediately (it's about 8:15 am). The restuarant was about 1/2 full. The food was hot and delicious.
Dh and Ds decided to get the buffet while birthday boy and I settled on mickeys waffles. hubby and son #1 loved the buffet. said all the food was hot and fresh. They did wish they could have ordered their own omlets though. Our waffles were fresh, hot and light.
Since we had a big breakfast we skipped lunch. Around 4 pm our stomachs began to rumble, since we were at MGM we decided to walk over to the swan and try Gullivers. It had just opened up and we were the first there. I had steak, while the kids had the pizza.

So far so good. We've been here 2 days and no one is revolting yet. I'll post the rest of our week tomorrow.

[sandybobandy]

I'm anxious to see how the rest of the trip goes! :)

[gogo65]

I would also like to know how you went.
I would be to scared to go without ADR's:scared1:

[eliza61]

I would also like to know how you went.
I would be to scared to go without ADR's:scared1:

Nah! Depends on your situation. I would never try this during the holiday or summer season. My family and I actually tried this last March by accident. My husband went on a business trip and we had quite a few frequent flyer miles so we were able to fly for free. With only 1 week to plan I only had time to concentrate on getting a room, so we were forced to wing it for meals. It was the most relaxing and fun trip for us and we ate at a lot of restaurants that we would have never, ever tried.

[eliza61]

Ok so we've had pretty good luck. I did want to add that my family and I visit wdw regularly (usually every 16 months). We tour leisurely and I think this is important. If your the type that has to ride every ride in the park or hates to waste time "winging it" might drive you crazy.

Day 3. Animal Kingdom. This is pretty easy day because I have a safari club card, it bumps me to the head of the line at the RFC. It was also my Ds 13th birthday, Instead of a cake he wanted to get a "kitchen sink" from Beaches and cream. Since Beaches & Cream has a very limited menu we decided to have our biggest meal at Rainforest cafe in AK and then do his birthday celebration at Beaches and Cream.
We arrived at RFC around 1:00 pm and was seated at about 1:30 pm. Not bad (remember my kids are teens so they can handle a bit of a wait).

Beaches and Cream. 6:00 pm, busy as ever. We give our server our name and get the little busser thingy. Wait time 1 hour. :scared1: We expected this pretty much because we stay at the Beach club and Beaches and creams do not take reservations.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m260/eliza61nyc/DSCF0604.jpg

[engle]

How FUN!! I think I may totally do this on my next trip. I have been entertaining a lot of newbies on the last few trips but next trip with DH and another couple who are big time dis vets...we just may do this!!

[JenH1969]

Oh my word- your son must have been in heaven- how much of it did he manage to get through- my kids would enjoy that- maybe when we go we will share one as a family- Jen

[gismo1554]

Beaches and Creams waits are insane!

[CanadianGuy]

I love this.. I rarely eat TS everyday and can never plan out where we'll be like that.. so I just usually call WDW-DINE day of and see what's available.

Your plan, however, is MUCH more fun!

:)

Knox

[Tinkerbell1013]

What a great picture!! Love it!

[eliza61]

How FUN!! I think I may totally do this on my next trip. I have been entertaining a lot of newbies on the last few trips but next trip with DH and another couple who are big time dis vets...we just may do this!!

We have had a lot of fun both times we did it. My only word of warning is, you must be the type to roll with the punches. We did get turned down 3 times on our first try. It really does get you to try some places that are overlooked though and you may eat at a time you normally would not think to eat at.

Oh my word- your son must have been in heaven- how much of it did he manage to get through- my kids would enjoy that- maybe when we go we will share one as a family- Jen

:rotfl: All 4 of us took a whack at it and still had plenty to spare. Not only did this thing have about 2 gallons of ice cream in it, there were brownies, vanilla cake and strawberry shortcake bisquits in it! We enjoy beaches and cream. It's not fine dining by any stretch of the imagination but the food was hot and tasty. They have huge onion rings also.

I love this.. I rarely eat TS everyday and can never plan out where we'll be like that.. so I just usually call WDW-DINE day of and see what's available.

Your plan, however, is MUCH more fun!

:)

Knox
Thanks Knox. I give a big dis hug also to the cm on the phones and at the restaurants. I felt they really tried to find me seating at the exact time I requested. When I was turned down at sci fi, the cm at the podium called all the restaurants in MGM to see if they could fit us in, even when I kept insisting that it was ok. I know trying to dine in a park at noon without an adr is tough but he went out of his way and I appreciated that.

2 more success days to go and some random thoughts.

[raven69david]

Hilarious!:lmao:

I can't wait to read about the rest of the trip.....popcorn::

[Poppinsme]

I think on our next trip we might wing it. Except for the signature restaurants.
Love your report. Thanks. :) :)

[raven69david]

All 4 of us took a whack at it and still had plenty to spare. Not only did this thing have about 2 gallons of ice cream in it, there were brownies, vanilla cake and strawberry shortcake bisquits in it!


What was the cost of that thing? I saw the Travel Channel special with Samantha Brown a few weeks ago and they showed that dessert. I was like :scared1: . Since there will be 4 adults and two 3 year olds, we may try to tackle that early in the day so they can burn off all of that rocket fuel.:yay:

[wilma-bride]

Great - I love your fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach :thumbsup2

[mcr5298]

Hi fellow New Jersian! :rotfl:

Great reviews so far! We have done many a Disney trip without ADR's, and it has workedout fine. The picture of the kitchen sink is making my mouth water. My DH and his family tried it once. There were 5 of us, and we didn't make a dent. Unfortunately, we ate lunch first. That is not a good way to be able to attack the kitchen sink! ;) Our next big trip will be next December, and there will be about 12 of us, and we will try again! :)

[JenH1969]

Are you able to have bowls with the kitchen sink? I was thinking maybe we would share with our friends too- if it was just our family we could all just dip in but with another family- welll- you know- Jen

[Pumbaa_]

Loving your no ADR trip. We are doing this in January. On our last trip I planned 7 days for 9 people:scared1: . This trip, no plans. :woohoo:

The kitchen sink can be scooped into bowls. (I saw one lady have plastic bags. she put all the brownies cake cookies and candy inot it and they just ate the icecream, not a novice I am thinking :rotfl: )

I am going to move this to the Review Board. Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[SmallWorld71]

I now have a bump on my head from trying to dive into that Kitchen Sink.:lmao:
Seriously, I'm glad things worked out. I make the ADR's for dinner because we can only go every few years and the kids have their hearts set on certain restaurants. I never plan our CS though. Gotta have a little spontaneity.;)

[MedCruise07]

I'm glad that your unscheduled approach worked. I actually really like planning (my ADR spreadsheet is a work of art, if I do say so--color-coded for each park) but my real life is very unstructured so I guess like you I want my vacations to be the opposite. And I am very frustrated that I cannot change my plans because all of the ADRs are booked up months in advance. That's not good for either planners (except those that plan once and never want to change a thing) or non-planners.

[my3disneygirls]

I may have to go for that kitchen sink, everything in it sounds so yummy. I know the looks on my kids faces would be priceless.

I have had the guilty conscience about being a no show for Boma last year. Hubby want to MK and was late getting back to the resort to pick us up. Of course we got lost and never made it. I felt like a heel.

[gismo1554]

Loving your no ADR trip. We are doing this in January. On our last trip I planned 7 days for 9 people:scared1: . This trip, no plans. :woohoo:

The kitchen sink can be scooped into bowls. (I saw one lady have plastic bags. she put all the brownies cake cookies and candy inot it and they just ate the icecream, not a novice I am thinking :rotfl: )



Definately came prepared lol Nice idea though!

[TigerKat]

Enjoying your reviews!!!!

[eliza61]

Thanks every one. Most folks still do go with the ADR's I just wanted to let people know that if you don't have them or if your plans change your not stuck munching on granola bars for dinner. ;)

Day 4 This was probably the hardest day. We decided to go to the MK. The MK is probably the least forgiving without adr's because it is sooo popular. I checked with concierge in the morning and the only thing open was Tony's at 8:30. Hummm what to do? We decided to go with a big breakfast that way we could just do take out at MK. This time we ate at Olivia's at Old key West. Olivias is charming. Big gorgeous fans on the ceiling, lots of rattan and wicker chairs. Once again we ate around 8:15 am Olivia's does not do a breakfast buffet, every thing is to order.
My husband had the omlet, I had the pancake and eggs and my sons had the chocolate french toast. :scared: Be warned they are seriously chocolate. Dh said the eggs were good but the potatoes they come with were greasy.
We also had some delicious strawberry smoothies. Olivias was busy, we waited about 15 minutes to be seated. The service was very nice, our coffee cups were always full and the waitress came by 2 or 3 times to check on us.

We stayed at the MK all day without going back to our resort so we decided that once we ate dinner we would call it a day. This time we had Dinner at Shutters at the Caribbean Beach Resort. This restaurant is really pretty. Bright, vivid colors, big plantation shutters around big window. The only draw back I thought it was really loud. every one was yelling and there are no drapes to muffle the sound. We actually loved the appetizer selection better than the entree so we ordered almost one of each and shared. The coconut shrimp were very tasty. I tried the french onion soup but thought it was really really salty so beware. We also ordered the chicken wings and ceasar salads for every one. The salad was good but not noteworthy.

We also tried the desserts. The key lime pie was good to me but it was my first time trying key lime pie so I have no bench mark to compare it to. The cheesecake was ok, nothing special here. The chocolate cake was the best with a rasberry sauce.

[eliza61]

Some thoughts on travelling without ADR's

1) The best thing we loved was getting to go to new restaurants. Some times when you travel to the world you tend to do the same ones over and over or if your a first timer you do all the popular ones. This forced us to eat at some different places.

2) You must be flexible. Your next trip try leaving open 2 days without ADR's and see where you land. My family found out we loved eating a sit down breakfast. It really gave us an opportunity to talk with one another and since most restaurants were empty in the morning, they were the easiest to get. The food was always piping hot and delicious and the servers were always nice. If I had made adr's we would have never down a sit down breakfast.

3) try a different time. Eating at 4:30 some times was really weird but you know what, restaurants were in a bit of a lull and around 6:30 we were able to hit some rides a little quicker because a lot of people went to dinner.
But most important by 7:00 pm we were ready for a big dessert. Dole whips here we come.
Park restaurants will always be busy so eating off hours allows you to get into these.
I concede defeat at the MK. Unfortunately I just didn't find a down time here. Epcot was the easiest, just more choices.

Not sure how this would work with a big party.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. IMO it allowed us to do more in the parks because we didn't have to stop to eat if we didn't want to and I didn't feel guilty for not cancelling.

[teentoddlermom]

Great report and reviews! I love your opening introduction about your ages. I am also "age unknown"!

[Stinky_Pete]

Thanks so much for this report!

The last time I was at WDW was before the dining plan, and the only ADRs most people really had to worry about was CRT (I think Cindy was only there for breakfast and there was no Princess meal in Epcot). I have made some ADRs for special meals for my mid-December trip (Candlelight Processinal, CA Grill) and am glad to hear that I will not be entirely relegated to counter service. I plan on checking at guest relations on my way out of the resort in the am to see whats available - hope this works!

[jennynoel]

Sounds like you had a great trip!

I'm just curious - how did not having ADRs affect the rest of your trip? Did you regret getting to the parks later on the days you had sit-down breakfasts, for example?

Since we won't be on DDP on future trips I'll probably be going with a more seat-of-the-pants approach to dining. Your report is helpful, thanks!

[eliza61]

Sounds like you had a great trip!

I'm just curious - how did not having ADRs affect the rest of your trip? Did you regret getting to the parks later on the days you had sit-down breakfasts, for example?

Since we won't be on DDP on future trips I'll probably be going with a more seat-of-the-pants approach to dining. Your report is helpful, thanks!

Thanks Jen, we had a great trip!
No not really, most of the parks didn't open until 9:00 am. so I think the most we were late was about an hour. We did miss the morning extra hours at MGM. This was also not a heavy travel time, I don't think I would try this during the summer. The longest time we found on any of the major rides was 60 minutes at soarin' which we fast passed.
The longest trip is when we went decided to go to OKW, getting from resort to resort is the hardest thing.

[mainemouselover]

Great report. I would love to do a trip without the ADR's. But it won't happen this time as we are going at Christmas. Gotta have the ADR's for that week!:santa:

[estherhead]

Thanks for the great review! Our last trip we had methodically planned out ADR's (1st time on DDP & picky eaters.) But we ended up having to make last minute plans twice. One time we failed, the other we succeeded. As long as my kids are little, I think ADRs are important & little kids aren't flexible anyway so there is no easy going. As we get into the teen years, I pretty sure we'll just eat whatever happens to be available & your report shows us how fun it will be!

[Minniespal]

Excellent:thumbsup2