Do people really do this? ADRs??

[LisaTN]

Just to clarify, I am NOT planning on doing this

The girl I spoke to made it sound like it was common practice, and so I was cusious if this is really what people did.

The only reason we couldn't get BOG was because we booked our trip only 70 days out, and by then, yes- we couldn't get a ressie there. I did try back quite a bit, but with no luck. I'm sure if I booked at 180 days we'll be fine.

As for the long window for ADRs, maybe Disney does this so people will do fewer last minute trips... this way they can plan for crowds?? Just my theory.

 

[Bullseye]

Oh wait...even better book a 20 day trip and then just lop off 15 days after you make your adr's
kind of like six instead seven minute ab workout

 

[TDC Nala]

Not only do people do this, if they are staying offsite they book a resort reservation to get access to the 180 plus 10 reservation perk, then cancel the resort reservation.

Personally I don't see the need to push to make all your ADRS at exactly 180 days.

 

[cobright]

I suppose you could do this. It just isn't worth it to me to have to go thorugh the process of changing reservations. I don't have that kind of time.

That's a pretty common theme among the responses so far in this thread. Let me play devil's advocate just a bit.

If getting in to see BOG or CRT or whatever is not so big of a deal for some people then those people shouldn't mind that other's are doing everything possible to secure those reservations. Things are valued differently by different people and it is polite to respect that, while a dinner with Belle, may not be so special you me, it might be incredibly special to someone else. So long as everyone plays by the rules I shouldn't judge what another is willing to go through to secure a special moment.

Consider someone who could never afford a WDW vacation before is planning to take her 9 yr. old daughter. In another year or two or three that it will take to get back to the MK that daughter will be a tween or teen and the window for disney magic will be closed a bit with the passing time.

Now I go every year and don't have time to waste planning out every detail 180 days in advance. But I have a credit card and loads of dough in the bank so, sure I want them to make ADRs only with a secured payment. That's great for me. I can get all those reservations for places I eat at every year and describe as "Not worth the trouble".

And that single mom who will pay off her vacation with the last paycheck before the 45 day mark and might be broke until the day she steps on the plane? ... Those are the people 'Quick Service' is for right?

Personally, I like the 180 day window. It rewards planners and dedicated disney guests. Overbooking to get a headstart on ADRs does game the system and could be fixed by simply allowing ADRs for 180 days prior to the specific date of the reservation. That puts everyone back on the same playing field.

 

[mcd2745]

That's a pretty common theme among the responses so far in this thread. Let me play devil's advocate just a bit.

If getting in to see BOG or CRT or whatever is not so big of a deal for some people then those people shouldn't mind that other's are doing everything possible to secure those reservations. Things are valued differently by different people and it is polite to respect that, while a dinner with Belle, may not be so special you me, it might be incredibly special to someone else. So long as everyone plays by the rules I shouldn't judge what another is willing to go through to secure a special moment.Consider someone who could never afford a WDW vacation before is planning to take her 9 yr. old daughter. In another year or two or three that it will take to get back to the MK that daughter will be a tween or teen and the window for disney magic will be closed a bit with the passing time.

Now I go every year and don't have time to waste planning out every detail 180 days in advance. But I have a credit card and loads of dough in the bank so, sure I want them to make ADRs only with a secured payment. That's great for me. I can get all those reservations for places I eat at every year and describe as "Not worth the trouble".

And that single mom who will pay off her vacation with the last paycheck before the 45 day mark and might be broke until the day she steps on the plane? ... Those are the people 'Quick Service' is for right?

Personally, I like the 180 day window. It rewards planners and dedicated disney guests. Overbooking to get a headstart on ADRs does game the system and could be fixed by simply allowing ADRs for 180 days prior to the specific date of the reservation. That puts everyone back on the same playing field.

But is that playing by the rules? That's really more of a rhetorical question, btw, as i think some would say yes, and some would say no. It becomes a "spirit of the law vs. letter of the law" type argument with no real correct answer.

 

[nooneshome]

I think this a pretty rare situation and of no real consequence. I think you have more problem with people having multiple ADRs for the same meal.

 

[dvdcrow]

We made a dining reservation for BOG for the last night of our 5 night trip, and had NO trouble doing this 180 days out from our first night. If you're staying in a WDW resort, which we are, you can make advance reservations for up to 10 days of your vacation, starting 180 days in advance of the first day that you're booked at your resort (the 180+10 days rule). We were able to get close to the time we wanted at BOG, I asked for 5 PM, and got a dinner reservation for 5:05 PM with no hassle. We're going at the beginning of August, which is peak season. I called at 7:00 AM on the 180th day, and got right through. I had already made the reservation for our first night online, but you can't do that with the rest of your stay, you have to call the dining line for reservations after the first day, or make the reservations online one day at a time on the 180 day advance dates. So, as long as you book your resort room more than 180 days ahead, I don't see any reason to "cheat," assuming you can make that early phone call 180 days in advance.

 

[meredith1]

Disney restaurants aren't worth that much effort-none of them.

 

[drlaurafsu]

Another option is to do what we did in January. After the parade we did one ride and then headed over to BOG. Got in line around 3:30-3:40...we were the second group in line without reservations. They moved us to a separate line from the reservation check in and took our info. We actually got seated ahead of the two men that were in front of us, but several standbys got in with us.

Now we did have to eat dinner at 4pm. But I had planned for this possibility with only a light snack for lunch. DS and I loved it and it was a special treat for us. Would I do this every trip? No...but it was just him and I and our Tables of Wonderland card...so we made the most of it.

 

[LaurenT]

I don't see why this would even be necessary. Yes, BOG is popular, but I can't imagine it being completely sold out for every time slot when the 180 day window opens.
I have a 5:40 ADR for next Wednesday that I made on Oct 17th....that was only 4 months out....

 

[princessallegra]

I don't see why this would even be necessary. Yes, BOG is popular, but I can't imagine it being completely sold out for every time slot when the 180 day window opens.
I have a 5:40 ADR for next Wednesday that I made on Oct 17th....that was only 4 months out....

Yup we are going to BOG two weeks from tomorrow and I didn't do adr's until november! That's when we booked our trip so I took what I could. It's 4:45 pm but mk closes pretty early that night so we were happy!

 

[SA mom]

We sort of did this once, but unintentionally. We actually had to cut the first three days of our trip last minute. It also meant cutting two really great meals that we couldn't get back.

Like I always tell my kids, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

 

[UpstateMick]

Brilliant idea! Just did it for my August trip...got all of my ADRs, including all the hard to gets! Thank you thank you!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Not only do people do this, if they are staying offsite they book a resort reservation to get access to the 180 plus 10 reservation perk, then cancel the resort reservation.

Personally I don't see the need to push to make all your ADRS at exactly 180 days.

See, this is just working the system. I don't think this scenario is right at all. If they cancel, then the reservations should be cancelled as well in my opinion. Like I said, I had no problem getting what I wanted at roughly 80 days out, but I just don't care for being dishonest. It is one thing to have to cancel b/c something comes up or something unavoidable, but to do it intentionally is just something I don't agree with.

We sort of did this once, but unintentionally. We actually had to cut the first three days of our trip last minute. It also meant cutting two really great meals that we couldn't get back.

Like I always tell my kids, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

There's nothing wrong with what you did. Your advice for your kids is wonderful.

Reservations are important to me, but I want to be fair to others. I have a couple reservations that I made for friends that were going with us initially, and it looks like they are going to have to push their trip back. So, all of the reservations I made for six I am going to alter down to 2 so someone else can have the remaining seats if needed. If they decide they are able to go then I will try and book what I can for them. If we can't eat at every restaurant together, then so be it.

Again, this is just my opinion.

 

[Cyrano]

Moving from Theme Parks to Dining board

 

[aubriee]

Not only do people do this, if they are staying offsite they book a resort reservation to get access to the 180 plus 10 reservation perk, then cancel the resort reservation.

Personally I don't see the need to push to make all your ADRS at exactly 180 days.

See, this is just working the system. I don't think this scenario is right at all. If they cancel, then the reservations should be cancelled as well in my opinion. Like I said, I had no problem getting what I wanted at roughly 80 days out, but I just don't care for being dishonest. It is one thing to have to cancel b/c something comes up or something unavoidable, but to do it intentionally is just something I don't agree with.

I don't agree that the dining reservations should be cancelled. Sometimes plans honestly change. I know ours did twice in the last few months. We had nine days booked at CBR for our Oct/Nov trip and had made dining reservations at the 180 day mark, like we always do. However, about two weeks before we were due to leave, a coworker offered me a deal too good to pass up. She had banked all the time she could, but owns three time shares and was going to lose time if she didn't use it by Dec 31st. She offered us a one bedroom condo, just one mile from the Disney gates for just $450.00 for the week. We canceled the reservation for CBR and moved those monies to pay off our May 2013 trip. The Monday after we came back from the Oct/Nov trip was the 180 day mark for the May trip, so I made ADRs for that trip. Then later decided that I really liked staying offsite, so canceled the May trip and rebooked at Wyndham Bonnet Creek. At the time I made the ADRs I had honest intentions of staying at a WDW resort, but later changed my mind. It would not have been fair to cancel my ADRs, just because I changed my mind and decided to stay offsite. At the time I canceled the WDW resort reservations, I was within the 180 days anyway. While I don't think it's right to book a resort reservation through Disney (with plans to cancel after making ADRs), there is no way Disney could cancel the ADRs of someone who did, without also punishing some people like us, who just honestly changed their mind about staying onsite. At the time we made the ADRs, we had honest intentions of staying onsite at the hotel we had booked.

 

[JAZmommy]

I think people do that's why you can get rez close to the date because everyone cancels te ones they don't use