My process for picking adr's

[DSLRuser]

#1 look at the park schedule for your trip

#2 decide what park you will go to what day (avoid emh ect ect)

#3 map you park days out for the week

#4 decide on breakfeast, lunch, dinner or all for each day

#5 make the adr based on what is in your location (resort or park) for your day.

i see too many people deciding on what or where they will eat first, then building park days around that.

to mee, the park hours and where you will be is more important.

how do you all do it.

 

[ses1230]

#1 look at the park schedule for your trip

#2 decide what park you will go to what day (avoid emh ect ect)

#3 map you park days out for the week

#4 decide on breakfeast, lunch, dinner or all for each day

#5 make the adr based on what is in your location (resort or park) for your day.

i see too many people deciding on what or where they will eat first, then building park days around that.

to mee, the park hours and where you will be is more important.

how do you all do it.

I do it the same way. Parks first, ADRs second.

 

[Tarheel Mom]

#1 look at the park schedule for your trip

#2 decide what park you will go to what day (avoid emh ect ect)

#3 map you park days out for the week

#4 decide on breakfeast, lunch, dinner or all for each day

#5 make the adr based on what is in your location (resort or park) for your day.

i see too many people deciding on what or where they will eat first, then building park days around that.

to mee, the park hours and where you will be is more important.

how do you all do it.

I do it the same as you

 

[GillianP1301]

I'm the same, park first and then meals. For me, a WDW vacation is about the parks and attractions and the food is very much secondary in my priorities.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I pick my park days based on touring plans crowd calendars then schedule our adr's around our park plans. A lot of times we eat at DTD and resorts and we drive ourselves so picking a place to eat isn't as hard for us. We don't eat TS lunch only TS dinners and we usually leave the parks by 3.

 

[omgninjas]

I do a combination of both - I'll plan out park days and special stuff (BBB, tours, etc) and then decide on where to eat, but if we decide on a late dinner one night I'll move around park days so we're not doing rope drop first thing the next morning.

 

[connie254]

I always park hop. Start the day at EMH, have TS dinner at another park. If no EMH, pick a park to start at, and still transfer someplace else for dinner. That way, we can either go back to our room at midday and swim, or go directly to another park. DTD is a wildcard afternoon.

 

[Peachkins]

We were one of those that got our ADRs first and then planned our days at the parks around them. My brother was planning the trip, and one of the reasons we did that was because he wanted to take my niece to some places that were harder to get reservations for- like CRT. I honestly didn't mind that approach. We're not so detailed about things that we plan our trip around crowd calendars and EMH. As long as I get to the parks I want to and eat at some places I like, I'm a happy camper.

 

[disneybliss2]

I know which restaurants ahead of time that I know I'll want to return to or try for the first time. I keep that tucked in my head though, and plan my park days first (look into EMH; some days we utilize early entry,some days we don't). Then I map out my park days by how many days I want to spend at each park, plugging them into which day they fit best during the time we're there. Then I
plug the restaurants that I want to eat at into the schedule based on what day they'll fit best according to where I'll be.

 

[sazzifrazz]

After several trips on the dining plan (free) i have decided that I won't be doing the dining plan anymore. I spend more time planning where we will eat. Then once there I stress over ADR times and getting to the location. Its just too much! Last trip we had to wait up to 45 minutes after our ADR times. I was so annoyed by this. I decided never again! We will book a few ADR's but not each day.

 

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

#1 look at the park schedule for your trip

#2 decide what park you will go to what day (avoid emh ect ect)

#3 map you park days out for the week

#4 decide on breakfeast, lunch, dinner or all for each day

#5 make the adr based on what is in your location (resort or park) for your day.

i see too many people deciding on what or where they will eat first, then building park days around that.

to mee, the park hours and where you will be is more important.

how do you all do it.

This is EXACTLY how we plan our trips. We always eat at one ofthe restaurants at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and we always eat there when we go to Animal Kingdom. Theme for the day.

 

[autumnpalm]

First I make a list of "must-do" restaurants that get priority.

Then, I consult a crowd calendar (easywdw for me) and decide on park days.

I mix and match the must do restaurants with the corresponding park days and then fill in the rest with regard to convenience.