ADRs

[Alijaney]

Im REALLY sorry if Im being silly by asking but...

I see so many peole talking about their ADRS and want to know, is it essential that you book your dining?

We are going in August , me , dh, my mum and dad and my ds2 and dd5. We are stayng at GF and AKL.

My Mum is adament that she doesnt want out stay to be so structured, she would rather 'go with the flow' when we are hungry we find somehwere to eat, or plan it day by day, maybe eating again at somewhere if we like it first time.

But I see so many people talking about doing their ADRS that Im thinking we may not get anywhere to eat at all if we dont book asap.

Also if I want to book ADRs then I need to have planned everyday of our stay so we know where we are going to be right?

HELP! It seems like such a mammouth task and such a big responsibility!!

Ali x

 

[DVCJEN]

Im REALLY sorry if Im being silly by asking but...

I see so many peole talking about their ADRS and want to know, is it essential that you book your dining?

We are going in August , me , dh, my mum and dad and my ds2 and dd5. We are stayng at GF and AKL.

My Mum is adament that she doesnt want out stay to be so structured, she would rather 'go with the flow' when we are hungry we find somehwere to eat, or plan it day by day, maybe eating again at somewhere if we like it first time.

But I see so many people talking about doing their ADRS that Im thinking we may not get anywhere to eat at all if we dont book asap.

Also if I want to book ADRs then I need to have planned everyday of our stay so we know where we are going to be right?

HELP! It seems like such a mammouth task and such a big responsibility!!

Ali x

Your choices for Table Service Dining may be very limited if you don't make ADRs. Especially if you are going during a time when they offer a free dining promotion.

 

[Luv4Disney]

Depending on when in August, it's going to probably be busy and/or possibly overlap with free dining. If that's the case, I would make ADR's ASAP if you don't feel like eating counter service the whole trip. You can always make them and cancel as needed. We go in May, which is a moderate time and too many times we've seen signs outside Guest Services saying that all the TS are booked and to please try one of their counter service options. As for Epcot, there are always a few places in the WS that you should be able to walk up to.

 

[Lynne M]

Here's the problem.....many WDW restaurants, especially in the theme parks, will not take walk-ups if they are booked. They won't even allow you to wait for a table, they'll just politely turn you away. I've had this happen to me, and I've seen it happen to others many, many times.

I know how your mum feels, I don't like everything to be so structured, either. But 'going with the flow' isn't realistic with Disney restaurants. It's not like your local Applebee's or Bennigans, where you can sit and wait for a table. You've got thousands upon thousands of people trying to eat at a limited set of restaurants.

WDW has a pretty decent variety of counter-service places, so that's always available as a fallback. I'd recommend making at least one ADR per day, you can always cancel if your plans change, and you can sometimes change your ADRs at the last minute (i.e., same day), if there are cancellations. If you want to eat at a character meal, ADRs are an absolute must.

 

[sherabby]

We saw tons of people being turned away last year from many sit down restaurants because they did not have advance reservations. I already did my planning for our July trip and made our ADR's today! I'm a planner so I feel better knowing that we will have somewhere to eat and will plan our days around the meals.

 

[tiger4me2]

Better to book them now & then you can cancel once you are there. Like the other posters said it is a busy time & sometimes hard to find a place to eat. Eating counter service is ok but if you have the dining plan you are wasting your money if you can't use them. MHO
My DS & DIL didn't want to plan ahead when we took them but we made them to decide & I booked them as we were treating them to a Disney trip. Once there they saw how hard it was to get a ressie somewhere else they wanted. So booked them danno lol

 

[dvcdisney]

I am a planner and would feel better to have all my TS restaurants set. But not everyone likes to be tied down. However, if you are on the DDP, you may want to secure some of them that are pretty popular like LeCellier or CRT. We have often seen others "walk up" and most have had to wait quite a bit. If you are fine with any restaurant, then I would suggest at least make it at least a day or two in advance, some are still available, just not the popular ones. Keep in mind, there is quite a few of us who call at 180 days in advance and popular restaurants do fill up rather quickly.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We've seen people turned away at every restaurant we've been to on our last two trips (1st week of Feb and May) without ADRs except for the California Grill; no one was asking there. If you don't mind eating counter service, then you'll be fine. If you want to have a sit-down meal, I would make the ADRs now. You can always cancel if they don't work out once you get to WDW, but at least you'll have someplace to eat. As someone else said, they don't hold tables for walkups anymore.