Do you NEED ADR?

[TiggerTrigger]

I know some people refuse to make ADRs, but many of those people are also flexible with whatever's available or willing to just eat quick service. The reality, WDW is not like Disneyland, and it's going to be a pretty bitter pill for him to swallow when he's either told no or that he's got at least a 2-4 hour wait to be seated. And with a child involved...well, talk about tears when you try walking up to a favorite character meal just to hear no. And believe me...I've witnessed that in person...and it's not pretty.

He may not love the idea of you making ADRs, but you'll be grateful that you did. Please also consider stalking the website if you can't get exactly what you want at first. Things tend to open up closer to travel dates as people start weeding out what they're not going to use. In fact, morning of or night before is an amazing time to pick up last minute things as so many are dropping at the last moment to avoid the penalty.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Just wanted to add my experience for what its worth. I've only travelled in August, September and early mid December. On each trip I've seen signs up in AK and DHS saying that there was no availability at any table service restaurants. I've also seen a very angry man at concierge at AKL because he could not get a table at any of the hotel restaurants despite staying there. During our September trip, we tried to change an ADR at EPCOT to another restaurant and was unable to several hours out. Our only option would have been to leave the park and travel out to one of a few hotels or DTD which would have taken up a lot of valuable time in travelling. We couldn't get anything else in the park so ended up with staying with our existing ADR. We like a sit down dinner every night so see ADR's as our only option to guarantee this. We are able to be flexible and spontaneous with other things. But at least we get to eat something other than counter service.

 

[Nancyg56]

Well guys... I tried! I am not sure if he even looked at this thread, but I talked to him again about the ADR. He said its non sense, that he doesn't believe you can't get a table. That when he was there the summer of 2006 there was lots of tables. We aren't on a schedule , and we will just wait in line. Good luck to us

Okay, here is what I would do. Plan your trip. Plan your park days, plan you wish list for meals, and think about what times you usually like to have dinner. Make ADR's for day 2 through the end of your trip. You can cancel but I bet you will not need to once he sees what a non planned day looks like in WDW.

My DH thought we were nuts on that first trip back in way too many years to count. Back in "our" da, you made a reservation....yes reservation.... when you checked in to your resort. Well, he is the biggest fan of preplanning now! It took all of one day for him to see how fortunate he was that his awesome wife...me... listened and planned. I cannot tell you how many times we heard folks on the bus or in the parks talking about how disappointed they were that they could not get into a restaurant.

 

[SouthJersey]

I told my boyfriend today about the ADR, and since he's a fly by the seat of your pants type of person he totally blew it off. Said he didn't want reservations and wanted to be able to go and eat where've and check places out since we don't know anything about the different restaurants. We definitely want to do sit down dinners every night. At cool/nice/awesome places (lol)... Will it be virtually impossible to get a table without an ADR? How long would a wait be without one? We are going from July 3rd-july 10th, fwiw.

I'm the same way and I hate committing time to things on a vacation, however, Disney is the only place that brings out the complete opposite in me. To experience everything Disney has to offer, it comes down to proper planning and with the volume of travelers at Disney at any given time, you absolutely 100% need an ADR for a sit-down for about 95% of the restaurants that are part of Disney. We've gone in slow 'choice season' times before and there were no chances of a walk-up for any signatures or any of the popular locations (via napoli, san angel, sci-fi, coral reef) unless you wanted to wait beyond an hour.

 

[hsmamato2]

LAst week we visited... we have visited many times before..this was a 'slow' season..... (not) the first half of the morning, my DH did the mule thing...."I don't wanna run to wherever,whenever! I want to wander,and visit what I want,when I want!"...... that lasted a couple of hours..... until he realized that every place we stopped had LINES. Then I finally made him stand in an actual line for 30 mins. ride a ride that used to have NO line...... That cured him. After that,he listened when we wanted to view/ride/eat somewhere..... ok, what's our plan to NOT stand in line again? ;-) my point is....as others have said, try a light schedule..... FP+ in mid morning for your kids rides....maybe a place you know you'll like in the evening to sit and have dinner....and just relax in between those things.....

 

[klo1335]

Yay! So glad you made the decision to do so. My DH wants nothing to do with the planning either and is leaving it all in my hands. Because of this, I am making him sign a form before we go that there will be no complaining about anything since he has decided to want nothing to do with planning. I will hear nothing but how wonderful the trip I planned is

 

[KenziesMommy85]

Lol... I am definitely making ADRs!!! He's still not a believer though. thinks all you guys are exaggerating and that there's "no way" that every restaurant at Disney world could be booked. And thinks it's "so" dumb to choose a restaurant from 2000 miles away. He still thinks we can walk up and wait 45 minutes like at Disneyland. He will see!

 

[MakiraMarlena]

LTT is extremely popular around the 4th of July due to its theming. You have to jump on it then.

OP's husband is right. Not every restaurant at WDW will be booked. The issue will come when you want to eat at a restaurant, in a park and not at an outlying resort or DTD, at a time that is not very early or very late, without waiting for an hour or more or being turned away entirely. If he is good with leaving the park to go someplace like Shutters at CBR, Turf Club at SSR, the Swan/Dolphin, ESPN or Big River then that might work, or maybe not at peak mealtime since it is a very busy time of year anyway. It's especially inconvenient to be dragging hungry kids around trying to find a restaurant that will seat you anytime soon, if at all.

It's not Disneyland; most Disneyland visitors can leave and go home (a much larger percentage of Disneyland visitors are local) or even stroll down the street to a nearby offsite restaurant if they want. At WDW you can do that only if you have a car and are willing to give up a few hours of park time.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

While this is probably more effort than it's worth...if you were to pose this same ? on all of the other popular Disney forums as well as all of the top Disney Facebook pages...you'd get the same kind of answers.

Maybe he wants specific stories?

This was just from our last trip (Nov 2014)...

Yachtsman- we saw one party turned away because they were booked solid.
Flying Fish - we had a 7:45 adr, arrived a little early (had to wait since they were running on time), saw 3 parties try for walks ups- told they could wait, but wouldn't be seated until at least 9:30
1900 Park Fare breakfast - 2 walk up parties turned away while we were checking in because they were booked solid
California Grill - talked to a couple at the bar (while we were waiting for our table for our ADR- seated about 20 min late) who were eating at the bar because the restaurant was booked solid for dinner
Via Napoli - we tried to walk up for a late lunch and were turned away because they were not accepting any walk ups for the day

And this is just one 6 day trip! In previous trips, we've been told at Mama Melrose and Rose & Crown that they couldn't accommodate our party change numbers b/c they were booked (trying to go from 6 to 8), we walked away from the Wave once because it was going to be 2 hrs before they could seat us, and we've seen people turned away from BoG, Le Cellier, CRT, Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, Boma, 'Ohana, 50s Primetime, Coral Reef, Garden Grill, Akershus, and Liberty Tree...just off the top of my head.

 

[spanielmom]

I would make ADRs and just pick the places you think the both of you would like.
My husband is the same way and when I try to ask him feedback about where he wants to eat, he says, "oh, just pick anywhere." Then I do, and then he criticizes the food. LOL.

 

[Halle]

ADR's at busy times have a must do busier times since the mid 90's. I learned the hard way. It can turn a fun trip into a very stressful trip unless you are willing to eat CS.
If you don't have your heart set on eating in the parks check out the restaurants at the Swan and Dolphin. Todd English's Blue Zoo and Shula's Steakhouse are excellent.

 

[Sparkie]

He also needs to understand that Disney World is alot bigger than Disneyland. Disney World encompases something like 47 square miles…. roughly the size of Manhattan. When I have helped coworkers plan their trips, most didnt understand the physical layout. ALL of the friends that I have helped plan their trips were greatful when they returned and had a much better time. The 2 friends who went over Thanksgiving and New Years without ADRs or fastpasses had a miserable time and were not anxious to return. If it were just the 2 of you, I might could say just wing it. But traveling with little ones over July 4…. you have made a wise decision to have some meals planned ahead. Hot, tired, cranky, hungry kids in July in Florida….not fun.


Oh, and I have been over July 4th week. Its hotter than the surface of the sun and crowded. Search for pictures of crowd threads to give you some perspective. But I love Disney in the summer.

 

[Art 1]

Of course you do not need them. I am not the type that could ever be tied down to eat at a certain time, no place IMO at WDW is worth the trouble. You also would be surprised how easy it is to get seated at places that many think it can't happen and how fast.

 

[Amunet]

Well, it's a family vacation, not his vacation. Plan all the dining, find out what the kids really want to ride and book FP+ for them and for anything else inbetween, fly by the seat of your pants! You won't fly far cause of the lines and crowds ... but you fly!
I think it's a pretty good compromise ^_^

But I would love to have his powers. The ability to not believe what experienced people say and the inability to comprehend that businesses may be different on different coasts. Ah, what bliss I would be in, not worrying about ADRs ....

 

[kastoney]

I'm clearly in the minority here, but we don't make traditional ADRs and instead do day of ones based on availability, times, and what we feel like eating. I think you will be surprised at the number of options and as long as you are flexible or have CS as a back up, a fly by the seat of your pants vacation is not only doable but enjoyable

 

[jude&jonah]

Glad you're taking the advice here seriously and making ADRs- YOU are the one doing all the research so YOU should get the final call on ADRs vs. no-ADRs. He's not sitting here physically researching like you are. The thing is- the parks don't have a ton of sit down restaurants for a lot of people. And some of the ones they have are downright BAD (which is why a lot of people will leave the park on the monorail for a little bit for instance and eat at a resort). Due to the small number of restaurants in parks vs. the number one people visiting them- they fill up SO fast- even the bad ones. Then combine the summer month into it and I feel like you'll feel so frustrated spending ALL day in the parks and not getting that relaxing hour in the evening to put your feet up and have waitress service (something I CRAVE on long days at Disney). You're definitely making the right call- trust your gut!

 

[jude&jonah]

Ps. The one park that DOES have more restaurants is Epcot. Less popular restaurants often do have seating available. For me- most of those restaurants aren't wants I desire to do (some love Marrakesh and some don't.... I'm one who doesn't) so for me if I'm going to spend a lot of money on an overpriced meal (I love Disney- but the prices are high compared to outside Disney) it's going to be on something I am excited about!

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm clearly in the minority here, but we don't make traditional ADRs and instead do day of ones based on availability, times, and what we feel like eating. I think you will be surprised at the number of options and as long as you are flexible or have CS as a back up, a fly by the seat of your pants vacation is not only doable but enjoyable

I've been known to do that too. But I wouldn't advise doing so if someone is on the dining plan. If you can't get into a table service and end up with extra credits, it is not like you get money back. That money is just gone!

 

[elizmeyers]

I told my boyfriend today about the ADR, and since he's a fly by the seat of your pants type of person he totally blew it off. Said he didn't want reservations and wanted to be able to go and eat where've and check places out since we don't know anything about the different restaurants. We definitely want to do sit down dinners every night. At cool/nice/awesome places (lol)... Will it be virtually impossible to get a table without an ADR? How long would a wait be without one? We are going from July 3rd-july 10th, fwiw.

In 2013, my DH and I took a spontaneous vacation to WDW on July 4th weekend. We planned our trip the day before....Yes, on Tues the 3rd we looked at each other and said "lets go". By Wednesday, we arrived in Orlando. Needless to say, we had no ADR's. While we were never able to dine at any really popular restaurants (Le Cellier, Chefs de France, etc) we had a few sit down meals. We were able to eat in Mexico, Morocco and Germany. I think you'll also be fine with no reservations in some resort restaurants.

That being said, I'd still make reservations if I were you. You don't want to get stuck eating somewhere just because. Remember, you have 24hrs to cancel without charge. Have fun!

 

[oceanmarina]

You need them. Convince him...

Yep to that, he'll thank you afterwards when you have some nice meals