Don't panic about ADRs

[buccikulju]

I haven't been to Disney in a few years, but will be back there in 18 days (yay!). Last time I was there I don't remember being panicked that I wouldn't be able to get into certain restaurants. (Of course there are always one or two that are unattainable, apparently). Yet after reading lots of threads here I was really starting to worry about dining at Disney. It started to seem as if I couldn't get a good meal on property if I didn't have an ADR from 2, 4, or 6 months out. But that is not the case!

To ease my anxiety I've been checking My Disney Experience as if I was there right now. This has given me peace of mind. Most days I can find dinner or lunch reservations the morning of, or for the following day, for many popular places including 'Ohana, BOG, Chef Mickeys, etc. So while I do have several ADRs in place I also know that if plans change or we feel like eating at a restaurant where I do not have an ADR, I feel confident that I can find a great place for a meal.

Of course you should make ADRs! But I just want to assure others that they shouldn't panic if they are planning a last minute trip, or can't really micromanage every minute of the vacation months in advance.

Check for yourselves. You'll see lots of good (and great) options become available the day or day before you want them. (Obviously due to Disney's policy of charging for unused reservations. Thanks Disney!)

So relax. No one goes hungry at WDW.

 

[Minniesgal]

Exactly all this you have to plan 180 days out or you will starve is just scare mongering. You might not get what you want but there is plenty of choice day of.

 

[quandrea]

So true. We are going the first week of December. I'm not sure what our days will look like and am reluctant to prebook much. Experience (fifty pus trips) tells me we won't go hungry. Just because a restaurant has room doesn't mean it's lousy. The reverse is also true.

 

[22Tink]

I found that as well. We were just there and I checked daily just out of curiosity. Lots of ADRs were available, including lots of 'big' ones. Next trip I think I won't worry quite so much about getting those ADRs so far in advance!

 

[alliecat523]

Our last two trips have been last minute. We've been able to get everything we wanted for ADRs. Including BOG. It's possible!

 

[maryj11]

I always like to have the hard to get ADR's before we go like BOG and Ohana. I have never really checked the day of but I have tried to find some like a month ahead of time checking everyday and it would take a lot of searching everyday to finally find one. So now I just get them as soon as we hit the 180 mark to avoid searching everyday.

 

[North of Mouse]

To ease my anxiety I've been checking My Disney Experience as if I was there right now. This has given me peace of mind. Most days I can find dinner or lunch reservations the morning of, or for the following day, for many popular places including 'Ohana, BOG, Chef Mickeys, etc. So while I do have several ADRs in place I also know that if plans change or we feel like eating at a restaurant where I do not have an ADR, I feel confident that I can find a great place for a meal.

Check for yourselves.

So relax. No one goes hungry at WDW.

To a degree, we do just that, and don't worry, 'except' for one 'must do' place - 'Ohana!!!!! Maybe you are seeing open ressies for that one, but I sure haven't been - unless we want to dine at 8:30 or later (which we don't)! We are early diners and the closest to 5pm that we can dine - we do. We don't eat at just any place or at any time.

 

[jreeves628]

It also has to do with the time of year. Right now it isn't close to as busy as when I'm going down Christmas week.

 

[GPC0321]

It also has to do with how large your party is. Finding openings for 3 is a lot easier than finding openings for 8.
I've had ADRs for about 15 different restaurants at WDW, and several of those have had multiple reservations as I tweaked times. I was on at 6am on day 180 and the last time I did ADR tweaking it looked nothing like my original plan. I finally canceled all but BOG lunch, which I just switched the time on (about the ten thousandth time I've changed it), and we're going quick service. But I've had no trouble making ADRs for pretty much anywhere I want for our five-night stay over Easter.

I kind of think doing day-of dinner ressies would be fun. "Let's see what we can get!" Kind of like I really want to at least one day just go down to the bus stop and climb on the first one that shows up. Spontaneity is fun.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Quite honestly, it seems that there are more reservations available since Disney put a stop to the non-Disney reservation services.

 

[JessLUVSminnie]

I think that if you are flexible with where you are eating then this information is fantastic news. I know for myself that I'm a planner and my family likes to pick specific places to eat. That's part of the fun for us. So flying by the seats of our pants is not an option for our trips. But I know that and I make sure I'm planning in a way that makes things as smooth as possible for us. Our next trip is over Christmas and I would be stressed out beyond belief if I had to try to figure out where we were eating on top of dealing with the crowds. Our spontaneity comes in choosing rides and park activities.
You are right that no one will ever go hungry at WDW. But people should pick a strategy that works with their personalities and then go with that.

 

[michelleiada]

I also think that it depends on your party size. 2 people is probably no problem getting last minute reservations. I would guess that a party greater than 4 would be much more difficult.

 

[Oh Bother]

Our last two trips have been last minute. We've been able to get everything we wanted for ADRs. Including BOG. It's possible!

Well, you give me hope then but so far ... it is not looking good.
We just booked last Sunday for January 4th-11th in WDW so 44 days from now.
And I am rapidly finding out how popular ADR has become .... our last trip was in February 2013 and I don't remember it at all like this!!!

 

[Kelly loves Food]

I got a CRT lunch 6 days before our trip. Don't give up hope!

 

[kastoney]

Welcome to the non-ADR dark side ; ) We generally don't do ADR's either and I think folks would be shocked at how many "180 day" restaurants we've booked the day of or day before. You found the secret, as long as you're flexible with time and location the world can be your proverbial food oyster ; )

 

[Kellie_G3]

Totally second that post..... Ever since they stopped a few of the non-disney sites from doing the dining it seems like places have been MUCH easier to get an ADR at.... but I have also learned this trip that you dont want to overload ADR's either... too much of a rush and it will stress you out...

 

[si-am]

We just got back from a week-long Thanksgiving trip and we had no problem finding some good ADRs the day before we wanted them while we were there.

 

[jmkjr72]

I like to get my pre park adrs set and a dinners that I know I want lunch and several breakfasts we play by ear last may the onky issue we had was breakfast mothers day.
In fact any dinner we wanted to get seated at earlier then our adr was no problem except bog. There they would even let us check in early and didn't get seated till an hour past our adr

But then again when we would go in January with a group of 12 or more it was hard to get seated together without an adr and several times it was we have 12 we want this meal at this restraunt what day of our trip can we get it

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We were there during FD (paying OOP) and got last minute ADR's for Chef Mickey's, Via Napoli and Beaches and Cream. We actually walked up to B&C and they sat us at the counter. My kids loved that. Everyday there were tons of openings at popular places and almost every restaurant in Epcot WS.