A week of dining at Disney with only 3 ADRs (and only 2 booked at 180 days out)

[katherine52478]

We just spent the week at Disney. I spent months planning our vacation and booked all my ADRs at 180 days out. Or so I thought....

Fast forward 6 months and a couple of minor tweaks later. While I asked my husband for his input many times during the process, I only got his responses while we were at Disney. Most of the times it was “we could keep that ADR or we could...”

Total tally of our dining experiences:

Original ADRs kept:
California Grill Brunch
Ohana Dinner (although I was able to get a much better 6:30 pm reservation at 20 days out. Original ADR was 8:20 pm).

New ADRs made the day before the reservation:
Le Cellier (6 pm)

No reservations accepted (or needed):
Raglan Road - sat at bar for dinner
Rose and Crown Pub - beer and snacks
Spice Road Table - lunch
Big River Grille - lunch
Tutto Gusto (twice!) - dinner and snacks
Cava del Tequila - drinks and snacks
Nomad Lounge - dinner
Ale and Compass Lounge - dinner
Bluezoo Lounge - drinks
Geyser Point Grill - drinks and snacks
Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge - lunch
Baseline Tap House - drinks and snacks
Tambu Lounge - drinks and snacks
Trader Sams (both Tiki Terrace and Grogg Grotto) - drinks and snacks

Quick Service:
Sommerfest - lunch
Sleepy Hollow (Nutella waffle - Yum!)
Flame Tree Barbecue - snack
Sand Bar (Contemporary) - lunch
Cabana Bar and Grill (Dolphin) - lunch

We are already planning our next trip and I think we will probably pick a couple of “must do” ADRs and then wing it depending on our mood! I enjoyed this schedule must better!

I’ll also add that I have Tables in Wonderland so I get 20% off food and drinks at most of the places above. So that was a major plus!

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We occasionally wing it after making ADRs. Usually successfully. Adrs don't have to be stressful for sure.

 

[sharonabe]

I’ll also add that I have Tables in Wonderland so I get 20% off food and drinks at most of the places above. So that was a major plus!

Would love to know what your final cost was. There's no way a dining plan would ever work, but would be nice to see how close or far off you were from a dining plan cost.

 

[Disney Princess]

This sounds delicious and relaxing. Glad you had fun!

 

[katherine52478]

Would love to know what your final cost was. There's no way a dining plan would ever work, but would be nice to see how close or far off you were from a dining plan cost.

My husband likes to make spreadsheets so I’ll get him on that!

 

[DisBuckMan]

We quit making ADR's more than a day in advance (mostly day of) a couple of years ago, and now a WDW vacation feels like a true vacation. I live life on a schedule in "real" life, I'm not going to do it anymore while I'm on vacation. There's not one single place on property that we feel we just HAVE to eat at...in our experience of many trips over many years, the food just isn't that good to put yourself through all of that.

Funny thing is, we're still generally able to get into most any restaurant on property...even the "most coveted" ones.

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

This is kind of how I do it, mostly I do about 3-5 ADRs (the hard to get ones I'd be sad to miss) and then the rest I wing it. It makes my trip much more relaxing. I'm glad it works for you

 

[DisneyWishes14]

That's how I like to roll!!! We have a 5 night trip coming up in August, I have 2 ADR's and no interest in making any more. We've been to WDW countless times and we always find something to eat!

 

[TeresaWen]

Sounds about right! We are going for 13 nights in October. No ADRs.