ADR Advice, Please!

[MamaMeggie]

Hello all - I am getting close to my 180 mark and am getting very nervous about making dining reservations (mainly because I'd really like to get in to CRT for my daughter's 5th birthday). I used a travel agent to book the trip, and she said she could help with our ADRs as well. It's been more than 20 years since I've been to Disney - I don't even remember eating in the parks, although I'm sure my parents fed us at some point! Anyway, I have NO experience with this, so I'm hoping some veterans can help with some strategies. Should I just tell the TA where I want to go and when, or try to do this myself? I'm planning on 1 ADR a day for the 4 days we'll be in the parks.
Thanks so much for any help!

 

[rachellm]

I find it very easy to do myself. Either via the online system or by calling. Personally, I wouldn't trust a TA to make the ADR for CRT or some of the more popular/difficult reservations - especially BOG if that one interests you. I don't trust that they'll be up doing this at 6am for someone!

I have a list ready to go with where I want to eat and when. Prioritize it with the most popular first, than hop online at 6 am est on the 180th day.

 

[Happyjen27]

I would take control of this myself!

At 6AM eastern time on your 180 day mark, hop onto Disney's website and make your reservation.

Do a dry run a day or two beforehand, make sure your log in is working. Make sure you know how to use the system. Make sure you know how to search.

What are your other dining choices? When I was booking my first trip, I had a few different scenarios based on when I got CRT booked. I knew if I was able to score it on Tuesday then I had to book Chef Mickey on Monday, etc. If i wasn't able to get my time on Tuesday I could move it to Thursday and then put CM on Tues, etc.

I had a plan B and C.

Then, to verify that I booked everything okay, I called Disney at 7AM Eastern time on my 180 day mark and made sure all my dining was present.

Now, I've never booked through a travel agent, but I would be worried that they wouldn't drag themselves out of bed at 5:45AM to log on and have all systems GO!! I bet there are some awesome TAs out there, after all, this is their livelyhood. I think they have an entirely different system as TAs so maybe they don't have to go to the lengths we go to. Nonetheless, I would do it myself.

 

[MamaMeggie]

Thanks for the input! All good points. I was thinking maybe she would have some tricks/insight into getting that reservation, but it sounds like I just need an alarm clock! To answer your question, the other reservations that I'm wanting to make are breakfast at Crystal Palace, dinner at Ohana, dinner at Akershus, and breakfast at Tusker House. I'll start working on plans A, B, and C...

 

[DvF Diva]

I would also recommend doing it yourself.

I liked the idea of the test runs that PP suggested.
Make sure that your family members are all set up in your profile, so that when you select your date and time, you don't have to set up the people in your party to finish the booking.
Make sure your credit card is entered into your profile already, too, so that it automatically populates.

Remember, CRT will charge your credit card when you book. Don't get thrown for a loop by that. If you're on a dining plan, you can use dining plan to pay and the end of the meal and the amount originally charged will get returned to your card.

If you are a multi-tasker, worthwhile to have a CM on the phone booking one reservation while you're online booking the other(s).

If CRT is most important to you, book it first.

Then I'd move to the breakfasts at CP and TH; many ppl want the pre-park opening slots, so those book up quickly.

If you're more flexible about what breakfast time you get, then I'd book the Akershus dinner second. I've had a hard time getting my ideal dinner (earlier) slot once I decided that 630p was going to be too late for my toddler.

I think 'Ohana dinner last of the five, but I'll let someone else chime in because I've not yet tried booking a dinner there.

Good luck!

 

[MamaMeggie]

Thank you so much, DvF Diva! That is really helpful.