ADR every night?

[Ruth B]

Hi
I was wondering if you feel its necessary to have ADR for each evening meal of your trip?.
My son and I are going in Aug and have booked ADR for 2 nights but not the other 3. I figured we would just eat where we were?!
do you think i should book somewhere( esp with the free dining thing going on?)
Any advice would be great
Thanks
Ruth

 

[DisneyGirl4188]

If you are on the dining plan (especially going during the free promotion or during a busy time), then YES!

I have ADR's for every day. I am on the dining plan and want to make sure that I don't miss out on a meal, because I didn't have an ADR. DH and I don't take breaks, so our meals are when we unwind and relax. We don't park hop, so I just follow TGM's advice and make plans based on what park I will be in. I love having everything planned out in advance (heck, I even know what I will be ordering at half the places. )

 

[GretchGraham]

Unless you won't be disappointed eating CS, please make ADRs. When we went in December, which is normally a slow time, we saw many families being turned away if they didn't have ressies. Without ADRs you may be able to eat at less popular places or at off times, but several of the places were telling people they were full for the entire night.

 

[munchkin bunchkin]

I agree with the OP, if your going in Aug with the free dining it's better to have ressies- otherwise you might not get what you. We are also going in August and I made all of ours already. It would be a shame to really want to try a new place and not be able to only because you didn't have ADR's . I've seen alot of people turned away because of it!

 

[Fionasmommy]

Absolutely. We were there the first week of June. We had an ADR for every night, and every night as we waited to be seated numerous people would come up and inquire about getting a table, and they were always turned back if they didn't have an ADR. We went to Chef Mickey's, Concourse, Kona, Ohana, Le Cellier, Princess Storybook, CRT and 1900 Park Fair. None of them had any availability for walk ups.

It really caught my attention because as it was our first trip, the only reason I had known to make ADR's was because of the DIS! If I hadn't found these boards, I would've been one of those people getting turned back every night.

I'm sure it's even worse during the free dining periods!

 

[bluejasmine]

Whether your on DDP or not if you want a TS every evening I would make an ADR or you stand a big chance of not getting in.. I know for a fact there are a few weeks in Aug that Le Cellier is no longer taking ADR it is completely booked so that shows you how busy the TS restaurants will probably be..

 

[ShannonP]

If you're on the dining plan, then I guess I'd go ahead and make ADR's. Other than that, I personally don't like feeling like I "have" to be someplace at a particular time when I'm on vacation. We make several ADR's, then just wing it the rest of the time. With the park hoppers and crowds, we never know what park we're going to be at on a given day (depends on the crowds).

 

[kcashner]

Make ADRs. In May, we saw several families turned away from various restaurants because they had no ADRs and the restaurant was fully booked. In addition, on 2 occasions there were signs up at Guest Services in the park indicating that there was no availability at any restaurant in that park that night.

If you make ADRs, you know that you will have a table for dinner. You can always change your mind if you can get in somewhere else (do be kind and cancel your ADR in that case.) If you don't have an ADR, you likely will not have TS that night.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We're going the week after Thanksgiving (a traditionally slow time). I called a couple of weeks ago and already some of the dinner times I wanted for TS meals were gone. We make ADR's for all of our lunches and dinners (all TS places) it saves us time from doing the "I don't know, where do you want to eat?" conversation and we're always guaranteed a sit down meal. It's not just character meals that book up early.

 

[Ruth B]

Hi
Thanks for the advice. We are not on a dining plan........... does this make any difference?

 

[disneybride96]

Hi
Thanks for the advice. We are not on a dining plan........... does this make any difference?

No. There are still a set number of ADRs, dining plan or not.

We couldn't get into any Epcot restaurant in January without an ADR, although the places at Boardwalk/Yacht Club were much more flexible.

 

[2trips06Mom]

You could also book a lunch versus a dinner. That is what we are doing for some of our meals next week and when we go in August.

 

[indigoxtreme]

Whether you are on the plan or not, go ahead and book an ADR. If you decide once you get to the world that the place you picked that day will not work, you can always call dining and try for something else. IF you cannot get anything else, at least you have the one you chose up front.