ADR Newbie

[pakhowe]

Hi All
I'm a newbie to DDP and ADRs. Any advice you can give me i'd appreciate...like

Are the phonelines open for ADRs on Saturdays?

Are there any tricks/shortcuts to getting through?

How many 'backups' should we have just in case?

Are there some reservation times that are better for TS than others?

We are looking at:
Chefs de France (DS14 choice - he is taking French in school)
Mama Melrose's (DS 12 choice - he won't eat much more than pasta)
Whispering Canyon (My #1 choice)
Cape May Cafe (DH choice)

Any advice/reviews on these restaurants would be much appreciated also

TIA
~Kim

 

[BriarRosie]

Phone lines open every morning at 7am eastern time. Many people will start dialing a few minutes early to hear the queue message open, then follow the voice mail prompts.

It's always good to have a couple backups, and I don't think one ADR time is better than another, really. I don't think you'll have much of a problem getting your ADRs. You haven't listed anything extremely sought after.

 

[Bastiansmom]

My advice would be to remember that they are there to assist you. Don't worry about how long you are on the phone, or how many questions you have. I made at least 6 phone calls to make dining reservations for our 8 day vacation. Dining is a big factor when planning your vacation and how much you enjoy your vacation, so it is worth it to take sometime making your reservations.

I got all of the ADR's I wanted, including Chef Mickey's and CRT... My "plan" went like this.... 1st I would ask for a specific time "Chef Mickey's on Monday at 6:00pm." If this wasn't available, I would expand my time frame, "anything between 5 and 7:30?" If nothing was available, but the restaurant was really important to me, I would try for different days. By being flexible, I was able to get what I wanted.

Before I called, I made a list with dates and times for everything I wanted. I also had alternate or backup days for the really "important" restaurants. I did this so I wouldn't schedule a dinner at Crystal Palace on an evening we were planning on being at HS.

This may be more information than you wanted, but it worked for me.... Good Luck!

 

[chloelovesdisney]

If you're doing dinner and want to see Illuminations, etc., choose a time that will allow you to finish and get out in time for the show. We went to Mama Melrose last time, we were seated thirty minutes past our ADR time and the meal took two hours. Each course just took a long time to come out. It was a giant rush to get to Fantasmic, although we did make it.

 

[pakhowe]

Thank you
This has all been great advice. Now I need to go check the hours for August...