ADR Panic

[Alltiggeredout]

HELP!!! i need some advice. Although we have been to WDW 3times before,we have never made an ADR(we've never had to in Feb).But this year we are going from 13th Dec--4th Jan,and as everyone has told me at that time of year it is mega-busy.
So i've been looking at menus and reviews and prices and i think i'm going crazy.
So here are a couple of questions.Will i have to make ADR's for everyday we are there,or will we be able to leave a few gaps and go with the flow?Will i be able to make a reservation whilst there if we see something we fancy?
I'll let you know my possible choices later so you can see what you think.

 

[momandseandodisney]

Considerign you are going duing Xmas break, I would book an ADR for EVERY day!

 

[Alltiggeredout]

Its sending me crazy trying to think of where we want to eat on what day.How do you decide so far in advance?

 

[jess20k]

Plan the best that you can for now. I always look at the park schedules and also EMH schedules, and try to arrange my ADR's the most convenient way possible. Another thing is that you could always cancel or try to change something later on. At least you will have something if you make your ADR's now. You are going over the busiest time of the year for part of your trip and I would not risk not making your ADR's.

 

[PoohsFan1]

What we do is check out the different menus at the different places and we see what would be good for our family. We also make ADRs for places that we absolutely love and cannot miss while there. Check out the website allearsnet.com, they have menus for every TS restaurant and CS around WDW. Good luck, I know when I was making ADRs for a night out with my DH, it was very stressful and very fun at the same time. We ended up finding a place that we both would enjoy and am very happy with the decision...even after changing the ADRs a few hundred times

 

[LilyWDW]

I simply figured out what kind of food my mom and I enjoy, what parks we would be in and how many times per park, and then looked at the menu's to see what matched. Mom LOVES steak... thus Le Cellier one of our epcot nights. But we are spending 2 nights at Epcot so needed a second... we're German and enjoy the food so Biergarten it was!

Same thing for MGM... one night and I can be a food snob so we picked Brown Derby. One of the nights at MK we will do Crystal Palace since we didn't want to leave the park, enjoyed the huge selection on the menu, and didn't like the family style meal idea for LTT. The other night we have AK in the morning and then over to MK for Spectro so we picked 'Ohana since it's a monorail resort with MK.

And on and on...

I can understand it being hard, esp with larger groups and picky eaters. Personally, I enjoyed looking at every menu and figuring out what I would eat at each location

 

[MichiganMomto4]

You didn't mention if you are doing DDP ??

Regardless, personally for that long of a trip (you are so lucky!) I wouldn't schedule an ADR every single day. Do you need/want to have a sit down every day? There is no rule with DDP that says you have to and counterservice can be quite good. If you are on DDP then you can schedule some signature dinings with the TS credits you've saved from days you only do CS.

I guess what I'm saying is -I would schedule some (probably at least 50-75%) but not everything. With a long holiday like yours, you're going to want a bit of flexibility on some days. I would anyway.

 

[momandseandodisney]

Plan the best that you can for now. I always look at the park schedules and also EMH schedules, and try to arrange my ADR's the most convenient way possible. Another thing is that you could always cancel or try to change something later on. At least you will have something if you make your ADR's now. You are going over the busiest time of the year for part of your trip and I would not risk not making your ADR's.

EXACTLY!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I think we can all feel your pain. I have no idea what I am doing in my real life during the month of October here at home, but I do know where I am eating for the ten nights I am WDW! Heck I could drop dead by then, but my ADR's will be set the day I hit my 180 day mark.

First of all, are you doing the Disney Dining Plan? If so then for sure make ADR's every day since you are paying for this up front and if you don't use those credits, you lose them. Then as others have said, you can always change once it gets closer or when you are actually there. But if you don't have ADR's at all, and you have all those dining credits to use, it will get doubly stressful trying to not only find places to eat but potentially wasting credits to boot.

Now, if you don't have the DDP, then maybe make a few of your favorites and then wing it from there. If you don't eat full service meals, there is always counter service. I would definitely have at least a few during your busy Christmas/New Years week.

The bottom line is that its up to you how much you want to gamble. The popularity of the DDP has made being a walk up more of a challenge. I have seen a lot of people flat out turned away, not even given the option to wait. And this was during times that didn't feel all that busy in the parks, but the restaurants were all packed.

I would also suggest you make a Candlelight Processional Dinner Package reservation if you plan on seeing that. Its a wonderful, beautiful tribute to the season and very popular. And having the package gets you into a special, priority line that gets you in easier. And since the show is popular, the restaurants at Epcot on those nights are more packed than usual.

I also agree about looking at the WDW calendar, figuring out park hours, EMH schedules etc. to try to figure out where you want to eat. I mean if you don't want to go to a park on an EMH day, you don't want to be eating there either. Best to have an idea of your overall itinerary before booking meals.

 

[SnwflkCts]

I wish I had this problem. I never have any trouble deciding where to eat. I love to eat tooo much!!!

Anyway others gave you good advice. Base them on where you are planning to be on each day. Sometimes I make them for the park we are in, yet others can be made for a place you go to after some R&R back at the hotel.

Even make a lunch ADR at least once. The lunches are good. Eat a light breakfast, have a great lunch and then you can hang loose and stay as late as you want and not worry about rushing somewhere for an ADR. That is fun to do also.

 

[Alltiggeredout]

Thanks.We're not on DDP(never knew much about it)so i am waiting for the park hours to come out so i can start planning.It is fun but at the same time i think i've spent half my life looking at menus and pictures on t'internet