ADR questions from WDW newbie

[LuvSulley]

I am super confused about ADRs. I am planning to book a trip for 9/12-9/18 when FD is available. Am I understanding correctly that before I can book ADRs; 1) I need to have hotel reservations at a Disney resort and 2) It has to be 180 days before 9/12? That means I can start making them right after the hotel reservations is booked right?

 

[G719]

You do not need a reservation at a resort to make ADRs. Anyone can make an ADR for the day 180 days from today. By being a resort guest you can make ADRs at the 180 day mark plus ADRs for up to 10 days past your check in date. So if you are planning on going in September 2013, you could already be making ADRs. 180 days from today is October 22.

Now some restaurants may require a credit card hold. A few (like cinderella's table I think) require prepayment. Once you have the dining plan booked you can link it to your reservations. But I would probably make ADRs now while there still may be times available at restaurants you want.

 

[freckles04]

Great info from the above poster. I'd make your ADR's ASAP. I thought about changing my dates to September to take advantage of FD, but almost every restaurant I have booked for October is unavailable or has only odd times like 9:40pm.