ADRs without DDPs

[SkiTeton]

How many of you book ADRs without a dining plan and if you do, how many ADRs do you book? I feel after reading some of your posts that at least 1 TS meal a day is the norm…is this the case for those of you without plans?

 

[wdw4rfam]

We book 1 per day, other than our Epcot day, because we haven't found a place that we all love there. So we do all counter service. Now when we go to HS we do 2 table service because we can't find a good counter service. We do tend to go with cheaper meals when not on the DDP. We are trying trails end this time. Doing more breakfasts than dinners to keep costs down. My kids look forward to character meals- so breakfast is a lot cheaper. But yes, I look forward every day to that time we can sit down and eat at a restaurant without waiting in yet another line and then searching for a table. DDP or not.

 

[piccolopat]

We do at least 1 TS, oftentimes 2, per day. In years past we sometimes did 3 a day but frankly that was way too much food and we felt like we were waddling after a couple of days. My DH is not a fan of QS at all and this gives us some time to take an air conditioned break. Now we will either do TS for breakfast or an early lunch (11:30) and then dinner. We've been going to WDW since the '70s and our DD is grown and married so we don't have a need to see or do everything every trip. This year we'll relax a bit more as we are taking my 83 year "young" mother. We prefer not to do the DP because we can eat less when we aren't hungry and not feel like we aren't getting our money's worth.

 

[scard192]

we have the QSDP this trip but I did book 2 TS meals (Tusker House and Minnie's Holiday Dine) that I will pay OOP. Sort of OOP, we have Disney Visa rewards that will cover the costs. The kids are getting older and have been very vocal that they don't want to "waste park time" at a restaurant.

 

[AngiTN]

We never use the dining plan. We book at least 1 ADR on every day of our trip. Most times, 2. We are not huge fans of most QS. We'll eat our few favorites and the rest of our meals are TS

 

[loves to dive]

We are the rare bird that play it by ear, I book 1 ADR in advance of my trip, that is tea at the GF and I book it maybe 3 weeks in advance. The rest of the time we are usually walking around and just say I feel like eating at a TS tonight, let's check and see what's available. I hop on MDE and look up what's available and we go from there. We can go anywhere from eating a TS every day to only eating 2 on a 6 night stay. If we are there during F&G or F&W, it is usually only one or two since we tend to just knosh at the booths.

 

[AngiTN]

We are the rare bird that play it by ear, I book 1 ADR in advance of my trip, that is tea at the GF and I book it maybe 3 weeks in advance. The rest of the time we are usually walking around and just say I feel like eating at a TS tonight, let's check and see what's available. I hop on MDE and look up what's available and we go from there. We can go anywhere from eating a TS every day to only eating 2 on a 6 night stay. If we are there during F&G or F&W, it is usually only one or two since we tend to just knosh at the booths.

That's what we do every day, for just about every meal. I still consider that booking an ADR, since we book a reservation vs. walking up. But we don't book many way in advance

 

[tinkerbella16]

We do not have the DDP for our Sept trip this year. This is my nieces first trip, so we still wanted to do some of our favorite meals and some character meals for her. We have 6 ADR's - breakfast at Cape May since we are staying at BC, Garden Grill dinner is always our arrival day dinner, PPO Akershus breakfast, BOG dinner, Hoop Dee Doo is a trip must do and already paid for, and Beaches and Cream for dinner/dessert on our last night.

We have all purchased discounted Disney gift cards from Sam's, to cover all of our food for the whole trip (TS, QS and Snacks).

 

[cluvsdisney]

We don't purchase the dining plan may book 1-2 ADRs a day depending on our plan for the day. We only like a couple of QS places so we tend to have more TS meals than QS. We might also have meals at offsite places planned so they would cancel out ADRs

 

[emnems34]

We never get the dining plan but we ALWAYS do ADRs. Yes you are correct in assuming one TS per day is the norm. Sometimes I book two if there are two places I really want to go but that is unusual for me and can get pricey quickly.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Depends on the trip.

Our next trip, we have one ADR per day. Our last trip, we had one for the entire trip.

Depends what our focus is.

 

[Hopefully]

We like to eat a sit down dinner every day. We eat as a family in the evening at home and we like to do the same on vacation. So it is 1 TS a day for us

 

[MammaMoe48]

We're a "Sit Down Dinner" type of family so we have ADRs every day of our stay. I know some people like to wing a couple of days but I don't like to leave things to chance.

 

[Eandbmom]

At least one TS a day but on special occasions (this year it's our anniversary) we do 2. Mostly dinners with a couple of breakfasts thrown in there

 

[jimmytammy]

Never used the DDP. We book our ADRs usually 1 TS meal per day, sometimes 2, but thats rare.

 

[T_O]

Don't use the DDP. I book one per day of the vacation.

 

[BuzzyBelle]

We book at least one ADR a day. Sometimes we have both a character breakfast and a TS dinner. DH likes to have a sit down meal and our kids still enjoy the characters and/or atmosphere at the Disney restaurants. I like having a set time and place planned. When we have done CS for dinner it stresses me out. No one can ever agree where to eat, I have to stand in line to order, find a table, etc. We don't really enjoy much of the CS food either.

 

[GM24]

We don't purchase a dining plan and we usually have lunch every day at a table service restaurant (I try to book the lunches as soon as my 180+10 hits).

 

[thetallone101]

How many of you book ADRs without a dining plan and if you do, how many ADRs do you book? I feel after reading some of your posts that at least 1 TS meal a day is the norm…is this the case for those of you without plans?

I don't use the DDP as I don't want to be restricted and have more freedom to order what I want when I want and not stuck in restaurants for the majority of the day...I've booked 1 TS per park day and 1 brunch at 1900 Park Fare on our day off...The rest of the time we will do QS or wing it.

 

[tobikaye]

I have not done any dining plan. Normally, I only book 1-2 ADRs total before a trip. Then if I want an TS while at WDW on another day, I check online, call or stop by guest services to see what is available.