ADR's without stress?

[kclark9830]

Hubby and I have agreed on a return to WDW in early 2016. But now we're trying to determine what to do about dining options. On our trip in Sept. we did a character meal every day of our 8 day stay. Those reservations, combined with the fast pass reservations, had us stressed several times as we tried to rush to be somewhere all the time. We agree that we don't want to do this again.

At first we decided we would just do all quick service dining. But then we started thinking about all the great table service restaurants (and other character meals) we hadn't eaten at yet.

Does anyone have any tips for doing ADR's without the stress of rushing around? Hubby wants to be able to sleep in, so breakfasts are out. Just looking for ideas to make it work. Thanks.

 

[OasterP]

Hubby and I have agreed on a return to WDW in early 2016. But now we're trying to determine what to do about dining options. On our trip in Sept. we did a character meal every day of our 8 day stay. Those reservations, combined with the fast pass reservations, had us stressed several times as we tried to rush to be somewhere all the time. We agree that we don't want to do this again.

At first we decided we would just do all quick service dining. But then we started thinking about all the great table service restaurants (and other character meals) we hadn't eaten at yet.

Does anyone have any tips for doing ADR's without the stress of rushing around? Hubby wants to be able to sleep in, so breakfasts are out. Just looking for ideas to make it work. Thanks.

I think it depends on how certain you are of wanting a certain restaurant. When we went in September during free dining we had planned ours way ahead, but ended up changing a ton. I was able to book so many the day before and the day of, and it really wasn't hard. And it was some restaurants that had been hard to get. We didn't eat at all the choices but I remember Ohana, 1900, Crystal Palace, Hollywood and Vine and a bunch more that were available at least the night before. I think if we ever do TS again that's what we'll do.

 

[dkrauss]

Hubby and I have agreed on a return to WDW in early 2016. But now we're trying to determine what to do about dining options. On our trip in Sept. we did a character meal every day of our 8 day stay. Those reservations, combined with the fast pass reservations, had us stressed several times as we tried to rush to be somewhere all the time. We agree that we don't want to do this again.

At first we decided we would just do all quick service dining. But then we started thinking about all the great table service restaurants (and other character meals) we hadn't eaten at yet.

Does anyone have any tips for doing ADR's without the stress of rushing around? Hubby wants to be able to sleep in, so breakfasts are out. Just looking for ideas to make it work. Thanks.

We were also planning an elaborate selection of ADR's for our last trip, also last Sept . What happened was, we were at the NJ DIS Meet and while talking to Kathy Werling, she suggested pulling back on the table service meals. We originally had 11 planned (for 5 days).....cut that back to 7 with one being a lunch at Whispering Canyon at our resort (Wilderness Lodge). Filled the rest in with Quick Service meals and it worked great! Left us with a lot of flexibility.

As for FP's...............we worked to do all FP's either in the morning, after breakfast...........or in the afternoon after lunch but before dinner. We really didn't have an issue with them with the exception of our BOG lunch.........that was close to our 7DMT FP but in the end it all worked out.

My advise, which is pretty obvious is setup your ADR's first bitelip. Making sure you give yourself maximum flexibility to be able to adjust. However setup you're top 3 to avoid any conflicts...... For us that was a 7:15am Chef Mickey, 8:00am Cape May Café, and a 7:55 @ Cali Grill..........with those times we were comfortable that we wouldn't be running into our FP's. After that work around your FP times..............knowing that both ADR's and FP's can be adjusted..............depending on the ADR or FP

Have a great vacation..............

Doug

 

[kastoney]

We take the rather "unconventional" approach and don't do ADRs until the day of. As long as you are flexible on where you eat and when, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the options as people cancel all the time. Using this strategy we've eaten at nearly every signature restaurant, several character meals (tusker house, crystal palace, hollywood n vine), and numerous others to include via Napoli, wolfgang puck, and Kona. Just don't stress it and enjoy

 

[StirlingSilver83]

I usually try to plan our fast passes around our adrs. We do the deluxe dining plan so we do 3 TS meals a day. For example on 1 of our magic kingdom days I am planning breakfast at Crystal palace early then planning on getting fast passes in fantasyland for little mermaid, small world and Peter Pan. I haven't gotten my passes yet but I am hoping for all morning times. Then we are having lunch at liberty tree tavern which is a short walk from the Peter Pan ride. After lunch then we have the option to either get another fast pass or head back to the hotel and swim a bit before heading back to the park for dinner and evening activities. If you plan things right you shouldn't have to rush for anything. I always figure about an hour in a half for our meals and then you have an hour window for your fast passes. It makes you really have to plan things out and there is no room for spontaneity but it's doable.

 

[Dis703]

We really haven't had an issue with ADRs or FP times. I think we just tend to space them out well enough they don't come close enough to conflict. I try to focus on areas of the park and pay attention to where I'm eating and what rides I plan to go on which helps. Like last trip I had a CP dinner at 6 so we did book a Jungle Cruise FP for 7:30-8:30 which left plenty of time. We also had BTMRR and Splash in the 4-6 range but rode them on the early side of those times. Peter Pan and Barnstormer were in the morning before a lunch at BoG as well.

It worked out so we rarely felt rushed.

 

[disnut8]

We don't do many ADRs while on vacation but we did Thanksgiving Day. I set up a lunch at the Biergarten for 1:00. I then just put our FastPasses around that time frame and the first one ended at 12:30 so plenty of time to sleep in, then we had plenty of time to walk back to Germany for our lunch. The next FastPass wasn't until 3:30 so plenty of time to enjoy the meal and then walk to the next pass (and we did other things before that second FastPass), and then the last FastPass was for 4:40. No rush and no hurry for anything and we filled in time with other attractions and a walk around World Showcase. A complete and total relaxing day and one of the busiest as well.

 

[GillianP1301]

Personally, I love ADRs because I like knowing ahead of time that I have booked where I want, when I want. I get more stressed if I don't have them.

That being said, if I were the opposite (like OP who stresses with too many ADRs), but still wanted to ensure I got to some great TS restaurants, then I would recommend choosing locations inside the parks. If you have your park days planned, it's a lot less stressful (and time consuming) to make an in park ADR then a resort or DTD one. I think often times it is the transportation and the timing of that transportation that stresses a lot of people out. If that's the case, then remove that from the equation. There are some great in park choices, especially at Epcot that you can take advantage of.

 

[Eastern]

Our last trip we had only a few TS and we really liked the freedom it gave us. We filled in other meals with CS.

 

[jude&jonah]

The way to make Disney dining non stressful IMO is a combination of these factors:

-Choosing more relaxing restaurants vs. buffets. I can't relax when I'm at a buffet. Maybe 1 or 2 per trip (even that's a bit too much for me). For me tho- ADRs are a great time to take a break from the park and just breathe for a bit- relaxation time. If I'm up and down, up and down, up and down in a crowded loud restaurant- that's not relaxing.

-Maybe try walking up? Some of the restaurants might be table to take you- if you're willing to wait a bit and not as picky about where you want to eat.

-Lastly, why not do every other day? I like to sit down once a day personally- but you could consider sitting down 4 of the 8 days- and the other 4 days try and plan that you'll be in parks with good QS options (For instance- when I know I'm doing QS for dinner vs. a sit down restaurant- I try to make it an Epcot day for all the awesome options. DHS days? I definitely try to make sure I sit down- as I hate the QS options there.

HTH!

 

[jude&jonah]

One other thing- is sometimes I love doing late night dinners when the parks close. For instance, Animal Kingdom closes so early- we'll usually jump on the AKL bus and go over for Jiko of Sanaa (We no longer like Boma- since I discovered how stressed I feel at buffets). Or also for instance when Epcot closes right after illuminations at 9:20ish- we'll make a 10:00 reservation for a restaurant at a close by hotel or take the bus to DTD. Late night dinners are nice as it gives you something to do at night, the restaurants are usually kid free, and it doesn't mess with our park schedule for the day.

 

[Elevationist]

Personally, I love ADRs because I like knowing ahead of time that I have booked where I want, when I want. I get more stressed if I don't have them.

I'm the exaaaact same way! For me, not having ADRs is far more stressful. I also like being able to structure my days around my ADRs and FPs, and having a plan to follow!

However, I realize that not everybody likes being so structured, and having to time their activities around dining and FPs. I've read lots of reports from folks here on the boards who prefer to either try for reservations on the day of, or just take their chances on stand-by. There's nothing wrong with that! Just keep in mind that there will be some restaurants you may not be able to stand-by for or make a last-minute reservation for. When I was there the last week of September (during Free Dining), I saw walk-ups being turned away at the podiums at Be Our Guest (of course), Ohana, and Tusker House. So as long as you are open-minded and flexible, skipping the whole ADR thing is totally doable.

 

[mare1203]

I think one of the keys to not getting stressed out about dining is to pick a few places to eat, but not be wed to the "best or must-do" places. We usually book our ADR's in advance because it's fun, but we don't have anywhere we strictly avoid or have to hit each time. A lot of times, someone will just randomly check the ADR search and book one that sounds good or that we haven't eaten at in a while. Eventually, we fill up our days. We will pretty much only do 1 TS max per day. Any more than that and we are too full without room for snacks and such. The other way we do it is to figure out what park we might be at and then break it down from there. The only time we sometimes have trouble with this is when Free Dining is offered and restaurants are really limited. Being flexible about going to a resort to eat can also open up options.

 

[kclark9830]

Thank you everyone! So much great advice, and a lot to think about. I'm thinking that maybe booking 1 or two of our must-do's sounds like a good plan, and then "winging" the rest. I planned every detail of our last trip. My hubby hated that. He wanted spontaneity. I'm really okay with doing it either way (I'm really very easy to please). So if he wants to do things more spur of the moment, I'm good with that. But I also didn't want to miss a couple of the restaurants that look so good! haha I really appreciate all the advice.

 

[kclark9830]

OK, if anyone takes a look at this and can give feedback, I'd be grateful . How likely would we be to find, say, night-before reservations for these places:

*O'Hana for breakfast (at say 10am'ish, though I realize there's no way to guarantee a time!)
*Rainforest Café at Animal Kingdom (that's one of our kids' faves)
*Cinderella's Royal Table
*Tony's Town Square
*Mama Melrose at Hollywood Studios
*Coral Reef at Epcot

If some of these are harder than others (I'm guessing O'Hana and Cinderella's Royal Table?), I could make ADR's for them. Then try walk-up or getting night-before rez's for the others, as we want. Thoughts?

 

[Hopefully]

OK, if anyone takes a look at this and can give feedback, I'd be grateful . How likely would we be to find, say, night-before reservations for these places:

*O'Hana for breakfast (at say 10am'ish, though I realize there's no way to guarantee a time!) Not Likely I certainly wouldn't plan on it
*Rainforest Café at Animal Kingdom (that's one of our kids' faves)
*Cinderella's Royal Table NO
*Tony's Town Square Maybe, Probably Not
*Mama Melrose at Hollywood Studios Maybe, Probably Not
*Coral Reef at Epcot Not Likely I certainly wouldn't plan on it

If some of these are harder than others (I'm guessing O'Hana and Cinderella's Royal Table?), I could make ADR's for them. Then try walk-up or getting night-before rez's for the others, as we want. Thoughts?

If you know you want IN Park ADR's you should book them now

 

[tzeitel]

OK, if anyone takes a look at this and can give feedback, I'd be grateful . How likely would we be to find, say, night-before reservations for these places:

*O'Hana for breakfast (at say 10am'ish, though I realize there's no way to guarantee a time!)
*Rainforest Café at Animal Kingdom (that's one of our kids' faves)
*Cinderella's Royal Table
*Tony's Town Square
*Mama Melrose at Hollywood Studios
*Coral Reef at Epcot

If some of these are harder than others (I'm guessing O'Hana and Cinderella's Royal Table?), I could make ADR's for them. Then try walk-up or getting night-before rez's for the others, as we want. Thoughts?

'Ohana - hard to get but maybe the later time is a good option.
RFC - pretty easy, you could also join the Landry's Select club and do not need ADRs for their restaurants ($25 to join but they give you a $25 welcome reward so it is free).
CRT - not gonna happen
Tony's - maybe, just because there are so few MK restaurants they all get booked.
MM - possible, but they also do the F! package and that gets booked fast. So really depends on the time.
Coral Reef - hard to get. This one gets booked fast, which is weird since there are so many great restaurants at Epcot.

The ones I would definitely do ADRs for are 'Ohana, CRT and Coral Reef. But it really depends on when in 2016 you plan on going.

 

[Mikie]

As far as stress reduction and less structure, I like to book my FPs near in location and time to an ADR, so I only have one block of time where we check our watches: i.e 11-12 FP for Peter pan, (ride in the second half of the window) straight to BOG or CRT lunch at 12. Then 1:15-2:15 FP for 7dwarfs 2:15-3:15 for big thunder. You won't be done with lunch at 1:15, but you will be done well before 2:15 and then go straight to big thunder after. Rope drop through first FP is all "winging it" then ride, eat, ride, ride then back to your own devices. . . Obviously this general idea can work around any late breakfast/brunch, lunch or dinner time that suits you. It's not necessarily a good outline if your goal is to use the kiosks for many extra FPs.

 

[Nancyg56]

OK, if anyone takes a look at this and can give feedback, I'd be grateful . How likely would we be to find, say, night-before reservations for these places:

*O'Hana for breakfast (at say 10am'ish, though I realize there's no way to guarantee a time!)
*Rainforest Café at Animal Kingdom (that's one of our kids' faves)
*Cinderella's Royal Table
*Tony's Town Square
*Mama Melrose at Hollywood Studios
*Coral Reef at Epcot

If some of these are harder than others (I'm guessing O'Hana and Cinderella's Royal Table?), I could make ADR's for them. Then try walk-up or getting night-before rez's for the others, as we want. Thoughts?

Honestly, I doubt you will have much luck. Maybe Rainforest, but the rest will probably not happen. 'Ohana is the hardest ADR to get IMO. CRT booked solid months in advance. Mama Melrose, maybe. Coral Reef is hard to get. I can't say about Tony's, but I think anything in the MK is going to be booked, in advance. People don't like to leave.

If you really do nto want to make ADR's in advance, I suggest you rresearch some of the resort restaurants that are further from the parks. They may have more availability, and when you look to book the day before, you will know what they offer and if you think they will be what you like.

 

[dachsie]

When I took my niece and nephew in 2006, we had an ADR for CRT for lunch. We were using the dining plan which should have been 2 credits but when I got the bill, I was dusted with pixie dust and they only charged one. It was our last day so I needed to find a use of the credit. I called Disney dining and they found us an ADR at GF cafe that evening. So it is possible to get some ADRs at the last minute if you are flexible where you want to eat.