Am I Crazy To Do This?

[mushumadness]

ok I need honest opinions

I am considering booking a disney hotel for the first night we are in florida paying for it but not using it, basically I am considering this so I can book ten days of adrs on the first day I can book. Would it work, and would it effect the booking by me not checking in (though I would be paying for the room)

does that make sense

its just I want both crt breakfast and a chef mickey dinner, both of which are hard to get, plus I cant ring till on a night on a week day, so would most likely not get what I want.

so what do you suggest

 

[Miffy2003]

Why don't you just book a room for say Day 2 of your holiday and actually stay in it? Then you can make your ADRs etc then as you wish to.

As far as Chef Mickey's is concerned, I have booked on the same day at Guest services to eat that day, and also walked in off the street before. This was at a busier time than you are travelling so I am 100% sure you will be fine.

I have not yet booked my ADRs for my August trip and I am unconcerned that I won't get exactly what I want for every restaurant (though I am not booking CRT).

A lot of people travelling to WDW don't even know you can book in advance, let alone think to do it 6 months early. I am sure you will be fine if you book 180 days out (I would be less happy about saying that about CRT but even then with the new credit card policy and package in operation, I hear it's getting less difficult to get that ressie too )

So would I do this? No, because to me it would be like setting fire to money

 

[alisonbestford]

It sounds a little too much like hard work to me !

If I were booking the room I'd certainly stay in it but think I'd have to consider which season we were talking re: pricing vs the benefits of booking early.

Afraid I'm anything for an easy life - after many years of 'stressing myself out' - and cash flow is definitely an important consideration in my decisions, so maybe it's not good advice

Could you, maybe, book, make your ressies, and then cancel?
I have, absolutely no idea, what rules are in place - before anyone 'flames' me

Have a great holiday, whatever

 

[TraceyL]

Seems like a lot of expense to me ! These ADRs are so much easier to get now you can book 180 days out

 

[Tron[ADS]]

Probably an obvious question, but Ive not understood this thread whatsoever, whats an ADR, and is this some kind of scam i'm missing out on ? (I dont like to miss out on any scam!)

 

[mushumadness]

hiya

its an advance dining reservation at disney for character or popular meals,
such as eating at chef mickeys it advised to use this method to make sure you have a table the day you want one.

Im wanting cinderellas royal table inside the castle and chef mickeys and theyre both hard to get, so I am looking at my options

 

[disneyholic family]

are you only allowed to make ADRs if you're staying onsite?

as for advance reservations, this past year i didn't make any dining reservations before actually arriving in Florida...i decided to play things more by ear (so to speak)...

so i ended up making reservations a few days in advance for every place we ate....granted we didn't try for CRT, but i assume that one would be difficult to do so close to the date, but everything else was no problem getting any time we wanted.....i made reservations only a few days in advance for the California Grill, the chrystal palace breakfast, 1900 park fare breakfast, 50's prime time cafe, main street cafe (or whatever it's called), whispering canyon, citricos, the GF cafe, flying fish cafe, and others that i can't remember ...

all of them were no problem...and this was in July of last year.....peak season...

we also walked into the 50's prime time cafe once (at about 11:00 AM as we wanted to be done eating before the 12:30 showing of that awful car stunt show)....we had no problem getting a table even just walking in since it was so early....(but we were hungry by then anyway, since we'd been up since the crack of dawn)..

we also walked into whispering canyon once for breakfast without a problem....

 

[KayleeUK]

Yep!

 

[UKDEB]

I understand your dilemma. Onsite guests can book 10 days ahead of everyone else (so at 190 days out). At least I think that's how it works. For most restaurants, it's not an issue, but for CRT it probably is. Having said that, have you been checking the restaurants forum? It might be worth finding out if people have been finding it easier to get CRT ressies with the new booking policy.

As to whether I'd pay for a room I wasn't going to use - probably not. But then I don't know how desperate you are to get CRT. I wouldn't have thought Chef Mickey's would be a problem - you should be able to get that at the 180 day mark.

 

[KayleeUK]

Could you, maybe, book, make your ressies, and then cancel?
I have, absolutely no idea, what rules are in place - before anyone 'flames' me

I totally disagree to cheating the system These are advantages for people who are staying on site. If you choose not to then why should you have the same advantages as someone who is

Perhaps these are things you should consider before deciding on your accommodation choices!

 

[disneyholic family]

after reading the other posts, yes i think you're crazy to take a room just to get an extra 10 days for the CRT reservation....

But i've been known to pay for rooms and not use them just so that we could get the side benefits, so if the CRT is that important to you that you're not willing to take that 10 day risk, then go for it......only you can decide what's crazy or not for you...

 

[mushumadness]

kaylee if i would have had a choice i would have stayed on site, as i always do, but unfortunatly we are going with my brother who is not interested in disney and will not pay for two rooms there, as there are six of them and would use two.

so I am stuck in a villa, looking for escape routes, if I could get a good price on a delux I would book a couple of nights and stay there, with ap discount but cant get onto the ap site to check. which was my original plan.

this trips driving me nuts, as I can just se it burning up, I am so used to us being able to do what we want when we want, when staying on site (i am looking at the swan for next halloween)

sorry if it seems I am trying to cheat the system, I was going to pay for the room. not cancell it. and like I said I would book some nights at a delux esp one on the lake, any ideas where I can get the rates

 

[alisonbestford]

If you're prepared to pay for the room, and not use it, I can't really see why you wouldn't want to stay in it

As Deb suggests, why not check out the restaurant forum?
I got, exactly, the date and time I wanted for Chef Mickeys only 3 weeks out (breakfast, not dinner though) and I'm almost certain that, through reading the Disney dining threads, CRT isn't quite the fiasco to book that it used to be - the price seems to put an awful lot of people off.........

Good luck

 

[KayleeUK]

If you book it and pay for it and don't use the room - then thats fine, mad but fine.......I disagree on the booking and then cancelling

Why not try Dreams Unlimited for some quotes they will always apply AP discount for you.

 

[alisonbestford]

Think I'd have to use that room (purely as a treat to myself to recover from all the planning, you understand ) and join the others at the villa the next day

 

[Verity Chambers]

We have always been in the height of the summer (August, school hols) and never had a problem getting the ADRs we want. My parents who aren't into planning have walked "off the street" and nearly always got a table where they want.

 

[jns]

why not book the room in the Contemeory for the night before and stay there
go to chef Mickey the night before and the CRP in the morning and no worry about not getting there on time

something is telling me you can not book a value room for just one night
maybe I am wrong

try dreams unlit TA there can do the dinning for you as well


please let us know what ever you do

Have fun planning

 

[mandymouse]

I totally disagree to cheating the system These are advantages for people who are staying on site. If you choose not to then why should you have the same advantages as someone who is

I have to agree here, but what I don't understand is if people are only stopping one night, how can they expect to book for 10 days of ADR's ? Does anyone else do this ? Maybe I'm naive, but I've never heard of anyone doing this (but I guess it must happen)

 

[Mumof2]

Anna, Like others have said, I think you would be mad sepending the money on this. I had no problem getting CRT about two weeks ago, I even had a choice of times. Trust me making ADRs isn't a reason to book the hotel room.

However, like others, I think it would be a great idea for you to get out of the villa for a couple of night. It would let you guys have some time on your own.

 

[Minniespal]

Anna ~ With the introduction of the character lunch at CRT it seems to be much easier getting the ADRS you want. We've eaten at CRT several times for breakfast, lunch and dinner and never had a problem with getting brekkie ADRS.