Am I crazy?

[GiGi30]

We are going 9/15-22 with a party of 6 adults and 4 kids. We have made 2 lunch reservations, but have decided to wing it with the others so we are not tied down to having to be at a certain park on a certain day at a certain time. Are we making a huge mistake?

 

[ZekeKelso]

I don't think you are crazy, but I do think you are making a mistake. Go ahead and try and get some reservations. Making reservations doesn't tie you down. If you want them, you have them. If you want to do something different, just call and cancel.

 

[Cupmom]

I would try to make a few more ADRs just in case. Last year when we were at Disney during free dining they were turning people away. I remember being at the Concourse and a lady from England was trying to find a place at the Contemparay for dinner. The CM told her to come back around 9 when thing died down and he would try to fir her in.

On another note I'm traveling with a party of 10- 8/27-9/3 All my ADRs are set but I have been trying to make a few changes but have had no luck. Things seemed to be booked solid.

 

[rentayenta]

We are going 9/15-22 with a party of 6 adults and 4 kids. We have made 2 lunch reservations, but have decided to wing it with the others so we are not tied down to having to be at a certain park on a certain day at a certain time. Are we making a huge mistake?

I don't think you are crazy, I think you are brave. But really, even though it's off season the free DDP makes the restaurants packed, or so I have read. I would make ADRs. You can always change your mind or eat CS if you end up in a different park than your ADR but I have heard of people being turned away a lot during free DDP.

 

[Allison]

Trying to get in at a restaurant during free dining with 10 people and not having an ADR is a big risk to me.

 

[ChelleinNC]

In the past I would have said "no problem", but not now. When I called a few weeks before our trip in June I could only get ADR's for 2 of the dinners we wanted. We still weren't too worried, we've always been able to get in where we wanted. It wasn't as easy as it was before. We missed out on a couple of our favorite restaurants and had a few late (and stressed out) dinners. We're now planning our trip for December and I can't believe I'm planning my meals now

 

[Allison]

It was interesting when we went President's weekend this past February. It didn't seem that crowded but we were at Epcot on Saturday night WITH an ADR. Unfortunately, as we waited for our table at LeCellier everyone who walked up looking for a table was turned away. That's not surprising at LeCellier but they were also told ALL the Epcot restaurants were full for the evening and there were no tables available in all of Epcot.

It was the same thing at Magic Kingdom.

 

[kldmom2000]

I really think you should make a few more... there are only a few restaurants on the DDP that don't accept ADR's (ie. ESPN club, Beaches and Cream, etc..) but any of the restaurants that DO accept ADR's will most likely be entirely booked up due to the free DDP offer.... you can always cancel if you choose not to do it, but with a party that size, it is a very smart idea to have a back up plan

 

[shondad]

We are going 9/15-22 with a party of 6 adults and 4 kids. We have made 2 lunch reservations, but have decided to wing it with the others so we are not tied down to having to be at a certain park on a certain day at a certain time. Are we making a huge mistake?

As has been stated countless times before it is likely you could be turned away. This is our third trip during free dining and I saw and overhead people being turned away at the Maya Grill and various other places, and the wait was very long at Crystal Palace even with reservations. I'd rethink your decision to 'just wing it', especially with such a large party. Good luck either way.

 

[byoung]

If you have the free dining, what a waist.

 

[antmaril]

I don't think you're crazy, but I really think you are making a mistake. I would make some ADR's, just in case. You can always cancel. It's no big deal. I think you're going to be very frustrated trying to find a place to eat.

 

[n2mm]

Big mistake. We are going with a party of 11 in mid to late August, no free dining for us and had a hard time getting ressies at the 180 day window for a party of our size. Still many of our reservations require separate tables. Even for a breakfast at WCC calling at the 180 day window there were only 2 times available and they were 8:30 or 10:30 and that's at separate tables. I would start trying to book some late lunches and also start looking at the less popular places to eat. Keep in mind that resort dining often has availability. If you were a party of 2 or 4 then you might not have as big a problem, but with your party size I can see alot of frustration in your future. Dragging kids from places to place hoping for an openning is not anything I would want to do. Winging it is becoming a thing of the past and with kids, not a good idea. I would think hard about making some backup plans now and cancel at your resort or at the park if you change your mind. There isn't enough pixie dust to help you with your party size. Let us know how this works out for you.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Pick a random day during your vacation and call now to try to get a ressie for a TS that you might want to visit. That will give you an idea of how hard it is to get a ressie for your party size during the free dining period.

One of the downsides to the DDP, is the loss of some spontaneity. (which is why we don't do it)

You have a very large party size. You may not be able to sit together at one table for most meals. More likely to have 6 and 4



Give it a call and see what is available now. It will only get harder the closer you are to your dates.

Good luck!!

edited to add: I just called Disney Dining to add a couple TS to my family trip in August. I was able to get seats for 2-4 people at a couple of places including Prime Time, Brown Derby, Teppan Edo. However, this was not for my whole party (I made those ressies at the 180 day mark) and the restaurants and times were not my first choices.

 

[bell.of.the.ball]

I really think you need to make some more. You might find out you need to use your TS credits for breakfast or lunch because dinners might be booked up. . Did you know Chef Mickeys is doing lunch during Free Dining(just an option).

 

[getmefive]

We are going 9/15-22 with a party of 6 adults and 4 kids. We have made 2 lunch reservations, but have decided to wing it with the others so we are not tied down to having to be at a certain park on a certain day at a certain time. Are we making a huge mistake?

No,you are not making any mistake and I am sure you are doing the right thing,please go ahead and let us know how your dine went

 

[dr&momto2boys]

We are also going with 6 adults and 4 kids from 9/22 to 9/29. We made ADRs as soon as we were able. These past few days we've tried changing some and have had NO AVAILABILITY at any restaurant in some parks. In other cases the dining times were very late. (A big bummer if you want to see the nighttime shows or kids are to little to wait to eat.) Even with ADRs our party is split into 2 tables most of the time. Trying to just get some TS restaurant on the day you need it may be a nightmare for a group of ten especially. Just wanted to warn you. On the other hand, it may be freeing if you don't do the DDP to just not worry about any of this and eat CS most of the time.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

If you have the free dining, what a waist.

Was this pun intended?!

 

[Fairy Mom]

My suggestion would be to make a few ADRs as well. Maybe you can have each member of your party pick a favorite restaurant to book. The down side: if you book an ADR at a park, you might spend the majority of your day at that park. (You can even look at the EMH calendar and decide which park will be better for you each day.) For my family, I have booked a few 8pm dinners at the resorts, so I am free to go to any park that day. Besides, I figure that I get to enjoy the other resort's views, shops, etc. I am hoping to catch the electric water parade one evening just to slow things down.

Remember, you can always cancel. Better to be safe than sorry. Good Luck.

 

[Tink3Belle]

I would attempt to make a few more you may end up wasting your free dining credits.

 

[eliza61]

We are going 9/15-22 with a party of 6 adults and 4 kids. We have made 2 lunch reservations, but have decided to wing it with the others so we are not tied down to having to be at a certain park on a certain day at a certain time. Are we making a huge mistake?

We travel like this all the time, my next trip is for 11/07/07 Jersey week. In fact I have a bet going with my dh, if we go without adr's and can get in wonderful meals I get $500 bucks to buy a coach handbag I've been drooling over but would never buy myself.
The first couple of years we made adr's (they were called ps back then) and hated it.

1st my type a personality kicks into over drive and I wind up spending the entire day obsessing over being in the right park for a dinner or lunch or turning into a drill sergent yelling at everyone to hurrry up because we have to be at the restaurant in XYZ minutes.
2nd. during our real life we are schedule/organized to the max, the last thing we like to do is follow a schedule on vacation.

Last August we went for 10 days with only 1 adr and we ate TS every night. If you are flexible it can be done.
Reject the borg, it can be done!