Anyone else NOT make ADRs ?

[jm106]

Depends on the trip as to how many we book but not one daily or multiple per day. I would LOVE to not have to worry about considering cost.

This trip I am trying to keep it to a minimum. Honestly I do miss them and I am struggling with making just a few choices. I had a few special ADRs I wanted but didn't get and now I keep rearranging but so want to add. I dont find QS to be all that inexpensive though so I try in room breakfast when I can. I do try to save on drinks and snacks(we can definitely share snacks.) I keep telling myself, I am lucky to be going since it wasnt supposed to be this year.

 

[artemis4]

No ADRs for us either. We don't to Disney TS. We simply cannot justify the cost at all for our family of 6. We will not pay those prices for sit down meals that I probably can cook myself for a fraction of the cost.

I know that some people say it isn't a vacation unless they eat out well, but that isn't how our family works. We love to eat very well, and cooking is a passion of mine as well as many in our circle of friends. We find it very difficult to pay the equivalent of a week of groceries for a single meal when chances are we can enjoy something similar or superior any day of the week in our kitchen.

 

[ChattyAshley]

We're leaving for our first ever WDW trip in TWO WEEKS, eeeek! And doing the Quick Service dine plan. No ADRs for us! And I'm totally okay with it. I've done my research and found lots of possibilities for great counter service places.

 

[TreeSapp]

We actually pack a "bag lunch' for at least one meal per day and take our own drinks and snacks. Sometimes we have a table service meal (but rarely with a reservation) usually quick service tho.

 

[ZehnJahren]

I don't make ADRs when I travel solo, except BOG lunch! And I'm about to go on my second solo trip this year.

 

[linzbear]

We do 3-4 TS for 10 days, usually 1 breakfast at Trail's End because it's a great value, 1 character meal, and 'Ohana, maybe something else that we want to try, too. We balance it by making our own lunches & breakfasts, and also going offsite a couple of nights.

 

[mguilford1]

I am frugal so I do not like to spend $100+ on 1 meal for 2 adults and a child, but I would if I really wanted to eat at a certain place! We will be at Disney 1 week and might make 1 character meal ADR? The biggest reason for no ADR's is that how in the world will I know where I will be in 6 months! I can see it now....we are walking by the Toy Story ride on our way to dinner and the sign says 20 minute wait, but I say no we cant go on that we have dinner reservations in 5 minutes on the other side of the park!!

 

[Travelgrrl]

Some of my largish family like to have ADRs but I generally feel like I can have a nice meal any time in my home region as I live in an area with many fine or interesting dining establishments - but I can't just ride on Peter Pan's Flight any time! At Disney, I don't want to 'waste' the time to have a long sit down meal. (And if I AM going to have a nice sit down meal, I'm going to want to linger.)

So in the interest of time I just ram any old food item in my mouth when I'm hungry. The counter service places can have decent food, and are cheaper and less time consuming than the table service ones. I split meals with my kids or sisters sometimes, too. (Moar room for snacks)

I agree with others that character meals can be a lot of fun. We've done them everywhere from Fulton's Crab House (on an old paddlewheel) to Norway to the Poly to Cinderella's Table to Disney cruises. Worth the money and time for kids!

 

[china mom]

We did ADRs one year when free dining was offered., It was a love hate thing. Loved the TS restaurants but hated being scheduled.

But, now we have APs and we have the philosophy that if we go cheap, we can go often. We pack food for breakfast in the rom, bring lunch to the park and dinner at least one night is splitting a $16 pizza at the hotel. A big splurge for us is a CS meal for dinner.

Here is my budget report for a three day trip in 2012

http://bigstravels.blogspot.com/2012/09/disneyworld-september-13-thru-16_22.html

 

[jm106]

I see a few posters pack lunch and I always wonder-
how/what do you carry for lunch and drinks and keep cold in Florida heat? Where do you sit to eat a meal?

 

[china mom]

I see a few posters pack lunch and I always wonder-
how/what do you carry for lunch and drinks and keep cold in Florida heat? Where do you sit to eat a meal?

I have a small soft sided cooler with a long strap. I hang it from the stroller handle but it will also fit underneath. I fill it with lunch and ziplock bags of ice from the hotel ice machine. I also take along a can of pringles (they handle the jostling well) and some cookies as well as our other all day snacks. They go in a canvas bag under the stroller. We usually have lunch by 110:30 so the food is still cold.

At lunch time, we just go to a quick serve and find a table.

Cups of ice water are free and we use Mio flavor enhancer to make it into punch or lemonade.

One trick - bagels hold up better than bread so we usually have bagel sandwiches.

 

[AJ1983]

I feel like the odd person out here...everyone seems to make their plans and include ADRs for about every day of their trip. I was wondering if anyone else is like our family and simply cannot afford table service meals every night of their vacation? We always go to Disney on such a tight budget its only ever fast food places for us. Dont get me wrong I would love to do an ADR..just once but they way our finances always are we barely make it to Disney on a tight shoestring. It does not affect us in any way negative..the kids have their fav places..Pecos Bills, Pizzafari, Star Traders and we always have a great time...Im just blown away sometimes at the number of ADRs people have...sometimes 2 per day tell me we are not alone??

You are absolutely NOT alone. I may make ONE reservation, MAYBE, for Be Our Guest. That is only because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie, and I would love to see the castle...which means I have to eat there. We don't do ADR's for several reasons:

1. Our eating habits tend to change while we are on vacation, especially during hot weather, so its a waste of money for us to schedule a meal at a certain time when we may not be hungry at all..definitely not hungry enough to justify spending $50 or more at a restaurant to NOT eat it.

2. We have simple eating tastes in general. We are definitely more burger and fries/nachos/hot dogs/pizza people than fancy seafood/international/gourmet people Basically, we eat like children.

2. Most importantly, we feel its a waste of park time! I don't want to spend 3 hours inside when I could be riding Space Mountain! I don't know if people who make all the ADR's spend alot of time at Disney, but for me, I am not a regular traveller to Disney, so I need to make the most of my time.

 

[katallo]

We are now a group of adults. All of the kids are grown. We always frequent Disney restaurants, but this will be a "test" trip. Since the new ADR program began we decided not to make reservations. We don't want to have a trip based on so much preplanning. For the past 3 years, we have made one or two ADR's and then had the ability to walk up. We will try the same approach this year and see what happens. Luckily, we all rented cars and know a ton of great restaurants off property, so we will see. We want to relax on vacation and have some flexability. We have also had two sets of friends return who had difficulty cancelling ADR's (one for an illnesses and one had an issue getting the credit card hold removed). I would say if character meals and such are important for your children definitely make ADR's.

 

[SarahSummer]

We actually rarely eat out the entire trip except maybe one night at downtown disney. It's not about the money although I can imagine it adds up in savings. We are just used to eating super healthy all the time and if we break that routine on vacation we get exhausted and feel really crappy. Disney is so much running around for us and I need to keep my energy up. If I were to eat a big breakfast buffet I would never manage to run around the park at rope drop. I would be passed out on the couch after that. We always drive (or rent a car if we fly) so we go to Whole Foods and stock up before we get to the room then we are set for the entire trip with small healthy meals and high-energy snacks.

 

[jm106]

I have a small soft sided cooler with a long strap. I hang it from the stroller handle but it will also fit underneath. I fill it with lunch and ziplock bags of ice from the hotel ice machine. I also take along a can of pringles (they handle the jostling well) and some cookies as well as our other all day snacks. They go in a canvas bag under the stroller. We usually have lunch by 110:30 so the food is still cold.

At lunch time, we just go to a quick serve and find a table.

Cups of ice water are free and we use Mio flavor enhancer to make it into punch or lemonade.

One trick - bagels hold up better than bread so we usually have bagel sandwiches.

We used to have a small cooler for drinks but we no longer have a stroller.I miss having a place to carry stuff. we just drink bottled water (trying brita filter bottle.) I was always told, you are not supposed to sit at a QS table as that leaves no place for those who pay to sit. Maybe its allowed now?
We do like healthy meals/salads and not big sandwich/chips/cookie family.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

No ADRs for us for our trip later this month. Last visit in March, 2013 we had ADRs each day since we were using the dining plan. While some of the restaurants were pretty good none of the food was worth the price. And there was a lot of leaving the park or the pool when we were having a good time to get to a restaurant. We'll eat quick service this trip (lots of decent places) and if the mood strikes us try to find a table service that doesn't need reservations.

I will say that table service meals, while not great, are definitely a cut above the quick service meals in our opinion, although the buffet type places weren't much better than quick service.

 

[richmo]

We definitely don't do ADR's every night. My feeling is the combination of usually staying offsite, plus not all-ADR all the time gives us the ability to lengthen our time there by at least a few nights. That is much more important to us than having huge (and expensive) meals every night. We do enjoy our ADR's though and for a trip of a week or so, we'll do two or three, but we're also fine doing a counter service if we're in the park or a much more reasonably priced place out of the park.

 

[dixiegirl]

We usually do 2 or maybe 3 sit downs during our 9 day trips. I prefer to have the flexibility during the rest of our trip.

 

[biondagirl]

We only book one ADR a trip -- a character meal. I would like to, but I feel over scheduled on a normal day. I don't want to feel that way on vacation. Plus, it's too time consuming. We have things to see! LOL

Every one has their preference.

 

[china mom]

We used to have a small cooler for drinks but we no longer have a stroller.I miss having a place to carry stuff. we just drink bottled water (trying brita filter bottle.) I was always told, you are not supposed to sit at a QS table as that leaves no place for those who pay to sit. Maybe its allowed now?
We do like healthy meals/salads and not big sandwich/chips/cookie family.

Oh, I don't have a child... I just like the convenience of having a stroller for my stuff

I have never heard that he tables are for those who buy meals and I have never been told otherwise. I have even brought my cooler to Cosmic Ray's (where the table police don't let you sit until you have your food). I figure that tables come with my park admission.