anyone try not making ressies with the DDP?

[wdwgirl3]

Hi there,
We are traveling from Canada to WDW in early October 2012 and were lucky enough to get the free dining plan! The last time we went was October 2010, 9 days, 8 nights at POFQ and we had booked our ressies for every single day. This trip we are planning to go a little bit longer ,12 days, 11 nights and thinking of only booking reservations at the restuarants we really want to go to and "wing" it for 3 or 4 days. has any tried this and have any advice ? any success in just walking up and getting a table? Any tips would be appreciated

 

[aubriee]

Truthfully, I always book all my ADRs at 0700ET on the 180 day mark. I don't care for most CS restaurants, so usually do an early TS lunch and then a later TS dinner. No way would I go down there without having all my ADRs. Saying all of that, I am also one who keeps the WDW dining number programmed into my phone and always change a few ADRs once I'm down there. Now I am usually a small party (1-3 people), but have always been able to get in somewhere. Early October is the Food & Wine Festival. It's a great time to just snack around the World Showcase. I try to make the F&W Festival every year and always spend at least 2-3 days doing that=no need for ADRs those days.