Are ADR's a "MUST DO"?

[shasess]

This May will be our (DD9 and I) 2nd trip to WDW and I'm pretty clueless about ADRs. Last trip (2005) the only real ADR that we made was at the Crystal Palace (we really liked it). This year we will be staying 1 week (AKL)and I have not made a single ADR. I figured we would do counter service for lunch but never thought about dinner (last year we went during a really slow time of year so the parks closed at ~ 7:00 or 8:00 pm and we ate dinner after we left the parks)...My question is: Do we have to make ADR's for dinner and if so does anyone have any suggestions? We have the hopper option so changing parks is not a problem. Please keep in mind that I dont want to spend a million dollars so nothing too fancy. My daughter and I are not into extravagant meals (we are both picky eaters and we don't usually get our moneys worth) we basically "eat to live not live to eat"...PS It's my daughter's birthday on 5/18 and we will be at AK. Should I take her anywhere particular to get a cake?

 

[bcsmom]

I always make my ADR's. Alot of the TS restaurants will fill up, & they will turn you away if you do not have ADR's. If you do not mind eating CS, & as long as you really do not have your heart set on any place it would not matter. I must say the resorts have some of the best places to eat verses eating in the parks. These are the places that my family must eat every trip. I personally love O'Hana's, now it is alot of food. We eat breakfast every trip at the CP & Kona. Kona is very reasonably priced & the food is great for breakfast or dinner, & you do not always need ADR's here. Le Cellier in Epcot is super, but I would make an ADR this place is real popular. The kids love the Sci-FI, & it fills up also. The food is so-so, but the atmosphere is great. WCC has pretty good bar-b-que, but also a lot of food. My DH loves San Angel in Epcot, I really just like the atmosphere & margaritas. We really like the Rainforest in AK as well. A really good breakfast place that is CS is the Main Street Bakery in the MK. The food is sooo good. Hope this helps. Have a great trip.

 

[JadenLayne]

Yes we always make ADRs especially if there is somewhere you know you want to go. Places like LeCellier in Canada at Epcot is wonderful and fills up fast. Chef Mickeys in the Contemporary, Crystal Palace. I have always read the menus and prices on Debs sight www.allearsnet.com and then gone from there.

 

[dixipixi]

I have always made ADR's (usually one per day either breakfast or dinner).

If you go at even a moderately crowded time of year I think having at least one per day would be a necessity.

Last June I don't know what we would have done without them! We like to have at least one sit down meal per day. No way I can go 12 days with nothing but CS, but that's just me.

It was easier to eat around the hotels without having ADRs, but even those restaurants had lengthy waits (usually in excess of 90 minutes) for tables.

A nice alternative is to plan an "early evening" every few nights and just order pizza in the room. We enjoyed that on evenings when we were tired.

Some of our favorites:
Magic Kingdom: Crystal Palace and Liberty Tree Tavern

Epcot: Biergarten, Le Cellier, and the Garden Grill

Studios: 50's Prime Time and Mama Melrose's

Downtown Disney: House of Blues

Yacht Club/ Beach Club: Cape May Cafe and Yachtsman Steakhouse

Animal Kingdom Lodge: Boma

Polynesian: 'Ohana

Contemporary: Concourse Steakhouse and Chef Mickey's

 

[jloz]

One suggestion: If you are staying on property, get the dining plan. It is about $35/day for adults and $12 for child 9 and under. It includes 1CS, 1TS and 1 snack each day. All of the character meals are included (check the disney web site for full list) and you can use for Cinderella breakfast. It includes tax and tip and was well worth the money when we went last week. Some days, we spent 2-3 times what we paid on meals.

I would suggest 50's prime time (MGM), Whispering Canyon (WL) and Chef Mickeys. We had ADR for all of them and tried to change to later times upon arrival and was told that the only times available were after 9pm. We heard that from many people at the hotel and buses. The CM at Disney Dining are very helpful and allearsnet.com has all menus.

 

[Twinprincesses]

For us it is a must cause we have 12 people. I would say make reservations for places you definatly want. WE love Sci Fi at MGM and normally do Germany at Epcot (this time we are doing the norway princess lunch).

 

[Lilo312]

ADR's are a must. A little planning now will save lots of waiting time later.
Fast pass and ADR's can help make your vacation more enjoyable and smooth going.They are free so why not use them to our advantage. During our Spring Break vacation 2005, we were seated within 10mins of arrival for all of our ADR's. For our Spring Break vacation 2006, our ADR's were made 5-6 months in advance.

47 days and counting

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Would your birthday girl like to meet Cinderella for dinner at 1900 Park Faire in the Grand Floridian? It's a buffet so you're sure to find something you like.

Other suggestions. Pooh and the gang at the Crystal Palace.
Mickey and Friends at Chef Mickeys.

Or you could do a late seating for breakfast and save some $.

I would indeed suggest ADR's.

 

[CPM]

I probably visit WDW at least every other month. I never make ADR's. I think the last time I made one in advance was NYE 1999.
This past weekend, I walked up to Alfredos at 6:00, I was told I could come back at 8:45. I called Disney Dining and she had me in in 15 minutes. That's usually what I do if there is a problem and it works. I hate *having* to be somewhere on vacation. And, I don't mind waiting a little while or coming back if I'm at a park. Not a big deal.

I guess if you really have your hear set on a certain restaurant you shouldn't chance it. But, I can't remember being turned away very many times.
May is not an extremely busy time, unless it's Memorial Day weekend.

 

[Mike N Kathy]

Ok first off i think that the DDP is a great way to save money and eat in places u might not normally be able to eat in without it or at least be able to splurge and order whatever u want and not have to worry about cost. Now with that said i would MOST DEFINETLY make ressies we were there in the beginning of Feb (slow season) and saw lots of people being turned away or having 2 hour waits ...Your paying alot of money to go to disney so i think u should make the best out of ur trip by going to some nice places to eat and not having to worry about being turned away....I overheard so many people complaining when we were on our trip that they had nowhere to eat , everywhere was packed and they had no idea where to eat bla bla and had to settle on anything u dont want to find urself in the same situation

 

[Hef4545]

It is very difficult to know how a day is going to go. What I usually do is make ADR for a sit down meal each day of our stay and then if I know we will not make it because of something we are doing, I will call and cancel. At least this way, you have a choice. Some of the more popular places will definitely be booked no matter when you go such as the Crystal Palace. I would definitely pick a Princess place for your beautiful daughter's birthday. 1900 Park Faire at the Grand Floridian is a great suggestion or breakfast in the castle although expensive would be an experience to remember. It might be exciting for both of you to go into the castle and actually eat there. They are very nice about providing items that are not on the menu if you ask. It is expensive but would be for her special day and I think it includes a photo now too.
How about Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian? I am sure you could call and order a cake there.
Check our www.allearsnet.com for menus to the restaurants and prices. That may be of help.
Have a great time!

 

[Aunt Jo]

Hi shasess. I seldom post but am a "charter member" reader of these boards and your problem is very close to mine. We are also going to be there in May (Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise"). Our original reservation included the dining plan but after much agonizing over times and places I canceled it. We are a party of two like you and while we are not picky eaters we don't eat a lot of food at one meal. I had our DU agent make 4 ADR's because my DH really wanted to eat at these places. We plan to eat more meals at the resorts than in the parks whether CS or TS. Since you are staying at AKL I can recommend their CS place - Mara. I realize some folks don't care for it but my DH absolutely loved their soups and salad. I think their soups are the same ones that are served in the TS restaurants there. The salad is not premade but mixed and plated when you order it. Must say we ate many lunches there during our stay. We have always done as CPM mentioned - called the same day for reservations - and will try that again if we decide to eat any more TS meals. But I am comfortable with the few ADR's we have and don't plan to make more for our 6 day stay. I realize the dining plan is wildly popular with most folks but it just doesn't fit our needs. By the way, we are 76/83 years old so that makes us a little out of the ordinary I guess. A character meal would be a nice choice for your DD's birthday and you SHOULD make an ADR for that one. Happy trip to you both.

 

[1000th happy haunt]

If you want to have dinner in the parks, ADRs are almost a necessity. You don't necessarily need them for breakfast or lunch, but you should make them for table service dinners.

We took a weekend trip in January, and since we didn't know our exact schedule didn't make ADRs for dinner. The night we arrived Epcot was having EMH, so we headed over that way. We tried Rose and Crown for dinner--no go. We walked over to the Beach Club and tried Cape May Cafe--no go. We tried Beaches and Cream--no go. By then we were so hungary we just settled for counter service, and even that was a wait before we got to the window.

I've also noticed signs in the MK stating that the table service restaurants were not taking walk-ups that day. And I was told by someone that Raglan Road doesn't take "day of" ADRs.

 

[shasess]

Thanks so much for all your info.....I am going to try and make our ADRs this afternoon...Hopefully I'll get a patient CM when I call...Thanks again!

 

[dawnball]

Good luck, I just made some changes to our ADRs for our early may trip and there were some I just couldn't get. We wanted a Chef Mickey's for our first park day, and we couldn't get anything earlier than 7:45, which is just too late for the <3 set to eat. I didn't have any trouble getting most other ADRs though. That reminds me, I need to call and dump the ones that don't fit our schedule. I'd really like a web interface to ADRs, it would make the process so much easier for me. I'd probably even pay for access to it.

 

[CPM]

Good luck, I just made some changes to our ADRs for our early may trip and there were some I just couldn't get. We wanted a Chef Mickey's for our first park day, and we couldn't get anything earlier than 7:45, which is just too late for the <3 set to eat. I didn't have any trouble getting most other ADRs though. That reminds me, I need to call and dump the ones that don't fit our schedule. I'd really like a web interface to ADRs, it would make the process so much easier for me. I'd probably even pay for access to it.

Just show up at Chef Mickey's early. They leave room for walk ins at every restaurant.

 

[shasess]

Update: I just booked all the ADRs that I wanted to get
The only one that I am not 100% sure about is Cind Gala Feast (1900 Park Faire) I booked it for 8:00 on the night that we will be at AK. If we leave the park at 6:00pm, will it give us enough time to go to the hotel (AKL), change (DD9 wants to wear a pretty dress for her B-Day dinner) and make it to the GF by 8:00pm?
Thanks again!!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I probably visit WDW at least every other month. I never make ADR's. I think the last time I made one in advance was NYE 1999.
This past weekend, I walked up to Alfredos at 6:00, I was told I could come back at 8:45. I called Disney Dining and she had me in in 15 minutes. That's usually what I do if there is a problem and it works. I hate *having* to be somewhere on vacation. And, I don't mind waiting a little while or coming back if I'm at a park. Not a big deal.

I guess if you really have your hear set on a certain restaurant you shouldn't chance it. But, I can't remember being turned away very many times.
May is not an extremely busy time, unless it's Memorial Day weekend.

Where are some of the places you've been able to get into without ADRs? It's so hard for me to plan ahead, but I'm afraid that if I don't make ADRs, I'll be stuck eating only CS. For a solo diner, do you think I'd be able to get into many places without ADRs? Where? Thanks!

 

[CPM]

Where are some of the places you've been able to get into without ADRs? It's so hard for me to plan ahead, but I'm afraid that if I don't make ADRs, I'll be stuck eating only CS. For a solo diner, do you think I'd be able to get into many places without ADRs? Where? Thanks!

Almost everywhere. This past weekend I ate at Alfredos and Kona for dinner.

It's easier for smaller parties. If there is a long wait or they say they aren't taking any more parties I call WDW dining & usually we get in within a half hour.
I much rather eat at the resort restaurants. Eating at Alfredos confirmed this fact for me. It was the worst Alfrdo I've ever had, a small pile of sticky, too cheesy pasta for $18.50. Caeser salad wiith bacon? Dripping in bad dressing.

We eat at the Flying Fish, Yachtsmen & Jiko a lot.
Kona was excellent, BTW!

 

[Kimmielee]

My niece and nephew just got back from President's week..... just the two of them and they got turned away restaurant after restaurant due to no availability! I tried to warn them ahead of time about the busy time they were going and the need for ADR's .... now they believe me!!!

We are going Easter week and I've had my ADR's set for months.