Are ADR's needed for January 9 - 13?

[lvdis]

We won't have the dining plan and will probably only eat at a couple of TS restaurants this trip. I really just want to go with the flow this trip and not really plan out where we will be when. Do you think when we decide we would like to have a sit down meal we will be able to walk up or call the day of during the week of January 9 - 13, 2012? Our favorite is Kona Cafe, so I know we will want to eat there once for a dinner and I would possibly like to try Via Napoli or Le Cellier for lunch one day when we are at Epcot (but they aren't necessarily must dos). Possibly Tony's at MK or 50's Prime Time at HS. We wouldn't do all these but might decide to do a couple of them.

What do you think? Thanks!

 

[melifeld]

We will be there from January 8 - 16th. When making my ADRs, we were not able to get the times we wanted. They were not available. We had to tweak our plans and our times to get ADRs for Le Cellier, Narcoossee's and 50s Primetime.

 

[msblrobs]

Disney Marathon Weekend is 1/7-1/8 and many runners stay for vacation with their families the week after the marathon so you may want to consider that when deciding if ADR's are necessary. There are at least 30,000 runners involved between all races over the weekend

 

[TDC Nala]

If there is anyplace you know you want to eat, make a reservation. Especially popular places (you will likely be much happier if you actually have a reservation for Le Cellier) or character meals. If your group prefers eating at a certain time of day, make a reservation. If you have a dining plan with table service credits, make reservations.

As noted, that's marathon weekend. Many Disney resorts will be full of marathon participants. Many of them will get the dining plan.

 

[TheWrightTrip]

We are going the week before Thanksgiving which is one of the slowest times of the year and I haven't been able to get a ADR for Le Cellier for months. Also haven't been successful in changing one other thing to get a dinner at Ohana. Now granted we are going when they are offering free dining, but I say all that because but in my opinion if there is somewhere you'd really like to go, you should ahead and make an ADR. You may have very few options otherwise.

 

[lvdis]

Thanks for all your responses! We will just be there on a Monday - Friday, so not on the weekend. I guess I was thinking it wouldn't be too much of a big deal since all the restaurants, I thought we might have an interest in, are showing several open times during each day of that week. I realize that status can change at any moment though!

It looks like I better decide if there's any must dos for us and get them locked in. We won't have the dining plan this time and mainly plan to do counter service, so I'm not too worried about it. At some point during the week though, we would probably like to have at least one table service meal.