Are we dragging our feet with ADRs????

[bbump]

Hello!
We are doing the free dining promotion for our 1st onsite trip Aug 27 - Sept 1st!!!! Hubby, DD and I are traveling with SIL, Her Hubby and 3 children.

We are still trying to decide which restaurants to eat at.
I am really hoping that we are not dragging our feet too much, as many of you are making ressies 6 months in advance.

We would like to do some character meals but are trying to 1st determine which parks we will visit on each day (we have non-hopper passes)

If we make ressies this coming week, do you think we will have a chance getting into some fun dining places????

Thanks for the tips and advice.

 

[Aimeedyan]

What I do is go online to Disneys site and write down (well, I type it on my laptop in a Word document) all the park hours, EMHs, and show times (like Wishes, Spectromagic, etc). That gives me enough info to decide what days I want to do what park.

If you are not hopping, you'll likely want to stick with the park open the longest or the park that has the shows you want to see. Specromagic is only a few times a week so we plan MK that day or evening. CWIM?

Once you figure out what parks you want, then the dining choices are fairly easy to narrow down. At this point, I would hurry and make anything you even think you want to dine at. You can always continue to check out dining options and change a few but at least you'll have something if everything else is full.

The dining options are overwhelming all together but if you break it by park areas, it becomes a much easier task =)

Good luck!

 

[missmun52]

What I do is go online to Disneys site and write down (well, I type it on my laptop in a Word document) all the park hours, EMHs, and show times (like Wishes, Spectromagic, etc). That gives me enough info to decide what days I want to do what park.

If you are not hopping, you'll likely want to stick with the park open the longest or the park that has the shows you want to see. Specromagic is only a few times a week so we plan MK that day or evening. CWIM?

Once you figure out what parks you want, then the dining choices are fairly easy to narrow down. At this point, I would hurry and make anything you even think you want to dine at. You can always continue to check out dining options and change a few but at least you'll have something if everything else is full.

The dining options are overwhelming all together but if you break it by park areas, it becomes a much easier task =)

Good luck!

I agree with this post.

Just start planning where you want to be. If you plan to go back to the resort for breaks or if you want to eat at near by resorts to the park your visiting. Then you narrow down the resturants for specific days. Start making reservations now because i have heard of some not being able to get them for september and october.

I am going the exact time as you but leaving disney the 2nd. I just made one today and changed some last week and had no problem at all. Of course mine were for 5 pm as i am traveling with a toddler who goes to bed at about 7-8 every night. If you want to eat at places like le cellier i would say you better start making them in about the next 2 weeks before the 90 day mak hit as many will start calling in more then.

 

[missmun52]

Here are my ADR's, Some are in the park and some are a walk or monorail ride away. I organized this based on where i want to be that day. I am avoiding the parks with the extra magic hours as i think they will be more crowded. ( i will have the hopper option though to visit them at night if i want)

Animal kingdom Partial day
Boma dinner

Epcot Day
Spoodles dinner

Magic Kingdom Day
Kona Cafe

MGM Day
Hollywood and vine breakfast (DS loves loves Jo Jo )
Maya Grill dinner (resort)

Epcot (Partial day)
Teppanyaki Dinner

Not sure what i am doing this day
Le Cellier Dinner

Magic Kingdom (partial Day)
Chef Mickeys breakfast (DS likes Mickey)

 

[GeologyRocks]

If you want the nicest places, go ahead and plan them and call them in now. We had to take a very early seating at Le Cellier for late September, on a Wednesday evening.

I was able to book three other meals without any rescheduling, and the reservationist even mentioned that 'most' places wouldn't start filling up till after the 90 day mark, thanks in part to outdated travel guides =)

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

I would definitely not wait any longer. You could always change them.

 

[disnut8]

I had a reservation at 50s Prime Time Cafe for 7:30 on Saturday, May 27th. Thanks to changes in plans, I needed to move that up to 3:00 (we might check in at 2:30). I called yesterday without much hope. I asked for the latest seating they had. 3:40. They also had 3:00 and other options. This is for lunch on Memorial Day weekend.

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[NMW]

I wouldn't wait much longer. The poster who commented on the out-dated travel guides is right. A family in our neighborhood thought it was 90 days too. When I told her it was 180, I thought she was going to have a stroke! She actually left both of our sons baseball game early to go home and finalize her plans! Before 90 days you are fairly likely to get most of what you want, after 90 days...maybe not.

 

[aviva5675]

I think the free dining time of your trip will make it hard to get ADR in a month or two or three. If you can plan it enough to make some now, you can always try and change some later, but at least you are locked in. If you are not the stop when we want-eat where and when we want kind of people you might be disappointed when you cannot get in alot of places. It sounds like the dining plan in general, and I'd think free dining especially, is causing alot of the restaurants to fill with reservations alot in advance.

 

[dizneycc]

We are going mid August and I made our ADR's this morning. The only one I wasn't able to make was for LeCellier unless we wanted to be seated at 8:55pm, which didn't fit into our schedule.

The CM was so helpful, she looked at the entire week that we would be there and found us an earlier time at LeCellier and we switched a few things around.

Make sure you ask!

Enjoy free dining!!!!!!!

 

[n2mm]

If I counted correctly, you are booking a table for 8? wow, I wouldn't wait too late, unless you are going to do lunches. I just tried to book LeCellier for a table for 6 for the end of October. I asked for times for 5 different dates and the only dinner times I could get were 4:30 or 7:20, so chose the 7:20PM. If you can pin point some days and start there, you can always move things around. Once you get started, it gets a little easier. I need to adjust my August trip ADRs, but we are only a table for 2, and it's a little easier when it's just the two of us.

 

[kmermaid]

I too agree to make them now. We are going at the same time with a party of 7. With a larger party it's harder to get a certain time. I just tried to get a later time than 5:45 for Prime Time but no luck unless I wanted 8:00.

 

[bbump]

We are most likely going to reserve table service lunches so we can take a break from the afternoon heat.
I am thinking that perhaps if we make late-lunch ressies (12:30 or 1ish) we may have a better chance of getting in to a character meal???

Thanks again!
I am really hoping we can get our plans narrowed down this week!!!

 

[n2mm]

We are most likely going to reserve table service lunches so we can take a break from the afternoon heat.
I am thinking that perhaps if we make late-lunch ressies (12:30 or 1ish) we may have a better chance of getting in to a character meal???

Thanks again!
I am really hoping we can get our plans narrowed down this week!!!

Keep in mind that Chef Mickey's, Donald's Breafasaurus, and a few other character places do not serve lunch. I think Crystal Palace and CRT do. Liberty Tree only does a character dinner also. So character breakfasts and dinners are generally the norm, with just a few that do lunch.

 

[aviva5675]

I booked almost all our ADRs 180 days out for November. Didnt have a problem with dates or times. Called back one week later (last Fri) because I forgot to book lunch at Crystal Palace (on a Sat), and the earliest I could get was 1130. Everything before that and alot later also was already booked. This basically 172 days out. That tells you something about booking early!