Book All Meals in Advance?

[Peacefrog67]

Hi all,

I recently called Disney to book my hotel and was told by the booking agent that I had to reserve all my meals at the restaurants in advance, otherwise I would not be able to eat at any restaurants because they were sold out.

I am kind of confused how I can reserve meals 4 months in advance when I have no idea where in the Park I will be.

Is this true? Or will I be able to just show up to a restaurant and get a table. I am not talking about reservations at a specific or special restaurant, I just want to be sure I will be able to eat a dinner at one of them each night!

Thank You!!!

 

[Sweet Melissa]

If you plan to visit during a very busy time of year like over Spring Break or a holiday weekend, booking agents will strongly advise making all of your dining reservations in advance. The booking window opens 180 days before the reservation date. As a matter of fact, booking agents often encourage people to make dining reservations in advance even in the slow seasons.

 

[Peacefrog67]

If you plan to visit during a very busy time of year like over Spring Break or a holiday weekend, booking agents will strongly advise making all of your dining reservations in advance. The booking window opens 180 days before the reservation date. As a matter of fact, booking agents often encourage people to make dining reservations in advance even in the slow seasons.

Hi Melissa,

Does this reflect the reality of the situation. I am going in the middle of April, does this mean that it is very hard to eat in a restaurant? Can anyone speak from experience on this?

Thanks.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

Eating at a sit-down restaurant during peak season, like in April, can be difficult. If you don't plan an itinerary in advance and make reservations, do be prepared for long waits if you want to dine at sit-down restaurants. Some of the more popular restaurants, like those inside the theme parks, could very well be turning away walk-ins entirely.

 

[rndmr2]

If you are not real picky and don't have your heart set on eating at a specific Table Service restaurant or one of the more popular ones you may be able to get a same day or walk-in table but there is a good chance you will have a hard time.

You can always just do counter service and then you won't have to worry. There is actually a lot more variety in the counter service menus than you would think, it doesn't have to be all burgers and pizza.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Table service restaurants, particularly character meals, can be booked up months in advance and walk ins are not accepted. If there is a place you really want to eat, I'd make reservations. Park hours are usually released about six months in advance, so you can plan where you want to be each day. We are going in June, and I booked almost all my ADRs two weeks ago.

Some table service locations don't take ADRs, like the ESPN Club and Beaches and Cream (at Beach Club). Other restaurants, particularly at resorts, may or may not have same day availability. We have been in May and gotten same-day reservations, but April might be tougher. If it is the week before or after Easter, it is unlikely that you would get a walk up anywhere, unless you were willing to eat very late at a less popular restaurant.

Quick service locations don't take reservations, so you won't starve, but if you are planning to do the dining plan or really want to eat somewhere, I'd start booking soon.

 

[MSSANDRA]

You are always taking a chance not making reservations at WDW. Mid-April is after Easter this year so it will not be CRAZY busy but will still be busy. If free dining is offered during that time, expect most resturants to fill up quickly. You ,may find "somewhere" to eat a sit down, but you may have a a long wait and it may not be what you want. Most character meals and more popular choices will not be an option.

I suggest you start to plan now. Look at what parks have EMH, and what days you might want to be in what park. Consider if you will have hopper passes and if you will be on or off site and start to format a plan that will allow you to make some ADR's. They can be changed and only a few places, now including most character meals, require a credit card with a no show policy fee. I would make some ADR's. You will be much happier getting some of the places you really want.

 

[tinacaplan]

To echo was PPs have said, I think you need to have at least a rough outline of plan for your trip. I generally like to plan out what parks I'll be in at what times of the day and go from there. We were there in July and I cancelled and juggled a lot of ADRs at the last minute. That said, we never tried to walk up anywhere. Depending on where you want to eat, you may be able to get away without ADRs, but it won't be easy. And you can absolutely cannot expect to walk up and get in. Its more than likely that you won't be able to, or you'll face a very long wait.

 

[Missyrose]

And be sure to read up on the credit card guarantees some of the more popular restaurants now have in place. The list of restaurants who require the guarantee can be found here.

To help you plan what parks to go to on which days, go to easywdw.com. It has a free crowd calendar and great explanations about how to pick your parks.

Happy planning!

 

[no capes darling]

If having a sit-down dinner is important to you, make the reservations. What we do, not knowing what parks we will be in is try to make reservations at several resort restaurants. But honestly, beyond planning the ADRs, we don't usually know what park we're going to until we wake up in the morning. ADRs are as crazy as I get for planning.

 

[tanyaandallie]

Yes, it truly is reality. It does sound insane to have to book meals that far in advance but in reality many people start booking 6 mos out.

Can you actually walk up to restaurants and eat? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. We have walked in a few restaurants and made last minute reservations as well. But, if you find that you want to eat a popular restaurant, you will not likely be able to get in.

If you have not already, I'd highly recommend you start doing a little planning for your trip. I'd recommend reading through a guidebook. I'm a bit fan of the Unofficial Guide. I also am a big fan of www.tourguidemike.com. Both will give you great info on how to plan a trip to Disney.

Again, it may sound insane, but imo a little planning goes a VERY long way when going to Disney. I use many resources (mainly tourguidemike) and plan what park we will go to each day. From there I make dining reservations.

If you are happy eating counter service (fast food basically) then you do not need to make reservations. If you are fine eating where there is availability, no problem. Generally you can get in somewhere, it just may not be where you want to eat.

 

[RMulieri]

Sad to say it is pretty much true..No you won't starve, there is plenty of Counter service diing options,but many of the more popular places( including character meals and alot of the THEMEPARK table service places) book 6 months in advance.It is possible to get walk ups, but by no means probable or a guarantee.You can waste lots of valuable touring/Park time walking around looking for a place that will take walk ups.In APril you are dealing with Spring Break and Easter crowds, so I would make reservations.Disney is one of those vacations that requires planning ahead an reservations.I was stunned ( and pleased)to plan my universal trip and learn that dining ressies are not necessary there..

 

[Hopefully]

Another "speaking from experience" here. I believe you do need ADR's to be able to count on a Table Service (TS), sit down meal in just about every theme park restaurant and most of the popular resort restaurants.
Disney does not save tables for "walk ups". If there is a slot it can be booked 6 months in advance. Most of your popular restaurants book fully.
The only chance of walking in you have is if there is a last minute cancellation or if there is a "no show". No Shows are less likely now that many restuarants (see list above) now require a CC guarantee.
We look at the park hours and plan which park on which day. From there we either choose an in Park sit down restaurant for dinner, or a resort restaurant close to the Park we will be in that day.
This level of planning is extremelly important IMHO. We do not obsess and plan minute by minute, but we do know which park which day and where we are having dinner.
April is Spring Break time and very busy. If you want to sit down for a relaxing dinner, you need to be booking ADR's NOW.

 

[eliza61]

Hi all,

I recently called Disney to book my hotel and was told by the booking agent that I had to reserve all my meals at the restaurants in advance, otherwise I would not be able to eat at any restaurants because they were sold out.

I am kind of confused how I can reserve meals 4 months in advance when I have no idea where in the Park I will be.

Is this true? Or will I be able to just show up to a restaurant and get a table. I am not talking about reservations at a specific or special restaurant, I just want to be sure I will be able to eat a dinner at one of them each night!

Thank You!!!

Aaah you have hit upon the age old disney dilema. LOL.

I go every August and there has never ever been one time when every restuarant in disneyworld has been booked. They key is flexibility.

1) now many of the ts are starting to charge a fee if you don't cancel 24 hours in advance. no way am I giving them 40 bucks if I change my mind.

This is what we do, Peacefrog and last year we got into Via napoli without an adr, we got into Chefs de france by walking up.


Once again, the key is flexibility.

If you are staying onsite, when you get up in the morning hit the disney dining button on your phone. give the cm an approximate time you think you want to eat and they will give you some options.

I HAVE DONE THIS FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS AND NEVER EVER HAD 1 DAY WHEN I WAS TOLD EVERY TS WAS BOOKED.

Now I don't go during Christmas or spring break when the parks are at capapcity.

Some other tricks.
1) eat at off hours. 12-1, 4-6 are prime feeding times. by pushing our dinner time back 1 hour until 7 pm a ton of restaurants open up. last year we did the segway tour in epcot, it ended at 11:00. We had not eaten breakfast so we were hungry. we walked right into Via Napoli. the place was empty.

2) choose hotel restaurants. truthfully the only advantage of eating in the parks imo is convenience. The food at the hotels is waaay better than the parks. I laugh because every one raves about the steak at Le Cellier. it's probably the lowest steak on wdw property.


Unless you are going over a major holiday, you will eat and eat well without adrs.

 

[eliza61]

I just went to dining reservations on disneyworld.com. I put in random information just to get an idea.

next wednesday you have 66 ts dining choices for dinner. All after 4:30 pm. Put in 5:30 pm and 64 choices will pop up. in between 5:30 and 7:00 pm. all for 4 people.

Including Boma, the crystal palace, cape may cafe, Akersaus royal banquet, Via Napoli and tuttio Italia. so with only a week in planning you can actually eat at some decent places.

 

[Hopefully]

Aaah you have hit upon the age old disney dilema. LOL.

I go every August and there has never ever been one time when every restuarant in disneyworld has been booked. They key is flexibility.

1) now many of the ts are starting to charge a fee if you don't cancel 24 hours in advance. no way am I giving them 40 bucks if I change my mind.

This is what we do, Peacefrog and last year we got into Via napoli without an adr, we got into Chefs de france by walking up.


Once again, the key is flexibility.

If you are staying onsite, when you get up in the morning hit the disney dining button on your phone. give the cm an approximate time you think you want to eat and they will give you some options.

I HAVE DONE THIS FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS AND NEVER EVER HAD 1 DAY WHEN I WAS TOLD EVERY TS WAS BOOKED.

Now I don't go during Christmas or spring break when the parks are at capapcity.

Some other tricks.
1) eat at off hours. 12-1, 4-6 are prime feeding times. by pushing our dinner time back 1 hour until 7 pm a ton of restaurants open up. last year we did the segway tour in epcot, it ended at 11:00. We had not eaten breakfast so we were hungry. we walked right into Via Napoli. the place was empty.

2) choose hotel restaurants. truthfully the only advantage of eating in the parks imo is convenience. The food at the hotels is waaay better than the parks. I laugh because every one raves about the steak at Le Cellier. it's probably the lowest steak on wdw property.


Unless you are going over a major holiday, you will eat and eat well without adrs.

I agree that:
Not Every Table Service restaurant in WDW is booked completely
You will not go hungry
You must be flexible.

BUT
OP is going in April. August is low season and it is vastly different than Spring Break in April, and it is your third point that is key - flexibility. To me, that usually equates to availablilty only at places I don't want to eat at times I am not interested in.
To sit down, relax and eat where I want, I always make ADR's in advance.

 

[DisneyRunnerChick]

We take a huge trip in the fall every year, and booking dining reservations is probably one of the most important parts of trip planning for that vacation. Disney has some amazing restaurants, and that's when we like to hit our favorites.

But we also go several other times a year, never during peak times. Since these trips aren't as planned out, I don't always have the time to make my reservations six-months out. However, I can usually get reservations at some of the less popular restaurants in the days before I head to WDW; I've even made reservations on my iPhone once I got at the park.

During off season, we've also been able to walk-up to some restaurants: not places like O'hanas or Le Cellier, but some of the Showcase, DD, and moderate resort restaurants. When we went in October without a reservation to Portabella in DD on the night before the W&D half, we couldn't get a table but got to eat at the bar.

I guess what I'm saying is try to get reservations and plan your trip as much as you can. Research and find out what's good, but even if you aren't one hundred percent sure, you'll be okay. While many of the restaurants that fill up early are amazing or offer exceptional experiences - the benefit of booking early- there are many others that offer great food and can be more easily accessed for last minute trip goers.

Again, this advice does not apply to peak times, since I do not have experience then, or for parties over 6, which is the max I've been with on a small trip. We always make early reservations for our grand gathering groups.

Happy travels!

 

[sjs314]

I would strongly suggest you make at least 1 ADR for each day of your trip. In 2009 we only made one ADR for HDDR Dinner Show. We were there at the height of Spring Break and it was near impossible to find places taking walk ups. We were able to get into Biergarten for lunch. We ate Breakfast and Dinner at Olivias at our resort, ESPN, Rainforest Cafe(AK) DTD was terrible 1 hour plus waits so we did McDonalds for our last nights dinner(something I said I would never do-eat at Mc Donalds while at Disney). We wanted to eat at Rose & Crown for fish and chips but with no ADR that was not happening so we opted for the CS Yorkshire Cty Fish Shop, after standing in a long long line we got our food only to find no tables anywhere had to sit on the wall near the water with the seagulls perched to attack. We ate inside the Land at the food court total chaos, long lines, endless searching for a table our food was cold by time we found one, we had wanted to eat at Garden Grill but they were not taking walk ups

Unless you like standing in lone lines at CS then searching for a place to sit and eat your now cold food make ADRs.

 

[Gibbygirl]

I may not add much new to the discussion, but I will let you know you're not the only one to think this is bizarre. When we booked our first trip in Dec 08 for June 09 my TA said we should make our dining reservations. I thought she was crazy!!! I don't know what I'm fixing for dinner tonight, let alone where I'll be & when & what I'll want to eat in 6 months!?! So...I did nothing. A couple weeks before we left I decided to see what this whole "ADR" thing was about. We were on the DDP so had TS credits for each day of our week vacation. Bad idea!!! It was slim pickings to say the least. Did we starve, no. Did we eat well, yes. Just not necessarily when or where we would have chosen. But I sure did things differently for our June 11trip (also on DDP.) We don't care what day we're where so we booked our ADR's at day 180, got everything we wanted & then made our touring plans based on that. Worked great for us. Now planning for June 12. Planning on going OOP but still want a couple TS so I've got those booked & we'll plan from there.

 

[dixonsontour]

For a first time visit i'd plan your park days.

I like touringplans.com - recommends a best park each day and has all the parade times etc.

Then pick a restaurant in that park each day and make an adr online.

There are some great fun places to eat.

Without an adr you will get in somewhere but may have a long wait, eat at a late time or have to travel out of the park (takes time on disney transport)

If you need to change things you can easily.

Not sure of your party but if you have young children and you are not sure how things will work will naps etc then breakfast adr's can work well eg a character breakfast then the rest of the day is 'free'.