Can book dining now but FP's not until 60 days out makes planning difficult!!!

[sbdis]

How do others handle the frustration of wanting to make dining reservations as soon as possible but not being able to make FP selections until 60 days from arriving? We are arriving in July so I can make ADR's now but not FP selections until May. How frustrating to get the restaurants and times you want only to have to change your entire schedule around and possibly cancel dining reservations when it is time to book FP's if you cannot get both at a time remotely close to each other or at a completely different park.

I understand that there is going to be some creative planning to accomplish this but am I the only one that thinks Disney is making it hard for a reason by not allowing guests to do both at the same time? I would prefer to book fast passes and schedule dining around them. But, if I wait until May to schedule dining, I'm concerned the most popular places will be booked or not have the times I need.

Sorry this is rambling but... Any suggestions or do I need to decide what's more important, a specific restaurant or popular FP?

I dislike having to cancel dining ADR's once made especially using credit card to hold, ugh!

 

[Searc]

Our plans are centered around our few ADR's, unfortunately. That's the game Disney wants you to play. I don't know how much longer I'm willing to play the game.

 

[fiasco32]

I agree it's a hassle...we just try to make do with the situation.

Sometimes FPs take a bigger priority on a certain day. Other days, a certain ADR we have is more of a priority.

For example, on a HS day when we're really trying to get a SDD FP, I'm going to make a reservation for something like SciFi diner, which you can get into pretty easily, as opposed to the Brown Derby, which books up quickly. Or even Mama Melrose.

But when BOG is a big priority, I'm not going to kick myself if I don't get a 7DMT FP exactly when I want it. For me, I know the temptation to want to "have it all" is always there, but it's just not realistic.

Make a plan and do your best to get what you want, be flexible and most of all, focus on the fun of it all!

 

[SaintsManiac]

FPs are my priority. I stopped making a bunch of ADRs, because I wound up canceling and changing them so much.

I always make a Garden Grill PPO breakfast and we usually work around that one. I don't care enough about the other restaurants to plan my entire trip around them.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I've never found it to be an issue.
I know what ADR's I want and what time and I book them.
I know what FP's I want and what time and I book them.

 

[Farro]

How do others handle the frustration of wanting to make dining reservations as soon as possible but not being able to make FP selections until 60 days from arriving? We are arriving in July so I can make ADR's now but not FP selections until May. How frustrating to get the restaurants and times you want only to have to change your entire schedule around and possibly cancel dining reservations when it is time to book FP's if you cannot get both at a time remotely close to each other or at a completely different park.

I understand that there is going to be some creative planning to accomplish this but am I the only one that thinks Disney is making it hard for a reason by not allowing guests to do both at the same time? I would prefer to book fast passes and schedule dining around them. But, if I wait until May to schedule dining, I'm concerned the most popular places will be booked or not have the times I need.

Sorry this is rambling but... Any suggestions or do I need to decide what's more important, a specific restaurant or popular FP?

I dislike having to cancel dining ADR's once made especially using credit card to hold, ugh!

It's a pain, especially with those hard to get ADRS and fast passes.

But truly the only issue we had last trip was that we got two hard to get reservations at same time - 'Ohana for a great time on a Friday evening, but then at Fast Pass time we got Flights of Passage for almost the same time (all that was available)! I just sort of played a waiting game before cancelling anything and it ended up working out that I was able to move the FOP fast passes.

 

[Bullseye]

We generally never have more than one ADR in a day so trying to schedule three FP around that isn't a problem.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Hmm I see OP you are on the DxDP?
Why? Seems like you just have too many ADR's for your liking which yes I can see why that becomes difficult to plan around if you have 2-3 ADR's every day.
Drop down to the DDP.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

Here's my process:
-I start by deciding which parks/ areas (boardwalk/ Disney Springs/ resort etc.) I'm likely to want to go to on each day of my trip (using a number of factors like EMH, park hours, party schedule if there's a party happening during my trip). I try to be mindful that if something is more difficult to get, then I should keep that day toward the end of my trip (but again, I let the FP difficulty decide that and then the dining).
- I decide if there is any TS I might want in the park/ area I've assigned to that day. I generally limit our TS to one or none per day.
- I book TS. If times I want are not available, I move on (decision's been made for me in that case and I continue planning as though I am not going to get that ADR, even if I plan to keep trying for that ADR).
-When FP window opens up, if there is a FP I want that conflicts with an ADR I have, then generally the FP takes priority and the ADR is then either rescheduled if possible, or cancelled.

That's just what works for me, I don't let the ADR dictate my schedule because there is no shortage of places to eat.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

This is the first trip I’ve done fastpass+ reservations and I was really sweating the idea of trying to get the “good ones”. I had a plan of which park I was going to be in each day, and I got the passes I needed on those days without much issue and I’m going during Spring Break when it’s high crowds. I have BOG lunch the first and last day so I even got my 7DMT Fastpasses an hour before my ressue, and made my Fastpasses backwards from there. One day I start in adventure land, and the other day in fantasyland. My chief complaint on the process is the tiered Fastpasses. It wouldn’t be so bad if there were more than 15 rides in those other 3 parks, but when half are tier one, you usually don’t need Fastpasses for the others

 

[Nancyg56]

I book my ADR's and work around them. If I have to make a choice the ADR generally wins unless it was made simply for convenience to whereever I was plannign to be that day. I don't rework the entire trip for a FP or an ADR. Neither is that important to me.

 

[jhoannam]

We usually don’t make lunch ADRs and schedule our fast passes for mid-morning.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Depends on who is going on the trip as to how many ADRS I make. Also where I want to eat.

Last Christmas we went on an adults only trip for about 16 days. The only ADRs we made were for an arrival day brunch, Christmas Eve and Day, a personal celebration, and New Year's Eve. For the remainder of the meals we ate predominately at Disney Springs where it's much easier making a reservation via Open Table. We also did quite a few walk up lunches at DS. I knew the man wasn't interested in doing many rides so made them as early in the day as possible so we were free to go wherever we wanted afterwards. Although there was one night that MK was open until around 1:00 AM and we went on a whim. We were able to get on most any roller coaster I wanted w/ FPs I booked while in the park; that was fun.

Planning a 6 night April trip currently with kids and I'm only booking meals that they want and those that are hard to book or walk up: 'Ohana, Sanaa, MP, and CG's brunch if I can get it. Rest of the time we'll eat at DS that I'll book via open table or lounges at the resorts and parks that don't take reservations. Should a well sought FP require a change of dining reservation now it's not that hard to do. This works for us as we are not morning to night park goers and the kiddos despise rope dropping since then I hear the whine of " We want to sleep lateeeeeeeeeee" .