CM Laughed at Me

[BethR]

Don't be too worried about the late July/early August ADRs...we are going the 5th-12th, we booked our CRT, CM and le cellier a month ago, but we called last night for the rest of them and had no problem.

Good for you! I hope that we are so lucky! It is so hard to figure out when and where - but no different than what everyone else has do. But I am a TERRIBLE decision maker.

 

[travelgirl06]

Kona and Wolfgang Puck both have really nice menus. My friend was able to add both of these (~7:30 reservations in mid-september) last week to his plan. I would look a lot at the resort hotel restaurants, a lot of them have nice menus and should be less crowded (plus if you pick a monorail or boardwalk hotel its easy to get there from the parks). We're also doing Spoodles, which nobody has mentioned yet (I don't know how popular it is, but again the menu looks nice). Finally, someone posted on another thread that Citiricos (at the GF) is doing lunch during this time, and its only 1 TS credit, so that may be worth looking into.

Good Luck!

 

[Disfan3]

callng to improve last year during the first week of free dining did NOT happen for me...we had a mixup on a park day without hoppers etc and I called to get it fixed...no dice. They gave me some places to choose from in Epcot and it was about the same list as you saw above.

We went with Garden Grill (characters were GREAT!!!!) Food was good and we love Epcot

try GG if you really wanted CM. Kona is good at Poly too....not as good as Ohana for my family but still very yummy!!


good luck



free dining ressies....URGH!!!


P.S. I wish I had that problem....we get NO free dining this year!!

 

[Pumbaa_]

August is hot, really really hot. Try making some lunch TS ressies. You may be in need of an air-conditioned break midday. You may also find some availability for lunch that's not there at dinner.

ESPN at the BW does not take ADR's, that may be an option.

Good luck on your planning!

 

[Snow_White]

You should try making a ressie at Olivia's. YUMMY food, relaxed atmosphere. Since it's at a DVC resort (OKW) it's pretty easy to get into.

 

[AlyssinWonderland]

Ahhh That just suckadiddles! Perhaps if you try for lunch instead of dinner? Our trip is planed for the 3rd week of August....some of the nights were really busy... but if wanted ADR's for lunch or eairly opening they were availble! GOOD LUCK!

 

[dyna]

I was very LUCKY called last Friday afternoon got all the dinner ADR's I wanted at the times I wanted for the week of Labor Day including LeCellier but we are only a party of 2 that can make a big difference.

On Thursday last week I'd also made ADR's for the 3rd week of Sept that time could not get LeCelliar anytime that week DH switched weeks an resorts on me Friday morning GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR I would have kept calling back tryin to get the LeCellier ADR tho.

 

[beroh2253]

The Kids at Knoebel's Grove!

When our DD19 and DS20 were younger (picture to the left is about 1995 now both away at college) we went to Knobels about 10 time a year. Then started doing Disney once a year from 1995 on. Now Me and DW go maybe 2-3 time a year to eat at Knobels (great prices and great food). Only live 40 minutes away.
And Me and DW try to still get to Disney at least one a year now with the free dining plan we can afford to go. We usually go Bloomsburg Fair week cause my DW being a Substitute teacher gets a few days off.
Going to POP this year Sept. 21-30.

 

[Disney Dad of 5]

Have you tried to get into 1900 Park Fare? It's a wonderful buffet at the Grand Floridian, with Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, and even Prince Charming. We think it's great! Good luck, keep trying as there are often cancellations!

 

[Disney Dad of 5]

One more option to try....I called yesterday and was able to get into Ohana's character breakfast with Lilo & Stitch, we always have a great time with the kids there. When I asked the CM to check and see if they had availability for either 8/31 or 9/3, she said they had both and what time would I like? I was able to snag 8:40am on 8/31! Hooray!

 

[Nancyg56]

Last year we had dinner at GG and at Kona. Both meals were wonderful, the character interaction at GG is very personal, you don't need to get up for your food, and the service was good. Kona was a highlight for us. Again the food was good, atmosphere very casual, and the food was outstanding.

 

[frannn]

Last Sept, we had all the ADRs we wanted, as I had booked at 180 days. For one of the meals, coworkers ended up joining us, and our boss had her treat us by paying with the company credit card. We then had an extra meal to plan for with the credits we didn't use. I called from our resort phone to try to book Le Cellier for later in the trip. There was nothing open for dinner, of course, so we took a lunch ADR. We were able to get fillets and the meal was wonderful! We may end up having the same good luck this year, so I'll try to have some options in mind for lunch. Wonder if Captain Cook's has the Lobster & Steak combo available all day......

 

[TinkerbellMama]

I am not surprised that this is happening. I doubt that this is a novel theory, but I believe that people started booking ADRs 180 days out on the CHANCE that there might be Free Dining.

Kind of hard for people who waited until the actual booking time for free dining to have a chance for decent ADRs.

I am getting ready to book ADRs for the end of July/beginning of August with NOT free dining and I am concerned about what I may not be able to get.

I booked 180+10 days out since we had the bounce-back free dining already booked. Needless to say, we got everything we wanted, but I do feel for the people who are caught in the OP's position. I am thinking MAYBE some more availability will open up closer to August/September?

 

[PortieOwner]

People only have to pay in full in late July so there will be more cancellations by then. Of course if the weather is bad in Sept. or gas prices go higher some others may cancel. Don't forget to call when you are at WDW--I was able to get a couple of nice changes in my reservations there including a same-day booking to eat at the Princess dinner.

 

[jemaro148]

I am not surprised that this is happening. I doubt that this is a novel theory, but I believe that people started booking ADRs 180 days out on the CHANCE that there might be Free Dining.

Kind of hard for people who waited until the actual booking time for free dining to have a chance for decent ADRs.

I am getting ready to book ADRs for the end of July/beginning of August with NOT free dining and I am concerned about what I may not be able to get.

I am going Aug7-14 (not with free DDP) I got most of the resteraunts that I wanted.... two that were hard were CRT and Chef mickeys... those I got the days I wanted but not the specific times. I booke CTR, Fantasmic with dinner at Hollywood and vine, Akershus, Garden Grill, Crystal palace, sci-fi and Chef Mickey's.... maybe not the highest, but I am going with my little sister (age 10) who has never been to Disney so I book all the character places I could for her. Hope this was helpful. It is wasn't sorry.

 

[bookgirl2632]

well I am one of the folks that started booking ADRs at 180 in the hopes that free DDP would be offered again this year. But, while I got what we wanted for a vast majority of the trip, we are looking at adding a day and guess what. I have a list just as long of places that are booked.

Forewarned is forarmed... last year we were stuck with mediocre resies because we were late to make reservations, this year I played the odds. Le Cellier 3 nights out of 10 at 7:30... dinner should finish up just in time to walk out and watch fire works.

Last September, I think I booked all my ADRs the day after we booked the trip, which was in April. I managed to get everything I wanted, including Le Cellier. We intend to return next September at the same time for 10 days. Regardless of the free dining announcement, I will book my ADRs. We are going to go whether they offer the free dining or not.