Could someone give me a quick overview of the ADR thing please?

[BlondeViki]

This is my first newbie worry! I've asked about it in the Dining Forum but I'd love a UK perspective on it too

What's the deal with advance dining reservations? Someone at work who went to Disney last year has got me worried that if I don't book my dinners every night of my holiday months in advance I won't be able to eat anywhere!

Do you really need to do this? Is it just for certain popular places?

I don't see how I'll know for definite where I'll be every day and don't want to plan my itinerary around where I'm supposed to be for dinner!

Can someone please give me a quick lowdown on the availability of places to eat dinner and how much planning is really necessary please?

I have plenty of time to get it sorted, so I'd rather get to grips with it now if lots of scheduling is on the horizon!

 

[Loftus]

You're going during a free dining period and so the restaurants will be busy and will get booked up. There are some that will need booking as soon as your 180 day window opens if you want to be certain of eating there and others you can be a bit more relaxed about.
I'm going at a similar time to you this year and, because I quite enjoy the planning, sorted my itinerary, based on projected busy and quiet parks, and then, from that, where I was going to be and where would be a good place to eat. Since then I have chopped and changed a bit and been able to book where I wanted to go but have noticed that the more popular restaurants - O'hana for example - are almost impossible to get places for.

 

[BlondeViki]

Thanks for the clarification! I had no idea about any of this and had begn to worry there might be nights we'd get no dinner if I hadn't booked anything.

I think I'll read up on the popular restaurants and see which look like places we'd be keen to eat!

 

[Tinks1984]

Although it's been explained, I just thought I'd add in what I made reservations for just to give you an idea.

In previous visits I've booked to eat at Chef Mickey's (character breakfast), Le Cellier Steakhouse (very popular ADR Canadian restaurant in the Epcot World Showcase), Whispering Canyon Cafe, the Fantasmic dining package (ie, a meal and then entrance into Fantasmic show at Hollywood Studios), O'hana Breakfast and Cinderella's Royal Table for breakfast, as I wanted to meet Cindy and eat in the castle.

There are other many popular ones, but I called up on my 180 day mark to book the above on our trips. Granted, we didn't do all of those in one trip, as like you said, we don't like to be restricted to where we need to be at certain times. We pick and choose days during the holiday and just enjoy the odd special meal.

There were evenings were we ate off-site down on International Drive (a lot cheaper for food here!) and at the other theme parks.

I'm sure if you select a few places to dine and then ask away on here, people will give their opinions of what they think of them too, so it gives you an idea of what others think

 

[Elise79]

You only need to book ADRs if you want to eat onsite every night - so I you have the dining plan. Also during free dining it is really difficult to eat anywhere without an hours wait if you don't have reservations and that is the less popular places the really popular ones will just turn you away.

You may be able to book some once you are out there but I wouldn't count on it.

Lunches are also easier to get.

I have been trying to switch a dinner for this September and have tried everyday for 2 weeks without any success.

We don't parks all day so planning dinners is easier as we know we will be coming from the hotel. Also most nights it is easy to work out where we will be - DHS will only be if we are going for Fantasmic or if it's EMH. In September if there is a MNSSHP that we are not attending we will be in Epcot (if not DHS) other than that it is MK!

Good luck!

 

[BlondeViki]

You only need to book ADRs if you want to eat onsite every night - so I you have the dining plan. Also during free dining it is really difficult to eat anywhere without an hours wait if you don't have reservations and that is the less popular places the really popular ones will just turn you away.

You may be able to book some once you are out there but I wouldn't count on it.

Lunches are also easier to get.

I have been trying to switch a dinner for this September and have tried everyday for 2 weeks without any success.

We don't parks all day so planning dinners is easier as we know we will be coming from the hotel. Also most nights it is easy to work out where we will be - DHS will only be if we are going for Fantasmic or if it's EMH. In September if there is a MNSSHP that we are not attending we will be in Epcot (if not DHS) other than that it is MK!

Good luck!

Thanks for taking the time to give me all that information Tinks and Elise

We're not using the DDP as we're staying at the Dolphin, but we'll be on honeymoon, so we would like some nice meals a few of the nights. I think we'll usually be back at the hotel before going out to eat, so if I work out which are the good restaurants near to my hotel, I guess that would be a good start?

I'll look into what non-resort eateries are within an easy distance of where we're staying too, thanks for that tip!

At least it looks like I won't be going hungry for 2 weeks

 

[Chilly]

You will always be able to eat somewhere but you may waste time looking for somewhere to eat and then having to wait to be seated.

Will you have a car? If you do you'll be able to eat offsite more.

The Dolphin has lots of restaurants nearby as its on the BoardWalk and near Epcot plus you can get a boat to DHS.

Also eating at unusual times helps.

If you book an ADR you don't have to pay a deposit or anything so you can just not turn up on the day if you end up doing something different that day.

 

[Elise79]

If you are staying the Dolphin the restaurants at the Swan & Dolphin do not take the DDP so you should be able to get in there fairly easily.

They have some nice restaurants too - if you like steak Shulas get great reviews it is a little pricey though.

 

[dixonsontour]

Some of swan/dolphin hotels take the restaurant.com certificates.

House of blues at DTD also participates.

Basically you buy a certificate for a few dollars and it gives a $50 or $25 discount on your meal.

Ask on here for the latest discount code before you buy and you will save even more.

 

[Invisable89]

My family ALWAYS book ADR's even though we've never booked a package with the Disney Dining Plan included. Only because my Mother is paranoid & doesn't want any hassle with trying to find somewhere to eat.

But since you are going during the Free Dining period i'd highly suggest doing ADR's if you ARE planning on eating at Disney restaurants.

There's many choices, either in the parks or at the resorts.

Heres a link to a website that lists all the restaurants with the menus : http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm

Where it says 'counter service' you don't book ADR's at.

 

[Tinks1984]

I forgot to add, don't forget to check out the restaurants at Downtown Disney also, there's places there which are great for a meal or just a quick bite

 

[l_mccafferty]

The other thing you could do is phone the night before once you've decided what park you're going to the next day. You'll have a better chance doing this than just walking up.

Don't worry about not being able to find anywhere, there are plenty of places to eat but as others have said, any popular places, try and make ADRs for

 

[BlondeViki]

Even more tips! I'm really grateful

Even more pleased to know there'll definitely be places to eat even if I'm disorganised.

Thanks for the link to the menus Invisable, that's a real help for me to choose what sorts of places we'd like to eat - have bookmarked it for a good read later!

Thanks for the restaurant.com tip as well, I'll definitely look for deals nearer to the trip

I can't believe so many people are so organised about their holiday food, it makes sense but it's still impressive. This is going to be such a big holiday for us, and lovely food is always something we look forward to on any holiday, I don't want to get it wrong!

 

[Invisable89]

You're welcome!

The link to the menus i gave you is a bit overwhelming i know, it's a VERY long list! Not ALL counter service restaurants are listed as counter service on that website though so if you get a bit confused here's another link to restaurant menus : http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm it's easier to get your head around, but i find that the menus aren't always up to date so that's why i gave you the allears.net one first.

If you need anymore help just ask!

 

[brightspark]

Dh and I have usually travelled during quiet times but we rarely book more than a couple of meals in advance. We found that with just 2 of us, we were easy to squeeze in, especially if we were prepared to eat at unusual times - especially at opening times (eg 11:30 lunch)... We enjoyed eating early (having had early starts) and found the midday break in the cool a good thing.

This time we're doing a bit more booking ahead - due to there being 5 in our party and it being more tricky to fit in.

Some places are harder to get a meal in than others, so depends where you want to eat...

Have fun with your planning