Deciding on what to order months in advance

[NMAmy]

Okay, over the years, I've reluctantly hopped on the ADR bandwagon. I don't make my reservations at 180 days, though, and have had no issues setting up one TS meal per day at 40'ish days out.

I do see a lot of folks on these boards, though, who not only have each ADR made (sometimes multiple ADR's per day) but also have decided what each member of their party will be ordering several months in advance.

So, no judgement here! I understand that some folks get great joy out of planning every minute of their vacations and that's great. My big question is, though, if you do plan out your meals months in advance, do you stick with that choice once you get to the restaurant or do you ever make a last minute change once the server is taking your order? What if the item you had your heart set upon is now no longer on the menu or there's been a problem and they're out of it for that particular meal?

 

[Colleen27]

For me personally, I do frequently end up ordering exactly what looked good on the menu when I was planning unless there's a menu change that adds something more appealing or changes/removes my first choice. I'm not inflexible about it and I'll make the final decision based on the menu and my mood when we're seated, but I do have some favorites at restaurants we return to time and again and usually have a must-try item or two in mind when booking a restaurant for the first time.

For the rest of the family, projected menu choices are just a budgeting tool that helps me to make dining plan and ADR decisions based on my family's habits rather than using an average menu item cost. With two steak-and-lobster lovers, average costs aren't as accurate in deciding which dining plan (if any) is most beneficial or setting up a budget for tips.

 

[Quin]

I have done the 'hypothetical orders' to determine whether the restaurant is a good choice for the complete group (my rule of thumb is that if there are not at least 2 things on the menu that I would expect each person might order we don't go there, precisely because the restaurant could be out of/have dropped the one and only one entree somebody wanted). I have also done them for financial planning, to come up with average or estimated costs, figure how much cash for tips, or to compare Dining Plan values.

I do look at the menus for myself and say "oh, that's definitely what I want to eat!". I regard it much as looking at the parks and saying "oh, I definitely want to do that ride......see that show......visit that attraction!". And then when we are actually there, sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. It's just kind of part of the fun anticipation of a trip for me. It doesn't mean I don't change my mind at the last minute

 

[tmfranlk]

There's only a few things that I know I'm ordering on advance but only because they're favorites. And yes, sometimes they disappear - like my favorite mushroom appetizer at Rose and Crown that dropped from the menu two weeks before our last trip. (The server heard me express my disappointment to DH and I ended up with the recipe that was still in the computer. Yum!!)

Most of my menu decidIng is simply to decide what packages/discounts work best got us and to prepare my tip envelopes ahead of time. Of course it's all subject to the whims of the day so no set in stone here.

 

[nanalisa]

We don't decided what to eat until we get there. I never know what I might feel like eating until that day. Sometime I see what other people are eating on our way to the table, which will influence me too. I don't make my ADR's 180 days out either. Sometime we don't know we are going until 2 months before hand. I'm a scrambler but I usually get the places we want.

 

[Cin]

I looked at menus and decided what we would be likely to order for a couple of reasons, #1 so I could figure out a budget and guesstimate what our bill would be for a particular restaurant since we are paying for a couple OOP and letting the DDP pick up the majority, and #2 to see it it is a place we might enjoy based upon the menu offerings. Mom is adventurous and loves trying anything new and different, I am super picky and have to know exactly what I am eating and what is in it and so looking at menus helps me choose a place that would suit Mom and also offer something for me to eat. I am pretty happy with a decent salad and a good plain cheeseburger (just meat, bread, and cheese) and most places offer that at least. If they don't have the item I was hoping for, such as the colony salad at Liberty Tree Tavern, then I will just accept it and order sides or something that I do find palatable. If I get there and find nothing suitable, I will definitely ask to speak to the chef and see what he/she can suggest that I might prefer, however keep in mind that when I booked I did see items offered that would suit my tastes. It's Disney, I am sure there will be something even if it is on the kid's menu. No worries here. I'm a die hard foodie and there will always be snack credits to use up and lots of treats waiting to be sampled!

 

[angierae]

We did guestimates because I needed to figure out how much money in tips we were going to need - with DXDP we're talking approximately $400 in tips, so I needed to have a number to keep in mind while saving up for the trip.

Will I order that when I get there? Maybe, unless something else looks good that day.

 

[aripantaloon]

I have done the 'hypothetical orders' to determine whether the restaurant is a good choice for the complete group (my rule of thumb is that if there are not at least 2 things on the menu that I would expect each person might order we don't go there, precisely because the restaurant could be out of/have dropped the one and only one entree somebody wanted). I have also done them for financial planning, to come up with average or estimated costs, figure how much cash for tips, or to compare Dining Plan values.

I do look at the menus for myself and say "oh, that's definitely what I want to eat!". I regard it much as looking at the parks and saying "oh, I definitely want to do that ride......see that show......visit that attraction!". And then when we are actually there, sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. It's just kind of part of the fun anticipation of a trip for me. It doesn't mean I don't change my mind at the last minute

This is exactly what I do. Check out the menus to make sure that there are enough choices for each member of our family, do a hypothetical choice to see if the dining plan makes sense based on where we are eating, and then put some items in the back of my mind to check out while there. It's all hypothetical. I would really hate to get there an find out that one of my kids would never eat there in a million years. I'm not out to force them to eat something new on vacation; I want them to have fun. I also don't want to be stuck eating the same old thing each night, either.

I do make my ADR's at the 180 day mark, if possible, since I don't want to eat too early or too late and we now have 5 people in our family. My "touring plan" if you will call it that is drawn up with table service meals in mind, so if there happens to be a day that the place we want is not available and we aren't interested in any other TS places that are in the same park or general area, then that kind of puts a wrench in things. It's more frustrating for me than "this ruined my whole vacation before I got there" type of thing, but I'm a planner, so I feel the need to have things all set the way I want them.

 

[lilwitch646]

I do make ADRs, mostly because you can rarely walk into our favorite restaurants (Le Cellier, California Grill, etc.) Also, it depends who I'm traveling with. Last Christmas we traveled with 25 family members, so we definitely made ADRs and called up the restaurants so the ressies could be linked.

There are some staples that I can predict people in my family will order. At California Grill I know my brother will order the goat cheese ravioli appetizer, and I can only imagine him not ordering it because it was taken off the menu. I procrastinate with what I want to order, often waiting until the last minute when I have a server looking at me over a notepad and saying "And you miss?" There are some menu items I would order in a heart beat if they were returned to the menus (beef stew at Rose and Crown! yuummm!) but I like to hear what the specials are. I discovered I like veal when I was at Il Mulino because the special sounded so delicious I just had to order it, before that I was going to order something else (I don't even remember now).

I have looked at things on a menu that sound interesting and say "I really want to try that!" but chicken out at the restaurant. I feel like if I'm paying so much for a meal, I really want to enjoy it. But I could definitely understand someone pre-selecting meals if they were on a very tight budget

 

[hintofspy]

Though now that I'm a local and rarely make ADRs, when I do have to make them for weekends I know will be busy, etc., I tend to go for places where there's more than one option I would love to have, and especially if there is at least one lighter option and one heavier option. I agree with you, OP, it is hard for me to gauge just what I'm going to be in the mood for months ahead of time, especially when menus change, tastes change, etc., but that way, I know that I at least will have something I'll want.

 

[3pletprincesses]

I never stick with I plan to eat LOL I only do for budget purpose but rarely order what I planned as the menus change often.

 

[bumbershoot]

It's definitely a budgeting tool for us. Food money and tip money.

But we are vegetarian, so it's not as complicated for us as it is for omnivores with the entire menu to choose from!

Oh, and it's also fun to think about.


As to whether we stick with it...sometimes.

 

[NMAmy]

Thank you so much, everyone, for the replies. I've seen quite a few threads over the years with folks agonizing over what to order months in advance or being really annoyed when they arrive and something they'd set their heart on is no longer on the menu. I don't think any like that have posted thus far! But I love getting some insight as to why folks who are more plan oriented than I am do what they do.

, I am super picky and have to know exactly what I am eating and what is in it and so looking at menus helps me choose a place that would suit Mom and also offer something for me to eat. I am pretty happy with a decent salad and a good plain cheeseburger (just meat, bread, and cheese) and most places offer that at least.

,
It's Disney, I am sure there will be something even if it is on the kid's menu. No worries here. I'm a die hard foodie and there will always be snack credits to use up and lots of treats waiting to be sampled!

I'm a little confused by your post. It seems to me that being super picky and a die hard foodie are really at the two opposite ends of the dining spectrum! Maybe a "foodie" means something different to you than it does to me? I can't imagine most people who consider themselves to be a foodie would order off the kids' menu.

 

[HadesTX]

I did the budgeting meal guesses for DH & I also & he ended up not getting anything I expected him to get. I always picked something pricey though so I'd not come up too short.

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

We're pretty much creatures of habit. I'm rather picky, so I sort through the menu to see what sides I can sub, etc. I know what I'm getting when I go somewhere--and I will order the same exact thing on all my trips. We've been to most all the restaurants that we have interest in. There's only about 3 or 4 that we still want to try. I can tell you everything I'll order next week

 

[mello]

Well, I don't want to have to even decide where we're going to eat 6 months out, much less what I want to eat that far in advance. But, like many other posters here, I've reluctantly gotten on the 180 day bandwagon, simply because we usually travel with a fairly large group, some of which have food issues like celiac, diabetes, allergies to food-dyes, etc. So, unfortunately I have to peruse the menus and decide if there are things for everyone before deciding. I WISH I could do that a month or so in advance instead of 6 months in advance, because the menus usually change after we've decided, and then, yes it is annoying.

Also, many of the menus have gotten much smaller, so it's not like there's that much to choose from: a beef, a chicken, a fish, a vegetarian and a theme or specialty item is usually what they seem to consist of now.