DH got "advice" from coworker on dining at Disney. Grrrr!

[lemondog]

DH went on a business trip last week and one of his coworkers at the meeting goes to Disney multiple times a year. Anyway, she told DH that they never make ADRs, that they just decide what they want, call the day ahead, and make a ressie. I told him no way, we were making our ADRs well in advance that it was just too risky to do otherwise, he says I am trying to be too "controlling" of the trip and it was ridiculous to know where we are going to want to eat 6 months in advance. I told him we are going in mid-July, the busiest time of year, and I was planning this trip down to the minute if possible.

He is not a huge theme park fan, so WDW in July is going to be an "interesting" experience for him anyway. It will be his very first time ever at WDW, and also our kids' first time. I said we could either "wing it" and have a pretty miserable time standing in line and eating CS the whole time (we are doing the dining plan so we get a TS meal per day anyway), or we could do the UG touring plans, make ADRs well in advance, and have a fairly nice trip (it's for older DD's 7th birthday).

So....help me convince him we NEED to make our ADRs in advance! Thanks!

 

[loribell]

Here's what you do, make two plans but don't let him know. The first plan will be a wing it plan, you know on the first day you just get up when you feel like it, head to just whichever park & try to get in to one of the big TS restuarants without a PS, oh an try to eat right at dinner time!

The next day pull out your real plan. The one that you have secretly made with the best days for which parks, the touring plans & the rest of your TS ressies made. He will get the picture then!

Good lu

 

[teacher31]

Make them and don't tell him. He will thank you in the long run. We were there last July and we don't make that many ADRs - maybe 4 or 5 for 10 days. I was grateful we had those because you weren't able to add anything else. Sure, there is always the bottom of the barrel restaurants. With CS as good as it can be, why settle for a bad TS? I would definitely want a couple sit downs, though.

And how dare that person give him advice when you have a whole support group doing that?! I do hate it when my hubby/friend/family member seeks out advice from other people. I guess I assume if someone is going to ask for my advice they are going to use it and I'm frustrated when they don't. That's my opinion.

 

[loribell]

Oh I forgot to mention, we also go a couple of times a year and it is usually in June or July. We always make ADR's well in advance for everywhere we want to eat. It is even more imperative now that the DDP is available. And if you want to eat at someplace like Chef Mickey's or Le Cellier you must have ADR's or you will not get in.

Want to eat at the Castle for DD's bday? Well it won't happen if you do not call well in advance.

 

[Sandi]

The other posters' advice is nicer than my recommendation which was to make ADRs for you and your kids and let DH wing it.

With the popularity of the DDP, you really must make ADRs or you'll be eating at the places no one else wants to go to and counter service.

 

[disprincess86]

haha! I like the advice of letting your DH "wing it" while everyone else has ADRS... We are going in September, which isn't supposed to even be a busy time of the year (especially not compared to July), and we had a tough time getting in at some places. We STILL can't get in at Le Cellier, for any day or any time. This is my favorite restaurant. Can I stress how important making ADRs are??

 

[ConnieB]

DH went on a business trip last week and one of his coworkers at the meeting goes to Disney multiple times a year. Anyway, she told DH that they never make ADRs, that they just decide what they want, call the day ahead, and make a ressie. I told him no way, we were making our ADRs well in advance that it was just too risky to do otherwise, he says I am trying to be too "controlling" of the trip and it was ridiculous to know where we are going to want to eat 6 months in advance. I told him we are going in mid-July, the busiest time of year, and I was planning this trip down to the minute if possible.

He is not a huge theme park fan, so WDW in July is going to be an "interesting" experience for him anyway. It will be his very first time ever at WDW, and also our kids' first time. I said we could either "wing it" and have a pretty miserable time standing in line and eating CS the whole time (we are doing the dining plan so we get a TS meal per day anyway), or we could do the UG touring plans, make ADRs well in advance, and have a fairly nice trip (it's for older DD's 7th birthday).

So....help me convince him we NEED to make our ADRs in advance! Thanks!

I think I'd probably go with the "no plan" for the first night and let him see how difficult it is.....but have ADR's as backups for all the rest of the nights. Remember, with just a few exceptions, these are not pre-paid, you don't have to leave a credit card number....so if you decide that you don't want to go to the scheduled ADR, you can simply call and cancel it AFTER you find a different reservation, so you're not totally locked in! Just please be sure to call and cancel....because chances are great that you got into that other place because someone else cancelled their ADR!

Oh....and I'd probably also ask DH to ask his co-worker what month he went to WDW without ADR's....it appears that they are easier, though still advisable to get ADRs, in less crowded months.

 

[jsmla]

Here's what you do, make two plans but don't let him know. The first plan will be a wing it plan, you know on the first day you just get up when you feel like it, head to just whichever park & try to get in to one of the big TS restuarants without a PS, oh an try to eat right at dinner time!

The next day pull out your real plan. The one that you have secretly made with the best days for which parks, the touring plans & the rest of your TS ressies made. He will get the picture then!

Good lu

Nothing much to add. Just wanted to say I used this tactic with my DH and it was a huge success. After one day of heat, long lines and no decent meals he was more than ready to jump on board with what he thought was my ocd planning. After he complained about all of my yakking about the planning I just made our ADRs in secret. By day two he was glad to have them!


Jennifer

 

[Praying Colonel]

Agreed--make the ADR's ahead of time and consider them a safety net. You can still try to walk in, and if (when! ) it turns out you're right and your husband's friend is wrong, you'll be able to eat someplace nice instead of doing CS.

 

[shellybaxter]

I don't like to keep things from my DH so I'd do it a little differently. I'd make a compromise with you hubby. I'd try to make an agreement that I'd make ADRs for the trip with the understanding that if he wants to chance things up the day before he can try to call dining and make a new ADR if he can. Then you would just cancel your ADRs after a new one is made.

 

[grumpy.uncle]

I know that DDP has changed the whole dining experience at WDW. Went in January w/ friends and booked only 3 meals w/ADR. The rest of the time we winged it. We also did several meals in our rooms. I found that it was easier to just walk in for TS when it was a party of 2 rather than a party of 5. Wait during dinner can be quite long. One person in our party was not into waiting. I kept telling him that no matter where we went, we would have to wait without ADR. We were not at WDW during a peak time so I suspect that is why we were able to just walk in and be seated sometimes. Our walkin meals were also lunches and not dinners. We also walked in for lunch about 11:30 and that could have had something to do w/it. When we went in, we didn't expect to be able to be seated, but we only had to wait about 10-15 minutes before being seated. I may be wrong, but they may keep a couple tables open for walkins. I think if you go a little earlier or later for a meal and if you are just a party of 2, you have a greater chance of being seated w/o ADR. Otherwise, you will have to wait or go for a CS meal.

 

[linzbear]

Wait, are you going in July this year?! You're already pushing it!

This may be easier anyway - just call up with him listening in and try to get a reservation for Le Cellier or something. They'll come back and say that nothing is available for the whole week. I bet he gets the picture then.

If you're not going till next year, then I'd still get him on conference and call up dining and ask for availability of the busy restaurants (heck, this close you can just ask and see where the availability is *anywhere*). At least in this case you have time to plan, still!

 

[tyandbash]

Well...I just make the ADR's. It isn't that I am keeping the reservation from my DH, I would tell him if he asked, he just doesn't care that much what I plan and he knows we can cancel if we want to. Really what he hates most of all is listening to me trying to decide when and where we should eat. He does thoough, love to tell people when we wait tooooo long that WE (????) made these reservations six months ago!! As if he had anything at all to do with it,lol!

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

My husband isn't a planner -- at least not for Disney so he leaves it up to me. But he has learned that ADRs are neccessary if you want to eat where you want to eat!

Now he lets me make the plans and he follows my suggestions.

 

[Simba22]

Here's what you do, make two plans but don't let him know. The first plan will be a wing it plan, you know on the first day you just get up when you feel like it, head to just whichever park & try to get in to one of the big TS restuarants without a PS, oh an try to eat right at dinner time! The next day pull out your real plan. The one that you have secretly made with the best days for which parks, the touring plans & the rest of your TS ressies made. He will get the picture then!

I agree with this plan....depending on what day it is and which park you are in, (like MK on a Saturday) trying to get into a TS place at dinner time will be impossible, especially during the busiest month of the year. After one day, he'll be ecstatic to have reservations.

Last year my BF and I went in May with our brothers (total of 4 of us). We tried at 3 different parks to get into TS restaurants and got turned away everywhere we went. Same thing happened in December when we went. We were so sick of eating pizza and chicken strips that my BF is actually the one who told me to start making ADR's for our October trip as soon as we were 180 days out. We have ADR's for two breakfasts and dinner every night of the week. I REFUSE to buy pizza on this trip!! LoL

 

[Bob NC]

Anyway, she told DH that they never make ADRs, that they just decide what they want, call the day ahead, and make a ressie.

We go every year, in the summer, and we do the same thing. We always eat where we want, at or close to the time we want by calling the day before or the day we want to eat. Boma, Brown Derby, Narcoossee's, Kona, etc, etc.

I DO, however, understand that some folks just have a need to plan. Me?....I don't know what I want for dinner tonight, nevermind 6 months from now.

 

[Colleen27]

DH went on a business trip last week and one of his coworkers at the meeting goes to Disney multiple times a year. Anyway, she told DH that they never make ADRs, that they just decide what they want, call the day ahead, and make a ressie. I told him no way, we were making our ADRs well in advance that it was just too risky to do otherwise, he says I am trying to be too "controlling" of the trip and it was ridiculous to know where we are going to want to eat 6 months in advance. I told him we are going in mid-July, the busiest time of year, and I was planning this trip down to the minute if possible.

He is not a huge theme park fan, so WDW in July is going to be an "interesting" experience for him anyway. It will be his very first time ever at WDW, and also our kids' first time. I said we could either "wing it" and have a pretty miserable time standing in line and eating CS the whole time (we are doing the dining plan so we get a TS meal per day anyway), or we could do the UG touring plans, make ADRs well in advance, and have a fairly nice trip (it's for older DD's 7th birthday).

So....help me convince him we NEED to make our ADRs in advance! Thanks!

I think the no/low plan vacation can work for someone who goes multiple times a year and doesn't need to fit in a list of must-dos into one trip, but if you're only going once a year or once every few years, not getting that coveted ADR or missing Space Mountain because the line was too long is a bigger deal. That's something you might want to bring up to your DH - presumably you guys aren't super-frequent visitors, and won't get a "do-over" in a few months if you miss a lot on this trip.

Something else worth bringing up, if it applies, is any difference in your family situation from the co-worker who offered that advice. It is a whole different thing to wing it as adults or with older kids, but with young ones who aren't likely to be okay with long waits in line or worse, long waits for meals when they're hungry now, planning is essential. I don't plan our other travel quite to the degree that we plan Disney, but when we had preschoolers I did have a rough idea of how long activities would take and a short list of restaurants would be nearby at meal times so that we didn't end up stopping at the first fast food joint we passed to pacify hungry kids. I just don't see any reason not to, in this age where information is so available online - it makes things *so* much easier when you have a good plan in place.

Also, remind your DH that aside from a very small number of restaurants, ADRs don't require a credit card and don't incur cancellation fees. Encourage him to think of the ADRs as a backup plan of sorts - if you want to veer off the plan and there is availability to do so, there's nothing stopping you, but having ADRs means that you'll have something in place for the nights where his suggestion of calling that day or the day before doesn't yield any success.

And if all else fails, make your plans invisible. DH never did come around to quite the degree of planning that I do, but a few discussions about the points I raised above convinced him about the reservations, and I did the rest of the planning behind the scenes. He didn't need to know that I had a plan in mind - when he asked, after walking through the gates, "Which way?", I just steered him towards one of the attractions that are best done first thing in the morning.

And after a great first family trip, he's willing to hand over the reins completely - ADRs, touring plans, he doesn't care as long as he doesn't have to think about any of it. He just wants to fly down, ride a ton of rides, eat good food, and enjoy the trip. Its a good thing he married an OCD travel planner like me.

 

[MickeyNicki]

For the next week make him nothing but fries, hot dogs, burgers and chicken fingers. See if he complains...if he does tell him to get used to it because this is what "winging it" at WDW is like HA HA

Seriously, there are some great counter service options at the parks.

Epcot - China, Germany and Morocco have yummy food

MK - Cosmic Rays and Columbia House have healthy choices

AK - Flame Tree BBQ

DTD - Wolfgang Puck Express has a great menu with soups, salads, pizza, sandwiches, chicken etc

 

[FlashScout]

Let me defend guys for a minute. My DW was the one opposed to ADRs but very thankful when I had them and she saw the folks turned away at CP and Akershus and a 90 minute wait at WCC.

Get the ADRs, tell him you have them but can cancel if you decide otherwise that day - that's how I handled it.

Regarding touring plans, the first day I let DW swelter in line w/ the kids for Dumbo and the Carousel while I got FP's for other rides, saw Philharmagic, etc. (i.e. had fun). The next day she was more receptive to following a touring plan as long as I didn't tell about the details - just why don't you and the kids enjoy Dinoland while I get FP's for Everest. Then when we got off Everest I said y'all want to do the jungle trek - great, I'll get FP's for Kili. Safari and catch up with you. At 4 pm when DD was tired we had finished the park and done everything and seen everything we wanted to without waiting in a single line more than 5 minutes.

 

[eliza61]

DH went on a business trip last week and one of his coworkers at the meeting goes to Disney multiple times a year. Anyway, she told DH that they never make ADRs, that they just decide what they want, call the day ahead, and make a ressie. I told him no way, we were making our ADRs well in advance that it was just too risky to do otherwise, he says I am trying to be too "controlling" of the trip and it was ridiculous to know where we are going to want to eat 6 months in advance. I told him we are going in mid-July, the busiest time of year, and I was planning this trip down to the minute if possible.

He is not a huge theme park fan, so WDW in July is going to be an "interesting" experience for him anyway. It will be his very first time ever at WDW, and also our kids' first time. I said we could either "wing it" and have a pretty miserable time standing in line and eating CS the whole time (we are doing the dining plan so we get a TS meal per day anyway), or we could do the UG touring plans, make ADRs well in advance, and have a fairly nice trip (it's for older DD's 7th birthday).

So....help me convince him we NEED to make our ADRs in advance! Thanks!

I'm in the minority here like BobNC, I hate ADR's

I don't make a lot of ADR's myself (for all the usual reasons) but I rarely go in July when the parks are packed.
We went last March and had no problem eating where ever we wanted by calling the day before. I probably would not do it in July. Can you wing it maybe 2 days and then make adr's for the rest of your stay.