Disappointed wth ADR Availability - Advice needed

[vicarrieous]

I realize that this may not be the norm, but this is our first trip to Disneyworld and I was able to get all the ADR's we wanted. Granted we knew we probably wouldn't get BOG dinner and we have little boys so not many princess meals.

I got up at 4:55am CST hopped online and was pretty much done in 15 minutes. I played around a bit afterwards just to check a few other places that we might want, but all of our WANTS were done in 15 minutes. That included reservations at good times!

Its a bummer to hear how many others are struggling.

 

[kennezgirl]

I am also really worried about getting our ADR's. We are arriving on Tuesday, November 17th, which means our 180 day window is this Thursday. I have a list of everything we are hoping to get and I have been playing with the system to see what is filling up the fastest and so on. I am so troubled that today, at 180 days out, there are 83 restaurants without availability already. The ones that do have availability have openings at such late times that we would be sick if we ate there and then went to bed. I am talking around 9:40 pm. I know that free dining is going on, but this seems a bit over the top.

Our wish list is:
Wed, Nov. 18th - Lunch at Coral Reef (hoping around 2:30 pm)
Thurs. Nov. 19th - Lunch at BOG
Dinner at Crystal Palace
Friday, Nov. 20th - Dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe
Saturday, Nov. 21st - Breakfast at Tusker House
Dinner at O'hana (6pmish)
Sunday, Nov. 22nd - Dinner at Whispering Canyon or Tutto Italia
Monday, Nov. 23rd -Breakfast at Boma

Right now I am thinking this really is just a "wish" list.

 

[vicarrieous]

I am also really worried about getting our ADR's. We are arriving on Tuesday, November 17th, which means our 180 day window is this Thursday. I have a list of everything we are hoping to get and I have been playing with the system to see what is filling up the fastest and so on. I am so troubled that today, at 180 days out, there are 83 restaurants without availability already. The ones that do have availability have openings at such late times that we would be sick if we ate there and then went to bed. I am talking around 9:40 pm. I know that free dining is going on, but this seems a bit over the top.

Our wish list is:
Wed, Nov. 18th - Lunch at Coral Reef (hoping around 2:30 pm)
Thurs. Nov. 19th - Lunch at BOG
Dinner at Crystal Palace
Friday, Nov. 20th - Dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe
Saturday, Nov. 21st - Breakfast at Tusker House
Dinner at O'hana (6pmish)
Sunday, Nov. 22nd - Dinner at Whispering Canyon or Tutto Italia
Monday, Nov. 23rd -Breakfast at Boma

Right now I am thinking this really is just a "wish" list.

I think your hardest ones will be Lunch at BOG. If you can push that until later in your trip, you may have more luck.

 

[eva]

Hi everyone,
We are arriving Nov 12th so yesterday was day 180. By the time I got on the phone with an agent at about 7:30AM Eastern, almost every reservation I wanted was gone or the times were too late for some of the younger kids we will have in our party. We are a party of 8 so that makes things a bit of a challenge for sure. I was very flexible with dates and times, so by inability to get reservations was not due to my rigidity.

I checked back today and I cannot believe that almost every reservation at MK is booked completely during our stay. It's November for Pete's sake!!! (Sorry I'm really feeling quite cranky about this).

What's the likelihood that I might be able to pick up a reservation for 8 for BOG or CRT sometime in the next 6 months and what are some tips for maximizing the possibility that I might pick these up. Are there best times to search? Anybody have luck with Disney Dining buddies? Thanks in advance, Annie

I feel for you! We are having the same problems with our September 20th trip. We have 10 in our party, but even splitting up hasn't worked for us. I tried at 180+10 too. But the darned online reservation system would only let us book for the first night. I got that one ok, but by the time I was able to get someone on the phone to help, there was very little left. I have been checking back daily for three reservations I need with no luck. I did resign myself to taking our group to Akershus for breakfast instead of CRT. I hope my granddaughters get the same experience there as at CRT.

We are going for our 3rd year in a row in September during the free dining promotion. We don't do the free dining ourselves and usually book reservations the day of or day before and we've never had an issue finding a place to eat. As long as you are flexible on when and where you eat, there are tons of last minute options available.

We have done this in the past when we only have 2 or 4 in our group and everyone has been before. But we have 10 people and half of them are first timers that will probably never be able to afford to go back again. Wish I had known it would be over FD before making DVC reservations and borrowing points. I have never had so many issues taking a group to WDW before. This trip has been riddled with them. I have a hunch that FastPass+ is going to be a nightmare.

 

[MimiOfTwo]

Was sitting at my computer at 4:57 central, logged on and when my 6 days opened I could not get BOG or a decent dinner time at Ohana's. I did get Chef Mickey's, 1900 Park Fare and CRT prior to park opening. I kept playing around hoping someone would release BOG or Ohana's and I was amazed at how quickly character meals disappeared! I'm staying 11/14-11/20.

 

[nkereina]

Sorry if this was mentioned, but November 12th isn't a super slow time. It's free dining, and also the day after Veteran's Day which some people turn into a long weekend. It's also nearing the end of Food & Wine. That being said, I think the biggest thing working against you is if you're trying to make ADRs for 8 people. You may have better luck making two separate ADRs for 4 and 4.

 

[GeneralTso]

I've said this on a couple of other threads---something is wrong/weird with the system. It is beyond wonky.
I had my initial moment of doubt when I logged in A DAY LATE and got everything we wanted. BOG, CRT, Sci-Fi, Prime Time, Biergarten, Akershus, Le Cellier, etc.
I have been able to move things around since then. Someone on Facebook mentioned not getting into Chefs du France and Teppan Edo so I logged into my MDE and tried. No problem. I am convinced this is beyond luck.

We will be there Nov 6-13, not doing free dining and staying onsite.

 

[nkereina]

I've said this on a couple of other threads---something is wrong/weird with the system. It is beyond wonky.
I had my initial moment of doubt when I logged in A DAY LATE and got everything we wanted. BOG, CRT, Sci-Fi, Prime Time, Biergarten, Akershus, Le Cellier, etc.
I have been able to move things around since then. Someone on Facebook mentioned not getting into Chefs du France and Teppan Edo so I logged into my MDE and tried. No problem. I am convinced this is beyond luck.

We will be there Nov 6-13, not doing free dining and staying onsite.

Wouldn't be surprised if it was a system glitch as well. I made my ADRs on 4/28 for our October trip and even back a few weeks ago, the system would time out or not load. Haven't been able to load any ADRs on the app either.

 

[alopez926]

I feel for you! We are having the same problems with our September 20th trip. We have 10 in our party, but even splitting up hasn't worked for us. I tried at 180+10 too. But the darned online reservation system would only let us book for the first night. I got that one ok, but by the time I was able to get someone on the phone to help, there was very little left. I have been checking back daily for three reservations I need with no luck. I did resign myself to taking our group to Akershus for breakfast instead of CRT. I hope my granddaughters get the same experience there as at CRT.



We have done this in the past when we only have 2 or 4 in our group and everyone has been before. But we have 10 people and half of them are first timers that will probably never be able to afford to go back again. Wish I had known it would be over FD before making DVC reservations and borrowing points. I have never had so many issues taking a group to WDW before. This trip has been riddled with them. I have a hunch that FastPass+ is going to be a nightmare.

If it's any consolation, i really preferred Akershus for breakfast over CRT! We had a great time there, I thought the food was superior, and we actually got more "princess" time then we did at CRT. I wish you the best of luck. It's really awful when you follow all the great advice, get up super early and log in, only to find you can only book one day instead of your whole trip. Having to wait that extra hour to get a live person really is a disadvantage.

 

[ktlm]

Sounds like if you are able to get online at 6AM with ADR capability (i.e., all of your dates show as available for booking), you should be fine. Because the system did not recognize my resort reservation (even though it was linked to my account) I had to wait and call in. Sounds like having to wait that extra 90 minutes cost me dearly in terms of ADR availability because I had a large party. Good luck to you!

Part of it may also be that you are coming in on a Thursday. I'm sure that those coming in the weekend before you for a week stay, already had Thursday, Friday, Saturday and maybe even Sunday pretty booked up before your ADR day even came.

 

[snackyx]

What are the dates for free dining? We arrive November 20 and I am getting a bad feeling about the availability that awaits once my window opens.

 

[bookluvingbabe]

We visited over spring break, late summer and the run up to Christmas last year.

We got every single ADR we wanted. We didn't get them immediately. I checked the dining website often. I didn't get CRT until the morning before we ate there. But I have gotten BOG for dinner each trip without too much effort and have it booked for August.

Patience. Perserverance. Reload.

(Currently looking for a Via Napoli for 3 people om August 24th at 6ish...)

 

[Trinity88]

I had a really hard time too. The most difficult ADRs for me were BOG (nothing at all available), Ohana's dinner (unless I wanted 9:30pm) and Tusker breakfast. I did manage to snag a CRT dinner (wanted breakfast, but I'll take it).

I'm going to keep trying, I'm hoping things will open up as time goes on. But it definitely wasn't as easy as I was hoping.

 

[kevinday85]

I had the same issue going in early October with a party of eight. So what I did was book two tables for a party of 4 and hopefully they will push the tables together when we arrive. I thinking they might be willing to because of the added gratuity for large parties.

 

[alopez926]

What are the dates for free dining? We arrive November 20 and I am getting a bad feeling about the availability that awaits once my window opens.

I think free dining ends the 18th.

 

[eva]

What are the dates for free dining? We arrive November 20 and I am getting a bad feeling about the availability that awaits once my window opens.

Valid Travel dates include:

• 8/28/15 - 10/2/15
• 10/25/15 - 10/31/15
• 11/8/15 - 11/19/15
• 12/15/15 - 12/21/15

I think free dining ends the 18th.

Yes, But...From my understanding, if you start your stay by the 18th, the entire trip is still under free dining. There are people talking about still having free dining over Thanksgiving.