Do I have to book restaurants now??

[wedreamofdisney]

The thing is I have never been before, so I don't know what time will be best for us to eat, also we don't really know where we would like to eat!

For the last week of our 3 week holiday we have DDP, will there be any restaurants left to book when we get there or will they all be taken up by the people who have booked online in advance??

I'm a bit stuck, I read the threads and think oooohhhh I would like to go there, and food porn threads are just the worst as I would like to go to ALL of those restaurants

Can we not just book a couple of days in advance, while we are there? As and when we fancy a restaurant??

 

[Trespassers William]

If you are eating in Disney restaurants it would be best to book, it is difficult in most restaurants on property to just walk up and get a table.

If you are not sure what you would like this site has loads of information about dining. We had DDP a couple of years ago and I made ADRs for all the table service credits. To decide where we fancied I used the menus published on this site, they are really helpful.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningmain.cfm

You can't really go wrong, if with fussy easters.

Have a think about where you will visit, what type of food you prefer and there is a search facility to help.

Our favourites were Crystal Palace (Magic Kingdom), Le Cellier (Epcot) - although this is now moving to a 2 credit restaurant, Sci-Fi Dine In (Studios) - food was OK but the theming is excellent and a fun place to eat, Chef Mickey's, Hoop Dee Doo Review - 2 credits but a good evening's entainment.

Whatever you do you can't go wrong.

 

[Goofyish]

It is possible to get ADRs at short notice depending on where and when you want to eat. Obviously the DDP has had a big impact on the availability of ADRs, especially for the most popular restaurants and character dining.

If you are flexible on where and when you want to eat then you may be lucky, but it always better to make an ADR well in advance - you can always cancel them if you change your mind

 

[Chilly]

How many of you are there? The bigger the group the harder it is to get tables.

If you just turn up you might have a long wait to be seated.

 

[Disneymad]

Assuming this is your trip in October? If you want to do a character meal then yes, I'd book that as soon as possible, especially if it's inside a park.

Aside from that, unless it's during the last week when schools are out or over Halloween weekend then if you're prepared to be flexible then you'd probably be ok with all but a minority of restaurants.

Last year I was there the first 2 weeks of November and I'd only booked a handful before leaving. I didn't really have any significant problems booking ADRS once I'd arrived though and as I had my laptop I often would book somewhere for dinner when we came back for our afternoon rest so just a few hours beforehand. I didn't always get my first choice but I didn't often have to compromise too much either.

For this trip at the end of Sept/beginning of October I've booked about half my dining and plan to do the other half 'on the fly' when I'm out there.

That said, there's only 2 of us and we're fairly easy going so were prepared go with the flow if needed.

Perhaps if you told us which restaurants make you go 'oooooh' the most and we can give you a better idea about how popular they are which might help

 

[Pegasus928]

While I understand what people are saying about how imprtant it is to book if you want a specific restaurant or character meal, it is also worth bearing in mind that they do not book the restaurants to 100% capacity via the ADR system.
We were told when phoning up that they only book a small amount of its capacity this way (something like 30% but I will edit it if that is wrong) and the rest is kept for walk ups (and probably concierge)
Using this information we have booked many of our dining experiences once in Florida and have managed to get bookings for the day that we ring. I am not suggesting that you do this as you may be dissappointed if you can't get one that you really wanted, just offering a light at the end of the tunnel if your tables are booked if you ring before you go.

 

[Rohais]

I'd book a few of the important ones, and then you can always try concierge at your hotel and see if they can get you any reservations

 

[wayneg]

We are over half way thru doing 21 days free DDP, not sure in Oct but in August its very important to book if you want the best places. Early August before US free DDP started restaurants were quieter, Captains grill half empty, since US free DDP has kicked in everywhere is full, many places when we are waiting to be seated are turning guests away.
Always a chance to eat at places like Trails end(we have done walk up there a few times) but popular ones like Le Cellier you might find it a struggle to book now, they book up months in advance.

 

[tinkerpea]

Hi well we went in September / october 2 yrs ago and bought the DDP we really had no idea how to use it but my hubby who is in the RAF was away on a deployment for 4 months when he got time off he would sit and read the menus for places that we had a rough idea we would like, he booked only few as we was also going with his parents ( we got married at the Disneywedding Pavillion ) and they had never been to Disney before so we didnt want to plan everything for them as well and leave them no choices when we entered the park for example Epcot in the morning we would go to guest services they had little sighns with lines to a desk with a restaurent name on it you would just que for the one you would like they could be 10 mins long or you could just walk right up to them, If you got their and they had no tables left for your choosen place they would search the park for you on the computer and tell you all the places and times that was available for that day it was very helpfull and that way as you would have already had some days at the parks you would know where you wanted to eat.
You can also do it from your hotel room as at the park services theyhave a leaflet of all the DDP eating places and the number to call is on it.Some places are very hard to get which is why now i know how it works and where i wanted to eat i have booked the 90 days in advance but if you are not fussy you can get a lot of the places you choose for example Crystal palace is very easy to get even on the day and its a Charecter buffet winnie pooh and friends ( my boys love it) i hope this helps alittle have a great stay

 

[wedreamofdisney]

Thanks so much for all of your answers

It really has been helpful!!! I am going to sit with Hubby tomorrow morning and MAKE him look at the restaurants and menus and choose a few to book.

I know we want to do the character breakfast at O'hana's

DD7 would also want to do Cinderellas Round Table with me, while DS4 and DH go to somewhere a bit more boyish! Any recommendations??

Oh and Chef Mickey....I think whats this hoop-de-doo thing??

We like nice food, not fussed on fine dining. Just want to have a good time with our kids

I'll let you know what we decide

 

[Chilly]

DD7 would also want to do Cinderellas Round Table with me

I'm sorry to say the chance of you booking CRT is about nil, that gets booked up 6 months in advance.

 

[Disneymad]

I'm sorry to say the chance of you booking CRT is about nil, that gets booked up 6 months in advance.

Since they made the character lunch and dinner and hiked the price it's not quite so insane. While you might not see anything straight away it's worth checking every day as they do get a constant stream of cancellations due to having to pre-pay (whereas on other ADR's I'm sure people tend to just leave them 'just in case' or because they can't be bothered to cancel).

I remember looking in June for July out of curiousity and there was even a breakfast available on July 4th. I also looked last weekend because I wanted to check the prices and found a breakfast in early September and I only looked over the period of about a week (Crystal Palace brekky was also available) - so they do pop up just you have to be on your toes and check regularly.

It's definitely going to require a bit of luck to get along with 'Ohana and Chef Mickeys as nearly all the character meals are crazy popular but I'd never write off any restaurant just because it was within the 180 day mark because cancellations happen all the time.


Hoop de Doo is a dinner show, you can read up about it here

 

[disney_princess_85]

I hope you get the ones you want. The restaurants you listed are very popular, so just be prepared for disappointment. Saying that, I was making some changes yesterday and managed to snag an ADR for dinner at Crystal Palace in September. Let us know how you get on.

 

[tinkerpea]

They do have to keep so many tables free for people who are either not on the DDP or have not booked in advance! you can get lucky and get a table at CRT i have heard it done many times you just have to keep looking and check on the day i hope you get some of the ones you want and remember there are over 100 places to eat on the plan