Do I *need* ADR?

[kjbrown]

We're going to Disney 2/28-3/8. This is our first time staying in WDW. It's only the second time I've gone, and the first time was at least 10 years ago. Do we need to have reservations for every non-CS meal we want to eat? Or is it only certain restaurants? I made a reservation for breakfast at Chef Mickey's so my daughter could meet Mickey, but other than that I don't really want to plan out every minute and every meal before we get there. Am I crazy?

Thanks for your responses.

 

[Kaycee]

First of all, welcome to the DIS Boards!

As for how many ADR's you need to make...opinions vary greatly on that. A lot depends on the size of your party, how busy it is the time of year you are visiting, and how flexible you are about where and when you eat.

If you have a large party, you should try to make as many ADR's as you can.

If you know you want to eat at a certain restaurant, definitely make an ADR. You can always cancel it if it doesn't fit in with that day's plans once you get there, but you may not get in if you don't have an ADR.

If you don't mind eating at odd times, aren't picky about where you eat, or don't mind eating CS meals if you can't get into a table service restaurant, then you won't need to make many ADR's.

With the Magic Your Way dining plan's popularity, it is much more difficult to walk in to restaurants without an ADR than it used to be. While no one wants to plan every minute of their trip months ahead of time, it really pays to have a few ADR's in place.

Happy planning, and if you have any other questions, please ask!

 

[Eeyore2003]

I had most of my ADR's made for my trip last week, but one night I had not made them. It WAS, I think, Saturday of Jersey week, but when I called that day, they only had one restaurant in ALL of Disney with seating left, and that was for 3 people. I DID end up going down to the concierge desk and they were able to get me in to the restaurant at the resort we were staying at, which was the Beach Club. We waited though, at least 45 minutes. I've never waited that long with reservations made well in advance. Could have been a weird night and it should be noted that there were ALLOT of stuff going on that week-end. It was a busy week-end. Once that week-end was over though, the restaurants were pretty empty and I think I could have gotten in in most places. I'd be sure to have a handle on what the predicted crowd level might be, which I think makes the most difference.

I'd pencil in some and make them, you can always cancel. Also depend on kids etc. Better to have a definite place to "feed" them.

 

[LiteBrite]

I've been in a situation before with no ADRs, no availability at any restaurants (or at least none we wanted to eat at), and a group of hungry/tired/grumpy people who wanted a nice sit down meal all looking to me for a solution - not pretty. You may or may not need ADRs, but the only way to find out that you did need them when you don't have them is the hard way. It's easy to make ADRs, and you don't have to keep them.

 

[kjbrown]

Thanks everyone for the responses. And thanks for the welcome to the boards. I've been lurking for a bit, and since we bought our plane tickets and made our resort res I thought I would jump in!

Anyway, we have a small group, just my husband, my daughter and me. I guess I will start making some reservations, just in case.

Another question, should I make my ADRs a bazillion days in advance (okay, just 180) or is that just for certain restaurants?

Thanks again, this board has been so helpful!

Kathy

 

[whacked]

And it's worth what you paid for it.

I would go ahead and make ADR's for each night. You can always change them later if you decide to.

Otherwise, you could get stuck. Better have an ADR at least for backup.

Yes, some places are much harder than others, such as CRT, Le Cellier, HDDR, Cali Grill, and a whole lot of other stuff on weekend nights.

P.S. I made mine 90 days out (when it was still 90+10) for the beginning of December, and have not been able to change much of anything since I want what appear to be the more popular resturants.

 

[DisneyCrazyX5]

We returned home on Sunday and had ADR's for all of our meals. I noticed many places not even accepting walk ups, for the whole night - Biergarten, Sci-Fi, and Liberty Tree Tavern (CRT of course) are the ones I remember. They would anounce this to the line of people waiting.

If you have any special restaurants make sure to make ADR's.

We also found if we were early we could usually get a seat sooner.

Janell

 

[DutchsMommy]

I think ADRs are the way to go. We didn't make them the first time we went and had a hard time getting in to eat anywhere - and this was around the time you are going. It also gets you to plan where you will eat that night (potentially) so you don't spend an hour trying to decide where to eat - only to find out they aren't accepting walk-ups.

 

[DCDisney]

If you aren't picky or prefer eating early or very late you can probably do it. We always go end of January and even though the parks aren't busy we have needed our reservations in the past. I have food allergies though so I'm somewhat picky and our kids eat a fairly limited diet so again we have some resturants we just can't do. I find it fairly easy to schedule ARDs without feeling overscheduled. We always do an evening at MGM so we like booking the Fantasmic package to cut down on waiting. Many of our other meals I've scheduled at places like Whispering Canyon, Chef Mickey, O'Hana, etc so we have flexibility about which park we want for those days. We also scheduled a dinner at Le Cellier for the day we plan on going to Epcot but at this point places like that are already booked up unless you want to eat before 5 or after 10. Without the meal plan it's easier to just wing it in my opinion because we want to get our moneys worth

 

[kjbrown]

Okay, thanks again everyone. I guess I have some more research to do!

 

[crisi]

I'd try to make the "hotspot" meals you want as soon as possible. Princess meals, Chef Mickeys, Le Cellier, California Grill during fireworks time. There are a few meals that I'd make before 90 days if you can, especially if you are picky on times - Boma, Rose and Crown during fireworks time. Most of the rest of the restaurants you should be able to worry about as your trip gets closer, though it might not be a bad idea to make what you can early, and move them around later.

 

[sjrogo713]

Just returned after spending Thanksgiving week, which is very busy in the parks. We were only a party of 3, so we had a little easier time getting in.

Sat 11/19 -- Had ADRs at Portobello YC for 7:30, showed up at 7 and were seated within 5 minutes even though there were lots of people standing around and being told 60-75 mins.

Mon 11/21 -- Just walked in to Sci-Fi for lunch at 1:30 and were seated immediately.

Wed 11/23 (Day B4 T-giving) -- Had ADRs at Flying Fish for 7:15, showed up at 7 and were seated with in 5 mins. Restaurant did not seem that busy.

Fri 11/25 (Day after T-giving) -- called in AM and got ADRs for Concourse Steakhouse at 7:30 PM. All our other choices were pretty much booked. We checked with Guest services at Epcot that afternoon to try and change to an Epcot place but were told we should just keep the ADR because trying to walk-in would be difficult because of the Candlelight procession and Illuminations. So we took the monorail over and it was great !! Got there about 6:45 and were seated within 10 minutes. Took the monorail back and got there just in time for Illuminations (sat on the sidewalk at the front of WShowcase)

All the other nights we just ate offsite later on because we were staying near SeaWorld.

 

[jlovesee]

It depends also on when you go... My husband and I have gone to WDW each year for our wedding anniversary (this year Jan 21-28th) and have only made one ADR for California Grill for our Anniversary. I agree if you REALLY want to eat somewhere definitly make a reservation. other then that, unless you are going during a peak season I have never worried about it to much.

Jennifer