Do U Need Res. For Every Meal?!?!

[beebles]

Ok, do i need to reserve every breakfast, lunch and dinner before i am even there! I have reserved the character stuff, and maybe I will do 3-4 more places that i want to go to, but do I have to reserve for spur of the moment lunches and breakfast? It seems so crazy to book times 3months before the trip; you never know where you will be and if the "time" will interfere with something else!

 

[solotraveler]

Well, it depends on a couple of factors. Mainly, when are you going and where are you interested in dining and what is your party size?

If you are not going to be eating counter service meals mostly when you don't have ADRs, then you'll be fine. If you have your heart set on somewhere, I would make sure to book it ahead of time. Some places (certain character breakfasts, Boma, Le Cellier, Rose and Crown dinner) book solid a long way out.

Likewise, if you are travelling during a very busy period, ADRs will be at a premium. If you're going during a really off-season time, then you might be able to walk-in to many places. And obviously it's easier to walk into a table service place with 2 people, than with 6.

Hope that helps!
Solotraveler

 

[HaleyB]

I highly recommend them for any sit down meals you wish to have. Also, you really might want to think about planning which park you will be in each day. The EMH parks are almost always perdictable and there are lots of websites and guide books that can help you to figure out which parks will be least crowded each day. You can also find out about when the parades will be so you can plan around those if you want. Disney seems to be having a busy year, so even if you are going during a 'slow' time you need to think ahead to avoid crowds and lines.

 

[beebles]

We are going the first week in December and we have 2 children (age 4 and 7). It is difficult to have to wait for seating, might wind up doing counter service if i can stomach it! I just did not know if I need to reserve all meals ahead of time completely! I am afraid our whole schedule will be based on reservations!

 

[Skroops]

Yes!
We normally go in October, for the past few years. For this trip coming up, I forgot to make my dinner reservations at the 90 day mark. I called 60 days prior to arrival, and my favorite places are all taken at meal time. The "free" dining plan is causing the restaurants to fill up, because many of these guests wouldn't be eating at restaurants as much if they didn't have free dining. We used to not worry about it in October, as it was a slower time at WDW, and we were able to just walk up and get a table almost anywhere at meal time. It doesn't seem like that is likely this year. Either it is going to be way busier than previous years, or it is just a lot more restaurant eaters. We'll see soon enough!
If you have favorites, make your ADR's!

 

[jann1033]

it depends on if you want to eat counter or sit down...without an adr at a popular place, if you can get in you will probably wait( ie Kona, brkft, Jan, 1 hr long wait with out adr). if you don't really care where you eat or when you eat or what you eat you can wing it, just be aware you may not eat anyplace you wanted to and may have to travel around till you find someplace you can go .

also just know if you want to go to someplace like Ohana's and get turned away ( very likely) and there is an hr + wait at Kona, unless you want counter you need to get a bus, go to another resort , try again... eating inthe parks may not be as hard but there really aren't as many choices for ts, like maybe 4 or so per park except epcot. with 2 little ones you will wait a lot less with an adr.

 

[dyna]

I'd highly recommend that you do also. Saw many unhappy ppl trying to find a TS meal at supper time when I was there and it was not even a busy time in the parks.

Least make the ressies then after you are there you can try to make other ressies if you change mind on what and when to eat if you get those besure to cancel you the ADR's you made in advance so maybe someone else can take advantage of them at the last minute.

 

[Frantasmic]

I guess it depends on if you are a gambler or not.

The two camps, those who swear by ADRS and those who like to eat on a whim, will have differing opinions. There was another thread where a poster was upset about not being able to find ADRs and blamed the anal planners for usurping all the ADRs thus inhibiting her spontaneous nature.

This is where the gambling comes in. If one doesn't want to be tied down by advance planning and eat on a whim, they are gambling their time: you either make a plan and try to stick to it ahead of time (spend your time ahead of the trip to plan) or gamble and risk either not eating at the place you might have your heart set for in the future, or risk spending more "time" waiting for a reservation to open when your whim to eat comes along.

Posters have indicated that it was often easy in the past to get ADRs just before your trip or even to walk in. That may or may not be the case with free dining for the next few weeks.

It's really an individual choice. So people don't want to gamble and make extensive plans at the expense of "limiting" their spontaneity at the parks; others gamble with not making ADRs and risk waiting in line or not getting a restaurant the really wanted. It's all in how you look at time.

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

We make ADR's for all the places we REALLY want to eat and then we usually end up seeing a couple of others that sound good at the time which we want to go to but don't have ADR's. We have had a lot of luck calling from our resort, if we have taken a break during the day, and making an ADR for an hour or so later and heading out to the park. Sometimes when we have done this it ended up that we were sat right away when we arrived and others were waiting an hour or so to get in who just walked up.

 

[J and R's mom]

We are going the first week in December and we have 2 children (age 4 and 7). It is difficult to have to wait for seating, might wind up doing counter service if i can stomach it! I just did not know if I need to reserve all meals ahead of time completely! I am afraid our whole schedule will be based on reservations!

This is the time of year that we like to go, too. I haven't been in three years, but we RARELY made any ADRs before we went and had no problem getting in to eat. I have a handful of places I like to eat at and I'd typically make an ADR at one of those locations the morning of the day I planned on eating there. I don't remember ever NOT getting an ADR where we wanted it.

Free dining (probably) won't be an issue in early December. And since you've already made ADRs for the biggies (character breakfasts, etc.) you should be okay. Just call first thing in the morning of each day to make that day's ADRs while you're there and you should be okay. (You might want to make breakfast ADRs the night before, however).

I know how hard it is to even begin trying to know where and what you might be doing with two young children around trying their hardest to mess up the best planned itineraries.

 

[hercamore]

No way. Not with kids your age and especially in Dec. Just book a few ADR at jplaces you really want ot eat. Counter service is decent all the parks. Some counters have soup/sandwich/salads.

Remember, whatever park yo are in the day, you can go to guest services and request a ADR later in the day.

I went second week in Dec last year and made no ADR.

 

[whacked]

Don't bother with TS for breakfast unless it's character, and I don't even do those. I do the character stuff at lunch.

You want to grab something quick and get to the parks before they open. Carry morning snacks with you.

With small kids, the first couple of hours in the park with light lines are critical.

Most of the FantasyLand rides are slow loaders with long lines in the afternoons.

 

[whacked]

Don't bother with TS for breakfast unless it's character, and I don't even do those. I do the character stuff at lunch.

You want to grab something quick and get to the parks before they open. Carry morning snacks with you.

With small kids, the first couple of hours in the park with light lines are critical.

Most of the FantasyLand rides are slow loaders with long lines in the afternoons, and those are the ones your kids will want to ride.

 

[Hopefully]

I believe that all TS meals will be more difficult to get this year due to the dining plan in general - even after the FREE dining plan expires. We are going in October, and are paying for our dining plan. Even at the 90 day window, I was not able to get dinner TS for everywhere I wanted at exactly the time I wanted.
I believe that the dining plan is allowing folks who may not have eaten at a TS in the past, to try this experience more frequently now.
You do not need any ADR for Counter Service meals.
Good Luck, I understand your dilemna.

 

[Forever42]

This is always my take on it: what do you have to lose by making them? So make the reservations, you're not obligated to keep them and you can always change them. It's not going to hurt you in the least.

The good thing about making them anyway is that worse comes to worse, you'll be able to use that reservation if you need it.

Even though we live here, FH and I always make PSs. We have Disney dining programmed into our cell phones, we call them so often. We cancel if we're not going to use the PS, but at least we have it.