Does anyone else plan where they want to eat WAY in advance?

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

We returned from our first Disney trip not too long ago, and were able to eat at some GREAT places:

Ohana Dinner
Chef Mickeys Breakfast
Le Cellier Dinner
Crystal Palace Breakfast
CRT Lunch
Boma

We are trying to plan for a trip May 2011 and I am already wondering where we should eat next time.... I am thinking

Donald Safari Breakfast pre park opening
CP Breakfast
Boma
New Pizza Place in Epcot?
Garden Grill?
Coral Reef?

hmmmmmm

 

[christinec68]

Not that far in advance, no. We are going in October and haven't even thought about it yet.

But there are oodles of early planners - especially with the 180 booking window.

 

[DisneyRookie2007]

It's never too early to made advance ADR's on-line...you can always change your mind afterwards....if you wait too long you'll be scrambling to eat at your favourite places

 

[LilyWDW]

I know in general where I do and do not want to go in 2012. Now this will all depend on the menus as we get closer and is subject to change... but I know the food I like and what I would like to try.

 

[CdnBuzzFan]

On May 6th, I booked a trip for late Aug/early Sept 2010 and had my ADR's all made by May 8th. I would have had everything done earlier but I was holding off booking the trip until they announced the free dining.

 

[catne]

we want to try all the Disney restaurants, so yes, I do plan way in advance. Several times I have booked right on the 180 mark...hoping for a long weekend in Nov, and have booked all the meals already

That said, I also change plans frequently (love the online system, so much easier to cancel/re-book etc.)

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Glad to know I'm not the only one!

 

[Uncleromulus]

No--you are not alone! We always make reservations 180 days out and even now are "pre-thinking" our dining spots for May 2011.

 

[LindaR]

We are doing this too! I WAS going to go back to WDW by myself because there are things that DD21 just doesn't "want" to do. She freaked at the thought!!! So, our next trip is all about ME! What *I* want to do, where *I* want to eat, etc.

So we are NOT eating at any of our favorites! We have to choose places that we've either NEVER tried (hard to do since we go at least annually), or have not eaten at for a long time.

This is fun!

 

[JenGC]

After this year's planning (going the end of Sept) I am DEFINITELY going to plan earlier. I booked in April when the free dining plan JUST came out and it was only available for Disney Visa card holders. I heard about 2 days after that La Cellar was the BEST place to go and my mother REALLY wanted to go there (she is NOT a dining out person so for her to say that, was just amazing in itself). I was only able to find ONE reservation since then and that was at 2:00 the day we were leaving. We were planning on flying out that day and I didnt think I could arrange it. Next time (which I am planning on the first week or two of December 2011), that will be the FIRST restaurant I book at the 180 mark.

 

[JoePa4Ever]

We start to really begin planning about 9 months prior to our trip and make our adrs on our 180 day mark. If necessary, though, we could easily begin planning earlier - we have no problem deciding where we want to eat months ahead of time and rarely change our adrs once we make them.

 

[MrsToad]

I also book our dining ressies the day our booking window opens. I know some people say, "How can you know what you will be in the mood to eat 6 months from now?" For us, and I think for many posters, it isn't always about a particular type of entree that we will be in the mood for, but rather, it is about what type of dining "experience" we want.

I use touringplans.com to determine which park we will be in on each day of our trip. Then, we pick the restaurants we want to visit in the park we are in on any given day. We have some favorite restaurants we always return to, and we round out those with new restaurants we want to experience. Restaurants like Coral Reef, Rainforest Cafe, and Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre, for example, are more about the ambiance for us than the entree choices.

Have a great trip!

 

[DLBDS]

Does anyone else plan where they want to eat WAY in advance?

In a word.... ALWAYS. I can't help it.

 

[prttynpnk]

We really think of vacation as an eating tour of the mouse, so we have favorites that we rotate each trip, so yes, we are into plannign the next trip while still on a trip, etc.

 

[sunset30]

We're going in October and all our ADRs have been done since April!!!!

 

[MissLiz]

We were already planning where we wanted to eat the next time while we were at WDW and we don't have another trip planned. We are thinking 2012, but may head back in 2011.

We've already got a list of places we want to fit in. We just really like to eat at WDW.

 

[ROEDISNEY]

On the ride home from our trip in the car we starting writing them down for the next year.

 

[LUVDZNY2008]

I do, I'm an obsessive Disney overplanner!!

 

[NuJoy]

Following MrsToad's line of thought, our family feels most Disney restaurants are so uniquely themed, that we treat our dining experiences as attractions in and of themselves. We have some must-do "attractions" we just cannot miss each year as missing out on those would greatly diminish our cumulative Disney experience (thank goodness for DxDDP). In this sense, we know way in advance which dining experiences we will want. Plus, we always hope to try something new each time.

 

[CathieArms]

Umm...<cough,cough>...We're going in June 2011 and I think I finally have it all figured out.