Food without ADRs? And candlelight processional avoidance

[mon8key]

Unexpected trip to Anaheim first weekend of December. Did not know about the 60 day out ADR situation and too late anyway, no reservations visible. Will we be stuck eating popcorn for our meals? Any tips for finding food?
Also, ideas for avoiding candlelight processional crowds? Will DCA be more packed with others avoiding it? Should we just hide out in New Orleans Square?
Thanks!

 

[chezcurrie]

you don’t need to fret about not having ADRs - I have gotten nearly every spot I wanted by either setting an alert (for something I had to have), or my checking the night before when people cancel. With cancellations now being within 2 hrs there will be much more day of availability.

Also, mobile order is great - there is a ton of QS food that does not need an ADR, you won’t be stuck eating popcorn.

Hope someone else can comment on candlelight crowds as I have not been in recent years.

 

[Pluto468]

How exciting! We hardly used any ADRs for our June trip. It was pretty crowded but we were still able to eat easily using Mobile Order. I think we did walk-up to counter service a couple times, but I like mobile order better because I'm a planner

If there's somewhere you know you want to eat you could set some dining alerts and there's a good chance you'll get a spot.

 

[Nonsuch]

... ideas for avoiding candlelight processional crowds? Will DCA be more packed with others avoiding it? Should we just hide out in New Orleans Square?

Most guests will not even be aware of Candlelight, since it is not promoted and does not even appear on the schedule.
Performances are at 5:30 and 7:45, lasting about 45 minutes -- so it's best to avoid Main Street in the early evening.
There will be "one way traffic" on each side of Main Street, and the backstage bypasses will be used.
Overall, the impact to guests is minimal

 

[Lisa24jks]

There is PLENTY of great QS options in both parks, so ADRs are not necessary. But like others have said, sometimes spots do come open. (ANd with the new cancellation policy, probably will come open on the day you're there.

I was there during Candelight last year and it wasn't a problem at all. We just stayed away from main street during and kept to the rest of the park and barely even noticed it was an issue. It may cause an issue if you are entering/exiting/parkhopping at that time, but Disney is A+ at directing traffic and will send people through the back way of main street to avoid the Candelight crowds.

 

[starlite_]

Whatever you do, don't be near main street during the candlelight. If you wanna hop, hop at least an hr before. We had the misfortune to accidentally go a day while it was happening. Worst trip of our life. Never again if I can help it.

 

[mon8key]

Wow that sounds horrible! Did you get stuck in Main Street? We’re hoping to skedaddle to the back of the park.

 

[starlite_]

Wow that sounds horrible! Did you get stuck in Main Street? We’re hoping to skedaddle to the back of the park.

We were trying to find food and a friend suggested Jazz Kitchen (the others in the group had never been), first idea was to take the Railroad to Main Street. It was closed. Then we decided to walk there, worst idea ever cause we did get stuck. Took us like an hour to get out of the park and we couldn't even give up cause by the time we realized the type of congestion it was we were surrounded so getting back to another area of the park would have taken the same amount of time. So by the time we actually got food we were all hangry. Then it took forever to be able to get back into the park (we didn't have hoppers and I think the monorail was not working/ we didn't know about it/ something). We ended up wasting like 2hrs and change on what should have taken like 30 minutes. Promised myself to never go on those days again, and if we end up there anyways then to be as far away from Main Street as physically possible.