For ADR do you recommend

[Devin18]

eating earlier or later for supper?? We will be with 2 kids ages 5&8 and are going to be on the basic meal plan so we will have a CS and some snacks but since I have never done ADR before, I am not sure if they take you anywhere near on time for your reservation.

 

[whogirl'smom]

We have always done earlier ADRs (between 5-6:00 p.m. usually) with our dd who is almost 8. This has worked well for our family and we have always been seated within just a few minutes of our adr time. The only time we had a later ressie was for Rose and Crown at 7:50, so we could watch Illuminations afterwards. Poor dd fell asleep at the table--she was 5 that year.

 

[Cinderella94]

We always do the dining plan & make ADR's, and get seated within a few minutes of our reservation time. I say the earlier the better.

 

[koolaidmoms]

I also have a 5 & 8 yr. old. We tend to eat fairly early at home 5:00-6:00 pm so I try to get a later lunch or early dinner while at WDW so that the kids are eating just before their normal time or right around their normal time to avoid being overly hungry or cranky. We tend to then take a late snack break if we are still in the parks or have some fruit in our room before bedtime.

Hope this helps some.

 

[catne]

when do you usually eat at home? You probably want to stick close to your home schedule with your kids. We're early birds, so eat a quick poptart or whatever in the room, hit the parks at rope drop (which is 8 a.m. at the time of year we go) After go-go-go all morning, we're ready for lunch around 11 or 11:30 so dinner between 5 & 6 p.m. is perfect for us. We're usually full all evening from that, rarely want an evening snack (o.k.., the occasional dole whip or mickey ice cream )

I will say that the earlier dinner seatings seem to get you to your table closer to your actual ADR time: we've never waited more than 10-15 minutes, even at the very popular restaurants like Le Cellier. But as the evening goes on, tables get more backed up so you're waiting longer for tables to turn over. You've got to figure, by 8 p.m., the restaurant has had 3 hours to get "backed up" so chances are you'll be waiting longer than if you arrived shortly after it opened for dinner.

 

[DannysMom]

Generally when dining with kids, you want to try & schedule your ADRs close to the time your children are accustomed to eating. Hungry kids are cranky kids.

Generally I try to keep to a similar sleeping & eating schedule on vacation, as we keep at home. The times I've tried to have a later dinner, my son generally doesn't make it through the meal, he passes out on me.