Free Diners - Share Your ADR Experiences

[grace&philipsmom]

I just booked our ADR's this morning. I got through right away andwas don in about 30 minutes. Harriet (my CM) was great, very efficient!

We got everything except 'Ohana's for dinner (what is up with that place?)

8/27: Chef Mickey 7:25
CRT 1:05 (wanted 12:00)
1900 PF 6:40 (wanted 5:00)

8/28: Hollywood and Vine Breakfast 8:05

8/29: 1900 PF Breakfast 8:05

8/30: Donald's Safari Breakfast 8:00
Yak and Yeti 1:00

8/31: Chefs De France 1:00

9/1: Crystal Palace Breakfast 8:10

9/2: 'Ohana breakfast 7:30
Coral Reef 1:05
CRT dinner 5:45

I am so glad that is over, but I will keep trying for 'Ohana dinner!

 

[disneydiva0729]

My trip is 9/17-9/28 so I can call in on June 19th!! (still soooo far away)

here's my wish list:
b-fasts: tusker, crystal palace, 1900 Park, Ohana, Chef Mickey's, Arkershus, Kona

lunches: Plaza, Le Cellier, 50's PTC, Sci-fi, San Angel

dinners: HDD Revue, CRT, Rose & Crown, Brown Derby, Jikos, Spirit of Aloha, Melrose, Garden Grille, Cali. Grill, Artist Point

Last year we went during Thanksgiving and I got every ressie I wanted except Le Cellier so I've got my fingers crossed for this list.

Also thanking the Disney Gods that I am on EST because I hate mornings so 7am is early enough

 

[goofy370]

Here is our dining for our trip. I am VERY happy with our plans! Our meals are for 8 people except Cape May which is for 5 people.

8/23 Diamond Horse Shoe (LTT was totally booked) Dinner 6pm
8/24 Sci-Fi Lunch 11:15 am
8/25 Chefs De France Dinner 5:00
8/27 Cape May Cafe Dinner 7:00
8/28 O'Hana Dinner 6:00

Hope it works out well for everyone else!!

 

[condomom]

8/29 - Planet Hollywood 6:15
8/30 - Coral Reef 6:00pm
8/31 - T-REx 7:00pm
9/1 - Le Cellier - 7:20
9/2 - Chef Mickeys 8:30am
Sci Fi - 5:45
9/3 - Safari Celebration 4:30
9/4 Whispering canyon 6:35

Wooohoooo............I am going to try to make Le Cellier a bit earlier if we can!

 

[4forthemouse]

8/29 - Planet Hollywood 6:15
8/30 - Coral Reef 6:00pm
8/31 - T-REx 7:00pm
9/1 - Le Cellier - 7:20
9/2 - Chef Mickeys 8:30am
Sci Fi - 5:45
9/3 - Safari Celebration 4:30
9/4 Whispering canyon 6:35

Wooohoooo............I am going to try to make Le Cellier a bit earlier if we can!

How did you get to make your ADRs already? We start a new reservation on 8/29 and I thought the 90 day mark to make ADRs was on 5/31. What's your secret please???????????????

 

[SNicksed]

Here's what we got when I called in last Saturday:

8/22 Hollywood & Vine 5:05pm

8/23 California Grill 5:30pm

8/25 Donald's B-Fast/Tusker House 8:05am

8/26 Garden Grill 7:00pm

8/27 Brown & Derby/Fantasmic 4:25pm

8/28 Chef Mickey's 6:15pm

 

[Dani&TJsMom]

After many calls, three disconnections, and lots of waiting, I think I finally have our ADRs made. Not everything was my first choice, but I'll keep trying.

Here's what we have:

8/21 Dinner 6pm House of Blues (dh bday dinner)
8/22 Breakfast 815am Crystal Palace
Dinner 4pm Whispering Canyon Cafe
(will keep trying for a later time)
8/23 Dinner 505pm Askerhus Princess Dinner
(really wanted LeCellier, will keep trying)
8/24 Dinner 410pm Sci-Fi
(would rather have Mama Melrose later)
8/25 Dinner 5pm Maya Grill
(wanted OHana)


With the exception of CP and WCC, we've never eaten at any of the restaurants. I guess it will be fun to try new places.

 

[pixiebran]

There is hope! I think a lot of it is your strategy. Put your must do ADRs at the end of your trip so that there are less people who are able to book for those days. I called first thing this morning and got everything I asked for within about 30 minutes of when I wanted it. My husband and I both started calling at exactly 7am. I got through within about 5 minutes and finished all of our ADRs in about 20-30 minutes. He was just getting to a CM when I got off of the phone and texted him to tell him I was all done.
This is what we got.....

Whispering Canyon Dinner
Raglan Road Dinner
Park Fare Dinner
Tusker House Dinner
Crystal Palace Dinner
Ohana Dinner
Boma Dinner
LeCellier Dinner
Chef Mickey Breakfast
50s Prime Time Lunch
Mama Melrose Fantasmic (I wasn't able to get this as late as I wanted, but I was just shocked to get it at all so I'm not complaining!)

My original plan was a bit different as far as what night to have each restaurant, but when I heard how difficult ADRs were then I moved things around to put LC, MM, and Ohana all towards the end of the trip. All of my dinner ADRs are around 7ish except MM. So like I said, there is hope! Pure luck does play into it. There is no logical reason why I got through to a CM so much faster than my husband since we started dialing at exactly the same time. But you will help your chances by moving those key restaurants towards the end of your stay.

Good luck everyone!! I can totally see why many people are fed up with Free Dining and don't see that it is worth the hassle. For us, we have 2 adults and 2 children over 10 and we always stay in a value resort. So FD is a real deal for us. If not, I definitely wouldn't go through all of this hassle though!

 

[Colleen27]

My original plan was a bit different as far as what night to have each restaurant, but when I heard how difficult ADRs were then I moved things around to put LC, MM, and Ohana all towards the end of the trip.

I'm hoping that will help me with the harder to get ADRs. I have LeCellier planned for day 7, Cali Grill for day 8, and Chef Mickey for day 9. The only must-do that is early in the trip is Akershus breakfast/lunch, but we're not picky about times and that one doesn't seem quite so difficult to get lately. The rest of our dinners are signatures except Marrakesh, Kona, and an as-yet undecided arrival night dinner that works with our resort change (prob either Maya Grill or Raglan Road) and we're not planning any other character meals, so I don't anticipate much difficulty with those ADRs.

 

[SINYMom]

I definitly agree with Pixiebran on strategy, put the hard to get places at the end of your stay. That said, I called at what I thought was 7:00 this morning but the lines weren't open yet, one of my boys was on the computer and he said it just changed to 7:00 so I called back right away. Well, right away turned into a 9 minute wait time.

I did get all of the places we wanted but not all at great times or, even all at one table (that's the scary part -- Hey, if Disney doesn't mind my 3 boys sitting at table by themselves it's just fine with me ).

We arrive on 8/26, no ADR's for that day and we will pay OOP for lunch at Beaches & Cream - it's become a tradition since we don't go into a park on that day and like to just take it easy.

8/27 - 7:45PM - Whispering Canyon Cafe
8/28 - 8:50PM - Tappen Edo (later than we'd like but Epcot has Xtra Hrs)
8/29 - 7:00PM - Kona Cafe
8/30 - 7:20PM - Narcoossee's (separate tables)
8/31 - 7:00PM - Cape May Cafe (we'll celebrate our twin's birthday)
9/1 - 7:15PM - Planet Hollywood
9/2 - 7:20PM - LeCellier (separate tables)


I'm also considering celebrating our older son turning 16 this year and am torn between WCC and Kona. I'm really looking forward to taking a spin on the Segways with him as he is finally old enough.

Good luck to all with getting your first choices at preferred times.

 

[snykymom]

I'm also considering celebrating our older son turning 16 this year and am torn between WCC and Kona. I'm really looking forward to taking a spin on the Segways with him as he is finally old enough.

Good luck to all with getting your first choices at preferred times.

If you do the Segway tour at Ft. Wilderness (which I highly recommend - we had a blast!), you'll be right there to get to WCC easily. And congrats to your son! 16's a biggie!

 

[DISNEYNY]

How did you get to make your ADRs already? We start a new reservation on 8/29 and I thought the 90 day mark to make ADRs was on 5/31. What's your secret please???????????????

Possibly they are arriving before the 29th and going somewhere else the first day and don't need an ADR? We arrive on 8/14, but don't start FDP until the 16th. I was able to book on 5/16/09.

 

[Brygida]

I got the following ressies a couple days ago.

Sunday, August 23 - California Grill dinner 5:35pm
Monday, August 24 - Chefs De France lunch 12:00noon
Tuesday, August 25 - Boma dinner 4:35pm
Wednesday, August 26 - Akershus Norway lunch with princesses 11:55am
Thursday, August 27 - Cinderella's Castle Royal Table lunch 11:50am
Friday, August 28 - HoopDeeDoo Revue dinner show 5:00pm
Saturday, August 29 - Le Cellier lunch 1:00pm

Issues I had:

• HoopDeeDoo was the only ressie I had any issue getting. All others were gotten at exact times/dates wanted. However, HoopDeeDoo dinner show was only available on the last full day of our trip at 5pm. I think that is because not all seats are available under the DDP, only "category 2 or 3" are. They must sell out quick.
• I was disconnected twice and computers were down once before I got through and uninterrupted got my ressies.
• I recommend getting confirmation numbers and giving your credit card details after each and every ressie. The CM wanted to wait until the end, but after the first 3 mishap calls, I was not taking any chances. I got a confirmation number after each ressie was made.

Am still unsure about the CRT ressie. It was easy to get, no issue at all, and I didn't call at 7am either at the 90day mark. Is the food as bad as I hear? I could do Citricos instead? or Ohana breakfast + 1900 Park Fare? What would my 5 year old like better?

 

[disneynuts777]

So here is what I got. I thought that it would be tough but it was not as painful as I had imagined. Called right at 7:00a.m and was on hold for a couple of minutes. The CM I had was amazing and never questoned the order in which I did things. I went with hard to get first and then worked my way through the rest. I got everything in the time frame that I aked for.. Everything I booked is for a party of 9!!!!

Aug 26th -late arrival so no ADR's
Aug 27th - Narcoosee's 6:00p.m
Aug 28th - Akershus Princess Breakfast 8:15a.m -Coral Reef-Dinner 6:05p.m
Aug29th -Maya Grill -Breakfast-9:15a.m -Kona-Dinner-5:40p.m
Aug 30th -Cape Mae-Breakfast-8:05a.m -Mama Melrose w/fantasmic-Dinner-4:05p.m
Aug 31st -Raglan Road-lunch-12noon -Hoop De Due-Dinner-7:15p.m
Sept 1st -Tusker House-Breakfast-8:20a.m -Boma-Dinner-7:15p.m
Sept 2nd -Crystal Palace-Breakfast-8:20a.m (2 tables) -1900 Park Fare-Dinner-6:05p.m
Sept 3rd -Chef Mickey's-Breakfast-9:05a.m -California Grill-Dinner-7:30p.m

I am very pleased and I am glad that this ADR ordeal is over with. I called later in the day to confirm all of them just to make sure. Now the count down begins

 

[SINYMom]

snykymom, I did get all of the ADR's I wanted, but one is quite late (8:50PM Tappen Edo).

Thanks for the tip on Segway's at Ft. Wilderness, I didn't know they had them there, thought it was only Epcot. I'll have to ask my son where he wants to do this. Do you know if there is place on-line to see the Ft. Wilderness version, we've never been there?

Good luck to all with their ADRs!!

 

[snykymom]

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/wilderness-back-trail-adventure/

I understand that you can get a lot more riding done on this one than at Epcot - there's less time training. We had a blast, and even rode the grounds of WL.

 

[heartofdisney]

I called on 5/20 to book my ADR's and I was able to get everything I wanted,at the times I wanted. Then I realized that I had actually booked two places I wanted for the same day,and also realized that I had made a mistake on another reservation,and needed to move it around.It was around 4:30 pm when I called back then,and even then,I had no problem moving things around and even adding a new reservation which we"ll pay out of pocket for.Here is what I got.

8/28- CRT FOR dinner @ 5:40pm
8/29- Chrystal Palace for breakfast @ 8:15am
Whispering Canyon for dinner @ 6:25 pm
8/30- Yak & Yetti for dinner @ 5:00pm
8/31- Storybook Princess breakfast @ 8:15
9/1- Mama Melrose @ 5:10 pm
9/2 - Chef Mickey's @ 8:05 am
1900 Park Faire @ 5:00 pm
9/3- Kona for breakfast @ 8am
San Angel Inn @ 5:00
9/4- Ohana's@ 5:25 pm
9/5- Cap n Jacks @ 6;20 pm

I also had Teppan Edo,but called to cancel it since some of my party didn't want to eat there then,and I had the Best Friends breakfast too,but thought it was too much running to the Polynesian for all those reservations I had there..haha. The Princess Storybook breakfast is what I was able to add later in the day. It really wasn't as hard as I imagined it would be. As a previous poster before mentioned,try to book your most prior reservations at the end of your trip too. I did that for Ohana's and it worked for me!

 

[ksc37]

Mixed emotions... I couldn't get Boma or Chef Mickey's for August 29th. Had to move those to other dates (glad I had a detailed list of backups). Unfortunately, I didn't have a third choice for 8/29, so I'm still working through that one.

8/29: Still don't know... I couldn't get my choices
8/30: Plaza (lunch)
8/31: Les Chefs de France (lunch)
9/1: Sci Fi (lunch)
9/2: Chef Mickeys (dinner)
9/3: Boma (dinner)
9/4: Cape May Cafe (dinner)
9/5: Check out day

My total call (including 8 minutes on hold) took 22 minutes.

 

[CanadianPaco]

Congrats on what you did get! It looks great!

 

[caracap]

8/30 CRT/ Tutto Italia
8/31 SciFi/ TRex (need to call back Tues.)
9/1 Universal Day
9/2 LeCellier (lunch, couldn't get dinner for ANY night we will be there)
9/3 Garden Grill