Free Disney Dining

[Irish Goofy]

Hi All.Have booked the family of 4 to stay in CBR for 16 days in August.When I booked we got free dining for us all on standard DDP.Am reading lots of terrible stories about ADR's and on hold for 30-45 mins to book.My questions are.

1. Do i need to book in advance for restaurants.Is it really necessary or can you just get a table when you get there.

2. Being from Ireland if i must ring it is very expensive,approx €2 per min to ring USA.Is there another way to book,or does anybody have any suggestions.

3.Is every restaurant going to be jammed from 6th August because of Free Dining and will this mean crowds at parks will be bad..

Thanks for any help...

Am having second thoughts about this Free Dining.At first i thought it would be great money saver but am wondering is it worth the hassle...

 

[catne]

Yes you have to book ADRs, especially if you have choices on where & when to eat. You will be competing with others there on Free dining, as well as the end-of-summer families who are getting in there vacations before kids head back to school. I do not know of any other way besides phoning to get your ADRs in advance, unless you have a travel agent who will do it for you?

You will still have some crowds in August, because most US schools are still out for summer vacation, at least until the 3rd or 4th week (and some do not go back until 1st week of September.) So yes, crowds in parks, and crowds at restaurants.

As to free dining worth it...we thought it was last September (we went the first week of September.) But the crowds were quite a bit smaller in September than early August because fewer families with school-age kids were there.

 

[brokenlola]

Yes, you must have ADR's! You are going during a busy time and places will be booked solid. I have called 3 or 4 times in the last week to try to change an ADR or ask a question etc and have not been on hold for more than 2 minutes before getting a cast member on the line. Maybe you could buy an international calling card?

 

[Tricia1972]

Being that you're going in August you will want to keep an eye on the 90 Day ADR sticky at the top of the regular Restaurant Forum.

Disney should be launching their online reservations within the next month(s) and hopefully you'll be able to make your reservations online.

 

[ckdsnynt]

ADRS are a must! According to the Unofficial Guide, Disney doesn't leave any tables open for walk up guests. That means everything will be reserved and the only chance you have of getting a table would be if someone did not show up for their ADR or if a group didn't take as long to eat as Disney calculated and the table cleared out earlier than scheduled. Risky!
Also, keep in mind that in August, florida is terribly hot and humid. That means the TS restaurants (air conditioned!!!!) will be even more booked than usual.
The advice about a calling card sounds like a good one!
Good luck! Maybe by the time your 90 day time frame opens, the new system will have the bugs worked out and the waits to speak with a CM won't be as long.

 

[RMulieri]

Free dining jams the restaurants FULL. You need to make adrs are you will be extremely limited in where you eat.Disney does not hold tables for walk ups so book at 90 days.

 

[Colleen27]

Hi All.Have booked the family of 4 to stay in CBR for 16 days in August.When I booked we got free dining for us all on standard DDP.Am reading lots of terrible stories about ADR's and on hold for 30-45 mins to book.My questions are.

You do need ADRs, but your dates are before the free dining offer is available for American bookings so it shouldn't be too crazy while you're there. The PIN code offer here starts 16 Aug, and usually the general public free dining doesn't start until the last week of Aug.

The horror stories about the hold times relate to Disney's conversion to a new computer system for making dining reservations, and I would think the bugs would be worked out before your call date. Even if they aren't, not everyone is having those issues - I made all my ADRs in 2 separate calls the week of the conversion and was never on the phone for more than 15 or 20 minutes from start to finish with hold times of less than 5min each time.

 

[DaveStroem]

As everyone else has said, ADRs are a MUST.

Have you decided what you want in the way of ADRs?
My suggestion would be to call on your 90 day mark and ask for LeCellier first as this seems to be the toughest ADR to get.

BTW, I just got off of the phone checking on changing some adrs. I was only on hold for about 90 seconds. I was shocked to say the least.

 

[gigi1313]

dare i suggest you work w/a travel agent who can make the ADRs for you? ask on the UK boards and i am sure you will get the name of some reputable ones...

 

[CUKU4DIS]

I do highly recommed you make a list of places yo would like to eat at and book IMMEDIATLeY! I really think some people really get a little too dramatic when writing their reviews. I was terrified about my ressies and what I was going to be confronted with when we arrived. i can tell you we were almost 30 minutes late in getting to our ressie at Whispering Canyon Cafe and were treated nice and seated within five minutes!! We did have to wait for about 20 minutes at OHANA which was not big deal since we usually have a wait at the minimum of 30 minutes at regular restaurants here in town. My husband has been a chef for many years and we know what to expect. I can tell you it is unusual that if you walk into an upscale restaurant in town late...you most likley will not get a table. There is nothing to be afraid of.....make your ressies, plan out your days and all will be fine.

 

[jimmyb7225]

I booked 8 days on the deluxe plan and I was on hold for about 15 minutes right at 7am. It took me about 40 minutes to book all of ADR's. If the phone costs are a problem I wouldnt mind making them for you. Not really sure if this is allowed but I personally really enjoy talking to the cast members. Just shoot me a PM

 

[n2mm]

Maybe try calling later in the evening. Whenever I call in the afternoon, the wait is generally not too bad. However, I've not called for the new timeframe. I just finished calling for early May. I would plan to book the most important ADRs first, like the shows, charater dining, and must haves. I would plan to back fill the lesser popular places later on either another call or in person. Lets hope the online opens before May, because that should be your window. We arrive on August 13 and my window is May 15th (I'll be in WDW and will have to call for my ADRs while there for August, which is strange). I personally would avoid calling first thing in the morning when the phones are jammed and the waits are longer. I think they are open until 10:00PM EST.

 

[Irish Goofy]

Thanks all for your advice.Maybe i am just over thinking it all too much and worrying when no need.I will keep good eye out for changes that i can make ADR's on line.Will this be available to us on this side of the world? Also with regard to travel agent they told me you will have no problems with getting ressies just sort it with Hotel when you get there...shows you what they know,if no money in it for them they don't want to know or care.I see from many posts that Free Dining is not available in USA so far.Over here we have been offered it with package hols since Sept 2008.Free Quick Service DP with Moderates and Full DP with Deluxe hotels.They upgraded the first 50 people to book moderates to Full DP of which i was one.Was thinking of some of the following for my ADR's....

CRT for Lunch.
California Grill for Dinner
Chef Mickey's For Brekkie
Rose and Crown For Dinner
Teppan Edo for Dinner
Narcoossee's For Dinner
Crystal Palace for Brekkie

OMG 16 days of Free Dining is a hell of a lot of ADR's to make...I'm starting to paniac again.I have only 7 above and still have 6 to go.

 

[rewok]

To save on long distance fees, I'd strongly suggest using the SkypeOut service on your computer with a headset (if you have a high speed Internet connection). You have to buy some minimum credits at first (it's 10$US here), which are used when you call to a "real" phone: rate is 0.024$US a minute if calling USA from anywhere! I use it for all my long distance, it's so cheap. My cousin is calling here from Italy all the time.

Even if you end up not using the whole 10$ (or even 10 pounds), it would be a lot cheaper than regular overseas long distance, and you could use the remainder for other calls in the UK.

 

[gottalluvmickey]

ADR's are crucial during free dining. We've been before and the restaurants are packed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can make our own ADR's on the web site soon. Good Luck! I'll be struggling to get mine for the end of August...it will be worth it

 

[KSG'sDisneyMem]

Irish Goofy, you have 7 choices there, with 10 TS credits due to the 3 choices that will use 2TS per meal. So 6 more will be easy to come up with as there are so many wonderful places to try at Disney World. Have fun planning and congrats on being one of the first 50 to be upgraded from quick service to basic service. Good luck and enjoy your trip.