Happy with the 180 day booking window

[aubriee]

I've never understood why people have a problem with the 180 day booking window for ADRs. Monday was my 180 mark for my Oct 27th-Nov 4th trip. As of 0730CT, I had ADRs made for my May 5th-12th, Sept 1st-8th, and Oct 27th-Nov 4th trips. I always make ADRs at 180 days out and then frequently change them on the fly when I'm down there.

For the May trip I'm eating at: Rose & Crown, Via Napoli, Bistro de Paris, Kona, Ohana, Yak & Yeti, Il Mulino, Plaza, Shulas, Bongos, Blue Zoo, and Fulton's.

For the Sept trip I'm eating at: Rose & Crown (twice), 50's Prime Time, Yak & Yeti, Portobellos, Tony's, Boma, Captain's Grill, Paradiso 37, Kouzzina, Tokyo Dining, Turf Club, Rainforest Cafe, and will walk into Kimonos.

For the Oct/Nov trip I'm eating at Biergarten, Cape May, Ohana, 50's Prime Time, Garden Grove, Big River Grill, Yak & Yeti, House of Blues, Whispering Canyon, Bongos, and Rainforest Cafe, plus four counter service and snacking around the F&W Festival.

I got everything I wanted (except I have to call back for the lunch at WCC because as of this morning it's still not downloaded into the system for Nov) and I'm happy with everything I have. The only two I can not change on the fly would be Ohana and Cape May during the Oct/Nov trip. Even though I really prefer Signature restaurants, I purposely tried to make ADRs at restaurants that don't require that cc guarantee. My husband insisted on Cape May and Ohana for the Oct/Nov trip or I would not have made those two.

I just don't see what the big deal is about making ADRs 180 days out. I am not fond of very many CS restaurants down there, so normally skip breakfast, eat an early TS lunch then a later TS dinner. As an AP holder I go to WDW several times a year and never have a problem making ADRs at 180 days and getting what I want.

 

[kelleigh1]

180 days works for us too. I love having plenty of time to plan and re-plan if necessary.

Btw...see you there! We almost the same dates. We're heading home on Nov. 3. We're staying at Yacht Club. (This trip is a splurge for us. Normally Deluxe is not in the budget.)

 

[mcd2745]

I'm not a fan of 180 days at all. It just seems so unnecessarily excessive. For example, we like to eat dinner at 'Ohana on our MK day. So know we have to decide 180 days out that...say...day 5 of our 8-day trip will be our MK/'Ohana day. Now, let's say six weeks later WDW changes something on their schedule (we all know this is a regualr occurance). Let's say they are not going to have a nighttime parade for that day we chose as our MK day. As a result, ideally, we would now like day 3 to be our MK day. However, barring a near-miracle, we're not getting an ADR at 'Ohana for that day. So we'd have to choose between not going to 'Ohana or missing out on the parade, or wasting a lot more time travelling to 'Ohana from a different park. These types of scenarios (and countless others) would be greatly reduced, if not eliminated entirely, if the booking window were much shorter. My preference has always been 45 days for on-site guests and 30 days for off-site.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

I've found that 180 works very well for us. Aside from feeling a little bit of a let down after my ADR bookings for the first couple of weeks (i.e. the anticipation leading up to booking day), it's fine. Somewhere about 2-2.5 months out from trip time I usually start getting wild ideas to add or change or a few things, but I think it's just so I can have fun stalking the website Seriously- I really enjoy it!!! Also- while it's a lot of stalking-minus a Rose & Crown matter impacted by Candlelight Processional issues- I have always been able to get what I want with stalking the website. Sure, it's more work, but I have a feeling I'd second guess my adrs and just want to fine tune things a few weeks out from travel even if booking opened up 30-60 days in advance. So, I'd be messing around online stalking the site no matter what.

A pp noted that the calendar can change, but we've never had it change so drastically that we'd have to restructure our days. If anything, we've usualy found that parades/shows get added to the days we've already planned in the respective parks. i.e. we had one nt where we were only planning on MSEP and then Wishes was added about 3 weeks out. We've also had several times were a second showing of Fantasmic was added to the nt we were already planning for DHS. So, I guess the calendar changes have never had a negative impact on our planning. ....of course now that I say that...it will surely happen for this trip.

And yes - I am going nuts with only 18 days left until day 180. I just sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo LOVE booking dining. Fingers crossed we don't have any website issues. I like to stalk, but I also like day 180 to run smoothly.