has anyone NOT made ADR's?

[sz9144]

we are going in july, and it is way too far for me to know when and where I will want to eat. we are also not really too concerned with dining "experiences." basically we eat out of physiological necessity, not aethestics etc.

we are doing the dining plan, since we plan to eat most meals in the parks. should I bother with ADR's, or just have my resort help with booking when we get there? I just worry about confining myself to a particular place and time, not knowing what will be happening at the time (I have 2 DS's who will be six at the time, so when and what they will eat is always a toss up)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Harvestmooner]

I would suggest ADR's, since July is a busy time of year!!! Have the kid's each pick out a meal-so they are excited about the meal and will look forward to it.
Have a good trip!!

 

[Disney Anna]

No ADRS! Heresy!

As one of the many, many OCD planners on this site - I can't imagine not making an ADR. Being married to a carefree guy and having an equally carefree sister, I u/s your position, but personally, I think it's just crazy to not have at least some ADRs - particularly in summer.

I find that I really need to take a break when I'm at WDW, particularly when it's warm. That way I can sit down, have a cool drink, rest my aching feet for awhile and refuel. It's truly a necessity. I think it's just nicer, more relaxing to do so in a sit down, air conditioned restaurant.

I have found that it's quicker and usually costs me just a few dollars more than sitting at a counter service place.

I've gone to WDW with my aunt and uncle who also hate to plan ahead and say they don't really care about eating as part of their trip. Inevitably, when we get to the parks they change their minds and want to have a sit down meal. And inevitably, we are shut out completely or have to wait a crazy long time to eat.

I would take the time to plan ahead-try to figure out what parks you will be visiting and make at least one ADR per day. If you don't use them, you don't use them. But it would be a nice thing to have.

 

[eliza61]

We loathe, hate and dispise ADR's probably because we are always so where else than where we are supposed to be so I always miss them and then forget to call. No matter how hard I plan. This past November I made 1 stinking ADR and missed that!
July is a tough time to go without because it's so darn packed. We were there during Jersey week and ate atleast 1 TS a day (alot of days we had 2) here are a few tips.

1) Eat off hours. donot try to walk up and get seated during 11:00-1:00 (lunch) or 4:00-6:00 (dinner). It just ain't gonna happen. We got seated at every place we tried after 7:00 pm.

2) Resort restaurants have a lot more availability than the parks. Don't be afraid to try them.

3)Call wdw dining in the morning when you wake up. The great cm's there will tell you what is available and really go out of their way to find you some thing. You must be flexible though.

4)Have a TS breakfast or lunch. The yacht club galley was pratically empty every day. We would have a big breakfast, skip lunch (or snack lightly) and then have an early dinner. The really cool thing about this around 6-7 pm when every one else was eating we got on rides. Also we usually stopped at a place to get a really great ice cream dessert. Warning: We spent way to much money on Sundaes and pasteries this way.

Search my username for my trip report "8 days no ADR's"

 

[Magic2000]

If you are going in July, I also would recommend that you at least make a few ADRs. Since you're on the dining plan, you may find that you won't be able to use your TS meals if the restaurants are booked - or just have late times available (don't know that your children would want to wait to eat at 8:45 pm or so).

What I usually do is try to make a general plan, and then make just one ADR each day. If something comes up, or we just feel like doing something different, no big deal. We just cancel our ADR. If we can get something else, fine - if not, we'll just eat CS. (we don't do the dining plan)

July is a busy time - you may luck out and get an ADR when you're there, but I wouldn't want to take the chance. When its hot outside, my kids really appreciate being able to sit in a restuarant, cool off, and re-charge a bit!

Have a great trip! We'll also be there in July!!!!!

 

[MisunderstoodLilo]

I don't make ADRs but I also don't expect to eat at a table service restaurant. I've only been successful w/ walk ups before the DDP was introduced...nothing since.

Since you're on the DDP, I'd make ADRs before you go.

 

[tar heel]

I'll tell you a secret. We were there Dec. 21-26, and I made our ADRs on Dec. 19. When we've gone in the summer, I've often made them in the car on the drive down. One caveat, though, is that we're generally not looking for character meals. The only restaurant I asked for that I didn't get was Boma. We were willing to eat early or late and were looking for lunches in a couple of instances. We ate at Tusker House, Whispering Canyon, 50s Prime Time and Raglan Road. I don't think I would bother with an ADR for the last one, however -- they were taking everyone who walked up with no regard to ADRs, which led to us getting in two hours and five minutes AFTER our ADR time, which meant we stood in line almost 30 minutes just to check in. It was Christmas Day, so we didn't feel like leaving was an option if we wanted a nice meal. The food was fine, but we probably won't eat there again because of their lack of interest.

 

[kblandino]

The last time we went in July - we walked into all the restaurants and were seated in less than 30 minutes, except at the drive-in theater restaurant in MGM. We ate at 1900 Park Fare at the GF and Liberty Restaurant in the MK.

 

[Pumbaa_]

If you are on the DDP I would make ADR's. July is a busy month and with the popularity of the DDP, I would make ADR's to make sure I could get a TS to use all my credits.

I have moved this to the DDP board for more responses.

Good luck planning!

 

[nderh2o]

we are going in july, and it is way too far for me to know when and where I will want to eat. we are also not really too concerned with dining "experiences." basically we eat out of physiological necessity, not aethestics etc.

we are doing the dining plan, since we plan to eat most meals in the parks. should I bother with ADR's, or just have my resort help with booking when we get there? I just worry about confining myself to a particular place and time, not knowing what will be happening at the time (I have 2 DS's who will be six at the time, so when and what they will eat is always a toss up)

Thanks in advance!

My advice to you is this...
You will be sadly disappointed if you do not make ADRs for a July trip if you plan on getting your money's worth out of the DDP. Chances of getting a table service restaurant ressie with a few days notice are virtually nil (except for the ones that people know aren't worth it). Go ahead and make the ressies and decide if you want to keep them at a later date - it's better to do this now and cancel a few days/weeks out if you don't believe you will have use verses trying to make a ressie at the last minute and being disappointed.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I agree with the PP. You can always cancel an ADR at a later date. At least, you will have something.

I try to make all our ADRs at the 180 day mark. We stay at the Epcot resorts. I will make some ressies for breakfast and/or dinner in Epcot and make the lunch ressie in which ever park we will be in for the day. A variation may be breakfast in AK and since it closes early...dinner in Epcot.etc.

I don't think it is difficult or cumbersome to make ADRs early. You may be thankful that you did. It is really a pain to want to dine in a particular restaurant and have your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices be impossible. The DDP is so popular, now ADRs are usually a must.

 

[DonnaL]

As someone who rarely makes ADR's I feel I must say "No it's not absolutely necessary to make ADR's". However.......that said, you will need to be prepared to have a TS meal most likely after 8:30/9:00 p.m. I don't know if I would chance that with younger children, unless your family routinely dines later in the evening. Also, take into consideration you are going to be there during a busy time of year. While I make very few ADR's.....we travel usually in January and early May......both very manageable crowd level times.... I will also say for our trip next week I did make 3 ADR's (Artist Point, Yachtsman Steakhouse, and Narcoosee's) less than two weeks ago and had no problem getting my choice of times (all in the 6:30 p.m. timeframe). The only reason I did make ADR's at all is because my DH and DS practically threatened me with bodily harm if we were not able to get in at AP and YS!!! We decided to use DDP for this trip in order to take advantage of some Signature Dining experiences so they really wanted to be sure we had our choice times, etc. Again, we do not travel during very busy times and I really don't think I would have gotten the ADR times I did during a very busy time on three weeks notice.

 

[Sarubo]

We eschew ADRs!!! but then again, we don't do DDP. Because you are doing DDP I would say that you might want to make some especially considering the time of year you'll be there. Afterall you want to make sure you get all your meals in, you are paying up front for it. DH and I consider ourselves "foodies", but the DDP just seems WAY too much food for us. I would never be able to eat a snack, a CS and a TS (even w/o appetizers) every day. Of course that's if I even want to pause to eat!!! LOL.

 

[HelenePA]

I hated making reservations SOOOO far off, but I did it, need to do it again. I know for a fact most of the places we had reservations at last year we wouldn't have been able to get into. That being said, we DID make 2 ARD's the day we ate, you must be VERY flexible with your times and places. Please dont expect to walk to to a place and say Hey I wanna eat here and I wanna eat here now and get a seat! I saw people try to do that many times while waiting for our table, they were turned away left and right. I would at least make a few reservations!

 

[mma800]

I also hate adr's, but I make all the ones I really want before we go. If I need to cancel, so be it. I try to stick with the resorts. We are never where we need to be when in the parks. The character meals I limit to 1 per trip if possible. I don't really understand the fine details to ddp, but I can see how you would lose money if you don't make those adr's.

 

[Cee]

We call "same day" and always get something great. We even got HDD and
La Nouba on the fly. Don't stress. Let it flow and let it go..........

 

[TLSnell1981]

We call "same day" and always get something great. We even got HDD and
La Nouba on the fly. Don't stress. Let it flow and let it go..........

 

[LSchrow]

as you are on the DDP: i say make the ADR's, better to try changing them than having nothing.
we've used the DDP in june, august, sept, & october. sadly, on every single trip we encountered a number of very upset guests with crying, hungry children, who felt that there was no need to make ADR's.
if you are willing to leave the park & commute to a resort for a late lunch or supper, or have CS instead of TS daily, not making ADRs is feasible. otherwise, i would highly recommend them. just try to get an idea which park you'll be in on any given day (consider if you'll be doing EMH, and which major park your resort is near, e.g., we eat at EPCOT a lot b/c we stay at the BWVs....or do we stay at BWVs b/c we eat at EPCOT... hmmmm lol). also, consider your normal dinner time at home & try to make the ADR within an hour either way).
just a recommendation: i think your boys would really enjoy coral reef (very difficult to get without an ADR). it's really fun watching sharks & other fish swim by as you eat
hth

 

[Texas lady]

I had and will continue to make reservations. On our last two trips in March and May of 2006, I can't believe how many people were either turned away or told their wait time was at least 2 hours. Case in point we always go to Tony's on our first night, we showed up 20 minutes before our reservation time and the waiting room <-- lack of a better term/ was PACKED, but we were called 10 minutes after we checked in, the looks we got!

In my opinion yes do make reservation for all table service restaurants, you can always call the dining line and cancel, just program the number in your cell phone.!!

 

[Sparkie]

I am also heading to the world July 2008 and would agree with most. Make some ADR's. Especially if you want character meals or some place special.

We were at Disney 7/07 and I made my ADR's well in advance, then adjusted them in April. We have also been to Disney 6/04 prior to DDP and I tried upon park entry to get a ressie to Sci-Fi and could not.

For our family (mom, dad, gm, and 3 teen girls)- ADR's and DDP have been a blessing. It puts a stop to the argument of where we are going to eat. I spent an hour walking around Epcot one HOT July afternoon trying to please 6 people with an unplanned lunch Whereas, other nights- we knew where we were going to eat, we knew about what time and we planned around this. There was no argument and everybody could find something on the menu to suit them.

Hope this helps.