How do I go about devising an ADR plan?

[tessa]

Help! I don't even know where to begin! We are going in Aug and will be taking our 2 year old (just DH and I). I know that one night we plan on getting a sitter and going out just the two of us, and want to go to California Grill. Other than that, I'm just lost as to where to begin "planning" our ADRs

We are staying at WL, and will probably just do Bfast in room as we are light Bfast eaters. I know the best way to take advantage of the DDP is to make as many ADRs as possible, esp with this time of year and FD.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to start our general plan (as far as what to do on what day, where to eat, etc.). We are typically "fly by the seat of our pants" kind of folks.

TIA!

 

[Markstudy]

I put together a list of the top 10 most interesting restaurants at Disney World. (stuff I don't see at home, like- House of Blues, T-Rex, Mexico, Coral Reef, Cape May breakfast, CRT, Poly, Boma )

Most people on the DisBoard all make ADR's at the same 15 most popular restaurants, if you look at other threads where people list their ADR's. (so prime-time 5:00-8:00 fills up real fast, and months in advance)

Once I have my top 10.... I cut it down to the best 5 that work with the park or resort that I will be near during those days....very important to cut down travel time.

You can't fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants anymore at Disney...when it comes to ADR's .... too many people book 180 days out (and if you don't, you're left with leftovers)

Its gotten to the point where I pick my restaurants first and then pick my park-days based on the restaurants I will be at.

To get the most out of your Disney World trip... you have to look at what is really there.....To see it all, most people spend 35% of their time on rides, 25% at the resorts, and 30% on food (the last 10% is travel between parks and resorts)

To get the best choice of options, people book their resort 12 months ahead, and to get the best food experiences and locations many now book 180 days out. Picking your rides and park days... seems to be the first thing you want to do while planning... but now it has become the last thing we plan since the only reservations you can get on rides are FastPasses which are only a tool for the "day-of" and thus the least important when it comes to long-term advanced planning.

Its gets more advanced when you factor-in EXTRA MAGIC HOURS, water-parks, seasonal park hours, firework times, and leaving enough travel time to get to shows after diner.... don't even ask me about schedule changes because of rain-days LOL

 

[canadianmom2three]

I'm not quite as exact as above poster....I planned all our ADR's in about a 15 minute span, but I had been thinking and talking with the kids before hand about what we all wanted.

I just looked first at EMH's for the parks cause we LOVE EMH's, so that dictated which parks we were going to for the days, and since we have no hoppers, we are eating at those parks, or at a resort.
Ds has a birthday, so planned that first, cause we wanted to try hoop de doo (and thankfully it was available his birthday day!!)
Then I tried to fit in as many character meals as possible cause my kids love them, and was lucky again (CP in MK, LT in MK, Tusker house in AK, and OHana on our one Epcot day)
Then looked at what else might be interesting and neat, we had wanted to try coral reef last year and couldn't get it, so tried for that, and also wanted to go back to sci-fi, so tried for that too.....
I am really flexible, we are hitting MK and Epcot twice each, so I was flexible about what restaurant on what day, and as far as the rest, I don't really care about times, I took what they had, and got everything I wanted (except for Chef Mickey, but took LT instead). I was after my 180 days, but not as late as last year, last year I booked our ADR's at about 30 days out, and still got tons of great options, we got CRT for goodness sake, so I think sometimes the 180 days out is a bit over hyped, or for people who have a real set plan in mind.
I find picking my park days first really narrows down my food choices and makes it more managable. I also try to do a mix of breakfasts, late lunches and dinners....but that's just me. Good luck!!!!!

 

[Rylee]

Help! I don't even know where to begin! We are going in Aug and will be taking our 2 year old (just DH and I). I know that one night we plan on getting a sitter and going out just the two of us, and want to go to California Grill. Other than that, I'm just lost as to where to begin "planning" our ADRs

We are staying at WL, and will probably just do Bfast in room as we are light Bfast eaters. I know the best way to take advantage of the DDP is to make as many ADRs as possible, esp with this time of year and FD.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to start our general plan (as far as what to do on what day, where to eat, etc.). We are typically "fly by the seat of our pants" kind of folks.

TIA!

• Do you have the basic or deluxe plan?

If you have the basic plan... most people schedule 1 Table Service meal per day. Think of it as one appointment each day. Don't want an appointment everyday... book 1 or 2 signature meals (uses 2 credits per person).

• Will you have hoppers?

If so, you'll have a little more freedom with your dining options. If not, schedule your meal, in or near, the park you will be visiting each day.

• Read menu at the allears site.
• Check park and EMH's on the calendar at the WDW site.
• Decide which park you will likely visit each day. (Aren't sure... book a resort or DTD restaurant.)
• Using Disney transportation... consider traveling convenience (how many transfers... buses, boats, etc.,) and the length of time needed.
• Before you call... have a "second choice" in mind for each day.
• Keep in mind... your child's schedule/routine... naps, cranky hour, etc.
• Do not schedule meals close to the times of any special events, parades, or evening shows you plan on seeing.
• Put the Disney Dining phone number in your cell, in case you want/need to cancel any ADr's.

Tips -

• Dining at resort restaurants is a great way to check out other resorts.
• On MK days, any of the monorail resort restaurants are easy to get to.
• The beach club and boardwalk restaurants are just a beautiful boat ride from Hollywood Studios.
• Since AK usually closes earlier than the other parks, AK day is a good day to book at a DTD restaurant.
• Want to get into the park before it opens... (offers some great picture-taking moments) book one of the earliest seatings.
• Lunch is cheaper than dinner and a good way to escape the afternoon heat and crowds.
• Character meals are a great way to get autographs and pictures without standing in line.
• Book California Grill at a time when you can view Wishes.

 

[christa112]

When we went in 2005 our 1st time we did almost all Character Dining because we had 3 kids ages 1, 4, & 6. We had never experienced a Character meal anywhere and knew my kids would love it. Also, this was before I knew Disboards existed. So basically I relied on WDW info on the website and looked into the places, I saw some thumbnail pictures, checked out the menus and determined where my kids would like to eat. I also had help CM for reservations as well.

I then figured out which parks we were going to on each day and started to plan our ADR's from there. I have been fortunate that we never really had any issues getting ADR's for places we wanted to eat.

I hope this helps.

Good Luck.

 

[JMADgrad]

You have gotten some great pointers....If you have picky eaters in your group or you don't feel like the guidebooks are giving you enough direction, check out the link to the restaurant menus. I thought I had all my ADRs done (cross-referenced with EMH, etc.), but when I actually had a look at some of the menus and read the reviews with photos on the threads, I ended up changing some! But enjoy the planning!

 

[hematite153]

You've gotten some great advice so far.

We can be a bit obsessive about our disney planning. So, when planning for our free dining trip in Sept. we started by each going through the list of available TS restaurants and giving them a score out of 5 (5 high, 1 low). We added them together and then discussed anything that had gotten a combined score of 6 or greater. That should get you down to around 20-30 choices. (You may need lots of backups if you are scheduling now for August.) Then, we'd take those choices and each rank them, combine the rankings, then do some discussion and rearranging. Yes, it's obsessive!!!

One piece of advice that I'd add to what I've read so far, is to think carefully about what time you'd like to eat.

We traveled last year with friends who had a 16 month-old. When we talked about booking dinners they said that they wanted ADRs in the 6-6:30 range. I ended up booking in the 5-6 range thinking that they were underestimating the time involved in eating, paying, returning to the resort, etc. We found that even these earlier times were problematic and their daughter was very unhappy through the meals. On the last night they managed to change the ADR to 4pm and everyone was happier. They suggested that we encourage parents of young children to schedule earlier meals than they would at home so that their bath and storytime schedule doesn't get disrupted.

 

[Nancyg56]

I also agree that you have great advice here. I am a little different in my planning. I do have a list of restaurants that we want to visit. Then I use touring plans to decide what days I am going to be in which parks. That's when I plug in my restaurants and decide the times I am looking for.

I try to be realistic about the time we will be in the park and if we want to be there for the fireworks, then I make sure that I allow enough time so that if we are delayed I still get to where we want to be.

I do not like to do to much traveling to make our ADR's, so I keep them close to the park or the resort.

We have had to make changes once we arrive in Disney, but that is okay too.