How do *YOU* decide on ADR's w/o Park hours released?

[lauralong81]

I've never been able to plan this far in advance, so the 180 day ADRs is a new thing to me.Just wondering on your personal opinions, strategies, etc. on deciding on what ADR's to make before park hours are released?

I personally use the TourGuideMike strategy for park planning, which basically comes down to not going to whichever park on an EMH day and a few other things. I also do not ever do park-hoppers (I don't find value in the added expense). So in order to make ADRs, I really need to know which park I will be going to on which day. It looks like right now, the park hours are being released by Disney about 170 days out?

So, wondering what the majority of you do? D most of you just make your ADR's at 180 days out and let that make your decisions for you? Or do you make multiple ADR's? (not something I would do) Or do you use some other method? I'm a super-hyper-OCD-planner (obviously...), so I want to get it hammerred out now.... just wondering how all y'all do it!

 

[Cafeen]

I cheat.

I plan my trips for the end of the month with very little overlap (if any, for example this year and last my last morning was 10/01) into the next one. This gives plenty of time for both the TA calendar (what I use to start) and then the official calendar (when I start tweaking) to have been released for some time .

Usually, you can count on the TA calender being released about 6 months and 2 weeks ahead of time. The "official" calendars have tended to be slacking a bit and typically show up sometime during that first week.

 

[lauralong81]

I cheat.

I plan my trips for the end of the month with very little overlap (if any, for example this year and last my last morning was 10/01) into the next one. This gives plenty of time for both the TA calendar (what I use to start) and then the official calendar (when I start tweaking) to have been released for some time .

Usually, you can count on the TA calender being released about 6 months and 2 weeks ahead of time. The "official" calendars have tended to be slacking a bit and typically show up sometime during that first week.

wow, I had no idea! And THIS is why I asked!! Thanks so much

So, if I plan for end of April, my 180 day mark should be Oct 31... but according to what you say, the official calendar from Disney should be out in the first two weeks of October?

I also seem to recall reading somewhere that I also get +10 days for DDP and staying on site, is that right?

Thanks again!!!

 

[Cafeen]

wow, I had no idea! And THIS is why I asked!! Thanks so much

So, if I plan for end of April, my 180 day mark should be Oct 31... but according to what you say, the official calendar from Disney should be out in the first two weeks of October?

I also seem to recall reading somewhere that I also get +10 days for DDP and staying on site, is that right?

Thanks again!!!

The answer to your first question is yes. The calendar should most definitely be out by then.

For some additional information, there are 2 calendars that come out. One is the Travel Agent's calendar ("TA") and the other is the official. The TA calendar often comes out about 2 weeks before the official, while the official comes usually within the first week of that 6 month out mark. The TA calendar has seemed to very closely resemble (if not match exactly) the official one that is released for the same month. The TA calendar links can be found... somewhere (I don't have them on hand ). Often-times the TA calendar has some items on it (Shows, EMHs, etc) that the first official calendar does not have, later on, both calendars often get tweaked with the official one receiving the first updates. I think you can find the links, and the explanations somewhere in the Strategies forum.

For your second question, it gets a little tricky, but I'll explain it the best I can.

For confirmed Disney Resort guests, you may book up to 10 days worth of dining up to 180 days out from your date of check-in. This is what we here at the DIS mean by "180+10".

For non Disney Resort guests, you may book dining up to 180 days from your date of dining.

 

[bellamama]

We've used TGM for our last four WDW trips, and we make our ADR based on his recommendations for which parks we should visit for each of our days there. He had never steered us wrong.

Having experienced WDW on a "fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants" approach, I can tell you we're much more relaxed knowing where we'll be eating each day. Have seen times (at San Angel Inn) where people have walked up asking for reservations and were told no tables would be available for the rest of the night.

BTW, TGM is worth every penny!

 

[DisneyGuess]

I use touringplans.com & the TA calendar to plan my park days & my ADRs.
Doesn't mean I don't tweak them tons of times before we actually go though, lol. But I do use both of those to decide which parks we'll be in & make our dining plans around that.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I take my best guess based on previous year's hours. I usually end up changing a bunch of stuff anyway, and I park hop too, so worst case scenario is I'd go to the park just to eat, but that would only be if I couldn't change it to a different day of my trip, which booking so far in advance in unlikely unless it's something like CRT or Le Cellier.