How do you plan your ADRs?

[proud_canadian]

OK, we are going for one week in September, and are only going to do one TS meal. We're thinking now we're pretty sure we're going to do crystal palace. However, I'm having trouble narrowing down what day to make the ADR for. How do you decide months in advance what days you will end up at what parks???

What about the touring guide suggested park of the day... do you take that into account?

 

[momof1princess]

i check the park hours (available on this site) and determine which park we'll be in on what day, then, i make dining reservations. crystal palace is awesome for lunch. their citrus-marinated flank steak is delicious!

 

[2Tiggies]

I agree about lunch. September is probably going to be pretty hot and it gives a well appreciated break from the heat. Otherwise, if you are up to a full day out from first thing in the morning a very early breakfast, prior to park opening on a non EMH day is a wonderful photo opportunity before it gets busy.

 

[B-Ride]

I would check the park hours as well and make sure you are not choosing a night when the park closes early which is likely for MNSSHP. I would also avoid a night with EMH in the evening as the park will be more crowded that night.

 

[proud_canadian]

Do you guys also take the touring guides suggested park of the day into account??

 

[peimikes]

We plan to avoid the EMH parks when we go, the crowds always seem worse on those days. We park hop if we have to for a ADR, it's easy enough. Check the menu ahead of time and see which meal most suits your tatse, they can vary quite a bit from lunch to diner. I don't like having a big meal myself for lunch when at the parks, it's not nice feeling too full at the hotest part of the day. We normally eat a QS lunch and save TS for B'fast or diner.

If your looking for a TS at WDW we liked Liberty Tavern much more that CP (one of the worst meals we had last trip Sept 09, we didn't book it for this year), or if your look for a Character dining try Garden Grill at Epcot, it's a fantastic diner and not as busy. You get alot more time with the Characters.

 

[MaleficentandGoons]

Here is what we do:
Plan your week. Pick days to go to specific parks. We tend to make our sit downs based on EMH because we can have longer meals and not worry about losing park time. I think EMH parks are great because you are allowed time to people watch and eat slowly. Get your fast passes before hand and then go relax. Lunch time is great for sitting down because by then you will want a good break to cool down and regroup.

We always plan specific days for certain parks. that way we can plan our meals accordingly and not have to worry about getting on the buses and getting there in time.

 

[Swimalie]

We had a half stay type of thing. We were there for 3 days and then my parents arrived and we had another 3 days. Sow e planned all meals based on us alone and them.

I didn't do any based on the park hours because they weren't out then. I just decided, had ark hoppers (which we ended up not using) and made the reservations.

By the way, getting in before the park opens for Crystal Palace was great. I highly recommend it. We did it on day 2 - our first day at Magic Kingdom and it was really special for our son's first time seeing the castle.

 

[Hopefully]

Yes I use the Touring Plans recommended days. I check the schedules and the recommended days. We plan which park on which day. Then we make our ADR's based on which park we are going to be in that day. In my opinion it is a huge, unnecessary waste of time to be hopping all over WDW for ADR's WDW is huge and traveling is time consuming. We choose a restaurant in, or near, the park we will be in that day.

 

[leebee]

I agree with Hopefully. Make a park plan based on guide recommendations, avoiding EMH, park hours, etc., and stick to it. Plan your ADR for that day, in that park. It just takes too long to go from a park to a resort to eat, and back to a park. Fortunately CP is in the MK, so you won't have that hassle. If you have MK narrowed down to one or two days, you could make ADR's for both and then cancel the one you won't need when you have finalized your plans, but that's often frowned upon and interpreted as taking a table away from someone who KNOWS they need it. NO FLAMES, just stating the obvious!

 

[MommyBoss]

I use Touring Plans as well. I don't always go to the recommended park, but always stay away from the one to avoid. I make a schedule for the week choosing a park for the morning, break in the afternoon, and a different park in the evening. Our kids are done by 9:00pm so EME hours are not for us. I'd rather have them up for RD than out late. Then I choose a meal based on where we will be.

 

[ancestry]

We decide which restaurants we want to eat at (we have our favorites that we always do and also usually like to try a few new ones) then we look at the park hours to determine which park we will be at each day. Of course restaurant availability comes into play as well and if trying to get reservations at places like Le Cellier or Ohanas sometimes flexibility is key.

Good Luck.

 

[proud_canadian]

Do the parks to avoid/recommended park change as the dates get closer?

I haven't purchased the subscription to touring plans, but, might consider it... however, if I base my ADR's based on what parks to avoid, etc, and then it changes in a few months, it wouldn't be worth it to me!

 

[ancestry]

Do the parks to avoid/recommended park change as the dates get closer?

I haven't purchased the subscription to touring plans, but, might consider it... however, if I base my ADR's based on what parks to avoid, etc, and then it changes in a few months, it wouldn't be worth it to me!

Honestly, I don't pay a lot of attention to the avoid/recommended parks. Generally speaking touring plans says to avoid the parks with EMH hours and also usually says to avoid HS on the nights of Fantasmic. I don't always agree with that rationale so therefore we do our own thing. However, we have park hoppers and have no problem switching to another park is the one we are in is way too crowded. Most of our ADRs are usually at resorts (with the exception of the Epcot restaurants) so our dinnertime ADRs don't usually affect our park touring plans (with a few exceptions).