How early should you sort out your ADR?

[Neoshoegal]

Which restaurants are the most important to sort out asap? I'm trying to sort out our shedule, but TourGuideMike hasn't got the least crowded parks up yet for our dates. We're getting pretty close to our 180 days mark, so I'd like to know which ones are essential to arrange without delay.

Thanks!

 

[Noreen411]

Hi

If you want to eat in the Castle at the Magic Kingdom, be sure to book it as soon as you are able to (180 days out). You need to pay in full at the time of making the reservation, but it's one of the most coveted reservations to get.

Le Cellier is also a popular restaurant so you may want to book that one too if it's one you plan on eating at. You do not need to pay in full or leave any deposit to book Le Cellier.

The majority of the restaurants do not require any kind of payment/deposit when you make your reservation. Just a few of them do (ex. Cinderella's Royal Table in the Castle at Magic Kindgom).

If you have a couple of restaurants you know you want to eat at, book them as soon as you can. If your plans change you can always call back and change your reservations.

Enjoy
Noreen

 

[SGMCO]

Whenever I make my ADR I start by trying for the most popular
and hardest to get Restaurants on my list and if you can be
flexable on times that helps.
I also try if I can to schedule the dining around the park we are
going to for the day or use our hopping passes.
Whenever we want to eat at a Restaurant at one of the
WDW Resort I usually choose breakfast or dinner and go to
the nearest park after we are finished. Example: O'hanas Breakfast then
go to MK or if we are at MK we can go to eat at Chef Mickeys (makes it
easy).
I will be trying to CRT for this coming trip so that will be the
1st one on my list and go from there (I will be trying for a Dinner
time Ressie and not a Breakfast which will make my chances better).
Before I even decide where we will be eating I like to look at all of the Menu
choices and information about the Restaurant (I don't go by Reviews because we have loved most of the Restaurants that everyone else disliked and
hated the ones everyone else likes--so I don't go by people opinions they
are not always accuarate.)

 

[raven69david]

Le Cellier, Boma, Corral Reef, Magic Kingdom character meals (includes Liberty Tree Tavern lunch), Chef Mickeys, Ohana's....others also but i'm getting writers block due to being at work and boss creeping around me.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Le Cellier, Boma, Corral Reef, Magic Kingdom character meals (includes Liberty Tree Tavern lunch), Chef Mickeys, Ohana's....others also but i'm getting writers block due to being at work and boss creeping around me.

LTT lunch is not a character meal. And I just made an ADR there for a lunch at a fairly prime time in 2 weeks. Of course, it's possible that I just got super lucky. Would dinner at Rose and Crown and at California Grill also be difficult to get as time gets closer?

 

[Allegro]

You could do like I did. I guessed. Made a whole bunch of ADRs and then shuffled them when I had more info. Now I'm going at a relatively quiet time so it was easy to shift ADRs that may be more challenging at other times but so far its worked well for us. I'm called Disney Dining A LOT though.

 

[raven69david]

LTT lunch is not a character meal.

Yes, i know it's not a lunch, the LTT dinner is. I was typing faster than i was thinking. What i meant to say was "in addition to" the Magic Kingdom character meals as the lunch gets sold out pretty quickly too due to its proximity to the parade route. We tried to get in on 4 separate occassions for lunch without ADR's and had no luck. I love the Pilgrims Feast lunch.

 

[dairyqueenmom]

Which restaurants are the most important to sort out asap? I'm trying to sort out our shedule, but TourGuideMike hasn't got the least crowded parks up yet for our dates. We're getting pretty close to our 180 days mark, so I'd like to know which ones are essential to arrange without delay.

Thanks!

The unofficial guide to Disney has their crowd calendar up, if you have the most recent copy of The Unofficial Guide to Disney it is free, or if not it is $7.95.

 

[ZoZo]

Le Cellier, definitely. It books up very early. To get the date and time you want, call early!

 

[dqpowell]

Which restaurants are the most important to sort out asap? I'm trying to sort out our shedule, but TourGuideMike hasn't got the least crowded parks up yet for our dates. We're getting pretty close to our 180 days mark, so I'd like to know which ones are essential to arrange without delay.

You probably won't see TGM's best days info prior to the 180 day window opening up, unless your trip begins mid-month. The best plan would probably be to go with the UG's crowd calendar OR their shortest wait times data in the crowd blog on their website. The latter is free, I believe, but is based on averages over a six month period and does not take into account special events which can change the recommendation on a particular date. The actual crowd calendar is available if you already own the book, or for $7.95 by subscription.

The very first restaurant you'll want to book is Le Cellier, as it is the toughest reservation to get. Second would be a character meal or a dinner show like HDDR. Third, Fantasmic dinner package (if you want it). Fourth, Teppan Edo. Fifth, Coral Reef. Sixth, one of the "ideal" fireworks viewing times for California Grill, though this is a tough one to nail down as Disney has a habit of changing the scheduled Wishes time on a whim well inside the 180 day window.

Good luck,
David

 

[amery]

CRT & LeCellier would top my list.

Close enough would be California Grill & Kona. I would also not exclude any of the dinner shows (Spirit of Aloha, HDDR, etc).