How hard would ADRs in late October be to get?

[MelissaMonicaDrake]

We were planning a trip for Nov 6-11, but being a busy week as is, along with the high cost of flights that week has me reconsidering. I plugged in dates for the following week (Nov 13-18) for our family of 5 and there are only preferred rooms available that week costing us $400 more. SO, I am now looking at Oct 23-28. Happy with price of room and flights, however, will there be any ADRs left? We have a lot of the popular places picked out.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Since you're within the 180 day mark for making ADR's, you can already check for restaurant availability for those dates on the WDW website.

 

[MelissaMonicaDrake]

Since you're within the 180 day mark for making ADR's, you can already check for restaurant availability for those dates on the WDW website.

Even without having booked a resort yet?

 

[crazy4wdw]

Even without having booked a resort yet?

Yes, all of those dates are within the 180 day mark for making ADR's You don't need to have a confirmed WDW resort reservation to make ADR's once you're within the 180 day mark. A WDW reservation allows you to book ADR's at 180 days prior to your arrival and then up to 10 days after your arrival date (if your reservation is for 10 days). So you can now check any of those October dates on the WDW website and can also make those dining reservations without a confirmed resort reservation.

Edit: I assumed you were booking for October 2018?

 

[MelissaMonicaDrake]

Yes, all of those dates are within the 180 day mark for making ADR's You don't need to have a confirmed WDW resort reservation to make ADR's once you're within the 180 day mark. A WDW reservation allows you to book ADR's at 180 days prior to your arrival and then up to 10 days after your arrival date (if your reservation is for 10 days). So you can now check any of those October dates on the WDW website and can also make those dining reservations without a confirmed resort reservation.

Oh, wonderful, thank you! I didn't know that!

 

[MelissaMonicaDrake]

Yes, Oct 2018. Looks like all are available except CRT (this will be our 6yo DD's first, and most likely only trip...REALLY wanted that reservation!) and BOG (not entirely upset about this one, figured that would be one we may not get no matter when we book). Will have to sit on this!

 

[Hopefully]

Yes, Oct 2018. Looks like all are available except CRT (this will be our 6yo DD's first, and most likely only trip...REALLY wanted that reservation!) and BOG (not entirely upset about this one, figured that would be one we may not get no matter when we book). Will have to sit on this!

I wouldn’t sit on it for long. Folks are continuing to book

 

[MelissaMonicaDrake]

I wouldn’t sit on it for long. Folks are continuing to book

I'm going to sit down tonight and hash out my options with my husband, then hopefully book in the morning. Do people ever have luck getting CRT after the 180 mark?

 

[crazy4wdw]

I'm going to sit down tonight and hash out my options with my husband, then hopefully book in the morning. Do people ever have luck getting CRT after the 180 mark?

Yes, both CRT & BOG. You have to be persistent and check the website multiple times per day.

 

[gharter]

I would expect it to be very busy. That should be the week that New Jersey is out of school for part of the week, so parents take the kids out for the week and show up at WDW. We've hit it twice without knowing and it was crowded. After that, I looked at their school schedule to avoid their week.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Also meant to add that a good time to check is around 30 days prior to your arrival date. People with WDW packages have to pay the balance of the reservation at 30 days prior and often many people will cancel.

Another good time to check is 5 to 6 days prior to your arrival date as room only reservations need to be cancelled in that time frame in order to receive a refund of the deposit.

 

[kylenne]

Touring Plans has a reservation finder on their site. I’m not sure if you need to have a TP subscription to use it, but you can set up searches for a restaurant/date/time/party size and they notify you when something is available. I was able to find BOG dinner on my own on my 180+10 day but it was less than ideal for the day we wanted, so I set up a search to find a better ADR. The reservation finder found me an ideal time on our arrival night and texted me the link to book it. You do have to be quick and jump on them ASAP when you get the alert, which is why I prefer the text over email. But it’s a godsend and I highly recommend it for those really hard to get ADRs.

 

[MelissaMonicaDrake]

I would expect it to be very busy. That should be the week that New Jersey is out of school for part of the week, so parents take the kids out for the week and show up at WDW. We've hit it twice without knowing and it was crowded. After that, I looked at their school schedule to avoid their week.

Our original time (Nov 6-11) is Jersey week, I believe, which is why we are wanting to change it to the following week in November OR late October. Not only to get (hopefully) lower crowds, but to save on airline tickers as well because I've been watching ticket prices and that week (Nov 6-11) is awful.

 

[MelissaMonicaDrake]

Touring Plans has a reservation finder on their site. I’m not sure if you need to have a TP subscription to use it, but you can set up searches for a restaurant/date/time/party size and they notify you when something is available. I was able to find BOG dinner on my own on my 180+10 day but it was less than ideal for the day we wanted, so I set up a search to find a better ADR. The reservation finder found ome an ideal time on our arrival night and texted me the link to book it. You do have to be quick and jump on them ASAP when you get the alert, which is why I prefer the text over email. But it’s a godsend and I highly recommend it for those really hard to get ADRs.

I'll have to look into that, thank you! I think Oct would really be ideal for us, but I really want that CRT reservation!

 

[kylenne]

I'll have to look into that, thank you! I think Oct would really be ideal for us, but I really want that CRT reservation!

Just a heads up, I think availability for CRT is looking even more limited right now for October because of the party nights. Sometimes it takes a while for dinner ADRs to show up in the system. It’s not uncommon during party season from what I hear.

 

[MelissaMonicaDrake]

Just a heads up, I think availability for CRT is looking even more limited right now for October because of the party nights. Sometimes it takes a while for dinner ADRs to show up in the system. It’s not uncommon during party season from what I hear.

So some dinner reservations for party nights may open up later? I saw some days that only have breakfast and lunch as being searchable.

 

[kylenne]

So some dinner reservations for party nights may open up later? I saw some days that only have breakfast and lunch as being searchable.

Yep, exactly. Our trip is 10/20-10/27 and we were able to get a 4p dinner at CRT on a non party night. Since that’s what we were after, I didn’t search after that. But people have reported that same issue with the option not in the search box. Those times should get released at some point, just keep trying. I definitely would recommend reservation finder because those dinner time slots on party nights where you can go without a ticket are limited and people will likely snatch them up even faster than normal.

 

[jcarwash]

I'll have to look into that, thank you! I think Oct would really be ideal for us, but I really want that CRT reservation!

You don't need a subscription for the Touring Plans ADR finder; just a login name. I highly recommend it as it works very well to get those hard to find reservations.

 

[MelissaMonicaDrake]

Yep, exactly. Our trip is 10/20-10/27 and we were able to get a 4p dinner at CRT on a non party night. Since that’s what we were after, I didn’t search after that. But people have reported that same issue with the option not in the search box. Those times should get released at some point, just keep trying. I definitely would recommend reservation finder because those dinner time slots on party nights where you can go without a ticket are limited and people will likely snatch them up even faster than normal.

You don't need a subscription for the Touring Plans ADR finder; just a login name. I highly recommend it as it works very well to get those hard to find reservations.

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