How much trouble am I in re: no ADRs yet for March?

[golden]

Prepare me please. Please tell me we won't be eating breakfast at 10am or dinner at 4 or lunch at 3 every day because I have yet to make an ADR for our trip in March. I just booked the trip the week before Christmas so I'm really not that bad....but still. I'm scared. I can't get my head around the fact that I need to know now which we will be in on what day to decide which restaurant would make sense. Between park crowd projections to decide which park to go to which day, last minute changes for weather, etc, I am overwhelmed as to where to start for 6-7 days in the parks!

As for the cinderella breakfast thingie, we have no interest there...What else should be first on the list to consider?

 

[UP Disney]

It depends on when your trip is in March. We are going the first week of March. I just booked our ADR's on Thursday of this week. We got everything we wanted within 15 minutes of our desired time slot. Our final week-end starts getting busier so if you are there later in the month, you will have a little more trouble.

We go this week every year and have done a lot of walk-ups. When doing walk-ups, the longest we had to wait was about 45 minutes. We just wandered the area and did some "sight" seeing until it was time for our meal.

 

[n2mm]

THere's always hope that you'll be OK. Since Easter is March 23, as long as your are not there the week before and week after, you should find some places to eat. However, the more popular places most likely will not be available. I would call and try to reserve some places now.

 

[carol1231]

I just made our adr's yesterday, we are going the weekend of Easter thru the week after. No problems, we are a party of 6, and for the most part, got everything with in the time frame I requested. I didn't try to book any of the most popular such as LeCell or CRT. But I don't think I'd wait too much longer.

 

[Aliceacc]

OK, you asked for ideas. Take this for what it's worth; I haven't been to WDW since 1990. But here's my rough draft for August:

Weds: arrive early . Plans still vague

Thurs: am: MK
pm: EPCOT, dinner @ Coral Reef

Fri: am: Epcot: Akerhaus princess breakfast
pm: MK

Sat: am: Hang out at pool
afternoon:MGM. Fantasmic dinner package @ Hollywood & Vine

Sun: am: Animal Kingdom
pm: early dinner @ Chef Mickeys, then MK

Mon: am: Disney Downtown
pm: Epcot: dinner @ Le Cellier

Tues: unsure; 7:30 pm flight so probably MK

We're staying at the Contemporary and have parkhoppers.

As you can see, I still have to finish (and check it with my husband.) But planning only one TS meal per day still gives me tons of options. I only made my airline reservations yesterday, so now I can figure out what to do with that last reservation.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[dck12ga]

UP Disney, where abouts in da UP eh?? I bet you have never herd that one! I am origonally from Gladstone! We are going the first week in March also. We are staying at Shades of Green. This is the first time for us in March how are the crowds, any tips?? We usually go the first part of Feb. and we like the crowds then, but the last time we went we were wearing 2 sweatshirts, mittens and covered with a blanket to watch the parade at night!! We can't complain, it was better than being in Michigan!!

 

[katiesmom2]

Like the PP said, it depends on when you are going in March, but I wouldn't put it off any longer. We are going in 3 weeks and I just called yesterday to make ADRs and although I got almost everything I wanted (with the exception of 1900 Park Fair for dinner ANY night that week) I did have to rearrange our calendar a few times to get the places we wanted.

I think typically the character meals fill up first. I was happy to get a Chef Mickey's breakfast and a Norway princess meal breakfast.

Maybe it would help if you do what we do - I make up a chart in Word and include each day we'll be there. We try to avoid parks on the weekend, so right away I can see which days will likely be park days vs pool/Downtown Disney, etc. Then I just start plugging parks in and putting down my restaurant ideas. I decide if I want lunch or dinner and if I am willing to switch if one isn't available. Then I just call DD and see what they have. Yesterday, I literally called 7 or 8 times because they didn't have certain things available on certain days and I had to rework the schedule. I think you'll feel better if you just start planning and get something booked. I feel much better today.

Good luck with your planning and enjoy your trip.

 

[zaja]

Definitely depends on when your going in March. We leave in less than 3 weeks and I just called about a week or two ago and got everything we wanted for the exact time we wanted. Includes some of the biggies, 1900 Park Fare, Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace , Ohana, Boma and many others. (No CRT or LeCellier though). This is sure a big change from what I was hearing about ADR's last year - you pretty much had to call at the 180 mark. I think the scaling down of the dining plan, raising the prices, and automatic gratuity on the DDE really made people think twice about Disney Dining.

 

[Stitchfans]

I made our ADRs for our upcoming March trip at the 180 day time. I was afraid of not getting what we wanted. Very happy with our selections. Now lets hope all goes well.

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm finding ADRs for my week this February much MUCH easier to get than the same week the past few years. Just yesterday, I had my pick of several good times for Chef M's dinner less than two months out. This isn't President's Week, but still---this time last year, Chef M's was booked tight as a drum.

I think the new "improved" DDP is much less popular, reducing pressure on the TS restaurants. I also think that was precisely Disney's intention, but that's another post for another time.

 

[Cee]

That's RIGHT. Never. We call on the same day and see what is available.
Here is a sample phone call to Disney Dining:

Me: Hello, we're staying at OKW in room 6227 and wondered if you had
anything available this evening for either Yachtsman Steakhouse,
or California Grille.

DD: We have a 7:10 p.m. for California Grille.

Me: We'll take it.

We also walked up to the Hostess stand at Boma and asked if they had
anything open and they said to come back at 4:30 and we did and got
a vibrating thing and it went off in about 15 minutes and we ate there.
We just enjoyed a cocktail at the bar while we waited and relaxed.

Don't stress. Let it all come to you.

 

[TNDisDad]

We will be there from the 14th through the 22nd and I just called today and we were able to get times we wanted for everything except Chef Mickey's. We are doing Boma's-Dinner, Crystal Palace - Breakfast, O'Hana's - Dinner, and LTT- Lunch. Good Luck!

 

[Luvin*Livvy]

I called on Friday for our ADR's for March 9 th -17th. We got EVERYTHING we wanted! ;o) The times are a little off from when we normally eat...but we got the restaurants!

 

[golden]

Yeah, I decided I couldn't deal with trying to come up with a down to the hour schedule for the entire trip in order to figure out where we would need ressies. And, we aren't doing the DDP just for that reason....so, the pressure it off! I made a Chef Mickey breakfast res and a date for tonga toast before we leave. We'll figure out the rest!

Thanks everyone!

 

[RllngRckBrw]

It is all a matter of where you want to eat. I made ADR last year a little over a month ahead of our trip in my and did have to sacrifice on Coral Reef, and 50s cafe (we had to do lunch at both) but got all of the other slots between 5 and 6. It is a matter of the popularity of the resturant.