How necessary are ADRs?

[CaliKT]

My husband, two sons (6 and 4), and I are going to the parks December 12-17 -- last minute decision! Neither of us have been to the parks since we were kids, so obviously a ton has changed. My friend is a CM, and she got us our room at a huge discount. She also was able to get us the dining plan at a discount, too ($28/day for the adults). I decided to sign up for it because I thought it would save us money on food at that price.

Looking at the Touring Plans crowd calendar, most of the crowds that week are going to be very low (lots of 1s and 2s, some 4s). I'm just trying to wrap my brain around how necessary ADRs are for us. We figured we'd mostly do buffets for our table service credits -- lots of choices for everyone and fast service. We're looking at them as a chance to get off our feet and relax for a bit.

I know, though, that with my kids -- when they're hungry, they're hungry NOW. It's hard to imagine planning our day around a restaurant reservation. For various buffets at a slow time of year, how necessary are ADRs? I am not interested in waiting in line for a long time at a restaurant, either, but I don't know what the walk-up reality is. Any advice?

Right now I'm thinking about having a light breakfast in our room, planning table services around 11 a.m. or so, and then do counter service dinners so that we can be flexible about going back to the resort midday and return to whichever park we feel like in the evening.

 

[Steph2527]

Nowadays, ADR's are necessary regardless of whether you are going to WDW at a busy time, or a "slow" time (there aren't many "slow" times anymore unfortunately ). I would suggest making ADR's now, for wherever you are able to get any at this point, you may have limited pickings.
Good luck, and i hope you and your family have a great trip!

 

[Uno Mas]

I will be in the minority here, but I never use ADRs unless it's really, really something that we don't want to miss. I tend to go at times when crowds are lower, but even when I've been in early August - I've had success as a walk up with a family of four in many of the Epcot area restaurants. (We are always in Epcot around dinner time - so I can't comment on other parks). We just eat when we are hungry - knowing that 6 PM is going to be a busy time, we tend to just snack most of the time and and then have our sit down meal at 3 or 4PM instead. Combining lunch/dinner usually works - but on the meal plan, that may not be feasible. I've had success at dinner time at Biergarten (germany buffet), Via Napoli in Italy (they actually told me they always have space for walk ins) and yes - even Le Cellier. It's all about timing and crowd levels. I hate having to plan my day around when and where we have to be to eat - the food just isn't the driver for me at Disney!

 

[catne]

if you're OK with eating at "off" times (like 11:30 AM for lunch or 4:30 or 5:00 for dinner) AND you are not trying to eat at popular places then you probably can get by with no ADRs.

However...the buffets are VERY popular, and many of them are character meals which makes those even more popular. You will not have much luck doing a walk-up at the character buffets unless you're willing to try for the very early or very late meal times. And even then you may get turned away or told the wait is 60-90 minutes.

We always go to WDW during slow times of the year...but have only ever seen walk-ups getting seated at character buffets at really early mealtimes (Chef Mickey at 7:00 AM for breakfast, or Crystal Palace at 4:00 PM for dinner)

At Epcot, there's usually walk-ups available at some of the World Showcase places during slow weeks...at Magic Kingdom, if there's no walk-ups in the park, you can hop the monorail and try restaurants at the monorail resorts: Kona CAfe (Polynesian), Grand Floridian CAfe (Grand Floridian) or The Wave (Contemporary)

 

[brea]

I have ADR's for all of our non QS meals but that's also because we know where we want to eat. We want to be sure to get into a few places so we made them but I also left some room for a few of them to change on a whim.

So to answer your question. No they're not necessary but without them you should plan to possibly be turned away from a place or two and know what's where so you can change on the fly.

 

[TDC Nala]

The reference to buffets makes me think you may want character meals. I hate to say you should be able to get into a character meal without a reservation. You do say that when the kids are hungry they are hungry NOW - that likely means you don't want to be waiting too long for a table.

As for the non-character buffets, maybe you can get in immediately, and maybe not. If you're not prepared to try at opening time, the odds of getting in quickly seem to go down.

if you're not concerned about characters, make some reservations for non-character buffets, and then there won't be a penalty if you have to skip them. Remember all restaurants that feature character meals now require a credit card guarantee, even at the meals which don't have characters (like 'Ohana dinner and Cape May dinner).

And don't be fooled by the slow time of year thing. The Touring Plans calendar will not tell you anything about how crowded the restaurants might be. I don't use ADRs either but I don't go to character meals. If you are at Epcot and looking for a TS with no reservation, usually you can get into Marrakesh, but you'd have to decide if that is what your family would want.

 

[goofy4tink]

The 'walk-up reality' for buffets is that you won't be able to. Not unless you are prepared to wait for an hour or so. The buffets are hugely popular...especially those with characters. So chances are not good that you'll be able to get into one.
Now, there are other places you may be able to get into. But, you are going to have to eat at odd times.
I understand that many people just can't imagine planning meals a month out, much less six months out. But, it is becoming neccesary to do so if you want to eat at the vast majority of places. But, since you're hoping to get lunch at table service spots, you may be able to get something walk-up when they first start serving lunch, or towards the end of the lunch time slots...closer to 3pm-ish.

 

[lovin'fl]

I'd try to make some ADRs if I were you. You can always change/cancel them when you get to Disney. If you do decide to wing it...doing the TS for lunch will be your best chance to walk up and get in. For dinner, here are some places to walk up to: Olivias (OKW), Turf Club (SSR), Bongos and Portabello (Downtown), ESPN (BW), Beaches and Cream (BCV), Captains Grill (Yacht Club)...not sure if they are all on DDP.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

The last few trips we have had (we purchased the regular dining plan for the trips) we were very lucky to get seated close to our times we had with ADR's and people were always turned away when they asked for any available tables. If I am going to WDW and plan on eating on property (table service) I would absolutely have ADR's. If you don't it could ruin your trip as you struggle to find a place to eat (especially w/ kids in tow)

 

[CaliKT]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I guess I was just in denial. I haven't been back to the parks since 2001, and since 1994 before that, and I had just had no idea what we were getting into with the dining.

I made reservations today for some table service places:
Flying Fish for a special night out with my husband and I (no kids)
Biergarten for dinner
Hollywood & Vine for brunch (kids love Disney Jr characters, though the reviews look awful)
Tucker House for brunch

I was not able to get into Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, or 'Ohana (I'm sure all of you are laughing at me for even thinking I might be able to!) I guess I'll just keep on stalking the reservation systems to see if any of those open up; otherwise, I have ADRs for all of my table service credits. (Since the kids will have extra table service credits, I also made a reservation for the Plaza and will pay OOP for our meals.)