how to decide ADR's when calendar isn't out yet?

[danicaca]

Hello all! We are planning a trip for May28-June 7th, 2013, and I just realized the June hours calendar will not be out when I need to make my ADR's - at least I think I have that right! According to this site, the hours will be released in November for May, and December for June - right? My 180 days date is November 29th. I really want to plan which days I will be in each park before finalizing which ADR's I want - see my problem? Has anyone ever had this happen, and what did you do? I guess I have never spanned two different months on a trip before! Thanks so much!

 

[Loreli]

Hello all! We are planning a trip for May28-June 7th, 2013, and I just realized the June hours calendar will not be out when I need to make my ADR's - at least I think I have that right! According to this site, the hours will be released in November for May, and December for June - right? My 180 days date is November 29th. I really want to plan which days I will be in each park before finalizing which ADR's I want - see my problem? Has anyone ever had this happen, and what did you do? I guess I have never spanned two different months on a trip before! Thanks so much!

I
I am hoping someone with a great answer posts in reply. I am planning a trip in August and have the same concerns. We are not getting park hoppers, so magic hrs & ADRs must match.

 

[danicaca]

One of my friends said to use touringplans.com for their crowd calendar, they base the new ones on the old ones, and she said they are fairly accurate. However, I really don't want to base my ADR's on a prediction! I want to know what the actual hours are going to be! Hopefully someone else can chime in and calm me down!

 

[Loreli]

While searching around the boards I came upon this post, which says to be leery of planning on last years's dates. Sorry I don't yet qualify to post a link, but you can cut and paste this into your browser to find it.

disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2079813

 

[Cafeen]

This should help:
http://www.easywdw.com/uncategorized/figuring-out-disney-world-theme-park-hours/

Basically, the best (and typically earliest) source for WDW hours is the Travel Agents' calendars that Josh links there. These have been around for years and they trend as the ones that are updated the earliest and are the most accurate down to about a few weeks out from the dates.

Of course, hours (and even EMHs) do change, and sometimes without much notice, but the calendars linked there should help get you started. (And usually, if the hours themselves change, it's increasing rather than decreasing, and only rarely have I seen the EMHs actually change, but it's a disclaimer in case they do )

 

[danicaca]

I just saw the post on easyWDW about the April hours, so I am guessing May will be out sooner rather that later, as will the June hours, giving us plenty of time to figure it all out! Thanks so much!

 

[WSLover]

I used the Travel Agent's calendar to start planning. But I would keep checking that calendar and the official Disney calendar after you make your ADRs because things do change. I made a Sat night res for 8 pm for 9 pm Illuminations at Rose & Crown Pub. After making the ADR a few weeks later noticed that Illuminations time changed to 10 pm because Epcot stays open later during Food & Wine on Fri and Sat.

 

[purple figment]

We use the Travel Agents' calendar because it is the first to come out - probably around the 15th - 20th of Nov so plenty of time to make plans for the start of June. For example, the Mar 2013 calendar was released on Aug 16 so I had plenty of time to figure out my plans for an early March trip. It's also been very accurate since it is what the TAs base their clients' plans on. Here's a link to the Apr 2013 calendar. Just change the "apr" to "may" or "jun" when the time comes.

http://media.disneywebcontent.com/s.../pdf/parkhours/wdw_operating_calendar_apr.pdf