Hrm. Will I Be In trouble if I don't get ADRs?

[cyn42]

I have my reservation for CRT for our October vacation. I will be making a few more as the time comes. But I was not planning on booking everything because I'm not sure where we're going to be.

DD (4) is hard to predict. DS (6) is very easy going, but the whole crowd thing can be overwhelming to DD, so I really wanted to play it by ear as much as possible. I didn't want to pre-book a bunch of meals, because I don't know where we'll be on any given day - we will probably need a day or 2 at the hotel pool to zone out.

Will I be in trouble? I was going to book a Fantasmic package, and Chef Mickey's dinner, but not much else. We'll be staying at the AKL...should I be thinking about booking Boma?

Thanks!

Cyn

 

[rgf207]

Well, there have been a number of these posts on the board. I understand where you are comming from. It's very hard to know where you are going to be. But with the introduction of the dining plan, TS restaurants fill up fast especially the popular ones. You dont have to have an ADR for every night but if you dont', be prepared to eat CS. There may be a chance you will not get into a restaurant you want. Oct is typically slower but last year the parks were not crowded but the restaurants were packed full.

Resort restaurants are usually easier to get "on the fly" ADR than theme park ones with the exception of Chef Mickey's and a few others. You may have a good chance walking up to some of those. My advice would be that If you are not sure, check with concierge desk at your resort when you are sure. Maybe they could help you better than going about it yourself

 

[formernyer]

Yes, you will be in trouble, and especially during October since the free dining is going on.

I'd venture to say that almost all of the resort restaurants would be turning you away too.

 

[Luvamouse]

Not going to hurt to make a few more ADRs, especially for days where you may already have things planned for a certain park, etc. Worst case is you cancel, but you may be very happy to have the ADRs when you arrive.

 

[cyn42]

OK. I'll try and plan out a few more.

Do all ADRs require a CC to secure? Could I make more than one and cancel as the date gets closer and it looks like we won't make it (ie, we see on Tuesday that DD is *really* going to need a rest day Wednesday)?

I just thought since is was So Easy to get my CRT reservation (was supposed to be my dry run - didn't call until 7:15 and got an 8:10 seating, while chatting with the agent) that maybe our trip date (Sept. 29th - Oct 8) was really slow.

 

[maggiew]

Are you doing the dining plan? If I were doing the dining plan, I would make sure that I had as many ADRs as Table Service credits we had. I would not want to NOT get my money's worth out of the plan because we couldn't get a table service meal or because the meal was too far away for us to feel like going there or some place that we weren't interested in. And I am not talking getting my money's worth by getting the most expensive meals, etc. I mean not getting table service meals at all.

If you aren't on the plan and you don't mind eating counter service if it comes to that, then I would try to play it by ear. I have heard that while many people are being turned away at table service locations as walk ups, if you call the day before or that morning, you may have more success.

Maggie

 

[Enna]

Your trip date is at the tail end of the free dining, so I'd still expect TS to be busy.

We were at MK in November last year and couldn't get a TS spot ANYWHERE.

MOST ADRs don't require a CC to secure them, and the ones that do will require the CC info now.

I think people are being lulled into thinking "that was easy" because CRT isn't filling up the way it used to. We're 110 days out and I could still have my choice of breakfast times at CRT.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We went during free dining last year, and I didn't have trouble getting ADRs, but at each meal we went to, people without ADRs were being turned away.

 

[Karnak]

How did you get a reservation for CRT in April for a vacaton in October when the Disney site says you may only make meal reservations 180 days in advance?

Just wondering.

Thanks.

 

[3mickeys&me]

I wouldn't take the chance especially if you want a place like Boma. I always make my ADR. I'd rather be safe than sorry. I too have seen people turned away and the people being really mad about it. To me if I have my ADR I don't sweat it.

 

[maggiew]

How did you get a reservation for CRT in April for a vacaton in October when the Disney site says you may only make meal reservations 180 days in advance?

Just wondering.

Thanks.

I just used the PS Calculator and for an Oct. 1 reservation, you could make it on April 4.

Maggie

 

[cyn42]

As soon as we started talking about this trip, I went to PS Calculator and figured out when I could start calling for CRT, and programmed it into my BlackBerry with multiple alarms. There was no way I was going to miss out on it