Just want to vent about needing reservations for everything

[frdeb1999]

We tried the 1st year we went as a family to do the "just pick then thing". WOW was I sad by then end of the trip. I understand ADR thing and such. But if you make a last min trip....GOOD LUCK! You deffinately won't be eating anywhere you would love to! I think they should try to rethink how they do ressie's. Not sure how. But there should be some sort of buffer for AP, last min guests and such. Just my opinion....but not everyone out there is savy to how WDW operates!

 

[thunderbird1]

You know, I realize most people (at least most of you on this thread) don't like having to plan 6 months in advance, but for my family, it's much worse to have no plans. Spontaneity sounds great in theory, but the reality of it usually goes something like this:

Mom: Where do you want to go for dinner tonight?
Dad: I dunno. Where do you want to go?
M: I don't care. How about San Angel Inn?
D: Nah, I don't feel like Mexican.
M: How about Coral Reef?
D: Nah, I don't feel like seafood.
M: They have things other than seafood, like steak.
D: Nah, I don't feel like steak.
M: Then what do you feel like?
D: I dunno.
Kid: I want to go to the place with the ketchup!
M: WCC? That's over at the WL--it will take us an hour to get there--we're NOT going there.
K: Ketchup! KETCHUP! (Kid falls on ground, kicking and whining.)
Etc, etc.

Seriously, I think knowing when and where you're going to eat dinner each night is one of the advantages of having to make ADR's 6 months in advance. It's much like cruise ships--I love knowing we'll have dinner at a set time and place every night, and that we can avoid that inevitable discussion / negotiation / argument that plagues so many vacations.

 

[Tamar]

You don't need to make ADRs 6 months in advance. We just got back from 10 days in the World, and had NO ADRs until about mid-September. We couldn't get into O'Hana's (which I wanted to try, but oh, well), but we were able to book California Grill, Boma, Narcoosee's (ended up cancelling day-of) and Crystal Palace (also cancelled because it ended up not fitting into our plans). Halloween night we walked into the Garden Grill will no ressie, another night we ate at Beaches n' Cream, and a few nights we did counter service. One day we just ate our way around the F&W kiosks in World Showcase.

If we'd had DDP I would've felt compelled to ensure we had a ressie for TS every day, but that's one reason we don't do DDP. Our whole trip's food bill was just over 1/2 what DDP would've cost...and that includes drinks.

Tamar

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

You know, I realize most people (at least most of you on this thread) don't like having to plan 6 months in advance, but for my family, it's much worse to have no plans. Spontaneity sounds great in theory, but the reality of it usually goes something like this:

Mom: Where do you want to go for dinner tonight?
Dad: I dunno. Where do you want to go?
M: I don't care. How about San Angel Inn?
D: Nah, I don't feel like Mexican.
M: How about Coral Reef?
D: Nah, I don't feel like seafood.
M: They have things other than seafood, like steak.
D: Nah, I don't feel like steak.
M: Then what do you feel like?
D: I dunno.
Kid: I want to go to the place with the ketchup!
M: WCC? That's over at the WL--it will take us an hour to get there--we're NOT going there.
K: Ketchup! KETCHUP! (Kid falls on ground, kicking and whining.)
Etc, etc.

Seriously, I think knowing when and where you're going to eat dinner each night is one of the advantages of having to make ADR's 6 months in advance. It's much like cruise ships--I love knowing we'll have dinner at a set time and place every night, and that we can avoid that inevitable discussion / negotiation / argument that plagues so many vacations.

Have you been secretly listening to our conversations at home?

Forget vacation, we have that discussion most evenings at our house !! I finally decide what we will have, and somebody is unhappy (inevitably) with my decision. I sure don't want this dilemma when we go on vacation !!

 

[Macysmom32]

Thunderbird1 you are right on the $$$$. Spontaneity is great in theory, but when with a group or with kids (which is how we usually go to the World) planning is the key to success. However, I am a big believer in planning with the intent of being flexible, because otherwise I would harm the children (just kidding). Spontaneity, at least for us, is better left to a romantic beach trip.

Shelley

 

[ElizabethB]

We just came back from WDW. We were there for the F&W Festival and did several F&W dinners. Other than those meals, and our evening at V&A Chef's Table, we only booked dinner reservations about 2 weeks in advance. We had no problem getting signature restaurant bookings for 8:30 p.m. at Jiko, Citrico's, Artist Point and Yachtsman Steakhouse. We booked Brown Derby for lunch an hour before we arrived. We walked into Fulton's for lunch and dinner and Portabello Yacht Club for lunch. It is possible to eat on short notice, you just have to be flexible -- and be willing to spend the money or credits to go to the signature restaurants.

 

[eliza61]

OP,
We don't make many ADR's and we always get TS dinners, in fact we will be there in 3 days and I have exactly 1 ADR planned (my ds birthday). Our big secret. Flexibility... I've posted this before I think.

1) Don't eat at popular times. If you don't have to dine at 5:00-6:00 pm or11:00 am- 12 noon you can have great success walking up.

2) Try some of the resort restaurants, I find except for the really packed one's like OHana's and Boma we always get seated. The Yacht club gallery is Disney best kept secret. really good food and never a long wait. So is Olivia's.

3) SMILE I am amazed at how many guest come to the podium with an attitude and except the cm to go out of their way. I always smile & pour on the sugar. Isn't there an old saying about catching more flies with honey than vinger...

4) Call disney dining in the morning and see what's available. You'd be surprised at how many cancellations open up. Once again, be flexible. We will grab whatever is open that day. You'd be surprised how many wonderful restaurants we've tried that we would never have thought about.

Anyway we're headed down for Jersey week, I'll post my success day by day

 

[eliza61]

Wow, lucky us, we know where we want to eat well in advance.

I can't decide what I want for lunch today, trying to figure out where I want to eat 180 days from now would probably blow all my circuits.

 

[itchin2go]

It is what it is. You either adapt or you have less choices.

 

[wilda]

We travel to the world in Nov/early December so the crowds are more manageable. We don't use the DDP because we are not foodies. Not to highjack this thread but as another poster stated earlier...I wonder if the DDP encourages you to eat more?

While I love to plan my trip, I also enjoy the flexibility of being spontaneous. IMO ADR's throw a monkey wrench for those that want to wing it. If we're having a blast at MK I don't want to have to drag everyone away to make our 7:00 ADR's somewhere else.

The one exception is the Hoop-Dee-Doo. That's a special treat so we do "plan accordingly"

This year we're staying at BWI and will have access to great restaurants on the Boardwalk where I don't need ADR's. We deliberately settled on an EPCOT resort because of greater restaurant choices, easy access to them as well as EPCOT and DS.

 

[sandym718]

I read these boards and I amazed at the degree some people over plan their trips down to the exact meal location date and time.

To me, this is obviously NOT "OVER planning" - it's doing the planning necessary to have the kind of trip you want to have at DISNEY. As the PP said, It's adapting to the way Disney works - you want your choice of restaurants, then you plan in advance. If you CHOOSE not to, then you may have less options, maybe even very little available. It's all about choices - neither way is wrong or right, but you know the consequences of your choices. That said, I do feel bad for those who do not KNOW this - aren't aware of ADR's, etc. I can't imagine spending the $$ on a Disney trip, though, and not doing a ton of research, but that's the way I operate. I also think it is wrong to just not show up to an ADR or to double-book.

I've mentioned this before here, but I'll say it again. To me, the ADR/180 days thing is like buying concert tickets. You can choose to buy them on the day they are released and in many cases get your choice of seats. (Same as most Disney rests.) In a few cases, very popular concerts, even buying that day might not guarantee a ticket, or a good one. (This is like CRT maybe LeCellier). Or, you can choose to wait until a later date, even the day of the concert - then you take your chances on what sort of seat (in the Disney case, restaurant or time) you get or that it might be sold out entirely. Again, all about choices and understanding the "consequences" of those choices. It also applies to last-minute trips - yes, it stinks to not have much available, but same would apply if you decide to go to a concert weeks or months after tickets were released, there just might not be a lot available. It's not reasonable to expect Disney (or a concert venue) to hold reservations (or tickets) for those who ***might*** want them later or at the last minute. This is business - they want to maximize profit!!! If they can get a guaranteed sale booked 180 days in advance, why would they give that up and hope they could fill the table later? Doesn't make sense from a business stand-point. I do think a credit card guarantee makes sense though!! That gives them even more ability to maximize profit!

I will say, as I"m sure you can obviously guess, that I am a planner - in all aspects of my life. So, I'm sure it's easier for myself and other planners to adapt to the 180/ADR way of doing thing than it is for more go-with-the-flow types. My DH is that way and he thought it was nuts that I was making ADR's 180 days out, but I explained it to him, handled it myself and we had a wonderful trip! Unfortunately I think we all sometimes have to adapt our own personalities and work outside our "comfort zone" to get what we want in life. I know, as a planner, I had to work on going-with-the-flow once we got to Disney - with 2 young kids, you have to!! So I guess maybe the "go-with-the-flow" types need to adapt somewhat before the actual trip (or deal with limited choices) and "planners" need to adapt once there (or deal with disappointments, cranky kids, etc. etc!!)

 

[ChickieToo]

Well, I'm not a huge planner in all aspects of my life, and I like spontaneity as much as the next person, but as Disney gets larger and it's choices more varied, it will continue to be more complex in terms of planning your time to get to do the things you want to do. It's like puttiong together a huge puzzle. To my mind, that includes dining.

I agree with a lot of things people are saying ... I seldom know what I'm cooking for dinner before I start cooking it, and sometimes I don't feel like one thing or another. On the other hand, when we go out on Saturday night, we often do there "where do you want to go? I don't know where do you want to go?" dance, and that can be just as stressful. When I want a dinner out without DD8 I make a reservation sometimes weeks in advance, with or without friends, finding a sitter, etc. It all takes a little thought.

For Disney, I plan my meals based on the park hours for the week I'm there. I pick the places I want to eat and I make the reservations at 180+. If on the day of a reservation we decide not go, or if our plans change days or even weeks before the trip, I cancel. I think that that is only fair. And in terms of accommodating DD8, I think she takes some comfort in the planning. She asks "Where are we eating tonight?" "which night is Ohana's?", etc. There is some sense of structure to it and I think she is comforted by that. She knows we will get to everything eventually, and there is little disappointment.

When we vacation with people, they all think I'm nuts for making the ressies, but in the end they thank me for making them. In April DH, DD and I vacationed with my DSis and family and my 77 yearold mom. I didn't have a ressie for our last night as we thought we would try to wing it in EPCOT. The kids were so crabby as we went place to place looking for somewhere to eat. It was almost comical (being the twisted sorts we are, we took pictures of them in various states of duress). They hated not knowing where we were going to eat. When we finally settled at Five Dragons in China, they were relieved. They kept asking me why we didn't have a reservation.

I don't like what the system has become, but like anything else, you have to work it or get left behind. Make reservatrions and then cancel if your plans change.

 

[ChickieToo]

delete- sorry, double post

 

[scheddj]

I'm told by others that I'm an obsessive planner (they say it as though thats a bad thing ), but even I don't know what I'm going to feel like having for dinner six months in advance.

 

[eliza61]

Thunderbird1 you are right on the $$$$. Spontaneity is great in theory, but when with a group or with kids (which is how we usually go to the World) planning is the key to success. However, I am a big believer in planning with the intent of being flexible, because otherwise I would harm the children (just kidding). Spontaneity, at least for us, is better left to a romantic beach trip.

Shelley

Wow, I guess every one is different. In my real life I fly on business 3 days a week so I have to be on a schedule. The thought of me having to be at a restaurant at a certain time breaks me out in hives. My kids have sports and after school activities so every day is the screaming at them to hurry up, we're going to be late for XYZ. The last thing we want to do on our vacation is have to be some where at a specific time again.
Its nice now that we are dvc members, we never have to be at the parks for rope drop again. Now we tour leisurely, get up when we want, eat when we feel like it. We love it. If we miss a restaurant no biggie we'll be back. My kids are way happier not having a schedule.

 

[Macysmom32]

Wow, I guess every one is different. In my real life I fly on business 3 days a week so I have to be on a schedule. The thought of me having to be at a restaurant at a certain time breaks me out in hives. My kids have sports and after school activities so every day is the screaming at them to hurry up, we're going to be late for XYZ. The last thing we want to do on our vacation is have to be some where at a specific time again.
Its nice now that we are dvc members, we never have to be at the parks for rope drop again. Now we tour leisurely, get up when we want, eat when we feel like it. We love it. If we miss a restaurant no biggie we'll be back. My kids are way happier not having a schedule.

I see your point, and that is why I think I could never go on a cruise (constant "watch-watching") you know. When I go to the islands, I LOVE not knowing what time it is, I could care less. The only thing I plan (now) are the meals at WDW, and although it does give us some order so the group isn't wandering around aimlessly, I DO hate the "watch-watching"

Shelley

 

[thunderbird1]

Have you been secretly listening to our conversations at home?

Forget vacation, we have that discussion most evenings at our house !! I finally decide what we will have, and somebody is unhappy (inevitably) with my decision. I sure don't want this dilemma when we go on vacation !!

I'm not eavesdropping on you, but are you sure you don't live with me? Because we often have this conversation at home, too, with similar results. It might sound a little backwards, but I guess I find the schedule relaxing.

Thunderbird1 you are right on the $$$$. Spontaneity is great in theory, but when with a group or with kids (which is how we usually go to the World) planning is the key to success. However, I am a big believer in planning with the intent of being flexible, because otherwise I would harm the children (just kidding). Spontaneity, at least for us, is better left to a romantic beach trip.

Shelley

That's a perfect description of it. We have all the ADR's, but are willing to (and always do) change at least a few of them. Last trip, for 14 nights DDP, we had 19 ADR's (never double booked for a meal--just a few days of lunch and dinner ADR's). I think we ended up cancelling 7 (yes, we always did call to cancel, usually several hours in advance), scheduling 2 new ones (kept one, cancelled one), and did one walk-up.

Despite having so many ADR's, I can honestly say we never really felt like we needed to hurry up because we had to be anywhere. Each day, we'd discuss the lunch and/or dinner plans and decide whether to keep or cancel them. And when it was time to eat, as long as we allowed about an hour to get where we needed to be, we never felt rushed, and we were never late.

 

[fla4fun]

Sometimes I miss the good old days of watching everyone run from the gates at Epcot for Earth Station to secure their dining reservations for the day!

I wish they had some sort of same day hotline, where you could call and find out where on property there were dining openings. There are usually some openings somewhere, especially in the slower seasons, but finding them can be a real headache. It would be nice to just call a number, enter a code for say Epcot, and it would say "We currently have dining openings at YYY, ZZZ, and QQQ available for booking today. To book one of these restaurants, press X now to speak to a CM."

I don't even know until I get out of bed in the morning which park I'm going to (sometimes I just hop on the first bus that stops) so there's no way I know where I'll be dining. I'm OK with CS most of the time though.

 

[SereneOne]

Leave the dining plan out of it, the point is that WDW is now so popular that if you want to eat at TS there you must make ADRs period it makes no difference if you are paying out of pocket or using the dining plan. It is people who don't want to plan that want spur of the moment that complain. but that is a PART of being spur of the moment people it means not everything you might want is available to you.
So basically it is complaining about not having your cake and eating it too.
Perhaps the answer is for Disney to expand their eating places to have a walk up only section in each one, but obviously those would still be full and people would have long waits, Well thats the way it is now, I too wish that there were few people at Disney and no waits for things, used to be at least some times of year it was, not anymore.

That is what confuddles me about people so adamantly against ADR's...do they really think that if ADR's where done away with that they could just walk up to any restaurant in the World and get seated immediately....not going to happen! There are TOO MANY people wanting to eat there too, so in most cases you are not going to be able to do it anyways.

We are looking into DVC, and I do understand that last minute vacations could be not as special bc of not being able to get into the restaurants you want with short notice. However, I think that would happen whether or not there where ADRs.

 

[DisneyTarheel]

Sometimes I miss the good old days of watching everyone run from the gates at Epcot for Earth Station to secure their dining reservations for the day!

I wish they had some sort of same day hotline, where you could call and find out where on property there were dining openings. There are usually some openings somewhere, especially in the slower seasons, but finding them can be a real headache. It would be nice to just call a number, enter a code for say Epcot, and it would say "We currently have dining openings at YYY, ZZZ, and QQQ available for booking today. To book one of these restaurants, press X now to speak to a CM."

I don't even know until I get out of bed in the morning which park I'm going to (sometimes I just hop on the first bus that stops) so there's no way I know where I'll be dining. I'm OK with CS most of the time though.

Doesn't calling Disney Dining pretty much allow you to do this? You would have the CM telling you what is available rather than an automated system, but the result would be the same.