Making Multiple Reservations

If our friends/family only knew what we do for dinner reservations,they'd say we were nuts. I know my friends would think that. I'm starting to learn from you guys what I need to do to get a reservation at the restaurant I want. No more stress for me about dinner 164 days away! OMG!!!!
 
We haven't been to Disney for six years and I can't believe how ridiculous it has gotten! Honestly, I thought the old FP system worked just fine and with it the only ADR people had a hard time getting on a consistent basis was CRT. We just made ADR's last week and the one place my 11 year-old wanted to eat was BOG and of course we couldn't get it. I have continued checking daily and am hoping that I will find something, but I'm not holding my breath given we are going the week of Thanksgiving. I agree that if they are going to stick with the current FP system, they need to have the two coincide.
 
I don't understand why people put themselves through this much stress. Dining reservations always open up. There is often heaps available the day before or the day of why stress about it. So you don't get your number 1 choice at 180 days, chances are it will open up and frankly it takes about 5 seconds to check on the app on your phone. Even if it doesn't it isn't as if you are going to starve.

We only book our must do restaurants. Then we pick something at short notice and most is available. If we can't find anything we like we go eat offsite.


We did a flexible trip last February. We planned nothing, booked FP+ in the parks and restaurants on the hop. We did everything we wanted to including BOG which I booked about 2 weeks before we left. We couldn't get Chef Mickey's so we went to Tusker House instead. We also ate at Narcooses, California Grill, Jiko and Flying fish. and this was Presidents week leading to Valentines day and the parks were full.

Disney isn't making us treat a WDW vacation as if we were going to war we are doing to to ourselves. Just because you can't book something at 180 or 60 days does not mean you will be locked out and miserable if you don't.
 

I guess I am in the minority here. I was able to get all the ADR's I wanted including BOG and CRT at the times I wanted at my exact 180 day mark. We are on the DxDP so I had to make three TS ADR's a day for eight days. I will work my FP's around the ADR's. I guess I don't understand the whole planning angst thing. Planning has been a breeze for me and FP's open up tonight. I kind of feel like those people stressing so much are putting it on themselves and not being imposed by Disney. I did make all my breakfast choices pre-park unless there are morning EMH, which I made them a little later (after EMH is over). Changing my choices has not been an issue either. I pretty much planned what parks we are going to be at each day and made my ADR's around that. My FP's are going to be done the same way. I already know which ones I need and what is non-negotiable. The non-negotiables we will handle during RD or EMH. Everything else will fall into place. IMHO, planning requires more flexibility now than ever. I am not criticizing anyone here, but I don't see the need to book more than one restaurant per meal period and booking the same restaurant every day for the length of the trip just so you have it in case you change your mind. Disney has ALWAYS required planning to the nth degree in order to maximize the experience.
 
We've never had issues getting our resies either. I got everything I wanted first crack and it did include some tough ADR'S. We did have 2 CRT and 2 BOG for a time until we could coordinate what we wanted when. I guess as mean as it sounds I don't take into account anyone else's vacation when I am planning mine, but I do release the extra ADR'S as soon as I know vs never canceling and then just paying the no show fee because I can. To me that is selfish, not holding a few resies until you firm up your plans. Again WDW implemented the wonky prebooking rules so I do what I have to do to ensure we get what we want, like I would if I was vacationing anywhere else in the world. There is also a service that will watch for openings 24/7 for a small fee. It is called bookingbuddy. I know many who have used it and they all were able to snag their coveted resies with them. That is another option. I'd rather pay a few dollars rather than spend day after day online. It would be nice in the future if WDW just switched all adr's and fp to the same day. Would make things much easier.
 
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We've never had issues getting our resies either. I got everything I wanted first crack and it did include some tough ADR'S. We did have 2 CRT and 2 BOG for a time until we could coordinate what we wanted when. I guess as mean as it sounds I don't take into account anyone else's vacation when I am planning mine, but I do release the extra ADR'S as soon as I know vs never canceling and then just paying the no show fee because I can. To me that is selfish, not holding a few resies until you firm up your plans. Again WDW implemented the wonky prebooking rules so I do what I have to do to ensure we get what we want, like I would if I was vacationing anywhere else in the world. There is also a service that will watch for openings 24/7 for a small fee. It is called bookingbuddy. I know many who have used it and they all were able to snag their coveted resies with them. That is another option. I'd rather pay a few dollars rather than spend day after day online. It would be nice in the future if WDW just switched all adr's and fp to the same day. Would make things much easier.
Same here, I have never had a problem getting ADRs. I got all of the hard to get ones right at 180 days and never had to stalk. I right now have 2 extras booked that I know I will drop once I figure out plans. This year we were forced to buy park hoppers to get free dining, so I must say, having those takes some pressure off knowing I don't have to set any days in stone.
 
Same here, I have never had a problem getting ADRs. I got all of the hard to get ones right at 180 days and never had to stalk. I right now have 2 extras booked that I know I will drop once I figure out plans. This year we were forced to buy park hoppers to get free dining, so I must say, having those takes some pressure off knowing I don't have to set any days in stone.
I'd definitely say that's the most appealing part of the hoppers. Leaves a ton of flexibility in dining for the evening :)
 
It would be nice in the future if WDW just switched all adr's and fp to the same day. Would make things much easier.
That is a great idea. FP opens up 181 days before your arrival day. Dining opens up 180 days.
You can book your FPs and know exactly where you will be for when you book your dining.
 
I was a little worried reading how everyone was panicking. I've done FP+ before back when it was still in the testing phase and I loved it so I'm not really worried about it. We've never done dining before but are going in November during free dining. Yes I had a couple issues with my ADRs but that's because the entire system was down but once it came up I was about to get the 6 reservations I wanted. In fact since that date two weeks ago I've managed to switch things around. It really wasn't hard. I am not worried about my FP+ either, I'll just book them around my dining plans. Easy peasy.
 
181 and 180 is too close. Especially if FPP is at midnight and ADRs are at 6 am. However I would be okay with making them closer together though.

This thread is having the opposite effect on me than what was intended. I feel like I don't have enough ADRs now. However I do not have too many must do FPP that I want to get, so I am not going to worry about.

I do think people need to remember that ADRs are not a need. You may need one to eat at a specific restaurant at a specific time, but if you can't get it there are other options. You will not starve.
 
181 and 180 is too close. Especially if FPP is at midnight and ADRs are at 6 am. However I would be okay with making them closer together though.

This thread is having the opposite effect on me than what was intended. I feel like I don't have enough ADRs now. However I do not have too many must do FPP that I want to get, so I am not going to worry about.

I do think people need to remember that ADRs are not a need. You may need one to eat at a specific restaurant at a specific time, but if you can't get it there are other options. You will not starve.


It's not just about eating, though. To me, it's the experience. I don't visit WDW every year. Last time I went was on my honeymoon 6 years ago and we were shocked when we couldn't walk into certain restaurants and eat. Luckily I had made ADRs at CG and CRT in advance. We enjoyed our spontaneous meals in Epcot, but I have a 5 year old now and she wants to eat with characters. So yes, ADRs are a need for my family. I am not worried about it, though. We'll get them :)
 
181 and 180 is too close. Especially if FPP is at midnight and ADRs are at 6 am. However I would be okay with making them closer together though.

This thread is having the opposite effect on me than what was intended. I feel like I don't have enough ADRs now. However I do not have too many must do FPP that I want to get, so I am not going to worry about.

I do think people need to remember that ADRs are not a need. You may need one to eat at a specific restaurant at a specific time, but if you can't get it there are other options. You will not starve.

They are as much of a need as my actual vacation to WDW. For me they are a huge part of the experience. I enjoy the CM more than some of the Disney parks. Will I cry or cancel if I don't have CRT or BOG...no, but they are on my list of top things to do and I'd pay a service to snag them if I couldn't get them on my own. I'd also double book to an extent to make sure my ADR'S and FP line up. I think Disney involves tons of planning, but luckily the pieces have always fallen into place.
 
I havent had any issues getting the ADR's i wanted either. I am just having a hard time adding an additional person to two of the ADR's since i just recently added them to my resort reservation after my 180 mark.
 
I can understand having a couple ADRs that are "must do" and you will try really hard to get. However some make it sound like every meal is a must do experience. There are lots of options and most people will never be able to do them all, especially in one trip.
 
Agree with you, OP. Having a couple extra while finalizing plans or actually planning to eat someplace twice is one thing, but holding onto a bunch til the last minute so that everyone else is scrambling trying to pick up the dropped ADRs the night before or the day of is not cool. Not everyone is able to be that flexible. I'm glad people got lucky and were able to get what they wanted, I know that's a weight off people's minds! :) But the system has been so glitchy (*cough* Biergarten *cough*) that for a lot of us, booking ADRs has been an exercise in frustration, and the hoarding of the many by the few just makes it worse. :(
 
I can understand having a couple ADRs that are "must do" and you will try really hard to get. However some make it sound like every meal is a must do experience. There are lots of options and most people will never be able to do them all, especially in one trip.

Pretty sure we know we won't starve but as was pointed out, some dining experiences are an important part of the vacation.

The same could be said for not getting into ones favorite ride/show/meet and greet. Heck even if you can't get into a Disney resort you can still enjoy WDW but people still have preferences on how they want their trip.

of course hoarding reservations is also a preference, so there is that.
 
The hardest part for me in all of this planning is refining my choices. (Kind of getting off-topic here...) I had an 8:50 Ca. Grill res that I was so excited about and after a week or so added CRT "for the kid" AND we're doing HDD. I realized I just had to cut CG. Are we still going to have a kick-a** vacation? YES! But it's okay if we don't do EVERY awesome restaurant in the 10 days that we're there. We will be there again someday :)
 
It definitely has not been easy peasy! First there was booking with free dining dates....and people trying to change resorts that were not included....or upgrading to get the free dining. Then...the wait...the 180 + 10. I was up extra early. I couldn't book anything online. I tried for hours, called twice to ask about the system and finally....by afternoon....called and was able to book by phone. We got all but two of our picks. So....to say the least it wasn't that simple but we did okay. Now I'm searching...everyday....for the two we couldn't book. I did book alternative restaurants in case we cannot get what we really want. If something opens up, we will switch. We are going Thanksgiving week. We are not on the dining plan. The process is somewhat frustrating. It would help if the website worked properly. Good luck to everyone!
 
I wod be okay if free dining went away, especially if it is causing people to hoard more than they normally would.

I absolutely think the website needs to work better. Disney has set the time, they should know the site will be hit hard then. They should be able to be prepared for that more often then they are (at least recently).
 














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