mock adrs

[Belle_1989]

I know this is a silly question but my ADR window is coming up and I have never booked ADRs before. Is it possible to do mock ADRs to get used to the system?

 

[Wood Nymph]

I know this is a silly question but my ADR window is coming up and I have never booked ADRs before. Is it possible to do mock ADRs to get used to the system?

Yes, you can make ADR's and cancel them right away. Pick a day that is open for you now to try it out.

 

[Pumbaa_]

please don't! ADRs are hard enough to get without clogging up the system with practice ones. Go to the site, take a look, you can play with it without actually booking anything

it will be ok, I promise

 

[Kanga&TwoRoos]

please don't! ADRs are hard enough to get without clogging up the system with practice ones. Go to the site, take a look, you can play with it without actually booking anything

it will be ok, I promise

If you cancel it right away and don't do it first thing in the morning I don't see how it hurts anyone else. You could even do a practice one for a restaurant that's not that popular and it really wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Belle_1989]

@Kanga&TwoRoos I was planning on cancelling as soon as I booked it.

 

[Hopefully]

please don't! ADRs are hard enough to get without clogging up the system with practice ones. Go to the site, take a look, you can play with it without actually booking anything

it will be ok, I promise

If you cancel it right away and don't do it first thing in the morning I don't see how it hurts anyone else. You could even do a practice one for a restaurant that's not that popular and it really wouldn't be an issue.

@Kanga&TwoRoos I was planning on cancelling as soon as I booked it.

I trust @pumba experience. Please don't

 

[megster1123]

Yes, you can make ADR's and cancel them. Pick a day that is open for you now to try it out.

If her ADR window is opening soon there wouldn't be any days open for her to book...right? I'm sorry its been a really long day.

 

[Wood Nymph]

If her ADR window is opening soon there wouldn't be any days open for her to book...right? I'm sorry its been a really long day.

Anyone can book an ADR at any time, even an offsite guest. They just can't book earlier than 180 days. She can practice getting an ADR for tonight if she wants to.

Correction - make it far enough ahead of time so tha tyou can cancel without a penalty

 

[megster1123]

Anyone can book an ADR at any time, even an offsite guest. They just can't book earlier than 180 days. She can practice getting an ADR for tonight if she wants to.

Uh yeah that's right lol it has in fact been a long day

 

[TeresaWen]

Anyone can book an ADR at any time, even an offsite guest. They just can't book earlier than 180 days. She can practice getting an ADR for tonight if she wants to.

Not for tonight! Won't be able to cancel without penalty.

It is not a bad idea to do a test run. A while back I did a "test" before my window opened. turned out my credit card had expired. When I tried to log in to update I needed to change my password because Disney's password requirements changed.

 

[jknewberry]

I played around to see what was available without actually booking anything, it made me feel more comfortable with the system.

The night before my ADR window opened, I had a tab opened for each ADR I wanted and put in the date, time and restaurant for each one. Once my window opened, I just refreshed the page and had to put the date in again, but it worked well and I saved time I think. I put them in order of importance- for example, I had a tab for BOG dinner near the end of my trip before everything else. I am going in late Feb/early March and got everything I wanted, just not all at my preferred times. We are going to MK on the second and 6th days of our trips and I could only get 4:30 and 4:35 for Liberty Tree Tavern and BOG dinners for those days. I would have preferred 5 or 5:30, but will probably keep those times since they aren't that far off, and an earlier dinner might mean we get seated quicker so the meal itself takes less time out of our day!

 

[GaryDis]

1. First practice searching for restaurants by name vs by location (e.g. Magic Kingdom Dining) vs any other method. You want to flip between all the restaurants of interest, quickly.
2. Try changing the date around. Observe how the date is defaulted. The last thing you want is to accidentally book six meals on the same day, or book everything for today or tomorrow.
3. Next, practice searching for open slots, say something 180 days out from today. Observe the difference between searching based on a meal (e.g. Dinner) versus a specific time slot (e.g. 5:00 vs 6:30). Figure out which approach is best for you. Don't actually book these. I say 180 days, because there will be plenty of restaurants that have available slots. Maybe also try 170 days, to see which restaurants fill up quickly (and so that you're not thrown the first time a search returns one or two slots instead of the typical three).
4. Finally, go through the process of booking an ADR at 90 days out for a less popular destination (say Skippers or Marrakesh). Cancel immediately. Why 90 days and less popular? It's far less likely to impact anyone else. (And by the way, even though those are less popular, they're excellent choices if you like their interesting menus.)

 

[TreeFalls]

I think one test run is a good idea- it will confirm that all your credit card info is entered and up-to-date. Search a date a few months from now, then book something that has lots of availability then cancel right after.

 

[Lisa F]

Book something like biergarten or spice road table or grand floridian cafe or captain's grille. You won't be hurting anyone or anything by booking those, you can often get into those restaurants same day and they have tons of availability. Pick a day about a week into the future, as others have mentioned do NOT book for today because then you will be outside of the cancellation window.

 

[mgpan]

@Kanga&TwoRoos I was planning on cancelling as soon as I booked it.

Glad you got used to the system and that you also cancelled immediately. Also remember that you can on occassion have luck as a same day walkup. Holding on to ADRs with no intention of keeping them hurts others ability to obtain them. Just like those that book onsite campsites and hotel rooms just to get fastpasses and who have no intention of keeping the reservations and cancel them close to arrival. It means those that want the reservations legitimately are unable to get them.

 

[Belle_1989]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I ended up playing with the system some more and learning what works best for me without actually booking anything.