For those of you that follow these forums and are concerned about getting ADR's when staying off property this thread may be for you.
Here is my own personal experience for my 10 year anniversary trip that is coming up. My DW and I are staying off property and will be visiting the parks from 6/28-6/31/09.
Here are the ADR's we were looking for and what I did to secure them. All of these were called on at exactly 90 days out at 7am est (yes, I got up at 3:50am pst to call on time).
6/28/09 -- R&C -- Target time was 7:45pm -- Called on 3/30/09. My first call, even then I answered no to the voice prompt I was transferred to V&A. Hung up, called back and was on hold for 40 minutes. The CM was very niche and we were able to get a table at R&C for 7:20pm. They notated our 10th anniversary on the reservation and that we would be staying for illuminations. No gurantee of an outside table (expected so no issue). Overall experience on the call was not bad. Total call length 50 minutes.
6/29/09 -- V&A -- Target time was 6:00pm -- Called on 3/31/09. Got through right away and made the reservation with no issues. The CM notated our anniversary and took our cc to hold the reservation (an expected requirement). Great experience on this call, total call length was 4 minutes.
6/30/09 -- Fantasmic Pkg-MM's -- Target time TBD -- Called on 4/1/09. Was told my wait time would be 25 minutes, it turned out to be 12. The CM pulled up the Fantasmic Schedule and told me that on 6/30/09 it would not be showing. We switched our plans and went with booking an ADR for Sci-Fi. The CM got us booked for a great time at 5:40pm which is right around when the DW and I normally eat. She notated our anniversary on the reservation. Great experience on the call. Total call time 20 minutes.
Overall Impressions: I have to say that based upon threads I was reading I was completely terrified about making these ADR's. I really felt like there was a good chance that what we wanted to get was going to be impossible due to the time of year, and the advantage that the 90+10's get.
What a pleasant surprise I got the last few days
Yes, I had to wake up at 3:50am local time for 3 days in a row to call in. However; I was 2 for three on my ADR's and only missed the third because Fantasmic was not showing the night we will be at DHS. I view this as a non-ADR issue.
So my advice to those of you staying off property is don't worry about your ADR's. Just have a plan, and make sure you know when your 90 days out from the day of being in the appropriate park is for your ressies. You will be fine.
Here is my own personal experience for my 10 year anniversary trip that is coming up. My DW and I are staying off property and will be visiting the parks from 6/28-6/31/09.
Here are the ADR's we were looking for and what I did to secure them. All of these were called on at exactly 90 days out at 7am est (yes, I got up at 3:50am pst to call on time).
6/28/09 -- R&C -- Target time was 7:45pm -- Called on 3/30/09. My first call, even then I answered no to the voice prompt I was transferred to V&A. Hung up, called back and was on hold for 40 minutes. The CM was very niche and we were able to get a table at R&C for 7:20pm. They notated our 10th anniversary on the reservation and that we would be staying for illuminations. No gurantee of an outside table (expected so no issue). Overall experience on the call was not bad. Total call length 50 minutes.
6/29/09 -- V&A -- Target time was 6:00pm -- Called on 3/31/09. Got through right away and made the reservation with no issues. The CM notated our anniversary and took our cc to hold the reservation (an expected requirement). Great experience on this call, total call length was 4 minutes.
6/30/09 -- Fantasmic Pkg-MM's -- Target time TBD -- Called on 4/1/09. Was told my wait time would be 25 minutes, it turned out to be 12. The CM pulled up the Fantasmic Schedule and told me that on 6/30/09 it would not be showing. We switched our plans and went with booking an ADR for Sci-Fi. The CM got us booked for a great time at 5:40pm which is right around when the DW and I normally eat. She notated our anniversary on the reservation. Great experience on the call. Total call time 20 minutes.
Overall Impressions: I have to say that based upon threads I was reading I was completely terrified about making these ADR's. I really felt like there was a good chance that what we wanted to get was going to be impossible due to the time of year, and the advantage that the 90+10's get.
What a pleasant surprise I got the last few days
Yes, I had to wake up at 3:50am local time for 3 days in a row to call in. However; I was 2 for three on my ADR's and only missed the third because Fantasmic was not showing the night we will be at DHS. I view this as a non-ADR issue.
So my advice to those of you staying off property is don't worry about your ADR's. Just have a plan, and make sure you know when your 90 days out from the day of being in the appropriate park is for your ressies. You will be fine.
