People who like to "relax" on their Disney vacation...

[bjscheel]

Do you find it relaxing to not have ADR's scheduled and just eat when and where you feel like it (at counter service)?

Or is it more relaxing to have one ADR on most days so you don't have to stand in line for your food and hunt for a table?


We are going in November and I have not made any ADR's yet. DH says pick what you want, yet he does not want more than 2 or 3 ADR's over the 6 days because he doesn't want to feel overscheduled. DDs and I have 5 or 6 places we'd like to go!

 

[maj42169]

We find it more relaxing to have the ADR's. We enjoy taking the break and having a nice meal without having to worry about where we are going to eat. Some say it is inconvenient to have preplanned times and resturaunts for meals......I disagree.....I prefer knowing that we already have those plans made.

 

[monty]

Because we don't have young children and we're going in the cooler month of December we use the "sitting in the restaurant and being waited on" as our down time instead of returning to our resort to relax.
I do not find it relaxing waiting in line and finding tables at a CS so I'd rather make ADR's and schedule our park activities around them.

 

[TDC Nala]

I do this, but I don't always eat counter service. I eat at the restaurant bars and lounges. Some of them offer the full menu and no ADRs are required.

Probably won't work for those with children though.

 

[suzimar57]

we find it more relaxing having the ADRs made (way) ahead - that way, we know where we're eating each day and don't have to stress not getting a seating, or having to wait - preplanning equals no stress, more relaxation for us!

 

[PiratesGirl]

We went earlier this month for the first time and we only made one ADR. We have two kids 8 and 5 and it worked out better for us to just wing it. I was worried about not doing more before we went but it turned out to be more convenient for us this way. Some days we didn't eat lunch until 2:00 because we were so involved in what we were doing. The one ADR we had was for Sci Fi and we were so disappointed. It took over an hour for lunch and another 15 minutes just to pay the bill. I won't go there again. It was a waste of time. All our other meals were CS meals because that was easiest with the kids.

 

[buzzgirls&dad]

For us (Me, DH and DD8) we like to come back from the parks mid afteroon unwind, maybe use the pool, clean up and head out to dinner. We enjoy Disney TS meals and feel they are part of the magic and feel of being on vacation. We don't mind that they take longer and we are prepared to sit and relax. Since we know where we are going, where we are eating and what time we need to be there we are very relaxed in our manner. Since everything is done ahead of time we don't have that whole "I feel like chicken, I'm hot I just want a salad" We know where we are going have looked at the menus and we are excited about our choices.

 

[beccasmom]

We've done the dining thing in the past and it was great, but we no longer do it. If we know we want to try a new place - or go back to an old favorite - we do make ADRs. Otherwise, we wing it and we have found it much more relaxing. It just seems to work better for us.

 

[ekmom]

We are normally a CS only family with maybe one TS the whole trip. For our most recent trip in March, DH wanted to try more CS places so we ended up with 5 ADRs for our 7 day trip. We didn't really like it that much. The food for the most part was enjoyable but it really took away from the spontaneity. It seemed like we were watching the clock the whole time so as not to be late for our ADRs.

We don't typically hit many crowds at our CS meals anyway because we arrive at the parks quite early after grabbing a quick piece of fruit or bagel on the way out of the room. We're usually ready for lunch by 11:00 before the crowds hit and we often eat dinner early too.

CS is far more relaxing for us.

 

[airhead]

we got in the Summer so if we didn't make reservations early,we would be spending a lot of vacation time standing/waiting in line. I like that all reservations are made early.

 

[jazzgirl]

I definitely find it more relaxing to have ADRs. You know that you'll have somewhere to eat without being told that the restaurant is full, having that happen in itself is stressful.

So I say make all the ADRs you like, if your family doesn't feel like eating there come the time, you can always make a simple little phone call and cancel it, no harm done

 

[shellybaxter]

I'm another one who finds it more relaxing with ADRs, but we never visit for less than 10 days (our next trip in for 16 days) so we have time to go to the parks until mid afternoon, have a nap and then go out to dinner in the evening. That is the best for us

 

[mickeynut1]

We always make ADRs as we prefer sit down dinners rather than eat CS all day every day. We usually eat TS at the resorts rather than the parks, so we make our ADRs for the restaurants we want and plan that day around where we're eating that night . Some people think it's a hassle to plan where to eat so far ahead of time, but we know the restaurants we like so it's no hassle for us. Plus we like knowing we have a place to eat each night we're there......there's no guessing as to what's available .

 

[SereneOne]

I prefer ADRs. I do not have to worry about getting into the restaurant of my choice for dinner. Part of my chosen vacation is eating at interesting restaurants that Disney has and getting to relax. I do not plan my parks around ADRs unless it is CRT. I pick what park I wish to go to on a given day by looking at what is the busiest day at the park and not going on that day and looking at EMH and what parades/fireworks are on what particular day. THEN I pick the restaurant we wish to go to and book ressies based on what time we want to eat. IF I am unsure of what park that day we will attend, I make ressies at one of the restaurants at a resort, no need for a Park Hopper. I also enjoy the time to rest my tired feet and relax.

 

[lilyv]

We like to relax on vacation, so we make priority seating reservations. I don't mind occasional table service, but often the CS restaurants are busy, busy. Trying to find a table can be very annoying.
It's much more relaxing to have a reservation and table waiting for us.

 

[F1Julie]

We also prefer to make ADR's. I like knowing there is a table waiting for us and not having to wait in line at a CS or find a table. I make at least one ADR a day, sometimes 2. I would never be one to go on vacation and "wing it."

 

[DVC Jen]

i definately think it is more relaxing to have a plan of "action" as well as a sit down meal planned for each day. there is only so much counter service I can eat.

I am very much a creature of habit and routine - to not have a plan of action is more stressful for me

 

[Disney_Freak56]

The first trip I took with DH, I tried to get some idea of where he might like to dine. He didn't want to make too many ADRs. Even though things did work out just fine that trip -- it was four years ago -- I would never do WDW again without ADRs in place. The next year when we went together, I had ADRs in place and the trip was much more enjoyable -- we would hit the parks fairly early in the morining, leave when it got warm or we had enough -- head back to the resort, relax, shower and then get dressed for dinner. And then maybe hit another Park if we were so inclined. It was a great vacation. We would enjoy our balcony at AKL -- always requested turn-down service. I think that trip really hooked him.

Even when traveling with kids, I always prefer to have my ADRs in place. It just makes for less stress. And if for some reason, we aren't going to make an ADR, I always call and cancel. Of course, I've gone so many times that I know when we're going to want to have lunch and if we have a TS for lunch, then we're probably not going to want dinner until pretty late.

Hope this helps.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We usually eat 2 TS meals a day. We're another family that doesn't think there's anything relaxing about eating CS, so we usually skip it altogether. We enjoy family time spent chatting over a relaxing meal. I usually schedule breakfast or an early lunch, & dinner. On our next trip, we have 1 early lunch ADR & the others are for breakfast. I choose which parks to visit 1st, then make an ADR for that park. Late afternoon we return to our resort, shower & change, then go to dinner. We make those ADRs based on where we plan to spend the evening. We never feel like our ADRs interfere with our touring. All that said, we rarely eat out at home w/o reservations either. Waiting for a walk-up table isn't my idea of fun.

 

[bjscheel]

Wow, lots of responses! And a mix of opinions!

Of course, we are going in November, so without park hours, I haven't determined which parks which days. Waiting for TGM to tell me! That will help with the deciding.

Anyway, I got DH to talk about dining last night and he says, "Let's try something different. Let's eat in....France." So I show him the Chefs de France menu and well, that idea was shot down. I confess, we are un-adventurous eaters, and on a lot of these menus every main dish has some sort of sauce or peppers or something! Just give us a plain hunk of meat please!

I think the plan now is 4 or 5 ADRs and cancel a couple if we feel we should. Just don't know what they will be! 1900 Park Fair is the only must-do.