Reservation Help!

[battleflag12]

How do you plan your dinner meals?

We never plan our dining very well and we seem to be scavenging for open tables. When we make reservations we are sometimes to tired and end up eating at our hotel food court, sometimes.

What do you do? Do you make reservations all the time, sometimes, or never and eat out of the WDW propertey or eat at the resort?

Please Help!

 

[Daggett]

I "try" to make ADRs, but I'm not a very structured person, so I rarely stick to them. But you should try. As a matter of fact, for our Jan 24 - 31 trip, we've only booked a couple of ADRs. (Of course I would never book so few ADRs during peak times!!)

Book the must haves: Like O'hana or Le Cellier if that's what you like and stick to those. Then try to book a framework of restaurants you want to eat at, and 'try' to make those appointments.

I don't know how often you go to WDW, but if it's often enough, be flexible or try something new, don't let your schedule dictate your fun. If you don't go that often, try to develop a 'reasonable' schedule and stick to it.

So....time of the year, family size, and how picky your family is dictates how rigid of a schedule you need to keep.

Hope this helps.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I plan which park on which day and then go from there. I try to do all dinner's. We have one lunch and one late breakfast also.

 

[bytheblood]

I start with the park I plan to visit and then look at the menus to determine where I would like to dine. I go to AllEars for the menus.

I call the day my ADR window opens and make my reservations.

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I think it depends on why you are not making it to your reservations.

You said that your family is too tired and end up at your hotel food court.

If it's because you are staying at the parks late and then not making your 7:30 - 8:00 pm dinner reservation, I'd recommend making earlier dinner reservations (say 5pm) so you eat before wanting to leave the park.

If it's because you go back to the hotel to freshen up and relax before dinner and then just don't feel like going back out, I'd recommend making lunch reservations instead.

Try to plan your reservations for near where you plan to be that day. For us, it never seems to work if our reservations is not near either the park we're in or our hotel. If we're staying at an MK resort and in Epcot for the day, there is no way I'd make a reservation for a DTD restaurant because I know we won't go. Either we eat before we leave the park or at one of the area hotel restaurants.

I'd also look to why your family is too tired to make your reservations - for some families it's either theme park commando style with counter service dining OR relaxed park touring with an ADR schedule.