Should there be sitting restaurants that don't need reservations?

[Juliet0778]

I like making reservations far in advance. At 180 day mark, I'm no more likely to know what I will feel like than the 2 day mark.

I really look forward to the 180 day point in my planning...It's a lot of fun. I will often change reservations, adjust times etc.right up to the day I leave. But 180 days out versus 2 days out doesn't make much difference to me. It just gives me more time to have fun planning my trip! It part of the joy of planning

I like planning too. But, both of my recent Disney trips have only been planned 3-3.5 months out and I have had no major issues getting good TS. I wasn't able to book BOG or Sci Fi lunch initially, but I got them both by continuing to check the app periodically.

 

[ElizabethB]

Some people recommended Touring Plans for hard to find ADRs. I thought Disney shut all of these services down nearly two years ago. Is it because Touring Plans is free? I went to their website and they still offer a membership. Does the membership get you anything better than the free service?

As for planning in advance, I just realized we are 3 months out from our Beach Club Club Level reservation. I could have the Concierge book everything for us, but planning ahead like this is difficult as we like to be more spontaneous on vacation. We've been to WDW many times so feel less pressure to experience "everything". But, quite honestly, having to plan ADRs 6 months out and FPs, 3 months out, it discourages us enough we'll probably do what we did last year -- cancel WDW completely and spend our week at Universal. For a while, Spice Table at Epcot was walk-up only, but I think it takes reservations now. Oh well. Nice while it lasted.

Finally, I can speak to the "Good Old Days" -- and they were great. When our twins were about 7 or 8 (some 14 or so years ago), we walked up one evening to Chefs de France. It was around 8:30 pm and the place was nearly empty. A hostess took us to our table and we ordered. Since Illuminations was starting, the sweet waitress set up a table near the window for the twins and they ate their entrees there while watching the fireworks. The place was quiet and civilized. Of course, that would never happen anymore.

Our boys also used to love Cinderella's Castle. We would do that for lunch. The boys tolerated the princesses, but there was a waiter at the time who would spend time with the boys, tell them Disney trivia, etc. and they loved having lunch with him. Every year the insisted on going to the Castle for lunch so they could talk to David. One time David even brought out boxed champagne flutes as a gift for us when we mentioned it was our anniversary the next day. Again -- nothing like this would ever happen anymore. The Castle lunch reservation was easy to get and the lunch was actually worth eating, with things like Prime Rib. We gave up going here for lunch some years ago when I took my parents who were elderly and a manager came by and said, "Hurry and sit down". My parents were doing the best they could but they were fouling up the timing. At that point lunch had become a set menu and a fully programmed event where Disney would rush you in, seat you, serve the food, run the princesses around the room and repeat -- no time anymore for a waiter to provide a bit of fun and personalized service. Everything now is pre-packaged, pre-planned and totally lacking in spontaneity or, dare I say it, "magic".

So, yes, the good old days really were better.

 

[Minnesota!]

We have always been able to book same-day, or next-day, at all the "popular" places. It takes the stress out of planning, and I am MUCH more likely to know what I want to eat within that 24 hours than I am at 4320 hours out.

I do think the planning Disney makes you feel you HAVE to do is ridiculous, and it just sets up unnecessary stress and competition...and disappointment if you think your vacation is going to tank because you didn't get "the perfect time" at "the perfect restaurant".

Trust me, life goes on if you don't get to eat the cooked-from-frozen potstickers at Ohana, or nosh on the luke-warm fries at BOG. It won't (or, shouldn't) ruin your trip.

 

[Kaytie]

Restaurants are not limited to only resort guests, offsite guests reserve them as do DVC members. not everyone will have a balance to pay.

Don't forget local residents!

 

[TheRealDrDisney]

I miss the days when we would talk to people through TV's at Epcot to make our dining plans. The marvels of technology seemed overwhelming at the time!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

If it is a place you truly want to eat at, it's simple make a reservation end of story.

 

[LilyWDW]

For the OPs question... heck no. I don't want to waste valuable vacation time sitting around waiting to get into a restaurant. This way I can get what I want and not have to wonder and worry about when I should head somewhere to hopefully get one of those lucky spots. It's all done ahead of time and I can enjoy my vacation.

As for the idea of a 60 or 30 day ADR being better. Again, heck no. More people would be trying to make their reservations if they had a later time. It would actually make it harder to grab any specific reservation, would increase wait times on the phones, and increase server load on their website. At one point Disney DID shorten the time and it did not work. They quickly went back to 180.

So, you can't get Ohana now? Having a different ADR period wouldn't help with that! At least with 180 days, you have more time to try and grab an opening!

 

[Silrana]

We never bother with reservations unless it is for a super popular restaurant. The only time I can remember in recent years we have made a reservation was for Cinderella's, and we made that a week in advance. The only place we've walked away from was a place that only had outdoor seating available, and we wanted air conditioning for my overheated daughter.