This is the most ridiculous thing ever

[dmc6469]

First off, to make reservations 6 months in advance to eat somewhere is crazy but to have to get up before 5am every single day to try to get a reservation and the minute it opens there is not 1 single opening it absurd. Everyone should be able to book for the date that you want, not try everyday for a single date. My 1st trip to WDW after all these years is getting to be too stressful and getting me too angry

 

[jon18uk]

If you are staying at a WDW hotel then you can book for ten days further than 180 days before the trip. Also lots of people make cancellations, keep trying!

 

[dmc6469]

We are staying at our timeshare. Which I feel is a bit unfair. I mean, we are paying the same amount to eat, get tickets, etc but if you aren't staying on property then you are pushed aside. Oh the stress just to eat.

 

[grandmomhop]

I've been hounding the website for a month to find a couple ADR's we were hoping to make. Usually I get "unable to find a table at this time" or the Stitch ate the page. I called T Rex directly to make a reservation for our first day. Still just hoping for the BOG and Tusker House. I'm excited for the trip, even if they don't become available. Did manage to get my Granddaughter a Bibbity Bobbity Boutique appointment in the MK for the day of the Christmas Party
Good luck to you, and have a Magical vacation!

 

[dprincessmom]

My advice would be to keep checking and be flexible with your meal times (this will actually work better for you in the parks). Instead of trying for lunch at noon, try for earlier (11 or later 1:30 or 2). Pack little snacks in your bag in case the extra hour causes issues.

Also, while it is frustrating, people will make lots of reservations during their "initial planning" and then as things firm up, they will go back and cancel.

As to the "unfairness" of the perks - I am sorry that you feel this way. There is no way WDW would be getting the rates per night at any of the levels of their resorts that they do without throwing in "benefits." So they are throwing in some benefits that really don't have a cost to the company (FP+ @ 60; the benefit of 180 +10 dining reservations)0

 

[Minniesgal]

First off, to make reservations 6 months in advance to eat somewhere is crazy but to have to get up before 5am every single day to try to get a reservation and the minute it opens there is not 1 single opening it absurd. Everyone should be able to book for the date that you want, not try everyday for a single date. My 1st trip to WDW after all these years is getting to be too stressful and getting me too angry

I really don't understand why people do this to themselves. We don't get up at 5am, we don't stress about booking ADRs book when we are ready, have had great meals and never starved.

This frantic mad ADR planning is not essential. Things that are not open at 180 days, open up again later so why stress. to me this is the best way to ruin a vacation at WDW by doing this to yourself.

I'm fairly sure noone has never ever starved at WDW

 

[10CJ]

I have to agree with PP. No one is making you get up early. If you don't have the 180+10 benefit I would pick a couple days that have the days/places I really want and try for those. The other days I would just see what comes up when I get up/later that day.

Things will open up as the restaurants release more slots and people drop ADRs. There are lots of options. There are plenty of people who do not book at 180 and manage to get the ADRs they want.

Good luck, hope you get some ressies you are happy with.

 

[1girln3boys]

It's an added perk of staying on site. If they didn't give those staying on site perks like this then people wouldn't feel the need to stay on site. Do you also feel it's unfair those staying on site can book fast passes earlier? Or that they get into the park earlier?

 

[danjoan14]

And make sure to check the board cancellation posts for the month you're going. Very helpful. I've been on the giving and receiving end with reservations.

 

[maxiesmom]

We are staying at our timeshare. Which I feel is a bit unfair. I mean, we are paying the same amount to eat, get tickets, etc but if you aren't staying on property then you are pushed aside. Oh the stress just to eat.

Disney has to offer perks to get a lot of people to pay the premium to stay on site. Everyone has the choice to stay on site or not, and those perks should be factored in when making the decision.

 

[Nancyg56]

First off, to make reservations 6 months in advance to eat somewhere is crazy but to have to get up before 5am every single day to try to get a reservation and the minute it opens there is not 1 single opening it absurd. Everyone should be able to book for the date that you want, not try everyday for a single date. My 1st trip to WDW after all these years is getting to be too stressful and getting me too angry

I know you are frustrated, but you and I both know that there are a finite number of ADR's for any given restaurant on any given day, and while it seems unfair that you are at a disadvantage because of your lodging choice, there really needs to be some incentive to encourage guests to choose a WDW resort over offsite lodging. If you are booking 6 months out, there are going to be limitations with the Epcot restaurants because of the CP packages that have been held back, so that is one challenge everyone is facing. If you are trying to book MK restaurants, or those on the monorail line, MVVMCP is going on, so some are closed early, and others have already been booked.

I would say to keep trying. I am still able to make changes to my plans in August.

We are staying at our timeshare. Which I feel is a bit unfair. I mean, we are paying the same amount to eat, get tickets, etc but if you aren't staying on property then you are pushed aside. Oh the stress just to eat.

You pay the same to eat if you eat onsite, but Disney wants to provide an incentive for guests to commit the lions share of their vacation dollar to WDW businesses. You probably will not be eating every meal on property, you are not giving your lodging budget to Disney, and your souvenirs and additional purchases will most likely be shared with Orlando area establishments. How would you, if you were given the option to make a change to the system, draw guests to make that commitment? Disney gives advantages, while slight in the grand scheme of things, to people who are committing their money to Disney, and they do that while not leaving everyone else at the back of the pack. So what would you change, and still make onsite guests feel that they are getting a special value by choosing WDW resorts?

 

[themommy]

And make sure to check the board cancellation posts for the month you're going. Very helpful. I've been on the giving and receiving end with reservations.

I have to second this! They work great!

 

[mickeynut1]

We don't get up at 5am, we don't stress about booking ADRs book when we are ready, have had great meals and never starved.

This frantic mad ADR planning is not essential. Things that are not open at 180 days, open up again later so why stress.

I agree. I no longer book ADRs right at 180 days anymore and I always get what I want, at the times I want (this goes for hard to get ones, too). As others have said, keep trying as things do open up as time goes on because people change their plans.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

you only have to get up that early if you want Be Our Guest or are very very particular about booking certain times at popular places.

If you can't book ANYTHING then there's either a glitch in the system (yep there is one going on right now) or you picked something really popular, and you chose to stay offsite, so you won't get the onsite booking perk.

Of course if someone gets a shot at something ahead of you you're going to think that's unfair because you didn't get the same shot, but many businesses do such things to encourage patrons to do something (like commit their hotel budget to Disney instead of an offsite resort).

 

[honeybunches]

We never know as far as 180 days in advance that we'll be booking a trip, so I've never had the 180+10 ADR angst. We usually book 3-4 months out, and once even as late as 6 weeks out. Even those hard-to-get ADRs show up eventually; we've never missed out on a hoped-for restaurant. Hang in there! Planning that first trip is stressful; it gets easier (and more fun) once you relax.

 

[Nancyg56]

My son and DDIL just decided they will try to join us in August. I spent THursday night, while watching TV, checking out ADR's, and because I am not stuck with the 180 + 10 now, I opened a MDE account for my DD, linked my CC to it, and whereever I could not change from 7 to 9 on my own ADR, I made another for 2 people. The only one I was nto able to get Thursday nght was Akershus at 8 AM, but Friday one popped u. It is a tad later, but that was the only glitch.

Keep looking. Folks add and drop all the time.