Too late for Deluxe?

[Luvlylisa]

If I get the Deluxe Dining Plan for a trip this November (16th to the 22).
Will I have any chance to get reservations at table service restaurants or am I too last minute? It seems like there is a good chance that I pay for this and then can't use all (or even most) of my meals for sit down places as they are booked so far in advance.

I had hoped to use 2 credits for a show or sig restaurant but worry I am just too last min in planning to make it worth upgrading to deluxe...

If I'm not too late I would love recommendations for good places to try to get reservations.

Thanks!

PS taking my 7 (and a half!) year old son for his first trip to Disney World!!!!

 

[rlovew]

Why don't you try to make reservations and if you are successful add the deluxe plan- if nothing is available then don't bother with it.

 

[buckeev]

You should be able to do it. We just "threw together" a "last minute" trip starting this Friday. Booked it about 3 weeks out. I've been working the ADR web pages VERY aggressively, and have managed to get some reservations that I'm pleased with.
Character breakfasts were readily available too. Your 7 old will love those!
...Also...starting the 26th of this month, they will require a credit card on some of the reservations made from that point on, so make some reservations now to avoid that!

 

[MinnieGi]

I would play around with ADR's to see what is available before you book it.

Also I would caution you with a 7 yo that he/she may not like several sit-down meals a day. My 7yo DS is very active and has a hard time waiting to be seated and then to wait for the meal. He'd rather be doing, rides, swimming, playing...

We do several sit-downs over the course of a week but not even one a day, with deluxe you can book two or three a day and that would have my DS and 11 yo DD complaining as it really takes away from park time. IMHO

 

[thunderbird1]

You're going the week before Thanksgiving, which shouldn't be as busy as Thanksgiving itself (though it will get busier the closer you get). Also, the signature restaurants likely won't be as busy as the restaurants that only require 1 TS credit. Of course, the fact that there is free DDP available during that week will make it tougher to get ADR's. Lol, I'm no help, am I?

It's so easy to make ADR's online, that I agree with the PP's that you should play around with the reservations system and see what you can get before upgrading. If you can get the restaurants you want, then purchase the deluxe DDP; if you can't, then you know it wouldn't be worth it. If you can be flexible with your times, eating earlier (or later, though that might be tough with a 7yo), you should have better luck.

I'll also second the caveat about trying to schedule 3 TS meals a day with a child of any age. But it sounds like you want to use the extra credit for dinner shows or signature meals. I think that's a great plan, especially if you try to pick meals that will be fun for your ds.

Hope he enjoys his first trips to WDW!

 

[catne]

yep, go book all your reservations first...if you can get all your credits spent with reservations at places you want to eat on the schedule you like, then add the deluxe dining. I suspect you're going to have lots of choices if you can be a bit flexible with times & have several choices you'd try for each meal you want to book.

The restaurants, for the most part, are just not that busy during the less popular times of the year. Sure the most popular places do book up, but there are many good restaurants that would still be available. We're going this weekend...I have changed my dining reservations several times, including today (Tuesday) I changed Saturday lunch reservation, as well as Sunday lunch. And I added a Friday night dinner. Got all the times & places that I was looking for, too (two of the three were exactly the time I requested, the third change was 10 minutes after my requested time.)