WDW with no ADR's...Crazy??

[RN jld]

My husbands grandmother called me a few days ago and said she wants to take her daughter (my MIL) my two DS's and myself to DW. Who am I to say no??? The reason for this trip is that my MIL was recently diagnosed with MS and she wants to enjoy her grandsons having a good time before it becomes difficult for her to walk (already having some issues with numbness) But seeing as how we booked less than 50 days out there isn't much available in the way of ADR's. I was going to just pick what was left but most are buffet (which we aren't really had into) and the others are signature restaurants and seeing as how this is a little last minute I haven't had time to save up to afford that. I also thought it might be good to let my MIL set the pace and decide when she needed a break and sit down to eat then. But I am worried about being able to walk up and being seated or having enough CS options. I know we won't starve to death for those 4 days, but seeing as how my last trip my ADR's were made at 180 days and I was so organized I am slightly freaking out. Someone tell me it will be OK please!!!!

 

[Nancyg56]

Where will you be staying? I ask because you can sometimes get an ADR at your resort restaurant.

I think that while it is nice to be able to have all of your meals planned in advance it is okay to rely on CS for a 4 day trip. For instance, I liked the CS meals at BOG better than that TS meal. Epcot has some really good CS options. You can check out the CS options in each park and plan on one that seems to suit you the best.

As you get closer there may be openings that people release as they firm up their plans and you may get one of those but I would not even worry about it, go and enjoy your trip.

 

[River Country]

When are you going? Where are you staying? You said 50 days out so are you going in April/May? There are plenty of non-signature non-buffet choices available.

Try these

Kona Cafe
Ohana not easy to get but i am goin the 3rd week of april and there are openings each day. Its not a Buffet its family style
The Wave
Grand Floridian Cafe
Whispering Canyon
Olivias
Liberty Tree Tavern Great for late Lunch
Raglan Road
La Hacienda
50's Prime Time Cafe


Or you could go with out ADR's
I did that one day on my last trip and will never do it again but thats just me

 

[danceintherain]

It is possible, but your options will likely be fewer once you're in the parks, so it depends on how flexible you are.

The best tip I can give you is to get to a hard to get restaurant right when it opens for the day. The likelihood of scoring a walk up is much higher at this point.
For example, if you want to eat at Sci Fi Dine In theater, get there at 11am.
If you want to eat at Ohana, get there at 5pm (or a little before).
Other off times are a bit easier as well (3pm for instance) but you'd likely have just as much luck getting an ADR now.

I know people who simply make their reservations the morning of and still enjoy their trips.

As for counter service, I suggest you peruse the menus. The only place that truly lacks variety is DHS. Everywhere else usually has something a bit different somewhere. I'm hoping to try all new counter service places this time around.

 

[jwfla422]

I'm surprised as well that there are no "good" ADRs left? Sounds like you're going around the same time we are and there's plenty of restaurants that are good with ADRs...just depends what you're looking for. We limit our buffets as well as I don't like to eat that much food. But after having experiences without ADRs won't do that again.

River Country mentioned several good restaurants that have lots of ADRs available for your time frame. Feel free to check my website below for reviews on many of those that were listed (and then some). Most of them have ADR availability as I'm in the middle of making ADRs for our trip the first weekend in May.

 

[squirrel4569]

Our first trip that we used the dining plan I was thinking that Counter Service meant walk up to a window and get food and good luck finding a place to sit somewhere around the park. I thought it would be like going to a ball game or what Six Flags/Cedar Point or a local fair is. We discovered that was completely off the mark and many of the counter service places have a good variety of food.

The CS at BOG is great. Not only is it considered CS but the food is excellent and they bring it to you.

You can also get things like the Pork Shank and the Turkey Leg which are a meal in themselves for relatively inexpensive.

We're doing a bit of an impromptu trip ourselves in August and are only doing one ADR and that's for the night we arrive. We're going to hit up Chef Mickey's so our girls can see the Fab Five right off the bat. We've got QSDP so we'll pay for that OOP. Other than that though all of our park time will be CS.

 

[Fratthouse]

Our first two trips were last minute and we went without any ADR's and had a great time (and ate pretty good, too!). We were able to get walk-ups at:

Tony's Town Square (no wait - went around 11 am)
Mamma Melrose (waited 10 minutes - went around 5:30)
Yak & Yetti (waited 10 minutes - went around 1 pm)
La Hacienda de San Angel (no wait - went around noon)
Liberty Tree Tavern (waited 5 minutes - went around noon)

We've always gone in September, so it's been relatively low crowds. But all of these were full in the reservation system yet we had no problems getting seated as a walk up. And there are probably lots more options if you venture outside of the theme parks. Go early, and if it's not during high season or at one of the few crazy-popular restaurants (Ohana, Le Cellier), you shouldn't have a problem.

I would also suggest continuing to check for availability between now and your trip. Our last trip I started booking our reservations around three weeks out and had all kinds of availability pop up as the trip got closer. I was able to get reservations everywhere I wanted - including Ohana and Le Cellier.

And worse case scenario, the counter service options aren't bad either. Have a great trip!

 

[rapunzel3]

First of all, you will be able to eat just fine without any ADRs. We ate at Tony's Town Square one night without one.

Also - keep checking. We got a bunch of ADRs only 60 days out last time, including CRT. People cancel 30-45 days before if they can't pay their balance.

 

[mmmears]

I prefer to have at least one ADR per day so I know where we will eat either lunch or dinner and I don't have to worry about it.

I booked last year with maybe 30 days to go -- we still were able to get plenty of ADRs (not buffets or signature either).

-- Check the restaurants at the resorts -- the are often better and have more openings.

-- Keep checking -- in the end I was able to get everything we wanted (even an early 'Ohana dinner on a MK late-open night!!!) Just be persistent.

-- There must be something available -- I was helping a friend last night with ADRs for June and while we couldn't always get 1st or 2nd choice, there were definitely plenty of choices available.