What do you do when ADR's go wrong???

[tjknitz]

Ok, so I have back ups and even back ups for my back up - BUT....what do you end up doing when you have to choose the restaurant that you want, but for a different day than you planned? I know a lot of people on here plan around the park hours, EMH or not EMH, Ridemax or Touring Plans best touring days, etc.....so the hours come out, you choose what days you want to be in what parks AND THEN......your ADR's just can't seem to coordinate

So what do you do? Do you book the ADR's and then change your plans for what days you are visiting what parks? Do you say 'forget it' and pick somewhere else to dine since you need to be in that park that day? Oh, I'm going to drive myself crazy with the possibilities...I just need my ADR date to get here already.

 

[mom2rtk]

So what do you do?

Sit down and cry??????? (OK, just kidding..... ) My problem is that I haven't talked my daughter into rearranging her birthday to accommodate ADR's going wrong.......... I wish they had some arrangement for making ADR's on birthdays without all this nonsense!

Bottom line is I don't HAVE a back-up plan...........

 

[vicki_c]

We just had a thread like this a few days ago, and I said that I would not change my park plans for meals. Nothing at Disney is that great IMO. There's good restaurants definitely, and experiences you can't get somewhere else, but I don't go to Disney for the eating, but for the parks and fun with my family. I always plan parks first, then meals. We've been making multiple ADRs for about our last 5 trips and I have never had a problem getting any ADR I wanted at the time I wanted, and where I wanted. I have not ever tried for a CRT or Le Cellier though, because I haven't wanted/needed to.

Some people do go to Disney for the dining though, so obviously they would feel differently.

Except for free dining and a few select restaurants (listed above), I don't find ADRs hard to get and think there's too much hysteria over ADRs. We're in hysteria mode to some extent because we're in the free dining booking time.

 

[penjen]

Most of our ressies are at or near either MK or EP. So if I can't get one then I switch the restaurant based on the planned park for the day.

 

[Corwin]

I ran into this exact problem when I made my reservations two days ago. I couldn't get a Fantasmic! dinner package for the day I wanted, but I was able to get it for another day. This means we now have to be in DHS on a day we didn't plan on going--in fact, it's a day when DHS is supposed to be avoided.

 

[mom2rtk]

I ran into this exact problem when I made my reservations two days ago. I couldn't get a Fantasmic! dinner package for the day I wanted, but I was able to get it for another day. This means we now have to be in DHS on a day we didn't plan on going--in fact, it's a day when DHS is supposed to be avoided.

Isn't EVERY day there's a Fantasmic show now considered a day to avoid?????

 

[ksumn1]

First, I sat down my family (me, DH and DD's ages 6 & 10) and had each one pick their absolute favorite restaurant and then 2ndfavorite . Some meals like CM, 'Ohana and Cape May Cafe were family favorites. Then I et the TA know which were our "must do's" each favorite meal, our Anniversary meal pick and then down the line. I tried to be as flexible as possible with times, too. We're also going for 7 nights 8 days, so we can rearrange parks etc (if needed) to make a meal. Most of our meals are dinner and since we leave the parks midafternoon and always get park hoppers it's not a huge deal to move things around. We got all our must do's except CM in a time that worked for us (9:05 pm when Spectro is at 9 doesn't work too well) and the MM Fantasmic package. I think if you didn't have park hoppers or a longer trip then just make 1st, 2nd even 3rd choices for meals. Try for your most important meal 1st and try to pick more than one day that would work with the meal. Then on down the list.

I kinda look at it this way....for us, it's free dining, I'm at WDW, I'm not having to cook, I can drink and not have to worry about drining if I want and any restaurant at WDW is above our usual Mcdonald's or Taco Bell so it's ALL GOOD!!!!

Just breath and try to keep the whole situation in perspective, don't look at it as I can't get my ADR's and that sucks, but as an opportunity to try new restaurants and cuisines.

Good luck!!!

 

[Corwin]

Isn't EVERY day there's a Fantasmic show now considered a day to avoid?????

Apparently some of the days are worse than others.

 

[mom2rtk]

First, I sat down my family (me, DH and DD's ages 6 & 10) and had each one pick their absolute favorite restaurant and then 2ndfavorite . Some meals like CM, 'Ohana and Cape May Cafe were family favorites. Then I et the TA know which were our "must do's" each favorite meal, our Anniversary meal pick and then down the line. I tried to be as flexible as possible with times, too. We're also going for 7 nights 8 days, so we can rearrange parks etc (if needed) to make a meal. Most of our meals are dinner and since we leave the parks midafternoon and always get park hoppers it's not a huge deal to move things around. We got all our must do's except CM in a time that worked for us (9:05 pm when Spectro is at 9 doesn't work too well) and the MM Fantasmic package. I think if you didn't have park hoppers or a longer trip then just make 1st, 2nd even 3rd choices for meals. Try for your most important meal 1st and try to pick more than one day that would work with the meal. Then on down the list.

I kinda look at it this way....for us, it's free dining, I'm at WDW, I'm not having to cook, I can drink and not have to worry about drining if I want and any restaurant at WDW is above our usual Mcdonald's or Taco Bell so it's ALL GOOD!!!!





Just breath and try to keep the whole situation in perspective, don't look at it as I can't get my ADR's and that sucks, but as an opportunity to try new restaurants and cuisines.

Good luck!!!

NOPE, not me. I'm fully prepared to throw a whiney fit if I don't get the ADR's I want!

OK, I'm only partially kidding..... We are creatures of habit and have certain places we have to eat or the trip's just not complete. We've known what we want to do on which day for over 2 months. If they still had 180 day ADR's, I'd be done and happy already.

I believe there should be a linear relationship between your desire to dine somewhere and your willingness to book insanely far in advance.......

 

[princessjane]

I also plan park days and then food. I try to stay opened minded. I love food, but I'm not going to Disney just to eat at LeCellier or O'hana. I look at the days we will be there and start my planning based on Park hours, EMH's and a list of what we want to do. I always have 1 Flexible day built in that I can work with(We typically do 7 Days). With this upcoming trip, the only day I was concerned about was my son's B-day. He wanted to be at MK in the morning, Character Lunch and then Epcot at night for Teppan Edo. I had no problem making ADR's. I didn't even call at the Crack of Dawn like some people do, I did fine! I did have a backup and a third but never had to go to them.

I pick parks based on EMH (I don't do early EMH, I'm on vacation and I'm not getting up at 6 am!). So I look at the touring recommendation. I Avoid the busiest parks for that day (I do try to hit MK for night EMH), base my ADR's on my Park schedule. I also take a break in the afternoon and park hop. It gives me lots of options. I also look at Transit times between the resorts and parks. Like this time I'm staying at WL but I don't have a car, so I stick with the Resorts closest to WL with the easiest access via boat or Monorail and go from there. So I won't be eating anywhere that I can't easily get to.

so Parks #1
Eating #2
Filling in the Touring plan for attractions #3

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I won't change our park days just because I can't get a particular ADR, I just find another restaurant. We are happy with a few choices in each park. It's easy if one is booked up, we always have luck in another.

 

[SweetSerenity]

I ran into a slight mishap earlier today when I was making my ADRs, but I had already prepared myself if something didn't work out. I, too, had planned out my days and we picked our meals around park visits, but were pretty flexible in choosing backups if needed. Fantasmic is a show we really really enjoyed, but unfortunately we're only going to be there for a Tuesday night show so we were aiming for a dinner package. Of course, nothing was available, but I managed to snag a 3:00 dinner outside of the package, which gives us the chance to still see the show. We'll have to stand in a longer line, no big deal. Was this our ideal plan? Of course not, but sometimes things work out in different ways. I just took a deep breath and shrugged it off. To us, going and enjoying attractions is more important than the dining.

To sum up, if you run into an obstacle on the day of your ADR reservations, just ask yourself what's more important- the parks or dining- and go from there. I don't think there's a "wrong" way to experience Disney, just ways that cater better to yourself and your family. Try not to stress too much over the ADRs, but good luck when you make them!

 

[stitch34]

I spent sooo much time planning our schedule - only to call for ADRs and have it completely changed.
First ressie I asked for was Garden Grill for our Epcot day. Nope. Nothing at all. HUH!? I was flustered. didn't know what to ask for next. So there went our Hollywood Studios day - it's now switched and became Epcot day. The one day I DIDN'T want to be eating at GG is when i got it (my sister-in-law joins us for a couple days - and every time end up taking them to GG - promised them something new this time- oh, well, looks like GG again for them!)
Otherwise, most of the ADR-making went okay.

So yes, have a backup place you want to dine at - or a backup day in mind or days you could switch if need to.

I also like to ask first for the ADRs that are most important to us.

 

[RMulieri]

It doesn't effect me really....I get park hoppers so i just try for different nights and times to get what I want.

 

[arielmomma]

We're just gonna go with the flow. We don't really care about which days we visit the parks. We would like to avoid EMH, but last year we went in September on EMH days and all of the parks were still dead. So, I don't think that it will be bad which ever days we go to different parks. My kids like the character meals so that is what we are striving for. If we can't get them all that will be okay too. Let's face it, we'll be at Disney. We are going to have a great time no matter what!

 

[cnjmom]

Let me preface this by saying that at the time we made our reservations, I wasn't really reading the Disboards (put it this way. The first time I called I didn't know what other restaurants would be 'fun' for kids besides 1900 Park Fare, CM or CRT. The CM suggested WCC). We decided to go June 10-16 mid-March, and we were already within our ADR window when I started making my dining ressies. At that time, we were staying offsite so I was trying to avoid EMH and had certain days that we were going to be in the parks.

I have called a bunch of times; by a bunch, probably at least 20. Around day 80 or so I got Whispering Canyon (dinner), two ressies for CP (lunch on two different days), 'Ohana for dinner (not too late, 8:05), Hoop-Dee-Doo (tier 1 since we aren't on DDP) and a few others that aren't as popular. Since that time, I have called to change a few things. I had to move WCC and got a different dinner day and time and added Akershus dinner. Those changes were made around the 50 day mark. Last week, around 20 days prior to my trip, I was offered two ressies at CRT for dinner. I know they aren't popular times (both days were dinners around 9:40, which I had to decline since it's just too late for my family), but I was tempted.

I guess my point is that even starting later than the 90 day ADR window, it's still possible to get ressies. I know I'm not going during free dining, but I am going during a popular time--all the hotels are pretty much booked solid the days I am going. It also helped that aside from a few ressies that I really wanted, I'm OK with just going with the flow. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing out on without dining at Le Cellier, but I don't think it would make or break my vacation. I am still trying to get CRT and I don't really care what meal it is, but if we don't get it, I think we'll still have fun. As I read over here all the time, it's Disney, after all.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

We just added the dining plan to days ago for June. Amazingly we were still able to secure some ADR's. Epcot seemed the easiest to get dinner reservations.
Keep trying.

 

[tami82]

I had my park schedule planned and wanted chef mickeys first night. Didnt get it but instead got Ohana at 8:10 so i was happy (although it was kind of late i was happy to at least get in and lucky that it wasnt even later then that. My 3rd & 4th day had to be switched around because I HAD to do Chef Mickeys (as I mentioned this place to my kids many times) and had availability for the 3rd night which kind of messed up my schedule a bit but i just switched days which was no big deal (i originally wanted for the first night but it was booked). So we will do Magic Kingdom 1st & 3rd day instead of 1st & 4th day. To me the meals were important because we were only there for 4 nights and i knew exactly what i had to get. Maybe if it wasnt my first time here i wouldnt have minded so much.

 

[srwarden1928]

It depends on the ADR. I am not going to a different park to get an ADR. I am going to the touringplans recommended park unless I have to break this to get to a park the number of times I want to in the trip.

If I want to eat at a park restaurant that is not available on the day I want it, I choose another restaurant. I would take a less convenient time to get the restaurant I want--lunch instead of dinner, or eating at 3:30 or 9:30. For example this trip we wanted to eat at Mama Melroses. It was not available for the day we wanted it, so we are eating at Hollywood & Vine instead.

On the other hand if it is a resort restaurant, it doesnt HAVE to make geographical sense. We are eating dinner at Ohana on our second AK day. That was when it worked out. Sure it would make sense to eat at Ohana on an MK day, but it just worked out better for us this time to do it the other way.

I always plan number of days for each park first, then consult the recommendations and plan which park on which day. Then I plan restaurants. We particularly enjoy several restaurants in Epcot, and 50s Prime Time is our favorite, so we always include it. If we are eating IN MK or AK, we usually eat CS. We are trying some resort restaurants this time. However, the restaurant choices are limited by the parks we have chosen, not the other way around. We do not hop--at least not yet. One day when we have been alot, we may choose to include hopping, but so far it has been unnecessary.

 

[dvcdisney]

I usually plan where we are going to be each day and choose a restaurant in or around that area. We have lots of favourites, but if there is no ADRs available for the day, and not the other days we are around that area then I just choose another one.

For instance, if I decided that we are going to be at MK for Tues, Thurs and the next Tues of our trip, and I want Ohana, then I will check for the first one, if not check the next date and so on. If none is available, I would most likely book another restaurant around there like Kona Cafe. But I would check back periodically for cancellations and definitely check on the day off at guest relations. I have picked up a Ohana ADRs on the day of once before.