What Happens If You Make No ADR's...?

[kaybird]

To me it is far more relaxing to know that I have a place to eat of my choice than to run all over WS hoping someone has availability. ADRs relieve my stress, not the other way around. YMMV.

I totally agree with this. Meals are very nearly the only thing we plan. Just let the rest of the trips take their course. But I hate waiting for extended periods of time, and find not having ADR'S much more stressful. If we find on a rare occasion that we want to do something else, I just call the WDW-dine line and ask them to release our ADR. Easy-peasy.

You will have a great trip either way!

 

[stitch34]

I was going say don't worry, just call maybe each morning and make some for the day when you know where you'll be at.
But... there is free dining going on. I don't care how slow a time it could be, with free dining that really makes it difficult. Because of that, I'd say if you have a couple must-have places you think you'd like to dine at, I'd book them now.

 

[Soarin_04]

He'd rather walk on his lips over broken glass than book anything in advance. He's the fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants kinda guy. It drives me insane, but...

That said...

We've had three trips to the world -- two during free dining, and one over Christmas. We've booked the restaurants we absolutely have to get into, but we've shot from the hip at the others, and only one time -- over that crazy, packed Christmas holiday -- did we ever start to get discouraged about finding a table. About an hour later, we walked right up to Tutto Italia with no problems at all.

Bottom line -- It can be done.

 

[fla4fun]

If you want to keep the trip super flexible, then just wait and see what's available when you get there. You will probably be able to eat somewhere decent, but it may be your second or third choice. I prefer checking via the website instead of calling because you get all the options laid out in front of you at once to choose from.

However, you can't give up hope of the popular places either. I was able to snag a Le Cellier lunch this morning for one of my days off this week (I'm off Wed-Fri) - I decided to do a day trip to Epcot and relieve a little stress. I was pleasantly surprised when Le Cellier popped up as available only three days out. Remember, room only cancellations can be made as late as five days out with no penalty, so sometimes it's best to try just a few days out to see what's available.

I was there for 10 days in September (free dining time, but I wasn't on free dining) and when waiting to get in for my Le Cellier ADR, I overheard several people being accepted as walk ins, and the hostess said that the reason they were accepting walk ins is they are having a big problem with no shows.

 

[tinkrebell]

I've walked up in later (busier) February with no ADR to Cinderella's Royal Table - just be prepared to eat when we did, because they were booked up the rest of the night. We came in straight from our hotel, got to the park, and found ourselves eating dinner at 4:30 in the afternoon!

Also to consider - Le Cellier won't have a bar, I believe, which hurts the ability to just grab a spot to eat. Cindy obviously doesn't, but the walk-ups we've taken before were a lot more fun when we sat at the bar of places like Jiko (were in the hotel and feeling crummy those days) and just chatted with the bartender. No wait, a full menu, and some witty banter for entertainment!

 

[MHSweb79]

It's just a question of eating at off-times or being willing to wait.

I think this is absolutely true, EXCEPT when free dining is going on. No matter how empty the parks are, no matter how short the lines are, the restaurants will be packed. The last two times I went during free dining, I saw party after party after party turned away from the restaurants we had ADR's for. This was around Labor Day, which is typically a slow period.

I understand wanting to be relaxed and free. I just don't see how it's relaxing to wander from podium to podium asking for a walk-up (you may get lucky on the 1st or 2nd try; you may not get lucky at all); waiting for two hours to be seated if you do find a place that will take you; eating at a restaurant that nobody else likes; or travelling to some far-flung resort to find availability.

IF you have the dining plan, you should make a few ADR's now and as others have said, you can always skip them if something better arises. Also try same-day ADR's and see what you can get.

If you decide to totally take your chances, then showing up 15 minutes before the restaurant starts serving lunch or dinner will give you the best shot of getting in. Finally, there's always counter-service.