What is your ideal ADR Window Poll

[shortchange1026]

Yes this would be the ideal scenario...walking in and getting served.

When I purchase a vacation I want to be done with it in one transaction. I do not care for the "game" of purchasing a room or package and then waiting months to find out the park hours Disney might be committing to along with early entrance/late night, event times, etc...and then the silly ADR game. It makes me feel we are more committed than Disney...

I agree. I voted for walk up..I hate the 180 day + 10 ADR thing, although I am happier to learn that they reduced it to 90. This last trip I only planned 3 ADR's spaced out over the course of the week because it was places we really wanted to eat and we worked around those and that was good enough for us. Rest of the time it was CS. We are not planners and I just can not be bothered with TGM, UG, etc to know when to go to what parks on what day, which will be less crowded, etc. We fly by the seat of our pants and each night it's, "which park do you want to do tomorrow"? If we miss a ride, oh well..we are not commando. We get park hoppers so we try to get back to a park before we leave to ride anything we might have missed. I'd hate to have 8 days worth of meals planned out 6 months in advance. Who knows what I'll want to eat 6 months ahead of time or I don't want to have to worry about being on line for SM and saying, oh, we need to be in EPCOT in an hour for our dinner ADR! Because of this, people do double bookings and I don't think that's fair.


I live for the old days in EPCOT when you could walk up to a restaurant and ask, "how long for a table for 2"? Or when you could walk up to the kiosk that morning and touch the screen and talk to and see an actual CM (yes, I know, I'm dating myself.. ) and make your dinner reservation.

 

[onelilspark]

I voted for "other" because sometimes my trips are 60 days out, other times they're 100, sometimes they're just a week!!

 

[LeesyUD]

I am happy they changed it to 90....I think 180 is too far out for alot of people....I think it will help a little bit with the number of people double booking and making reservations they do not plan to keep. If park hours were out 180 days out then I might feel differently. But it gives me something extra time to plan and makes me more likely to book a last minute trip like 3 or 4 months out.

 

[Pumbaa_]

so far 90 and 180 are running neck and neck! it may be a photo finish!

 

[colinsdad]

Although I voted 180, it really makes no difference to me. This change will not make it easier or harder to get any reservations, just the day you can make them.

For my next trip, I'm actually happy that they lowered the number to 90. With no park hours posted for May '09 yet, I'd hate to make my park days revolve around my ADR's. I prefer choosing where I'll be, then making ADR's.

So now I'll just be on the phone with WDW-DINE the minute they open in the morning at 90 days out (instead of 180). No biggie.

 

[MissionMouse]

...I live for the old days in EPCOT when you could walk up to a restaurant and ask, "how long for a table for 2"? Or when you could walk up to the kiosk that morning and touch the screen and talk to and see an actual CM (yes, I know, I'm dating myself.. ) and make your dinner reservation.

Yes, I remember those days walking into the area on the backside of Spaceship Earth and being greeted by a CM on a large screen and making your restaurant reservations for later that day without an issue.

 

[Tricia1972]

All this reminiscing of walking in makes me want to change my vote.

 

[Twende]

I like planning 6 months out. It was enjoyable to think about where we wanted to eat on each trip and then plan out the days based on the park schedules and our meal plans.

But with the park schedules not posted that far out, it makes it impossible any way!

 

[PoohsFan1]

I decided 90 is ideal for me because it's long enough to appeal to the OCD in me, but not so far out that my family looks at me as if I have 2 heads when I start asking about where they want to eat in 7 months. (Takes a month to get opinions and make a decision on where)

I agree with you here. Don't get me wrong, I too am a little OCD about things before our trip, but I really hate first trying to figure out where we are going to be staying and for how long, then turning around and having to find out where everyone wants to eat 6 months or more before our trip. My DH already gets tired of me talking about our trip that is in 2 months, which we have only started planning about 2 months ago, and he really gets irritated if I have been planning a trip for over a year and is bugging him about things like this.

 

[pinkerbell]

When I go during free dining 180 is the only way I have gotten all my ressies. And that was last year when I booked bounceback and called before public and visa free dining offer. With two little ones we make our table service in the park we are visiting. This limits our options. It is nice that Disney has the luxury of knowing that I will be there over a year in advance by booking early. They want to know so they can plan accordingly, is it too much to ask that I know where we will be eating 180 days in advance? Maybe if making a ressie were easier like online, but if we dont get one, we then may have to rearrange many and it is a pain. I get you have to be flexible, but we all have our favorites and if I wanted to eat just anywhere I wouldnt be flying 1300 miles away and going to Disney

 

[tinkerbell60]

I voted 60 because I get nervous but I miss the days when you could do a walk up. We have been going to Disney more often, so we are really laid back with our touring plans now. When we have a car we eat offsite sometimes. Now, I just book a few to make sure we are not stuck with counter service or if there is someplace we all really want to go.

 

[mdoc]

We go at very busy times and stay at the Fort Wilderness campground (which is hard to get into if you don't plan early), so I usually have my resort reservations a year (or more) in advance. That being the case, I voted for 180 day ADRs. I know I'm going and I can make the ADRs way in advance. It gives me an advantage over those who don't book their trips that far ahead of time. However, I think the 90 day window is probably more fair. In an ideal world, we could all walk up to our restaurant of choice and get right in, but I know that's never going to happen.

 

[cslittle999]

I voted 60 but I wish I could just walk up to the occasional restaurant or even make ADRs while I'm at WDW. WDW is the only place I have ever planned where I would eat more than a week ahead of time.

The move to 90 days from 180 days is positive although I think Disney did it so that they can more easily adjust parks hours rather than anything to do with dining.

 

[NMW]

I really liked the 180. 90 is not too bad, I just liked having it done earlier. Now I have to wait until Feb to call for my May ADR's. It seems like a really long time to wait.

 

[DaisyD23]

i voted 180 days however on our last trip we had only booked the trip a week before we went so those were some really last minute ADRs. On the other hand I have already started planning where we will eat during our next trip and that's not until Dec. 2010 LOL

 

[kaytieeldr]

Other. Three to seven days. At least maybe I'll know what I want to eat by then!

 

[Desnik]

I picked 180 days. I am an OCD planner and DVC member. So, our trips are booked a year in advance and I liked being able to make ADR's early.

 

[jimmalru80]

180 days worked fine for me.

 

[dvcdisney]

Definitely 180 days for me. I am an obsessive planner!

 

[angelmav]

Well it doesnt matter now, but the great thing about the 180 window is that you could book FD ADR's before they announced FD! Yes, it did mean gambling it would be offered, plus foregoing the +10 advantage, but by guessing on previous dates, I never had a problem and usually could beat the rush. Sadly, that little secret has bit the dust.