What's all the fuss?

[disneybex]

I think whether it is free DDP or not makes a difference - the best places will be booked up.

Although when we went last September we were told there was a huge number of cancellations - at WCC a family were told the wait could be 10 minutes or 45 minutes depending on the cancellations (which they were getting a lot).

Now that WDW have prevented people booking 2 ADRs for the same time period, which some people were doing so that they can choose at the last minute it will be a lot better for knowing if it will ACTUALLY be full or just lots of ADRs booked.

 

[madalex]

I'm gonna get heat for this but all along I've felt that the ADR system was designed to get park visitors to do the one-upmanship thing.

Hunh? Although ADR's aren't "real" reservations, they are close enough. The concept of the "reservation" is widely used throughout the restaurant industry. So, what sort of "one-upmanship" is Disney trying to encourage by taking the concept of reservations and adopting it to Disney's needs?

 

[FireDancer]

Unless you are going during a very busy time like Christmas or free dining I think the furor over ADRs is over blown. I often make no more than 1 and have yet to starve to death at Disney. Sometime I have to eat at a non-standard time or go with a second or third choice but I am not going to micro-manage my trip to death and trying to figure out when I'll be hungry or where I will be when I get hungry 90 or 180 days out is pretty much my definition of micro-managing.

 

[carrie1626]

My upcoming trip is just with my sister and parents. Both of my parents have diabetes. My mom will use a wheelchair, which either my sister or myself will be pushing most of the time. By having those ADR's we have quaranteed ourselves no worries.

 

[epcot.girl]

I often make no more than 1 and have yet to starve to death at Disney.

I've never seen anyone suggest that you'll starve without ADRs, but rather that they're recommended if you have your heart set at eating somewhere in particular.

 

[edcrfv]

It was 7 nights. No character meals as there are no small children. We ate at Kouzzina(2x), yachtsman, Shulas, the better of the places in Italy not the pizza/pasta one, citricos, the place in Morocco. I only ate a disney burger once all week, for lunch found the Fountain to be a notch above Disney food. Also thought the BBQ place in Animal Kingdom to be good. As for the restaurants in Epcot and other parks, they're just OK, I would much rather pay those prices for a REAL elegant dinner,not a rushed Disney(get you in and out dinner). Try a Ruths Chris, Capital Grille or Mortons if you're willing to spend that kind of money.

 

[Uno Mas]

Unless you are going during a very busy time like Christmas or free dining I think the furor over ADRs is over blown. I often make no more than 1 and have yet to starve to death at Disney. Sometime I have to eat at a non-standard time or go with a second or third choice but I am not going to micro-manage my trip to death and trying to figure out when I'll be hungry or where I will be when I get hungry 90 or 180 days out is pretty much my definition of micro-managing.

I'm with you. I hate having to plan my entire day around when I need to leave to get to a reservation - you never know where you may be or what you may be doing at that given time. I like to eat when I'm hungry and I've eaten at all the signature restaurants many times, so the draw to eat somewhere "special" isn't that big. I've had much success as a walk up with a famiily of four during varied times of the year at many places - including the "infamous" Le Cellier. And if they turn me away, no big deal. I'll find somewhere else to eat. Like you - I've never gone hungry at Disney!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Well--we've never felt rushed at Shula's, that's for sure. And we have learned to prevent the rush at all places by simply ordering one part of the meal at a time.
But I guess you got lucky getting in w/o any reservations, as the Boards often tell of no availability for walk-ups, or at least long waits.

 

[edcrfv]

Shula's wasn't meant to be included in the rushed meals. that was more meant for the park restaurants

 

[k^2]

It was 7 nights. No character meals as there are no small children. We ate at Kouzzina(2x), yachtsman, Shulas, the better of the places in Italy not the pizza/pasta one, citricos, the place in Morocco. I only ate a disney burger once all week, for lunch found the Fountain to be a notch above Disney food. Also thought the BBQ place in Animal Kingdom to be good. As for the restaurants in Epcot and other parks, they're just OK, I would much rather pay those prices for a REAL elegant dinner,not a rushed Disney(get you in and out dinner). Try a Ruths Chris, Capital Grille or Mortons if you're willing to spend that kind of money.

OP, not trying to be mean, but it seems to me that you didn't eat at any of the really popular places (note that "popular" does not necessarily mean "the best"... it just means popular). Like PPs said, tell me that you walked up to CRT, 'Ohana, Cali Grill, Le Cellier and I'll be impressed in the low crowds and your good luck. But if you don't have any specific wants and are okay with, "Oh, Marrakesh has an open table... let's go there!" then going without ADRs works for you. Personally, I like to try new restaurants and I like to have things planned, so ADRs works for me.

 

[JenKatt]

It was 7 nights. No character meals as there are no small children. We ate at Kouzzina(2x), yachtsman, Shulas, the better of the places in Italy not the pizza/pasta one, citricos, the place in Morocco. I only ate a disney burger once all week, for lunch found the Fountain to be a notch above Disney food. Also thought the BBQ place in Animal Kingdom to be good. As for the restaurants in Epcot and other parks, they're just OK, I would much rather pay those prices for a REAL elegant dinner,not a rushed Disney(get you in and out dinner). Try a Ruths Chris, Capital Grille or Mortons if you're willing to spend that kind of money.

You just spelled out exactly why you had no issues. Not one of those places is a real "must do" for people. Having done the ADR and non ADR route, you don't have to do them if you aren't set on places. Most are though. Try walking up to CRT or Hoop de Do at prime times and you'll be turned away.

 

[Planogirl]

We only have a few places that we really like and feel like must-dos and we like them for lunch. I know that they can get jammed so I make ADR's. I find the waits to be shorter when we have ADR's.

 

[MisWal]

I think the fuss is if you want a particular restaurant on a particular night. Then, an ADR is a good way to insure that you do get in that night.

If you are more flexible and don't have must-do's, then winging it can work fine.

 

[eliza61]

Just got back from WDW on Sat. and don't understand the big deal of making reservations. Did not make one and never had a problem getting into a restaurant for dinner. Each night was also a different size party(2 to 7), never had to wait more than 10 minutes. Also these waits were fabricated by each place to make them look busier then they actually were. I would say that most restaurants were at minimum 30% empty, tables open everywhere as we looked in to each place.

Personally I think it's simply a very clever marketing ploy by disney. over stress the importance of adr's so this way you are guaranteed that your restaurants are full.

I too don't do adr's and have never, ever in my life of going to disney had to settle for a cs when I wanted a TS.

I do agree that if you want a character meal, make an adr. but this myth that you'll eat hamburgers every day if you don't have an adr is a huge non truth.

Lastly, there isn't a restaurant on site that is worth me waiting 40 minutes for or one that I would get upset if I didn't have a chance to go to.

 

[edcrfv]

K^2
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Not to be mean also,but we are talking "Disney dining",none of it would be my idea of a good meal. Lets face it its Disney, overpriced, over-rated and most of it is just plain OK at best.(There idea of dining is "get'em in get'em out, next") For the prices they charge I would expect Five star dining, but what you get is Disney dining.
If you consider Shulas not one of the best places in Disney then what is?, I'm talking Quality in food,service and atmoshere, not "I can see the castle from here". Anywhere in Epcot is just food, nothing special, I had no reason to care where to eat, if I was in Park A, I wasn't going to rush out to Park B just for a meal. Why micro-manage its supposed to be a vacation, remember "Relaxing". Way to many "stressed" people at Disney, just sit back and enjoy, life is to short.

 

[k^2]

K^2
__________________
Not to be mean also,but we are talking "Disney dining",none of it would be my idea of a good meal. Lets face it its Disney, overpriced, over-rated and most of it is just plain OK at best.(There idea of dining is "get'em in get'em out, next") For the prices they charge I would expect Five star dining, but what you get is Disney dining.
If you consider Shulas not one of the best places in Disney then what is?, I'm talking Quality in food,service and atmoshere, not "I can see the castle from here". Anywhere in Epcot is just food, nothing special, I had no reason to care where to eat, if I was in Park A, I wasn't going to rush out to Park B just for a meal. Why micro-manage its supposed to be a vacation, remember "Relaxing". Way to many "stressed" people at Disney, just sit back and enjoy, life is to short.

I didn't say that Shula's wasn't a good restaurant. I said it wasn't one of the most popular restaurants. Personally, I try to stay away from restaurants that I can get at home on vacation... but that's just me. We all have our own way of vacationing, and my way is to plan ADRs for the restaurants I'm really excited to try. I've only tried a few Disney TS restaurants so far, so I'll have to see how they stack up in quality in food, service, and atmosphere myself in September. But if I truly want an elegant meal, I can get one at home. Disney restaurants, to me, are more about fun and experiences I can't get normally!

Just my two cents.

 

[edcrfv]

See the thread title "Which Chain restaurant,please" I guess i'm not alone. Sorry but if I'm paying top dollar,I expect top quality and service. On vacation I expect better then I get at home, not the same or lower quality

 

[Ramsfan28]

I'm gonna get heat for this but all along I've felt that the ADR system was designed to get park visitors to do the one-upmanship thing. We've gone at various times of year and at various hours and have never been turned away at a restaurant. Was told we'd have to wait a half hour and one time we had to wait an hour and a half (but we knew it would be that long so we found stuff to busy ourselves with) but we've never been turned away.
Obviously I don't make ADR's and completely see where the OP is coming from.

I'm ready for my flogging now.

No flogging, but ADR's make my vacations easier to plan. While some have to wait 30+ minutes to dine, I can walk-up and be seated almost immediately.

Not sure when you go (or where you go), but at places like Brown Derby, Citricos, California Grill, etc you will almost certainly be turned away and I have seen lots of people walk away from those restaraunts very upset just because they didn't have an ADR.

To each their own really and I just wish more people didn't want to make ADR's.

 

[RMulieri]

ADR's are not for everyone, and not everyone wants to plan that far out.But when you have small children who eat at certain times and a husband who will revolt at the thought of "winging it" , you make the adrs..Will you starve without them? absolutely not.If you are willing to eat at off times, eat at less popular places,have a car to move around etc.You can manage quite well.I think for me it wastes MORE valuble park time trying to figure out where we can eat,and then maybe waiting for a table-it adds more stress then just making an adr at 180 days out.We also rely on disney transportation and tend to travel during FREE DINING times which can make walking up anywhere a challenge.

 

[BriarRosie]

It was 7 nights. No character meals as there are no small children. We ate at Kouzzina(2x), yachtsman, Shulas, the better of the places in Italy not the pizza/pasta one, citricos, the place in Morocco. I only ate a disney burger once all week, for lunch found the Fountain to be a notch above Disney food. Also thought the BBQ place in Animal Kingdom to be good. As for the restaurants in Epcot and other parks, they're just OK, I would much rather pay those prices for a REAL elegant dinner,not a rushed Disney(get you in and out dinner). Try a Ruths Chris, Capital Grille or Mortons if you're willing to spend that kind of money.

I'm not surprised about Shula's, since it's not on the Disney Dining Plan. I happen to think it's better than Yachtsman in terms of steak quality, but that's another topic.

Most of the places you mention are not on most people's radar, so there are some places that are easier to get into. I can't think of a time when Marrakesh didn't have availability when the other Epcot restaurants were booked solid. I'm with you on the Fountain. The burgers there are better than Disney's.

In other posts you were complaining about Disney pricing. Unfortunately, there isn't much of an argument anyone can make to support that stance, because Disney is taking full advantage of "resort bubble" pricing. You're going to pay more within a vacation resort than outside one, no matter where you vacation. You'd have to venture off-property in a car to find more reasonable pricing.

Ok, to swing back to the ADR topic, I agree with others that if you choose restauants that are not the most popular, you probably will get lucky walking up without an ADR.