What's your experience when no ADR?

[lizanne]

We're the type of people who would rather decide where to eat when we are in WDW rather than 6 months in advance. This has never been a problem in the past but it sounds like it may be this time.

Our last trip (Dec'05) we couldn't get into LeCellier, so we did make ressies there for our next trip (Oct'28 thru Nov'07) - but no other ADR's. That was the only place we had a problem last year.

We have the DDE card and will be using that, not the DDP.

Could you please let me know of any experiences you have on getting same day ressies or walk-ups. We are 2 adults.

Thanks.

 

[Mary Anne]

I will let you know when I get back. We're there the last week in August and I'm not doing any ADR's. To be honest we aren't planning very many big meals out. this is a low budget vacation, meaning DVC points, annual passes already paid for and not planning on spending a lot of $$$ on anything. We'll eat most if not all of our meals in our DVC - 1 bedroom, full kitchen, but I do have $250 in Disney Dollars that we'll use for counter foods. It's been a while since we've enjoyed Peco Bills, The Plaza and Harbor House. I'm really looking forward to eating my "main" meal counter service this trip.

 

[kathyseb]

We spend four weeks (spread out over three different trips) a year down at the World and make one advanced reservation. That is for the Candlelight Procession package.

We have never had trouble getting seated anywhere. But we eat our main meal about 4ish.

 

[Honeymooner04]

When my husband and I went on our honeymoon in 2004 we had no idea what Priority Seatings were let alone that you needed them. We ate at some (we thought) nice places on no more than a days notice. If I remember correctly we ate at:
The Brown Derby (2 times because we really liked it)
Cap'n Jacks (2 times because, again because we really liked it)
Crystal Palace (our first character meal!)
Garden Grille (because we had so much fun at Crystal Palace)
Sci Fi
50's Prime Time
San Angel Inn
Boatwrights

Have a good, spontaneous trip!

 

[Deb & Bill]

With so many people getting the dining plan and the ability to make ADRs 180 days out, I'd recommend one or two more if you have places where you'd like to eat.

 

[FOTM_Ring_Bearer]

We didn't make any ADR's before we arrived on our last trip. (July 6th - 14th) We made them after we arrived. And we had no problems, but most of our TS meals were lunches, except for the Flying Fish and Boatwrights for dinner. Our lunch ADR for the Crystal Palace was made the same day.

We ate lunch at: Teppanyaki, Tony's, Brown Derby and the Kona Cafe. We also had lunch at Capt Jacks without an ADR.

I almost forgot, we had breakfast twice at Olivia's without an ADR.

If there is someplace you really want to eat at, I would make an ADR for that. I think you would have better luck getting into the resorts than the parks without an ADR. But it all depends on how popular the resturant is.

Have a great trip!

 

[DVC Grammy]

Other than for special meals (b'days, etc.), we don't make too many ADR's. Most of the time, we'll have a couple of alternatives in case every TS is booked. We tend to go for fairly lengthy stays, so eating at a CS in a park, or travelling to DTD or to one of the resort restaurants is another fun part of the WDW experience. We find the boat, ferry, monorail, or bus trip part of pleasure of being in WDW. There's always something to enjoy, even if it's the antics of some of the fellow passengers .
But then, we go to WDW to relax (yes, relax) . (And that's the best part of being DVC!!)

 

[Ali and boyz]

I tried to make additional ADR's twice for DTD and there was non available so we decided to go over anyway and see what we could get. We walked right into Raglan Road and the place was empty so were several others

 

[canwegosoon]

Past 4 trips I have always made ADR's...I hate going somewhere and finding that there is no seating. Since I usually travel during Spring Break, Easter or Christmas...I feel they are necessary. I have witnessed many people turned away due to no adr's and no availbility for walkups.

If you want to wait, until you get there...that's fine. There almost always seems to be availbility at many of the resort restaurants(I have had great luck at the GF for breakfast-when we couldn't make it over to our adr before the end of breakfast)

I also find that traveling with children forces you to plan ahead since some times you want to have meals in the parks or a package like Fantasmic or even CP.
Good Luck

 

[JimMIA]

With so many people getting the dining plan and the ability to make ADRs 180 days out, I'd recommend one or two more if you have places where you'd like to eat.

I agree. The picture is changing. Visitation is up, the DDP is very popular (whether paid or free), and it's just plain harder to get in many of the restaurants.

We had the same Le Cellier experience reported above last Dec, due to CP packages. They were so overbooked they were not even keeping a waitlist.

We're doing ADRs well in advance now, and even doing them 4 months out, we are not always able to get exactly the times we want.

 

[DisneyHumbug]

DD and I are going for a long weekend in October and haven't made any ADRs. I was trying to find out which restaurants are NOT on the DP, but it doesn't seem like there are too many. I guess we better make a plan.

 

[deedeetoo]

We were there June 30 - July 8. The restaurants were turning away people without ADRs. They weren't even allowing people to wait. This was at dinner - we didn't do any TS lunches. After seeing that, I am planning to always make ADRs.

 

[AnnetteF]

We were there in Sept. 2005 from 9/4-9/12 (party of 5 - me, DH, DD18 mos., DMil and DFil). I have always hated having my vacation all planned out and knowing what each day would be like months in advance. I had only made 4 ADR's for that trip - 3 dinners and 1 breakfast. My ADR's were for LTT, O'Hana (the breakfast one morning and the dinner another evening) and Garden Grill. We wound up cancelling Garden Grill altogether because it didn't fit in with our plans. On the day of our O'hana dinner, we decided we would rather go another night and were able to change it from Friday to Sunday evening with no problem. The rest of the trip we were able to be seated wherever we wanted. Granted, we didn't try for other popular character meals, but some of the other places we ate with little or no wait were: WCC, Rose & Crown, Olivia's (twice), and Grand Floridian Cafe. We also were able to get into 50's Prime Time with what would have been a short wait but then decided not to stay for that one for other reasons. In each case, we got to the restaurant right around 5 P.M. since, having an 18 month old, worked best for us. I'm not sure what the results would have been had we arrived later in the evening, but we really had no problem. This year we are going in October and I realize this is a busier month but I am still going to take my chances for some of the nights and I have only made ADR's for a few meals that we want to be sure not to miss - mostly for DD's sake. Good Luck and have a great vacation!

 

[DonnaL]

We also never make ADR's, however, we tend to usually eat any TS meals as a later lunch (between 2 and 3 p.m.) and also travel during non peak periods.
Our vacations are usually early December, early to mid January, and early May. This year we're going to F & W for the first time so we'll see if we have any problems with dining during that timeframe.

 

[Judique]

We're the type of people who would rather decide where to eat when we are in WDW rather than 6 months in advance. This has never been a problem in the past but it sounds like it may be this time.

Our last trip (Dec'05) we couldn't get into LeCellier, so we did make ressies there for our next trip (Oct'28 thru Nov'07) - but no other ADR's. That was the only place we had a problem last year.

We have the DDE card and will be using that, not the DDP.

Could you please let me know of any experiences you have on getting same day ressies or walk-ups. We are 2 adults.

Thanks.

Last month (July), we made ADR's and planned a couple of no ADR days. On one non ADR day we were in Epcot around 6ish and tried Le Cellier, Mexico, Italy, England and France and no luck for the evening. We did CS at Mexico.

 

[Dean]

Many are stating they are having problems getting in at any reasonable times. I'd recommend making a range of reservations that are your best guess then when the time comes, don't be a slave to them. If your plans don't work with the reservation at hand, change it if possible or look at other options including counter service. Please cancel any you don't end up expecting to use so others may get in.

 

[BeachClubBelle]

My husband and I have been in the DVC since 2001. We usually go twice a year. We seldom make ADR's. We also like to eat when and where we feel like it and ddon't know 6 months in advance where we would like to eat. One thing we learned is that there are some restaurants you really do need to book in advance. Le Cellier is one of them. We tried in May just for lunch and could not get in. The only one I book in advance (and only about a week or two) is Shula's at the Dolphin.

A trick we've learned that works for us, is eating our main meal later in the day. More of a late lunch/early dinner type of thing. I love Alfredo's in Epcot. However, I don't find it necessary to have the whole big meal. I like a bowl of pasta and theirs is so good. I usually go for lunch twice while I'm there. We stroll in around 3ish -4 and need no reservation. It is also much cheaper.

If it's just the two of you this is easy to do. It works with most of the places we like.

 

[MiaSRN62]

We were just in WDW 8/4--8/17 (a portion of that time was during FREE dining). We were able to make a couple ADR's just before we left for good dining times. Once in WDW we added a few more. But for walk-ups, it was difficult. We found the best luck walking up either very early or very late. We noticed the largest waiting times from 5-8 pm. The only ressie we could secure at Ohana was 4:10 pm. And there was already a line beginning to form at that time for walk-ups. Boma was packed early on, but by 9:30 it seemed easier to get into without ADR. So without ADR's, I think your best bet will be to eat early or late. If you're going during free dining period expect HUGE crowds.....we could really tell a difference from the first and second halves of our vacation the change in crowds.

 

[lizanne]

I'm the OP and we decided that we'd make ADRs for Jiko, Brown Derby, Citricos, Yachtsmans and (as mentioned before) Le Cellier. We also have one for the night we go to MNSSHP. When making these ressies I had no problem, actually all times were open - but I feel better knowing that we have definite plans to eat at places we didn't want to miss.

As originally posted by DVC Grammy - "But then, we go to WDW to relax (yes, relax). " So do we.

 

[Eeyore's Tailfinder]

I would have a rough look at some menus and places where you'd like to eat at and make ADRs for them...

The ADR system is set up so that if you miss your ADR or don't turn up then it's no biggie, and they just give your table to the next people waiting - I would make some just to be safe, then if you decide you don't want to eat there, then don't....