Why all of this mystery & hassle?

[Jschlich]

Maybe I'm out of step with most of the folks here but I am honestly trying to understand.

Why can't I go to a site and find WDW restaurants that are able to accept reservations for the next few days?

Is part of the WDW adventure that you have to expend the time of reading menu after menu, make a toll call time after time and finding out that what you want isn't available?

Knowing what you want to eat and when you want to eat it six months in advance is an artform/talent/skill that I wouldn't wish for myself. To do it for myself is impossible and doing it for others seems even more a loosing effort.

More power to the folks who do their thing and do the legwork, make their plans and expend the effort way in advance. I don't want them to take any penalty at all [as long as they show-up for what they reserved].

What about folks who book the WDW lodging, buy the WDW tickets and anticipate they might want to eat something but have no idea months out what they would like to eat? I got no problem finding a place is booked and not available when I call for a reservation but things seem to be set-up more in favor someone else.

I have no problem getting into a car and driving off to an area restaurant and I'm becoming more and more convinced that there will be no dining anywhere on the WDW property unless I had reservations in 6 months ago.

Sorry if this seems to be a "downer" message but it is not. I'm just not into this type of effort when I'm supposed to be planning a vacation.

 

[TDC Nala]

Some vacations require more planning than others.

Walt Disney World is very large and very popular, and a destination like that takes what seems like a great deal of planning to get the most out of it. I know there used to be times of year when you could just buy tickets and a room and forget about everything until you got there. With the current popularity of the WDW resort, that's much more difficult if not impossible to do.

You can't go to a website because Disney doesn't have one for dining availability. Dining reservations are done entirely by phone and WDW does not use toll-free calling numbers.

 

[DisMN]

After a dozen or so well planned (read: obsessively planned) trips, we now travel down to WDW with very little pre-planning.
OP, depending on the time of year you go and if you're flexible when you get there you can still get spur of the moment or day-before dining reservations.

It always seems like everyone else is making their ressies and snapping them all up but we've found that only true for the most popular restaurants AT the most desirable times. Like I said, be a little bit flexible and I think you can go without super duper uber planning. LOL

Good luck!

 

[jenn-]

I don't necessarily know what I am going to eat 6 months out, but I do know what kind of foods I typically gravitate towards. I am able to look at a menu and know whether or not the place will be somewhere that can accomidate my diet or not. The whole planning 6 months out thing was weird for me too, but after a few less than stellar trips because we didn't know when or where we were going to eat, I am glad to have my meals scheduled.

 

[mskayjay]

One of my pet peeves with how WDW has changed. Used to be you could just stop along the way and grab a bite to eat, then it went to where if you were a WDW resort guest you could call same day and get priority seating (that was very nice but not excessive!), now you have to plan which park each, what to eat for all involved, time of day, around what events, etc. So much for "relax and unwind". Of course after all the planning....you need to! lol I just don't like feeling like may whole vacation is preplanned......

 

[TDC Nala]

At many restaurants, if you are not visiting at peak times, you can still get same-day reservations or book them within a couple of days. There are a few restaurants that have become so popular that the odds of getting in without a reservation made at least a few months ahead of time are slim.

It's also much more difficult to walk into theme park restaurants without a reservation and be seated, especially during peak or moderate attendance times. If there is availability at all, there's usually a long wait time attached.

One of the lower attendance times, August/September, has been obliterated for dining spontenaity by the free dining promotion. Now, everyone wants restaurant reservations as soon as possible for the time when free dining is offered.

 

[planitdad]

Such is the Wonderful World of Disney Dining! I remember last year when we were seated front & center for the Spirit of Aloha the waiter said to me "You must have made reservations a looong time ago!" I just chuckled and said I did.

 

[pooch]

BECAUSE everything is pre-planned. You can certainly wing it at WDW just not at the popular restaurants. There are more than enough counter service places to eat. But, because the restaurants are part of the fun for us, I make sure we have the necessary ADRs. You don't just show up at the airport, you make reservations in advance. You don't just show up at the Poly, you make reservations. WDW restaurants are the same these days. You gotta do what you gotta do!!!!

 

[dbarker]

For us, planning our dining 6 months out is not a major issue.

1) We usually eat about the same time every day. (that's half the battle in planning dining ressies)

2) I know what foods / restaurants we would like to eat. (that's the other half of that battle) The menus help a ton on these decisions.

I make ADRs for B'fast and Supper only. Lunch will always be a CS.

Anyway, that's how we plan our ADRs. We will be at WDW in about a year and I am already starting to plan where / when we are going to eat.

 

[itchin2go]

For this trip, I have only made reservations for dinner. That leaves us wide open for plenty of spontaneity during the day, when we'll be eating CS. If the dinner I have booked doesn't appeal to us at the time (and that sometimes happens), we call Disney Dining as soon as possible and see what we can change it to. This has never really been a problem but we have always visited in January (December this year!). Don't see what the big deal is. Make some reservations so you'll be covered, but you can always try to change them once on property. No biggie. You should be able to get reservations for plenty of places the day of - provided you're not visiting in peak season.

If you want Cali Grill at fireworks time, or Cindy's castle, well, those DO require advance planning. You probably won't get those if you call the day of. However, I've never had trouble getting those reservations, say 90 days out (in January, mind you). Again, don't see what the big deal is.

No one is asking that you magically know what you'll feel like eating 6 months in advance. It's just prudent to make a few ADRs to make sure you have options. Takes me 15 minutes or less to make 5 or 6 dinner reservations...

 

[rentayenta]

For me the planning is relaxing and very interesting, I guess it fits my personality. Like others have said: we eat around the same time daily, we know which foods we like and don't, and we have been able to get ADRs last minute and totally change the plan.

 

[mskayjay]

For this trip, I have only made reservations for dinner. That leaves us wide open for plenty of spontaneity during the day, when we'll be eating CS. If the dinner I have booked doesn't appeal to us at the time (and that sometimes happens), we call Disney Dining as soon as possible and see what we can change it to. This has never really been a problem but we have always visited in January (December this year!). Don't see what the big deal is. Make some reservations so you'll be covered, but you can always try to change them once on property. No biggie. You should be able to get reservations for plenty of places the day of - provided you're not visiting in peak season.

If you want Cali Grill at fireworks time, or Cindy's castle, well, those DO require advance planning. You probably won't get those if you call the day of. However, I've never had trouble getting those reservations, say 90 days out (in January, mind you). Again, don't see what the big deal is.

No one is asking that you magically know what you'll feel like eating 6 months in advance. It's just prudent to make a few ADRs to make sure you have options. Takes me 15 minutes or less to make 5 or 6 dinner reservations...

I totally agree that this is how it is in January, having been there/done that before. This is our first time going during free dining (can't change the date of our anniversary!) and you have to have all your TS selections done and set or you may find you can't eat anywhere! So yes, unfortunately we did have to decide months in advance where to eat and also be limited on times to dine at certain places. It is hard for people who are used to be a bit more spontaneous like you and I are!

 

[mskayjay]

BECAUSE everything is pre-planned. You can certainly wing it at WDW just not at the popular restaurants. There are more than enough counter service places to eat. But, because the restaurants are part of the fun for us, I make sure we have the necessary ADRs. You don't just show up at the airport, you make reservations in advance. You don't just show up at the Poly, you make reservations. WDW restaurants are the same these days. You gotta do what you gotta do!!!!

You cannnot wing it and eat at ANY of the nicer restaurants now adays without ADRs (at least during free dining time). It isn't just the top 5 that are booked, it is everything. Knowing what we want to eat/feel like having each day and what time we'll be hungry is a far cry from planning what days we'll be on vacation and flying. Sorry. We're spontaneous people so this is kind of tough for us. I'm feeling like those people on that cruise ship commercial where everyone is herded off to do things at the same time, constantly watching their watches and stuff. The flexibility is gone.

 

[BriarRosie]

The interesting thing is, only within the last 3 years or so has the 180 days in advance been an issue....the Disney Dining Plan. Ever since that went into effect, it's been a challenge to get into restaurants that feature 1 table service credit.

It wasn't that long ago that dining reservations would be 60 days in advance, only. To put things into greater perspective, back in 1992, my first experience staying onsite was at Port Orleans (which is "French Quarter" now). And one of the "perks" staying onsite was that you could making dining reservations a whole 1-2 days in advance!

So yes, it's a bigger pain to plan where you want to eat 6 months from now. But I've found that if people have a plan what parks they want to visit first, they make their dining arrangements around the park visits. It's easier to eat at the park you're at than it is to travel to one just to dine there.

Or, it's easier to dine at a resort close to the park you're at, as well. Often the resort hotels (other than character meals) restaurants are easier to get ADRs than theme park restaurants. If you're on the DDP, you probably only want the 1 table credit vs. the 2 table credit places. Luckily, I believe all the resorts (that have table service available) have a "1 table service credit" restaurant.

 

[ms mouse]

I too can remember the days we would make our lunch reservation for CRT at the podium first thing that morning. Boy are those days gone. But that said we have favorite places to eat and its less pressure on me to have ADRs for those places. We didnt have one meal planned at Epcot two trips ago and after trying to get in at 3 different spots we ended up grabbing something and fighting for a place to sit. Never again!!!

 

[KristiMc]

I enjoy making my reservations - part of the fun of planning

 

[Jschlich]

Well, I guess variety in vacation planning is just like everything else in life. Thank you to all who left comments. I'm not sure it helped but I certainly understand the why for the various feelings.

I'm getting the feeling that I'll be much happier with no DDP since they happily take your money but won't make the effort to offer a simple guide of where to use your credits..........unless you book it all six months in advance when everything is available.

Even if it was possible to go somewhere and ask, "What's available?" would be a step forward. That is rather than trying to work through the method the seems to be in place and required to find a place to eat at WDW.

I'm sure we'll enjoy whatever works out, wherever we eat on or off the property.

 

[sharadoc]

Hi,

I haven't been there for over 10 years, so the internet wasn't even an issue the last time we planned our trip. Birnbaum's guide was the best you couldl do, so everything was an adventure! The advice then - go straight to the restaurant that you plan to eat dinner at and make your reservations when the park opens!

I agree that the spontaneity is gone because of all of the commando planners - not that there's anything wrong with that. There are folks who absolutely have to know the what, where and when before they can relax, while others (me included) believe in "whatever comes along."

That said, I have already read and printed out almost all of the menus on this site of everywhere we want to eat. We will make reservations when the January park hours calendars come out, so we can plan where we will be on certain days. Then I'll extrapolate from there, like we'll go to Cape May for breakfast on a late morning for Epcot World Showcase, we'll do a Grand Floridian breakfast or lunch on a Spectromagic Day at MK, and fill in from there.

I believe that the long-term planners (NOT during free dining) need to do it that way, but it won't be EVERYONE, so you will be able to find something you like. It may not feel like it when you're reading everything, but the members of this board are only a small percentage of the guests at WDW at any given time. I think the most important thing to remember is that you'll be back, so if you miss it this time, you can do it next time!

We considered the dining plan and figured that there weren't enough table service restaurant to justify the cost for us. We'll be eating breakfast in our cabin a lot, and counter service a lot of the time. TS will be reserved for character meals mostly.

Good luck, relax and enjoy! Disney Magic is the best part of the trip, not what you eat!

 

[DisMN]

Even if it was possible to go somewhere and ask, "What's available?" would be a step forward. That is rather than trying to work through the method the seems to be in place and required to find a place to eat at WDW.

I'm sure we'll enjoy whatever works out, wherever we eat on or off the property.

Well actually that IS quite possible and we've done it this way many many times. Sometimes we're seated almost immediately and sometimes they put us down for a meal later on in the day. We sometimes also call the dining reservation number in the morning and ask THEM what's available.
Even if you don't go through the whole ADR 6 months in advance thing you'll probably have plenty/enough spur-of-the-moment options to satisfy your hunger.

 

[BostonRob]

Anybody remember the screens they used to have in Epcot - you'd hit that screen when you got to the park in the morning and make your lunch or dinner reservation for that day. THAT seemed like planning things out too far in advance, but the technology was soooo cool, you had to do it.

As far as the way planning is now, I try to make a couple of breakfast ADR's like character ones, and I'll try to make a dinner ADR for each night. This is where park hoppers come in handy - you can still have the flexibility of doing whatever park you want that day, and then going somewhere else for dinner. AND more importantly, those dinner ADR's can always be cancelled. If you don't want to eat there that night, cancel it. No big deal.