Would you cancel a WDW vacation if you could not get the ADR's you wanted?

[KarlaG4Kids]

NO WAY!!!!!

I would eat PBJ's every day to spend the time at WDW. Now, don't get me wrong...I love the restaurants and eating (believe me, if you could see me you would know I love to eat ), but I love the WHOLE Disney experience!

 

[tlmdisney]

NO WAY MAN!!!
The food in Disney is good And I like to eat it all but that is not the only reason I go. I would bologna sandwhiches (not a fan of bologna) for the entire trip and I would still be happy

 

[ElizabethB]

Absolutely, yes, we'd cancel. For us, the fun of a Disney vacation is the signature dining, great wines, V&A, etc. We only go sporadically to the parks. If we couldn't get into the places where we want to eat, we would cancel and do something else like a cruise.

 

[mking624]

Not to put anyone down, but these were just my thoughts while I was reading this...

I've read a few people who say "if x and x then there'd be no purpose to the trip." But honestly I wonder if you all would be sitting in your room "pouting" (for lack of a better word) about what you didn't get or if you'd still be making the most of your trip and enjoying yourselves. I wonder how many would come back and say "well THAT was pointless" or if you'd come back on here saying it was a whirlwind trip, but it was still fun. Ultimately vacation is not about what room you stayed in or didn't stay in or what food you ate or didn't eat (yes, those aide in a vacation, but it's not the be all end all)...it's about your attitude towards it and being able to make the most of it and create memories in spite of what goes wrong. If you're going on vacation with the mindset of being disappointed, then there's not a whole lot that can turn it around for you. But if you're going with the mindset that you will have fun and enjoy it regardless of the circumstances...then the whole thing makes it so much better. And that there puts a whole lot of "point" and "purpose" in any vacation. Happy traveling!!

 

[Oreo Cookie]

Hi all. Jasminetigger here. Just wanted to explain something to set the record straight so I don't seem so selfish in everyone's eyes. This was a spur of the moment idea. Two days without the kids at WDW for our anniversary. I think when everyone is saying vacation it takes on a little different meaning. On our vacations to WDW we go for longer periods of time, 8-10 days, so I can be more flexible with my ADR's. But we only had two nights, for two dinners. Until Kelly helped me, I could not get anything. I, of course, tried my favorites at first. But then I also tried several, several different others, and still could not get anything. The point of this whole weekend was for the restaurants, so not getting something I knew we would enjoy, did make a difference. But now because of the kindness of Kelly, things are back on and I am happy again. But if things had not worked out for WDW, we would have enjoyed a nice restaurant here in town and have been just as happy.

I totally understand, and didn't think you were being selfish.

Good to hear that everything worked out! Happy Anniversary!

 

[Krissalee]

I would not cancel my trip. I would try other table service restaurants I hadn't tried befroe, or taken my chances with a walk-up.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Ultimately vacation is not about what room you stayed in or didn't stay in or what food you ate or didn't eat (yes, those aide in a vacation, but it's not the be all end all)...it's about your attitude towards it and being able to make the most of it and create memories in spite of what goes wrong.

Maybe, this is the case for your family. We all have different priorities. The place we stay, & food we eat are a major part of our vacation. That's precisely the reason I said we would cancel, if we weren't able to stay or eat where we wanted. There's many more places to vacation other than WDW. My family can find something to do anywhere we visit. We wouldn't be happy with subpar accommodations & food though. Sorry, but I don't think that means we have a bad attitude. We have the attitude that we're paying a lot for our vacation & we want to make every attempt at assuring it's the type of vacation we prefer. If we got there, & all of a sudden all the restaurants we prefer were mysteriously closed down at the same time, we'd make the best of the trip. If we knew ahead of time that this was the case, why would we go in the 1st place? Why not go somewhere that can provide us the vacation we prefer?

 

[mking624]

Maybe, this is the case for your family. We all have different priorities. The place we stay, & food we eat are a major part of our vacation. That's precisely the reason I said we would cancel, if we weren't able to stay or eat where we wanted. There's many more places to vacation other than WDW. My family can find something to do anywhere we visit. We wouldn't be happy with subpar accommodations & food though. Sorry, but I don't think that means we have a bad attitude. We have the attitude that we're paying a lot for our vacation & we want to make every attempt at assuring it's the type of vacation we prefer. If we got there, & all of a sudden all the restaurants we prefer were mysteriously closed down at the same time, we'd make the best of the trip. If we knew ahead of time that this was the case, why would we go in the 1st place? Why not go somewhere that can provide us the vacation we prefer?

I didn't say to be happy with subpar accomodations and food, I said it's about making the most of a trip and creating memories in spite of what goes wrong (and that is where attitude comes into play). My priority is my husband...we can enjoy anything even if we don't get every last place we wanted to eat at. So goes life...we can't have our way with everything every single time, but that doesn't mean we can't still enjoy being with each other. There's more to WDW than food and hotels. Cancel if you want to cancel, I'm not saying not to. But if you didn't get all your ADRs but went anyway, something tells me you wouldn't come back from being with those you love in a place you love and then say "how pointless and purposeless that was." Bummer to not get what you wanted? Sure! But not too many people go on any vacation and say they wish they would have stayed home and worked instead. I'm not trying to stir up trouble or cause a debate...and I'm not going to debate about this. I'm just trying to give food for thought and remind everyone that enjoyment is what you make out of it. Because everything can go wrong but you can still have a good time...and everything can go right and you have an awful time. It's about what YOU are going to do with the circumstances presented to you.

 

[MagicMe]

Taking into account the circumstances with Jasminetigger's trip - Yes I would cancel. This trip was obviously all about the romance of the resort and the restaurant for her anniversary.

For me, since we only really get there for vacation, no. I always make my ADR's in advance. The first time around I don't always get the times I want, etc. so I call every week or so and check for new ADR times. I've very often been able to re-book to better times!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

So I was wondering if you have a vacation to WDW planned (already got your plane tickets & hotel reservations at a WDW Resort) & then you found out that you could not get any of the ADR's you wanted

No. I think that would be absolutely ridiculous. I don't visit amusement parks for the food.

 

[hmp2z]

We've changed our vacation dates (hotel ressies) to accommodate priority seatings. We couldn't get V&A's Chef's Table for our anniversary last year, so we tried all the days around it until we could get it, then changed our reservations to accommodate. We had our wedding reception at V&A's, so it doesn't seem like an official anniversary until we've had our Chef's Table dinner. In our case, yes, we definitely would cancel & re-book for an earlier or later time. We go to WDW for the fantastic food, in addition to the parks and the GF.
Cheers!
Heather W

 

[ufgator]

No, I wouldn't cancel for that. We only live a couple of hours away and we go to WDW often so I know we could just go to that restaurant on another trip.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

4 days after returning from WDW in May, I booked another trip for October. After spending over a year planning our first trip to WDW, I did panic for a moment at the thought that ADRs for our trip dates had been available for 63 WHOLE DAYS!!!! I had nightmares (in the 4 minutes between my call to CRO and my call to Disney dining) that we wouldn't be able to secure anything at the times we wanted. I even dialed Disney Dining from my cell phone with the bluetooth ear thing while we drove around doing errands JUST to secure the 'biggies' The CM would read off the confirmation numbers, I would repeat them, and DD17GOINGON27 would write them down.

That being said... I doubt I would have cancelled the trip if we didn't get what we wanted, but it would be a disappointment not to have them secured.

Now... I have a question... has anyone booked ADRs before having a package or a room reserved just on the off chance you MIGHT go?

 

[daisyduck123]

When we decide that we're going to Disney, I book the ADRs before I call & get our room/package booked.

 

[munchkin bunchkin]

No I wouldn't cancel our trip if I couldn't get ADR's... there's alot of great CS restaurants around and we go mainly for the Disney magic!

 

[bookgirl2632]

No, I wouldn't cancel. After all, there's always the possibility of lucking into an ADR. You could walk in and get a table because someone cancelled. Or I'd try some restaurants I've never tried before. I'd deal somehow.

 

[ssleblanc]

I completely understand Jasminetigger's situation and in that situation, I would have cancelled if I couldn't have gotten ADR's at a "special" place for my special celebration.

In my situation, no - but we are coming from much farther away and any WDW is a family vacation.

Food is important to me (I am a total foodie - and obsess about it maybe just a little too much , but I live in a big food city where have hundreds of great restaurants in all price ranges - from neighborhood joints to 5 star $100 per person meals. I don't go to WDW for restaurants - I'm looking for a difference experience. I do have 4 ADRs for my upcoming trip (2 are all about the character meals for the experience and not the food - and Rainforest is also because I think they will think it is neat - atmosphere less than food). But that isn't a big focus of the trip, just another fun part of the experience.

I'm really glad that Jasminetigger was able to work it out and get ADR's for her special trip.

 

[crisi]

Not to put anyone down, but these were just my thoughts while I was reading this...

I've read a few people who say "if x and x then there'd be no purpose to the trip." But honestly I wonder if you all would be sitting in your room "pouting" (for lack of a better word) about what you didn't get or if you'd still be making the most of your trip and enjoying yourselves. I wonder how many would come back and say "well THAT was pointless" or if you'd come back on here saying it was a whirlwind trip, but it was still fun. Ultimately vacation is not about what room you stayed in or didn't stay in or what food you ate or didn't eat (yes, those aide in a vacation, but it's not the be all end all)...it's about your attitude towards it and being able to make the most of it and create memories in spite of what goes wrong. If you're going on vacation with the mindset of being disappointed, then there's not a whole lot that can turn it around for you. But if you're going with the mindset that you will have fun and enjoy it regardless of the circumstances...then the whole thing makes it so much better. And that there puts a whole lot of "point" and "purpose" in any vacation. Happy traveling!!

If the point of a trip is to have a romantic anniversary weekend with my husband and visit Flying Fish, and we can't get into Flying Fish, there are other romantic getaways we can take. Disney is a lot of things, but if the PURPOSE of the trip is a romantic getaway and your idea of a romantic getaway includes some fine dining, not available at Disney because its all booked up, then there are a lot of other places you can go. Your logic, reduced to absuridty, is that if I can't get the nice anniversary dinner I want, I can go to the McDonald's across the street from it and still have a great time. I can, but its not what I want. And I really hope my husband doesn't think McDonald's is an acceptable substitute for an anniversary dinner ("But honey, its right next door to Chez Amour.")

It isn't that we'd be sitting in our room pouting, we'd be somewhere else - Vegas, San Francisco, New York, Chicago - even near home in a hotel or bed and breakfast - having cancelled the trip and booked somewhere where we'd be able to dine in the style we wanted.

If we booked Flying Fish, got there, and discovered the restaurant closed due to a kitchen fire, we'd make the best, see where we could eat - either on property or off or order room service, and have a great time. That isn't what we are talking about, we are talking about not being able to get into the restaurant before you leave.

Now, if I'm taking the husband and kids to WDW for a week, and we can't get into Le Cellier, so what? Those vacations are longer, any single event is less important, and there are far more people to keep content than just me. There purpose is more about parks and pool than about restaurants.

 

[alicenwonder99]

At first I thought, "no way would I cancel". But I've cancelled WDW trips for other reasons before. I agree with those who said if it's a family vacation, you would just chose another place to eat. But since she was just going to fly down for a weekend to celebrate an anniversary (lucky you!!!), I can see her point.

When I mentioned to others about my disappointment with a value resort, I had posts from people saying they would stay in a cardboard box in the parking lot as long as they were in Disney. Well, I'm not like that, and a big part of my vacation is staying in a nice hotel. So, I guess that's how Jasminetigger feels about the dining on her trips.

Mary

 

[zipuzee]

I'm from New Orleans, which has some of the best restaurants in the country. I'm not going to Disney for the food. As good as some of their restaurants are, they just don't compare!!