ADRs - really ABSOLUTELY necessary?

I keep reading posts about people making all kinds of ADRs months ahead of time, or just ahead of time in general. Is this really an absolute necessity? I don't like to plan that rigidly, instead deciding which park on a whim (i.e. the night before where we are headed in the morning) and I don't ever make ADRs, except for once in a while for a special event, or if there's a specific time I want for a specific reason (plans for a show, to coincide with fireworks, etc.)

I haven't been in five years, but have things changed so much that I am going to be shut out by following what's worked for me in the past? If I do make ADRs, it's never been farther out than a day or two before as we're looking through guidebooks or parkmaps back at our resort.

Worth noting, I am not a hugely picky eater (neither is my travelling companion), and I don't mind eating outside of "prime" lunch and dinner times. It would also only be two people.

You can still dine quite well without making advanced dining reservations. If you have your heart set on a particular dining establishment, I'd suggest making that reservation ahead of time as you might not be able to get into in upon arrival.

On our last trip, we made only one advance dining reservation (Victoria & Albert's) and did the rest as we went - typically making same day dining reservations. The one exception is that I did make a reservation, after our arrival, for Le Cellier for two days after the date I made the reservation. On a few occasions, we walked up to the restaurant without any reservations and were seated. I know we walked up to Rose & Crown for lunch as we made the decision to go there as we were wrapping up a morning tour we had taken in Epcot.

Other places we dined on the trip included Citrico's, Kona Cafe, Yachtsment's Steak House, and La Hacienda.

Some places are very difficult to get a seat if you don't have an ADR, however it can be done if you're willing to eat at 9pm or later or hit a CS if nothing else is available.

We have had ADRs for every trip except for our first one in 2004 but we plan to go without this fall. I think it will be fine. My DH wants to try not being tied down to X park at X time. Should be interesting...I've had our trips planned down to the minute for the past several years. :blush:

No, it's not really necessary. If you have a smart phone and can pull up the WDW Dining mobile site, you can check for same day ADRs as long as you are at least an hour out from when you want to eat.

I was just on property for 2 days last week and using the mobile site, saw PLENTY of restaurants with same day availability. We actually walked up to TRex at noon on a Friday and waited less than 30 min for a table.

I haven't made ADR's for a couple years now. And, no, I have not been relegated to CS meals. ;)

We are a family of 4 and usually do a combination of ADRs and "winging it." We've had good experiences making day-of ADRs using our smartphones. This year alone we did this for Kona Cafe, San Angel Inn, Whispering Canyon Cafe, The Wave and Sci-Fi.

We also keep items in our room for easy snacks/meals that we can either come back and eat or pack with us. (When we stayed at BLT this summer, our girls preferred doing that to eating at just about any counter service place!)

You will do just fine. And it's so much fun not having to be someplace at a certain time. Enjoy:mickey:

It depends on the time of year you go. But more than likely if it's a popular restaurant then yes you will need reservations. I can't tell you how many times we have been waiting on our reservation and someone strolls in asking for a table and the cast member just laughs (not in a rude way). Nine dragons however always seems to be able to squeeze you in which is good because the food is one of our favorites.

We were there last week and I'd made reservations for 'Ohana and Sci Fi. Sci Fi was for lunch and they were turning people away. So, I think you could do just fine without ADRs, as long as you're flexible with where and when you're going to eat. Like others have said, if you know you want to eat somewhere, an ADR will definitely help. :mickey:

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Originally Posted by tinksmom02

Sci Fi was for lunch and they were turning people away.

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That's another place we ate as a walk-up on our last trip. For that one, we arrived right at opening which does seem to help if you're going to try to do a walk-up.

It all depends on how you dine. If you are ok with QS meals, then ADR's do not matter. In my opinion this gives you more time to enjoy the sights and scenes.

In our case, we have not done ADR's in years. When we did ADR's, we would limit ourselves to one or two during the trip.

We also use the Mobile Magic app to find last minute dining reservations. If you want something exceptionally popular like Ohana or Cinderella's Castle then you absolutely need an ADR and need one 180 days out. Otherwise we wing it and we've never been in a situation where we couldn't find someplace. In fact it's often provided an opportunity to try some of the places we didn't know much about. We found Rose and Crown that way and it's a family favorite now. I much prefer to not have to follow a schedule and just find something when we are ready to eat. Now we only make one ADR each trip because we know the kids will want a character meal. The rest of the time we wing it and it's been great!

Just a word of warning....

Being a party of 2 is not a plus when it comes to "slipping" into a walk-up table at WDW.

From plenty of past experience, it is more difficult to get an ADR for a party of 2 than it is for a party of 4 (I've tested this while making ADR's....). So, if they can easily seat a walk-up party of 4 at a 4 top, they will seat the party of 4 before you, and you will wait for a 2 top. (Again.... unfortunately learned this from experience).

DH and I used to get seated at larger 4 or 6 top tables all the time, with or without ADR's. Now, we almost NEVER do.... we usually get seated at smaller tables (unless the restaurant doesn't have them), and there aren't many of them at WDW.

Again.... time of year does make a bit of a difference. We are going at the end of October, and considering there are almost NO AP discounts for the resorts we usually stay at, I have a feeling restaurants are going to be very busy. I've also tried to change a couple ADR's for the trip, and have had no luck at all. As long as you are very flexible and not picky at all as you said, you will be okay. Just don't be disappointed if you get turned away.

Absolute ?? No. You can wait or go during off times, which is how we generally operate.....it's dooable, as long as you are a bit flexable !! :mickey:

If you like to maximize your time to hit the rides and attractions, you'll want to make ADRs. If you don't, you can still eat at some of the good places (not all of them, mind you) - just expect to wait 30 minutes or maybe more. Also, if you're going during a time when Disney has offered the free DDP, tables are even more difficult to find.