Anyone else not like ADR's?

[Cozfamilyof6]

I don't know....I just don't like making reservations so far in advance for retaurants in certain parks or resorts..... Even if the restaurant is good, who know if I'll feel like eating there the day I of the reservation. Another thing is the timing - if reservations are made too late you have to take whatever time is available and basically plan your whole day around mealtime.

We did ADR's last year and were okay with most of the days/times, except for twice when the time interrupted our activities.

For our upcoming trip I made all my ADR's months ago and am now trying to schedule our park visits/activities around our meals - that's kinda silly isn't it? But that's the way it is....

[Madame Leona]

I have to agree with you. We usually make 1 or 2 adrs for a favorite restaurant and character dining but the rest of the time we wing it or have counter service. I don't use the dining plan for the same reason. I don't want food to have that much control over my vacation.

[Polynesian Dweller]

ADRs have become a necessary evil for us. They really do take away from the spontaneity of the trip and I agree with the comments about it being hard to do that far in advance. But with the crowds, what are the alternatives. Going back to the old days of the scramble for a table isn't a great solution either.

[disneymom15]

We've never done ADR's. If we decide we want a nice TS meal, we make it at the park. If we can't get a reservation, we'll just eat at a CS with more options. I don't like to have to plan our day around meal times.

[SurferStitch]

We've always planned our days around our meals. It's really easy since we get park hoppers, and we aren't park commandos anyway. I mean, we don't plan out our days before we head to WDW, but we get up in the morning, decide where we want to go, and just make sure we get to dinner in time. We can spend a day at MK, then hop over to Epcot for dinner at Le Cellier. Dinners are a huge part of our trip, and we love planning for them. We also love dressing up for dinner, so we like to have all dinners planned in advance so we know what to pack.

We've found that having a plan for meals makes planning our days so much easier. There's no going back and forth trying to decide where to eat. No time is wasted if we can't get into a restaurant trying to find another place to eat. ADR's really make our trips go so smoothly.

[lightyearfan]

me and dw love to make adr's and we also love the ddp. heres why, after we make our reservations, we then go home and try to map out on which day that we want to do what? since now it's just me and dw( our dd is married and has just had a baby girl btw), we now have more fredom as far as dining is concerned because we all know that kids can be pretty picky when it comes to eating and we endoured that on so many past wdw trips, we also love the ddp because we do all of our evening meals at TS resturaunts and even for just the 2 of us it could cost between 80-100 bucks, ya i know but we do counter serivce for most of our breakfests except for when we eat breakfest at Boatwrights(POFQ), and for all of our lunch meals, so when it comes time for dinner we want to eat a little better. we also know what parks that we'll be at as well , this just makes it a little easier as far as the ADR's go, we do get the park hopper so if were at MK but have a 6:30 adr over in Canada at Epcot, we just hop the monorail and go have a wonderful meal catch illiminations, back on the monorail for wishes and spectromagic. what a night huh! enough of me ranting, at the end it's safe to say that ADR's and the DDP are not for everybody and that everybody will havesome sort of opionion abou these 2 hot topics

Victor

[SLS-550]

I agree, a couple of adrs for our favorite places and wing the rest. I don't like to have the (Clark Griswald) itinerary. I like to be somewhat spontaneous.

We made 2 adrs for the same night by mistake, both reservation times were within 15 mins of each other, using the same phone#, once we realized our mistake we called to cancel 1, sure enough we had 2 reservations with no questions asked. My point being, I feel as if some people make multiple adrs for the same night to keep their options open, not canceling until the last minute or doing a no-show, because as of now there is no penalty for it, except for a select few which require a c/c#., and a 48 hr. cancelation.

Maybe if more restaurants had a penalty for last minute adr cancelations it would open more adrs for other people, or walk-ins.

Or maybe some people just see it as alls fair in love & Walt Disney War

[wire0monkey]

I don't plan my day around the meal. I plan where we're going to be for the day and then plan the meals, based on that. When I call for ADRs, I know basically which parks I'm going to be in on which days and I have 2 or 3 TS options picked that are convenient to the park. I also try to plan some of my TS as breakfasts (Boma, Kona Cafe, character breakfast, etc.) so that we can go wherever we like after the TS breakfast.

[thrillme]

I totally DESPISE ADR's. I like to walk up to a resturant and get in within the hour at most. Unless I'm planning a PARTY with OTHER families then I won't make an ADR. I eat when I'm hungry and where I'm hungry. I don't want to be making a mad dash to the other side of the world just because my tummy's growling.

At home my whole life seems to be on a schedule. Gotta wake up at a certian time, be ready at a certian time, get the kids off to school, be at work, go to lunch, etc...

When I'm on vacation I might want to take in an extra show or a nap or a swim...whatever...

[DessertDivaFL]

I like to made ADR's for certain popular restaurants to guarantee a seat. My son is autistic so he doesn't wait well at all so ADR's save us. We only make one per day though.

[Clotho]

We've always planned our days around our meals. It's really easy since we get park hoppers, and we aren't park commandos anyway. I mean, we don't plan out our days before we head to WDW, but we get up in the morning, decide where we want to go, and just make sure we get to dinner in time. We can spend a day at MK, then hop over to Epcot for dinner at Le Cellier. Dinners are a huge part of our trip, and we love planning for them. We also love dressing up for dinner, so we like to have all dinners planned in advance so we know what to pack.

We've found that having a plan for meals makes planning our days so much easier. There's no going back and forth trying to decide where to eat. No time is wasted if we can't get into a restaurant trying to find another place to eat. ADR's really make our trips go so smoothly.

This is EXACTLY us, SurferStitch. Meals are a big part of it for us, and we do enjoy dressing up a little and really making it a special time of day, a little different focus than the rest of our day. A chance to freshen up, "grow up" a little (since we have been giggling kids all day on rides, now we get to "play adults" Haha), sit back and relax in a little more quiet atmosphere (or maybe whoop it up, if we choose a character or dinner show). We shift gears, so we enjoy planning things out for it.

And this is why I think ADR's are a must. I would HATE all the extra hoofing it one would have to do in order to try and find a restaurant you could eat at. Can you imagine if all the people now making ADR's couldn't, and instead we were all walking around, standing in lines, hoping we could find someplace we wanted to eat every night? YUCK!

One thing I DO agree with is that 180 days out is RIDICULOUS! I think a 2-3 month reservation limit would be ideal. Of course Disney likes it this way. THEY can budget and plan for their expected occupancy based on these estimated attendance figures. So they want us to book out everything as far in advance as possible. But it is miserable for us park goers who don't want to have to plan every detail of our trip 6 months away...and then sit on our thumbs. I think most of us would prefer to make overarching plans 6 months out, and get into the details of the ressies and park plans closer to the date. At least that is the consensus I get around most discussion boards I belong to--we love to plan plan plan, but we prefer to get closer to the date before we start putting our final stamp of approval on our set schedules.

And considering a lot of Disney's own scheduling doesn't come out that far in advance, it is really unfair. Park times, parades, fireworks, dinner shows...we can look at historical data and extrapolate, but sometimes we don't have all that info when Disney is expecting us to know where and when we will be for dinner every night. That is kinda lame...

[Cozfamilyof6]

One thing I DO agree with is that 180 days out is RIDICULOUS! I think a 2-3 month reservation limit would be ideal. Of course Disney likes it this way. THEY can budget and plan for their expected occupancy based on these estimated attendance figures. So they want us to book out everything as far in advance as possible. But it is miserable for us park goers who don't want to have to plan every detail of our trip 6 months away...and then sit on our thumbs.

And considering a lot of Disney's own scheduling doesn't come out that far in advance, it is really unfair. Park times, parades, fireworks, dinner shows...we can look at historical data and extrapolate, but sometimes we don't have all that info when Disney is expecting us to know where and when we will be for dinner every night. That is kinda lame...

VERY WELL SAID!!!!

[MNMS]

ADR's aren't bad -- only if you are a slave to them.

We use ADR's solely for character meals (and maybe the Fantasmic dinner package) -- it's nice to be able to plan with young kids (4 and 6) and know you're going to get in to see the characters. Other than that we avoid most ADR's becuase (i) we like flexibility and (ii) at this point rides/attractions take center stage.

If there is a particular restaraunt that we like we may book an ADR there, but cancel if it does not fit our schedule once we're at WDW.

[SurferStitch]

I'm right there with ya, Clotho....

I think 180 is ridiculous, too. A necessary evil, but absolutely crazy.

And, DH and I are also giggling little kids at the parks. We also like to "grow up" at most dinners, just like you.

We don't, however, grow up for character breakfasts...and several of those are a must for every trip!

[LoriMistress]

On our last trip, I didn't make ADRs because I thought it was too late to make last minute ADRs. Plus, my DH stressed to me he didn't want to be tied down to anything. Planning on which park to go on which day, arriving early and hitting the must do's first...that's was alright to him. We were able to get some restaurants okay with little waits (in fact, we got to walk into MK twice to eat dinner at CP with no ADRs before the parks opened), but there were several times, even though we arrived at the restaurants early before the big crowds, we still had to wait around twenty minutes because we never had ADRs. This time around, I had to call Disney Dining at 4am to get ADRs that I wanted at my 180 day mark. It was a huge pain and I was very tired and was freaking out a bit that I might not get the restaurants I want; but I got the restaurants for the times that I wanted. When I told DH how we needed to make ADRs for this upcoming trip since we're going around December, he was actually okay with it. In fact, there were several restaurants that he wanted to try that we never had the chance (or the cash) last time.

[crazeedizneefinatic]

I must say that I do not like the 180 day mark either. This trip is totally a new experience for us. We have always been the type that flew by the seat of their pants most days. We would schedule at least 2 character meals on previous visits. This year totally stressed me out. We were fortunate enough to get in on the free dining but boy did we work for it! Scrambling for ADR's was ridiculous. We did get everything we needed and exact times we wanted for our 10 days but boy, I don't think I want to do that again. It's way too scheduled but it was necessary to properly use the dining plan. We did get into some restaurants we normally would not have eaten in because it is free! I don't think I could do this every trip. I need a vacation just from scheduling our ADR's!

[vamaggie]

I don't really mind the ADRs or the 180 day window for that matter, but I would LOATHE the alternative. Imagine if there were no ADRs and everything was walk up first come first served. Ever been to a restaurant that doesn't take ressies? on a Sturday at 6pm? in the summer? Now imagine you've been in the parks all day, walking with 3 kids and looking for someplace to eat before the kids (and DH) completely lose it. Some of the CS places even have long waits to place your order and then get your food. I don't know what else WDW could do except ADRs with as many folks as visit there. We make ours for the places we want to eat and if our plans change that day, we call and cancel and re group. To be able to eat at some of the great WDW restaurants, it's soemthing I am willing to do.

[AllDisney]

We always have looked forward to the end of the day & enjoying a nice TS meal. It's always been a part of our vacation & that will never change.

I don't mind the 180 day window if that is what you have to do to ensure you're eating at the restaurant of your choice. We plan our dinners around what parks we are at on a particular day. We try to take advantage of extra hours and go from there.

I do hope that if people can't make their reservation they are considerate enough to cancel ASAP.

I DO remember going to a park, walking up to a restaurant and making reservations right then and there for THAT VERY night

Looking forward to our first FREE dining vacation

[sheepishlambert]

We like to have ADRs for special meals or
meals that are tied to special events we want to
see. We rarely make more than one per day because one big meal at Disney in one day is enough for us. What I don't like are the braggers who are proud of making 10-12 adrs
per day that fill up all the space for others. Disney should put a limit on number of ADRS
allowed per day.

[mouseketeer mom]

I make them, think about them, change them, make new ones, cancel old ones, think of other ones, all from the time the 180 day window starts to the time we get there. Then I think about them while I'm there, and we have changed them on the day of them too, while on our trips.
Its really nuts. Impossible really. We do like a sit down table service each night. We look forward to our dinners, disney's dining experiences can be so much fun! Unlike anywhere else! Why the choices! The theming! The fun! The terrific food! Some of the highlights of our trips have centered around the dining choices we have made. The laughs at Whispering Canyon., the joy on my kiddo's faces at Crystal Palace, my husband attempting to speak French at Le Chefs while the rest of us almost peed in our pants!, Aunt whoever making my husband set the table and teasing him thruout the meal at 50's prime time, My daughter almost gagging from the sauerkraut smell at Biergarten and begging to leave!, My son singing in a microphone at WCC, The warm and fuzzy feeling we get at Ohanas..Mickey surprising us with a BD cake for my son at the garden grill without us even asking!...just to name a very few.
So I toil about making those ADR's. Lots of those dinners have been truely magical for us. I try so hard to make sure I'm making terrific choices each trip. Repeating the highlights, and carefully choosing new ones! Not just for the food all of the time, but for the experience.
I think it is near impossible to know where the day will take you and how it will unfold. Disney is spontaneous and light, and ADR's, well, their just NOT. So I do my best each trip, but its not without a TON of thought and effort. Oh. And headaches!