How do you choose ahead of time?

[ANG]

As our 180 days reservation time approaches, I'm getting nervous about booking places.

Usually, I like to play each day by ear and also according to the weather. How do you choose which restaurants for which days you are visiting when your trip is so far away? We want to try some highly requested places so I understand I need to book them ASAP.

[SBETigg]

There are places we just know we want to try, or haven't tried in a while, or some favorites we can't wait to try again. I check (or estimate) park hours (based on the previous year's calendar if park hours aren't listed yet). I work out a loose plan of what parks we'll be in for the mealtimes. Then I decide which of the restaurants on my short list are in the park areas I'll be in on any given day, and make a plan, and a backup plan. The backup plan is in case I have to change ADR times or days, if something's not available. We've always gotten what we wanted, for the most part, and the backup plan is not necessary.

And finally, sometimes I make changes as I go along and have had good luck changing the ADRs as well. Just because you make an advanced dining reservation, it's not written in stone. You can still be spontaneous and change it as a you go along. Cancel, reschedule, decide to go with a new restaurant instead-- I have done all of these things. Somehow, things always work out (but in the case of some really hard-to-book ADRs, like 'Ohana or Le Cellier, I'm less likely to move things around and take that chance). You can even call Disney Dining on the day of a reservation and change it. I like to have plans, but then I do like to be spontaneous on occasion.

[cer]

Sometimes I use my ADR's to determine what my park schedule will be.

For instance, I know that LeCellier or Ohana may be more difficult to get, so I will get those first and depending on when I can get the ADR may determine that I will go to Epcot for sure on the LeCellier Day or MK on the day of my Ohana reservation.

We always try and go during value season, and I usually get my hard to get reservations first, and then get them pencilled in and then make my decisions from there.

Being able to make the reservations online also helps b/c you don't have anyone waiting on you to make decisions.

Another thing I do is on the day we go to AK, that park usually closes early like 5 (remember Value season) so on that evening we may go to downtown disney so I may make a reservation for a restaurant there, or that may be a good time to explore a new resort and get a dinner that is away from a park.

I am also one who likes to get to the parks early in order to beat the crowds so I will rarely if ever do a table service breakfast, unless it is early and at the park, or very close like on the monorail loop for MK.

Good luck, I hope this helps. I know it is hard.

Remember, you can always cancel a reservation and make a new one if your plans change. But get your hard to get reservations, first.

[GoinGoofyPlanninThisTrip]

Pick the restaurants that appeal to you and make sure you get the Park Hopper option on your tickets.

[deedeebee]

We are going in Dec '10 also, we go with what we like and requests. Each person usually has a place they want to go and maybe we haven't been there for a few trips. There are only a few "never again" so that helps. It's Disney, so we should be fine

[crltkcagle]

We don't buy the park hoppers so we really have to plan ahead of time. We look at the park hours and events happening and then decide where we will go each day. After that we decide where to eat based upon what park we are going to. We also eat at alot of the resort restaurants so that if we change our mind about going to a certain park we will still be able to keep our dinner ressies.

[Kaps]

Get the park hopper option and choose away. I don't book dinners b4 6 anyway giving us plenty of time to get where we need to be. Ohana's is one of the best

[BigThunderFan]

I figure out which parks we will be at first using different estimates on crowds like touring plans or tour guide mike. Once I know when I will be where it makes the decisions easy!

I used to make plans around ADRs, but I figured out we are more parks people than food people. We love the food, and always want to try different places. But no place is so important that I would risk going to a park on a busier day just to eat at a certain restaurant.

[Tink#64]

We start with which park on which day, using the calendar of park hours as our guide, also avoiding AM EMH's, then we pick the restaurant & times! We like park hopping, but using it more for visiting one park in the AM & a different park in the PM, rather than hopping to eat in a particular restaurant. The days aren't long enough to do all we want to do, let alone chase adr's all day.

[MinnieMommie]

If there are popular places you know you want then it will be good to make the ADRs for these places as soon as you can. You have to have an idea of where you will be on given days, if you have a car, if you are celebrating a special event like a birthday or anniversary, if you want to view wishes while dinning or need to plan around something else significant. Many factors will need to be considered when you make your ADRs at the 180 day mark.

I think we all juggle and weight many factors when making this decision. In the end it works out. Just remain flexible and know that if you can't get one venue you want there are other really fine places to substitute in. Good dinning is all around.

[azcavalier]

Yeah, what they said.

We usually check the EMH schedule to see which park we're likely to be in, and schedule according to that as best we can. We also check if there are any "parties" like MNSSHP or the Christmas party, depending on what time of year it is, and we avoid the MK those nights.

Another thing that we do is that we usually have lunch a little early (11am) and leave the parks around 12 to go back to the room for a little break. Naps, swimming, etc. Then we'll head back to the park (or other resort) for dinner straight from the resort. If you have a car, then drive. It's much faster.

[Jared]

As others have said, picking restaurants and sticking to reservations become much easier with the Park Hopper ticket option. It allows you to float among the parks and not feel constrained by a schedule and deadlines.

How much you plan depends on how important dining is to your group. Part of the appeal of a Disney vacation for my family is eating at restaurants we enjoy and look forward to throughout the year. We are willing to build our itinerary, at least to an extent, around our dining plans.

From reading your post, it seems you are not as interested in where you eat. In that case, I suggest selecting a couple popular places you have decided you want to try. Book reservations for those places and make it a point to keep them. If it makes you comfortable to make reservations for the other days, go ahead, but don't feel compelled to honor them. Contrary to popular belief, it is quite possible to eat at most Disney restaurants without reservations, especially if you are not picky about where and when you dine.

Good luck!