Did I make too many ADR's?!

[Belle1984]

I really need some opinions here....I'm worried I made to many ADRs for our visit the last week of March. I haven't been in ten years and I've heard it can be pretty hard to get into a lot of the good places and character meals. Plus we got Free dining so I really want to take advantage. And I guess I should mention in real life I'm a Chef and we have a two year old.Now I'm worried that our trip will be too based on my meal schedule. Any feedback or opinions on this?

I'm staying 7 Days/6 nights and I have 7 ADR's for:

Chef Mickeys
Crystal Palace
Le Cellier
Brown Derby
Jiko
Fulton's Crab House
Les Chef de France
Spirit of Aloha

[Strmchsr]

Just to make sure you understand - the "free" dining is based on your nights, not days. So if you're staying 6 nights you will have 6 TS credits, not 7. You can still have 7 TS, just wanted to make sure you knew one of those would be paid out of pocket.

As for if you have too many, well, you'll want to use up all your credits or the "free" dining would be a big waste of money. So, if anything, drop one of them, but you'll need the rest.

[VWL Mom]

Looks like you're using 13-14TS credits (depending on LeCellier lunch or dinner) and as Strmchsr pointed out you will get 6TS for your stay. May be worth upgrading to DlxDDP for your trip.

[TinkerbellT421]

And just to throw this out there just in case, but aren't several of those reservations two credits? So it depends on if those reservations you have posted are a mix of some being lunch and some being dinner. But for instance, Fulton's, LeCellier and Spirit of Aloha are all two credits each for dinners.

[disneykidsince1970]

when I read your question, I was thinking you wanted feedback on the schedule, not the technicalities of the plan. so... just in case I am right or you are interested...

my experience tells me that 1 ADR/day is good for us. We have been a few times with our two little ones (now 5, 6.5). I think of the credit-card required ADRs as an anchor in the schedule. We usually choose dinner but sometimes lunch. I feel like we can be flexible as possible but still have at least 1 thing that we know we will like, etc. during that day. We choose only 1 "top-rated" thing we will do each day. Everything else on that day is flexible.

It doesn't mean that a heavy schedule COULDN'T work...but with a 2yo, your risk is a little higher I think.

We usually have a top-line schedule/plan and other non-cc requ'd ADRs but we are obv more flexible with these (and will call to cancel them if we know we aren't going to use them).

I agree that it is a risk to plan your whole day around the meals and generally, it doesn't work (for us anyway). I found that we were just too stressed about making the plan...and if you eat a bit later at one meal...it has a knock-on effect on the timing of all the other meals! ...before you know it, you show up at a restaurant and you aren't even close to hungry!

Hope this helps... Have a BLAST!!

[Belle1984]

[QUOTE=disneykidsince1970;2240853]when I read your question, I was thinking you wanted feedback on the schedule, not the technicalities of the plan. so... just in case I am right or you are interested...

Yes I know I have to pay out of pocket for some meals, I was looking more for this kind of advice. Thank you !

[JenniferS.]

Wow, I guess I must make too many reservations. I get deluxe dining and have breakfast, lunch AND dinner ressies for our 9 day stay. So, I would say no, u don't have too many. lol

[Kairi_7378]

I think you have a nice selection of restaurants in your ADR list. The end of March can be pretty busy and I think you will appreciate having at least one meal a day to sit and get a break from the parks and the heat.

[tarheelmjfan]

We make 2 ADRs a day. It appears you only have 1 a day, which shouldn't be a problem at all. I never have felt having ADRs was an inconvenience. We know what time they are, so we plan our day around them. The rest of the day we're free to do whatever we feel like. We always look forward to our meals as much as the rides. You've made some good choices. I'm sure you'll have a great trip.

[Janmac]

Before the Dining Plan we had 3 ADRs every day too as we also go for the food as much as any thing else. Since the Dining Plan we often pay out of pocket for breakfasts, thus having 2 ADRs every day. We do not feel we are too tied to our meal schedule.

The fun will be finding out what works for you 'cause if it's too much, you sure don't have to have one ADR each day on your next trip.

Jan

[mydisneygirls]

You are staying 6 nights, so that would mean 6 TS credits. You have 8 listed and Le Cellier, Brown Derby, Fulton's and Spirit are 2 TS credits each so if you ate at each one of these you would use up all your TS meals in 3 nights and would be paying out-of-pocket for the remainder. With a 2 year old I would definitely skip Aloha...this is more for adults. How about 1900 Park Fare? In my opinion, I would pick restaurants geared more towards your 2 year old...even though he/she is very young, what they get out of the character meals is priceless.

[Belle1984]

Yes and some of these reservations will be just me and my mother or me and my husband. My little one will be at the character meals and some of the other ADR's but Fulton's and Jiko are adults only.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Depends on what your focus is ~ if you want to go more for a wander and the meals, booking lots is okay. If you are not wanting to have to clock watch, I would suggest booking less.

We are "foodies" but more on the spontaneous side(not clock watchers). The first time I had DDP, we booked lunches and dinners. Never again . . . it felt like our trip was dictated by that. Last DDP, we booked one a day (usually dinner) and it was MUCH better for us. Towards the end of our stay we did a couple of spontaneous ressies for lunch and it was fine as the pace had slowed down.

[TinkerbellT421]

Depends on what your focus is ~ if you want to go more for a wander and the meals, booking lots is okay. If you are not wanting to have to clock watch, I would suggest booking less.

We are "foodies" but more on the spontaneous side(not clock watchers). The first time I had DDP, we booked lunches and dinners. Never again . . . it felt like our trip was dictated by that. Last DDP, we booked one a day (usually dinner) and it was MUCH better for us. Towards the end of our stay we did a couple of spontaneous ressies for lunch and it was fine as the pace had slowed down.

Agree with this whole heartedly. The first couple times we did DDP this was us, running around, was never relaxed, felt like we were always watching the clock. But we now don't do the DDP, but we still do atleast one sit down meal a day for the most part.

[FiggyFan]

It sounds like food is an important part of the trip for you, and that you have taken your 2 year old's needs into consideration. I don't see any problem with your plan.

[disneynarula]

I like having lots of ADRs. I enjoy sitting down and relaxing away from the chaos of the parks.

[diz_girl]

Looks good to me. It's good that you have three adults and you will be able to keep your reservations with two adults if your child is sick, fussy or too tired and needs to go back to the room.

I've had reservations at Cali Grille and have had only three people show for a reservation for four and I didn't get charged for the one no-show. So one or two no-shows on a reservation shouldn't cost you.