ADR Required

[taradon]

We are going to Disneyworld for the first time in mid-January and have not made ADRs. My husband is very anti-planning and wants to just "wing it".

I'm not a fan of that approach (I'm very much a planner!) and I'm worried that we're going to have a hard time getting into any TS restaurants. Since it's the value season, will we be okay calling Monday morning for a Monday evening reservation? Or will we be out of luck at that point?

What restaurants absolutely require an ADR ASAP in order to eat there in January?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[MMouse6937]

I also have a DH who would rather "wing" it but with Disney dining it's not a good idea in my experience. I would say if you want to eat almost anywhere in World Showcase I would make an ADR. You can call the day of and see if there's anything available but I would expect to have to fall back on counter service if there's nothing. I have convinced DH to let me make the reservations and then if we decide the morning of it's not what we want to do we can always cancel instead of not being able to get a table when there's somewhere we really want to eat. Good luck, have fun!! :mickey:

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I agree with the post above.

As fun as it can be to just see how you feel and go where you want when you want, it is taking a risk at Disney, no matter what time of year...the Dining Plan has really changed that.

In our family, we read through and pick the restaurants that we want to try, and then try to book them for when we'll think we'll be in that park.

You can cancel them, if you change your mind, but I'm thinking that you'll be really glad to have them!

[taradon]

Thanks for that input! I'm going to print your posts and take them to my DH to change his mind! I really like the suggestion that we make the reservations now and if we need to we can try to change the day of (if possible).

Thanks again!

[LibertyTreeGal]

I guess it may be possible for some places, but no one here can guarantee that you will be able to get in anywhere that you want to go. The great places will be booked up -- like Le Cellier (in fact, if you are going in jan, it may be booked up already!)

So you would need to book, now:

Le Cellier
CRT
OHanas
Any Signature Dining
Character breakfasts at Chef Mickeys or CP
Bomas
Hoop Dee Doo review

Someone else will know more...

[kaylamag]

I'm going the end of January and i called to book Le Cellier at the 180 day mark and by the time i called (around 5pm) they were completely booked for dinner, we ended up booking a late lunch/early dinner.

[irish1967]

Could you compromise and make ADRs for some nights and leave others to wing it?

I really think that you will regret having no ADRs - the more popular restaurants will be full!

[LoriMistress]

If you want an ADR for CRT and Le Cellier then I would call Disney Dining now.

[Kairi_7378]

Could you compromise and make ADRs for some nights and leave others to wing it?

This is how we do it in our household... works for DH, who doesn't want too much of a schedule on vacation and for me, who likes one or two signature dining experiences per trip.

[vamaggie]

I saw from your post you are traveling with grandparents and small kids and will be pregnant? If that is the case, and unless everyone is happy with CS meals (read: burgers, chick nuggets & fries mostly) and/or eating really late, make some ADRs now!!! My DH also does not like to plan (anyone see a trend here?) but also does not enjoy cranky, tired and hungry children or eating CS food all the time. We make our ADRs based on what days we think we will be in what park. If that day things change, we cancel the ADR and wing it from there. My kids are 10 & 4 and we try to do dinner about 5:30 so they have some time after dinner before bed to enjoy the nighttime activities. If you don't have ADR's you may (may!!) be able to get into some places but usually not w/o a long wait (and most likely not in the 5-7pm time frame) Good luck and enjoy your trip!! (and the planning too!)

[taradon]

Thanks for all the input and advice! I showed this thread to DH last night and it was enough to convince him to give in on the ADRs. We did leave a couple of nights open as suggested and we'll see what is available at that point, but we agreed to make ADRs for the places that we most wanted to try.

So I'm off now to call Disney and see what I can get!