A little nervous..OK ALOT nervous!

[ljgirl]

My family leaves on March 15th for one week at WDW. We are staying at POFQ and will be on the regualar dining plan, 1 CS, 1 TS and 1 snack. I am nervous because I only have 2 ADR's!!! We really don't want to plan our day around where we have to be to eat. Is it going to be possible to use our TS meals without ADR's? If a restaurant has no ADR's available does that mean the entire restaurant is booked with reservations? :confused:

Thanks in advance!!

[Goes4FastPass]

Spontenaity is great but when you decide you'd like to eat at a WDW restaurant and you walk up to the hostess stand and s/he says "...nothing at all any time today.", s/he really means it.

If I were you, I'd go online and make some ADRs soon ( or call 407WDWDINE).

It's sometimes a pain to keep track of "We have to be at XX an hour and 12 minutes from now." but it's nice to walk up that that restaurant knowing you'll soon be eating.

[SBETigg]

Better to have ADRs and cancel them if things aren't going as planned than to risk it, I agree. But risking it can work. You might not be able to eat where you want, when you want (and on the other hand, you might). But if you're up for trying anything, it's a good chance to maybe find some new favorites. You can always call Disney Dining and see what's open at the times you decide to eat. There's usually something. Maybe not in your park of choice and maybe not what you planned. That's spontaneity. :thumbsup:

[biodtl]

It can be done (though I go in fall, and don't know much about March). We usually only make a couple "must-do" ADRs and then wing the rest. You have to be flexible, though, as far as times, restaurants, and parks go. We tend to call the dining line in the morning and ask what is available for the park we're heading to. Also - if the dining line says something is booked, you can always stop in in person and see. Every time I have done this in the Japan pavilion, I have gotten in, even though the dining line said no.

[BigRedDad]

You are there during Spring Break season. Crowds are going to be moderate to slightly higher at that time. If you do not have ADR's, you may be left with options at other resorts, very off time dining, or breakfasts only which is a waste of DDP TS credits.

If I were you, I would be looking for dinner ADRs now to hope you can get some value out of the TS credits.

[moe513]

I would make some adrs especially if you have places you really want to eat at.

[Ms. Mode]

Our first family trip in 2004 we didn't even know you could make ADRs, luckily we weren't on the DDP because we ate a LOT of CS meals due to everything being booked. Liberty Tree was the only thing that wasn't booked solid, eveything else was for after 9pm. I'd make the ADRs if I were you :)

[Tinkerfreak]

I totally agree that ADR's tie you down and we hate that but it will be more stressful if you have ts credits you are trying to use and you have to run all over the place to use it at whatever ts place is available. That will be a hassle too. I would either not do the dining plan or make a few adr's so you at least have something. Like has been said before you are not going during a low crowd period so it will be alot harder to get last minute adr's. You can always cancel them if you find something better once you get there. Call the dining line in the morning to check to see what is available in the park you want to go to. If you find something you like just cancel the first adr.

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

I agree with most everyone... some plan is better than no plan. You can always cancel if you find something better.

while ADR's can seem restrictive many times on your schedule, it can also work in your favor... you can look at the ADR's as having a sense of purpose - Especially when it's higher crowd levels, some ofthe attrations that you thought you could do may have longer wait times and you may not feel like waiting in line. Then you may find yourself walking around aimlessly and - worse - hungry with no ADR's in sight. Then you may fee like you are "settling" for a meal wherever you can get in. You also don't want to have any TS meals left over and be forced to use them at a CS because of seating availability. My parents had to do this once to use everything up on their last day.

If you must, to not feel chained down by your ADR's think of them as plan B if plan A fails.

In any event, YOU'RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD IN A FEW SHORT DAYS!!!!! I'M SO JEALOUS!

[disneymom15]

When we were there in Dec, we went to the front desk to see about making a dining ressie for that day. They told us we couldn't make same day ressies. Guess we got someone who didn't want to do their job.

[Julie_Mouse]

We were there almost that exact same week in 2006 (not on the DP mind you) with a group of 10 people. It was our first trip in a number of years, so we didn't know how important ADRs were, and we arrived with none. Despite that, when we realized the problem, we went to guest services right away and lined up our ressies for the whole week, and were able to get Teppan Edo, Grand Floridian Café, Rainforest Café, Mame Melrose, 1900 Park Fare, Cape May Café, and Nine Dragons. These are not all super-popular restaurants, but we had no complaints about any of the food. Once or twice we had to eat at undesirable times (4:30 and 8:00, I think) but it's really not a problem as long as you eat and snack accordingly.


All this to say that I'm sure that for each day of your vacation, somewhere in WDW there will be a ressie available, but remember, it could be highly inconvenient for you to get there from wherever you are when you find out. Probably best to make some now (or when you arrive), and cancel later if your family isn't feeling it. Either way, have a great trip! :mickey:

[Mr_Increddieble]

Not surprising that you asked a bunch of expert planners what to do and they said...plan.
Spontaneity is good;
until someone gets their eye poked out.

[wdwnutz]

Not surprising that you asked a bunch of expert planners what to do and they said...plan.
Spontaneity is good;
until someone gets their eye poked out.

I completely agree! I'm a planner, so I make all my ADR's ahead of time and look forward to taking a break from the parks and crowds and enjoy a great sitdown meal! There is alot of ADR's that we enjoy going to everytime we visit, so I would be really dissappointed if we couldn't go.

[SBETigg]

When we were there in Dec, we went to the front desk to see about making a dining ressie for that day. They told us we couldn't make same day ressies. Guess we got someone who didn't want to do their job.

Unfortunately. But you can call Disney Dining from your room or cell phone, too, for future reference. You can make same day plans. Next day plans. 180 days out plans.

[Tinkerfreak]

I have the Disney Dining number right in my contacts on my phone. Many times we have decided to see what else is available or want to cancel something and I just call from the park (without being rude and disturbing other park guests) and make the change. I always get a big thank you from the cm for bothering to call and cancel the adr because alot of people just don't show up.

[luvdiznee]

When we were there last week, we got to a couple of our ressies late (almost an hour) and we were still seated. Granted we had reservations. But we even did a couple walk ups and got in. :mickey:

[bruin1344]

If you dont end up making reservations, I would go to Epcot for lunch or dinner. You should be able to find some restaurant in World Showcase or walk over to Cape May at Beach Club or one of the Boardwalk restaurants.

[iloveokw]

I know this is probably not a good or popular answer but if you can I would cancel your Dining Plan.....without planning and ADR's (unfortunately, since they started the dining plans) you will probably end up not even breaking even.

[SuzieN]

I agree with previous posters who suggested calling Disney dining in the morning and seeing what is available at the park you're planning on being in that day. You'll have to be flexible with your times but I bet you'll have no problem getting a TS meal everyday. You can also try walking up and seeing if there is availablity. On my last trip I called the dining line to see if I could have lunch at Tony's and was told that they had no openings. I walked up to check when they opened and was seated in about 10 minutes! Good luck - I'm sure you'll do fine!:thumbsup:

[HoosierDisneyFan]

Though I understand the ADRs "tie you down" thinking but for my family we would rather have a ADR and a schedule than have to wait in an endless "stand by" line waiting to eat or going from resturant to resurant trying to find an opening. I would rather spend that time enjoying the parks.