Reservations vs. Winging It

[purplestarlisa]

If you are on the DDP, do you HAVE to use a reservation for every meal? I made many ADR's, but left a couple of days open... I hate to overplan, and we are not picky when it comes to food...

[Septbride2002]

I just got back from winging it - and truth be told - I wasn't a huge fan. It was great for the budget though because 80% of the time we settled for counter service rather then Table Service. The only downfall was I got sick of counter service fast.

PLUS - trying to remember what was on the menus and what I wanted. Some are obvious - San Angel Inn - Mexican, Chefs de Paris - French. But other's not so much like the Kona Cafe, Spoodles, etc. Plus - I didn't like that if I decided to do Libert Tree Tavern for dinner that there was a great chance I 1)wouldn't get in or 2) would have a long long wait.

Our next trip is a short one - only 5 days. My plan is to make semi reservations for every night at dinner. If we cancel them - then no harm. But if we want to keep them it helps to know we have reservations, at a great resturant, with food we will love.

~Amanda

[suedenim]

We're heading out on Friday, and I'm still a little confused and daunted by the reservations and how necessary they are. If you're not reserved months in advance, are *all* the sit-down restaurants really hard to get into? If you try to make a reservation on, say, Friday morning for a Saturday or Sunday night dinner, do people just point at you and laugh, or is that actually possible?

[irish1967]

We're heading out on Friday, and I'm still a little confused and daunted by the reservations and how necessary they are. If you're not reserved months in advance, are *all* the sit-down restaurants really hard to get into? If you try to make a reservation on, say, Friday morning for a Saturday or Sunday night dinner, do people just point at you and laugh, or is that actually possible?

I really doubt that you will be pointed at and laughed at

But, yes, depending on a lot of factors it is possible that you might not be able to get into eat at a TS restaurant.

Is Free Dining going on right now? If so, the restaurants will be really crowded. If not, it will probably be better.

Is your party big? You'll have less options for TS dining, then.

Are you willing to eat at off times? If you are willing to eat very early or very late, you'll have a better chance of getting in.

Good luck but most of all - HAVE A GREAT TRIP!

[EJS-Houston]

Just got back from WDW late Saturday night...and thought I'd report back. We made only 3 dining reservations over the 7 nights we were there (Artist Point, Bistro de Paris and Nine Dragons)...and were delighted by all the restaurants we made reservations for. The rest of the nights we ate early in order to get in at places like Mama Melrose's in Disney Studios and at the Morroccan counter service place in EPCOT and had wonderful food without reservations. I live in a town where dining out options are fantastic no matter what kind of cuisine you may want on any given night...so we've got lots of great Mediterranean restaurants to choose from and the counter service restauranat at the Morroccan Pavilion in EPCOT compares favorably with the best of them. One thing I'll definitely avoid in future, though, is the Super Soap Weekend. The crowds were substantially larger than they were when we went two years ago at around the same time. The only difference was that two years ago we were there the week/weekend before Super Soap, and this year we were there the week/weekend OF Super Soap. It was suggested to me that if you weren't there for Super Soap events there'd be no problem getting right onto rides with little wait; that didn't prove to be true at all. The most popular rides had 60-90 minute waits during peak afternoon hours.

[Marilyn Michetti]

Maybe this is our age showing, but when we go to WDW, I REFUSE to be a slave to a schedule. We get two or three ADR's. The rest of the time, we stop when we're hungry, wherever we are. Not running for a dinner we planned six months ago is "freedom"

We eat out every Sat. night, so it's not about the food on vacation. Has nothing to do with $$ - we just don't want to be bound by all the rules.

[steveknj]

One point that keeps coming up is that it's more important if you have a DDP. Why is that? Will you be locked out of resturants without a reservation? Is a reservation REQUIRED for DDP? Or is this simply a case of being on the DDP, you might be more inclined to want to go to specific TS resturaunts than if you aren't.

[BeccaO]

Marilyn, I totally agree with what you stated, we dont' like to be tied down to a schedule either. We make ADR's for our favorites and the rest of the time we fly by the seat of our pants!!!! What if one day we decide we don't want to be in a certain park or something and we have to "run" to make our reservation some where else??? We go in Jan. to avoid the crowds and pretty much decide meal to meal where we will eat.

[Tygger7]

One point that keeps coming up is that it's more important if you have a DDP. Why is that? Will you be locked out of resturants without a reservation? Is a reservation REQUIRED for DDP? Or is this simply a case of being on the DDP, you might be more inclined to want to go to specific TS resturaunts than if you aren't.

The reason DDP comes up, is that if you're on the dining plan you're pre-paying for your meals. So, let's say for a 7-day vacation you buy the dining plan. That means each person in your party (assuming the basic dining plan)has 1 counter service meal, 1 table service meal, and 1 snack to use each day. If you don't have ADR's, you could end up not being able to get into a TS restaurant and may have unused meal credits at the end of your vacation...which would be a waste of money. ADR's if you're using the dining plan basically guarantee that you'll be able to use all your TS credits.

Hope that helps!!

[lightyearfan]

well if you plan to eat at downtown disney, i think that you'll be ok. just to let you know that it might be difficult to just wing it in the parks for a TS meal without an ADR. me and dw will be heading to WDW in Dec, and although i was able to secure 4 TS resturants, it was extremely difficult and we had to basically eat at what was available, but never the less you'll be in the world, and that's the most important thing, enjoy your upcoming trip.

Here is what we were able to ADR:
1. Tutto Italia (Epcot)
2. Plaza Resturant (MK)
3. Boatwrights (POFQ)
4. Tony's Town Square (MK)

Mgm will be pot luck CS

Victor

[EJS-Houston]

Maybe this is our age showing, but when we go to WDW, I REFUSE to be a slave to a schedule. We get two or three ADR's. The rest of the time, we stop when we're hungry, wherever we are. Not running for a dinner we planned six months ago is "freedom"

We eat out every Sat. night, so it's not about the food on vacation. Has nothing to do with $$ - we just don't want to be bound by all the rules.

Thanks, Marilyn! I feel exactly the same way. This vacation just confirmed it for me. I was glad for the 3 reservations we made...but as Becca very succinctly put it, I don't want to wind up in one park, having to suddenly break off in order to scurry for the busses to get to another park just because I've got a dining reservation there that I made 4 months ago. Winging it is absolutely blissful.