Frustrated with trying to make ADR's

[LisaP]

What a time consuming, frustrating and disappointing experience. I set my alarm to wake up so I could call at 7am when the dining reservations call center opens. After an hour on the phone trying every option, just about everything I wanted is unavailable -- my batting average is pretty lousy! I am exhausted and ready to go back to bed :(

We are scheduled to go the 2nd week of December. I had a nice long list of ADR's that I came up with. I had no idea it would be this difficult to even GET an ADR, let alone on the dates/times I preferred.

Out of 9 ADR's, I only got 2 when and where I wanted them, and 2 others booked but not for the dates OR times I wanted them, and the remaining 5 are completely unavailable the entire week of my stay.

I became very flexible, asking for any available time during any day of our stay, and still nothing.

Has anyone experienced such difficulty? I am booking 4 months out (I know they book 6 mos in advance) during a supposed "less busy" time at WDW. Apparently not :confused:

I guess my question is, does persistence pay off? Keep trying? Has anyone had luck with getting any last minute ADR's closer to their vacation dates? Any tips or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated!

P.S. And how am I supposed to get to Chef Mickey at 7am for breakfast? Is Disney transporation running that early? I assume it will be. That one's gonna hurt :D

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I called exactly 180 days out and like you got up to call at 7 am and still had to hold for an hour...I did get everything I wanted though....I had to call back the next week to add on Rainforest cafe and called in the middle of the afternoon and the call went right through no hold at all......when in December are you going? The week of Christmas and after is the busiest time of the year so if that's when you are going, ADRs will be tough to get.....

[brownie]

Persistence can pay off, so I wouldn't give up. I'd keep trying every few weeks to see if something opens up. It seems like there's a good number of people who change their plans one or more times leading up to their trip; you might be able to take advantage of someone else canceling their advance dining reservation.

[BronxTigger]

You can call even up to the day of your ADR. Sometimes people cancel the morning of.

I've found that there are shorter wait times on hold if you can call in the afternoon/early evening, or shortly before they close for the night (I think at 10p eastern).

[LisaP]

Thanks for the encouragement :)

My dates are 12/10-12/16, which is supposedly one of the "least busy" periods at WDW. My reservationist told me she booked someone yesterday for several ADR's during Christmas week with no problems. Oh, that made me feel so much better :(

I didn't spend any time holding for assistance, got someone immediately. My hour long call was going through every day for every ressie I wanted with almost no luck.

I guess I'll just set aside time to continue and try calling once a week. I'm still thrilled, don't get me wrong, but it's the second time in 6 months that I have not been able to book most of my desired ADR's.

I guess I wish there was online capability to browse and check availability and/or book. Would it be that difficult for them to implement with this new system? If every ressie is tied to your DDP or a CC, it would prevent abuse/misuse of reservations. I don't think it's a far stretch.

[Spindrift]

The only time it pays to call at 7 AM is when you are calling 180 days out.

Otherwise, you might as well call when it is convenient for you.

[Faver]

We'll be going to Disney Dec. 18-23, and I was able to get all my ADR's.....

Try again, and call at night. It always works for me.... I did call on my 180 day mark around 7-8pm. When I call at that time I only have to wait around 10 minutes at the most. Maybe most people are having dinner, so the lines are a little less busy.

Hope you get the ADR's you want!!!!:mickey:

[Rekenna]

I'm sorry you had so much trouble. But, I will say keep trying, I've had some luck changing stuff around and getting ADR's closer to our trip. People change and cancel alot. It will work out-don't worry.:mickey:

[disney99]

I'm going Dec 7-14 and didn't get squat when I called. Nothing I wanted was available any day during the week, or any time during the day.. Everything was booked up..

[Jen C.]

I feel your pain. This is one of the reasons that we stay club level now. I'm not saying that everyone that has difficulties with ADR's can/should stay club level, but for us, it's worth not calling every week, waiting on hold, etc. It also seems to me, that the club level CM's have an easier time finding spots where the CM's on the phone have difficulties.:confused:

I'm not sure where your'e staying, or what the upgrade would cost, but it might be worth checking into.;)

[MushuGrl]

Wow. Dec. 7-13 has turned into something else - no rooms, no TS!

I'm going to try mine tonight - finger's crossed.

[bkfree]

SO Sorry.
We are going Dec 3-10th. I called about 150 days out and got all of my wants except for Ohana's. For the week they only had 9pm dinner openings, but I got Kona instead so I was happy.

But I have called 3 times since and changed 4 ADR's with no problem.

Just last week I dropped 1900 Park Fare for The Wave. Did you try it? They had several good times open for dinner on the day I wanted to go.

Also remember that the TRex restuarant will be open at DTD and they are taking only walkins until Jan. If you get there early for lunch or dinner, you will get in. And if you have to wait, no better place to kill time then DTD.

You also do not have to be staying at Club level to get help for ressies at your resort.
Last trip the great CM at Guest Services at our resort helped us change some ADR's and go us what we wanted.

I also never get up early to call. I always call in the evening about an hour before WDWDINE closes, around 6pm. I never have to wait on hold and the CM seem very happy to take their time in helping me out.
Keep trying and best of luck.
And be open, some places like Marrekesh, Spoodles, Grand Floridian Cafe and Garden Grill are often overlooked and easier to book and great places to eat.

[maryt01]

i have always called at 7;00 180 days out and still cannot get 5 out of 6 ressies. maybe they should allow you to book ressies whilem booking trip. it is dissappointing to not be able to eat at your favorite rest 4 years in A ROW.:(

[henry.james.s]

I've never had a problem getting ADR's at the locations I want for my trips. But I'm very flexable with the days..not a specific location on only a specific day. But 9 times out of 10 I get what I ask for 1st. Lucky..yes I guess but I'll take it.
Calling as soon as your window opens is the key. Afterall it is the most popular vacation destination on earth.

[awaggett]

We are going down December 11 through the 15th--I called 180 days out to get our reservations. We had decent luck, got mostly what we wanted, but not necessarily the day/time we wanted. This trip is a bit different--we are going with friends who have young children, so we were trying for CRT and Chef Mickey's. Unfortunately, two more folks have decided to join us, so I've been calling weekly trying to add two more to our party. We've been able to do so everywhere except CRT and Chef Mickey's.

Has anyone just shown up with extra people at the time of your ADR?

[Jen C.]

You also do not have to be staying at Club level to get help for ressies at your resort.
Last trip the great CM at Guest Services at our resort helped us change some ADR's and go us what we wanted.

I agree that you don't have to be staying club level to get help with ressies. However, staying club level does make it easier. For example, you can just e-mail your desires as opposed to calling and holding. Also, they give you a lovely itinerary, and are willing to make changes daily if you so desire. in addition, they do have the ability to get you into places that are not otherwise available. I wish this was not true, but it really is. For example, I got CRT, Chef Mickey's, and LeCellier for the week of 9/16-9/22, and only a few weeks ago. Again, I reiterate, I am not suggesting you NEED to stay club level to have success with ADR's. I am merely stating that staying club level has completely eliminated the hassle and frustration that the OP is referring to.:)

[spoonful of sugar]

i have had the best luck with getting adr for our upcoming dec. 13-20 trip. i called once and waited about 2 minutes for chef mickey's at 9:10 am and called back another time not knowing that we were going to have dinner at the crystal palace and got that for 5:05 pm. both of the times i requested were available and i hardly waited on hold. sorry to hear of anyones trouble with adr and best of luck to all!

[pink]

I'm sorry you're having rotten luck. I called for my ADRS' for September and was planning on not getting anything and I ended up getting exactly what I wanted. I think it all has to do with timing and I bet many people will cancel their ADR's before December rolls around. I've found that the best time to call was about 7pm or later. I called about 3 times for different reasons and the longest I ever waited for about 10 minutes. I wish you luck! :mickey:

[SAHDad]

LisaP - how many are in your party? IME, the more people you have, the harder it can be to get the exact times/dates (or even any times/dates), especially at certain times of the year. It seems like you are having lousy luck, certainly. Hopefully, you can get the ADRs you want - a quick call in the evening hours might be your best bet, rather than trying to fight through the CRT/Le Cellier crush at 7 am.

[MushuGrl]

Got mine!

Was only off one day on Whispering Canyon, as the only opening they had for Dec. 9 was 15 minutes before our MVMCP starts. Asked for the next day, got it.

I called at approx. 5 p.m. CST and had NO hold time...actually stuttered a bit when the CM picked up. :blush: I was all prepared to dance to the Disney tunes.

Keep trying Lisa!

[thumperbug]

I have found that calling on the first day you can helps alot. It also really depends what time of year you are going. December has become quite popular for many reasons so I can see how ADR's for that time can book up quickly.

For my Feb 09 trip, I called on day 180 at 7:30 am to book Chef Mickeys and CRT since they are the only ones right now I can book 180 days out. I didn't have to wait on hold at all and the CM was quite friendly for that early in the AM.

I was lucky to get the 2 ADR's on the days and times I wanted but in the past I have found it useful to have a list of your first choices and back ups ready when you call.

We took a last minute (like 7 days notice) trip this past Feb when all NE schools were out and I didn't expect to get any ADR's but I lucked out with several and had a back up list so in the end I was quite happy with what I got.

[minnie1956]

As a cost cutting measure, they run busses an hour before the Parks open. They do not run the Character Breakfast busses anymore.
If you have 7 ressies and the Parks open at 9 you need to find other transportation.
This happened to us last time. I had to give up my ressies because I refused to take a cab.
Free dining and busy parks make for some disappointments. Been there done that.
Good luck!

[Meteora]

Sorry for your troubles. We usually go during Christmas week, so I know what a pain it can be to try to get an ADR. I would agree that you should keep calling, because people cancel all the time. S

Sometimes we decide to just have a "fun, casual" dinner and head to DTD for a sandwich or some mac and cheese from Wolfgang Puck Express (yum), then top it off with an ice cream from Ghirardelli. If you're willing to be flexible, it can be a lot of fun. And it takes less time, so there's more time to play in the parks!

[LisaP]

From all of your responses, just looks like it could be the luck of the draw.

We only have a party of 3, but I am mainly trying to book character meals so maybe that is causing my pain :(

The reservationist was most helpful, and we spent an hour pouring over possibilities, but just not much luck in the end.

I guess I was just caught off guard that so little was available. We went in June for just a few days and it was a last minute decision, and booking ADR's was not much of a problem for me then (except the popular ones like CM, CRT and BBQ).

I figured I wanted to make things a bit more special for this trip since we planned ahead a bit more, and we are going around the holidays.

I will definitely look into Club Level at WL, and also thanks for the tip on the Trex restaurant at DTD, DS2 will love that one! He loved Rainforest Cafe at AK ... swore the gorilla whose hand he shook was real :secret:

[eandrsmom]

We are going to be there Dec. 13-20. I called about a month ago, and was able to get most of my choices. We are a family of six, so ADR's are a little more difficult for us to get.
I'd have to encourage you to keep trying. On one visit, in the middle of our trip, I called to see what TS was available the next day and ended up with CRT for breakfast! You never know when there will be a cancellation.

[TheRustyScupper]

1) All you can do is keep trying.
2) DDP only allows you to pay for meals/snacks.
3) It does not guarantee
. . . the restaurant you prefer
. . . the time you prefer
. . . the day you prefer

NOTE: Although it happens only on rare occasions, you may not even be able to eat at a TS restaurant on a given day and be forced into only CS meals.