Anyone else NOT make ADRs ?

[amberpi]

I don't mean this to be misunderstood, but if my budget was that tight I would be SO freaking nervous the whole trip. I'd wait another 6 months to save so I wouldn't worry, but I ADORE a number of qs options (hello Tangerine Cafe and Yorkshire Fish Shop!) so just eating qs wouldn't bother me at all Having to worry about it would bother me a great deal though.

 

[kelsma03]

We have previously just done one or two ADRs. Our last visit a few weeks ago we had 7:00 reservations at 50s Prime Time and I think we were forgotten about as we didn't get seated until 7:40. I still think about the 40 minutes HS fun we missed. It's why we're prefer CS meals, spontaneous and quick. An we pack drinks an sandwiches (we have handy insulated backpack coolers).

Plus, I do enough planning for a Disney trip. I just don't want to worry about waking up at the crack of dawn and calling to get some hard to get reservation. Not worth it.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

We don't anymore. For us, it has more to do with the lack of flexibility with the reservation policy. A few years ago, before Disney implemented the current cancellation policy, we had an ADR at Le Cellier for dinner. That morning we had a change of plans and didn't go to Epcot at all. I called and cancelled the reservation that morning, but under the current policy I would have been charged $40 for changing plans. That's not a policy that works for us. It's our vacation and if we want to change plans, we're gonna change plans. If there's a TS restaurant we want to eat at, we'll check and see if a spot is available. If so, great, but if not, no biggie, we'll eat somewhere else.

 

[china mom]

I don't mean this to be misunderstood, but if my budget was that tight I would be SO freaking nervous the whole trip. I'd wait another 6 months to save so I wouldn't worry, but I ADORE a number of qs options (hello Tangerine Cafe and Yorkshire Fish Shop!) so just eating qs wouldn't bother me at all Having to worry about it would bother me a great deal though.

I understand where you are coming from and I would love to be able to splurge and enjoy the food more but, the kids and I made a conscious decision to spend less and go more often. We have annual passes (a big splurge) and we fly free so if we can pop down to WDW every couple of months, we do.

It really doesn't cause me any stress though. We have our system down so packing our food isn't a hassle at all and, even though our goal is to just spend the money I make at my measly part time job, we do have other money to fall back on. If we over spend, it just takes a little longer to get back next time.

I would also LOVE to stay in a deluxe hotel one day and am extremely jealous of all of you who do but choosing Pop over All Star for a $10 bump is about as extravagant as I get.

 

[dawnhaze]

Personally, I don't like the vast majority of the food served in QS places, so if I tried to go without ADRs, I'd probably either go hungry or end up running around World Showcase every night looking for a place taking walk-ins for dinner.

But, I'd actually bet that a majority of guests don't book ADRs every day of their trip. This is based on 1) this forum and 2) the number of people I interact with while there who don't know that they can make ADRs at all.

Whatever works for you.

 

[dvcHammer]

no ADR's almost every trip

We eat when we are hungry and where we are. there is always a place to get food without a long wait.

My exception? We love Boma and will make an ADR if we want to go

There are some great TS places at resorts that almost never have a long wait for a table. If we wnt TS, we go to the resort

 

[jm106]

Oh, I don't have a child... I just like the convenience of having a stroller for my stuff

I have never heard that he tables are for those who buy meals and I have never been told otherwise. I have even brought my cooler to Cosmic Ray's (where the table police don't let you sit until you have your food). I figure that tables come with my park admission.

Its something I read on this board as well as another. Not sure its accurate, I just never tried it myself. I believe it was around when AK was offering picnics when I read it so a few yrs back.

side note- We do some creative things to save $ each trip- YES tix, did a marketing thing I was contacted about, split stay with a value and a deluxe with discount in one trip to afford the deluxe, eat in room breakfasts. This trip is driving from NJ and off site at free TS- kind of a bummer but we are making it work.

 

[michsig]

We usually do 1 TS meal a day .. it's usually dinner. Unless we're in Epcot - then we have lunch there. I guess it really just depends on everyone's budget! For me, I really enjoy the meals and different TS restaurants. I also love the QS stuff too though!

 

[china mom]

Its something I read on this board as well as another. Not sure its accurate, I just never tried it myself. I believe it was around when AK was offering picnics when I read it so a few yrs back.

.

It also might make a difference that we are usually eating a little earlier than the big lunch crowd so there is no competition for tables. For all I know, it is a rule and it is enforced during peak mealtimes but I have not tested that.

But, OTOH, fro my perspective, it is not like I am bringing outside food into a McDonalds or come other private restaurant. The tables at the QS are all part of the same property.

 

[Lyncha]

We actually schedule a TS meal each night of our trip. I pay for the meal plan and enjoy the freedom of not having to look at menu prices. In fact, we tend to look for the most expensive food, character restaurants to get more bang for the buck. After using the dining plan we may come out slightly ahead of what we would pay cash. My family enjoys dining out while on vacation. We do not dine out heavily throughout the year and vacation is when we splurge a bit. Even if I were not on a dining plan I could not imagine not having ADR's every night of our stay, it's part of the reason we enjoy Disney World.

 

[mco65]

We have done ADRs for just about every day on our last half dozen trips or so. We typically do character dining which takes care of my daughters desire for character meets and autographs. We have used the Dining plan for most of these ADRs, only a couple have been out of pocket. We have gotten Free Dining on every trip except our most recent when free dining was not offered but I opted to purchase it anyway.

Its been so long since we have NOT used the Dining plan, I am not sure if I would enjoy going back. The ADRs offer a nice break for me and my feet and give my young daughter a chance to meet characters...

Now that my oldest is now considered an ADULT for dining, our meals are 3 adults and 2 kids which is a pretty hefty price and if not for the Dining plan I would likely NOT have an ADR every day...


A note about Quick Service ..
A couple of times this recent trip we hit the lunch service at the wrong time and were forced into VULCHER mode in order to find an available table (I abhor this particular process to no end!). On one occassion we were forced to sit just outside the table section on a Wall due to lack of tables. Near the end of the meal, we were able to secure a table near us.... oh well. As we were sitting on the wall outside I did notice a family of about 6 or 7 crammed into a table eating boxed or brought in lunches. It aggraveted me a little but not enough to complain to a cast member about it..

 

[johde]

I normally do 1 TS restaurant per vacation. With the choices of CS restaurants at WDW, here recently the TS meal has been during the Universal Studios portion of the Vacation. So, while I don't make ADR, for a longer Florida vacation I plan out my CS restaurants to ensure variety. My goal over a week or longer vacation is no more than 1 each of CS hamburger, "Disney Pizza" (WPE, Flatbread at Boma etc doesn't count and may be a 2nd), and Chicken Fingers.

 

[GillianP1301]

I think there are probably tons of people out there who don't do any ADRs, in fact there are probably a good number of visitors who don't even know they exist. In the 90s when it was just DH and I, we never did TS. Part of it was ignorance to what was available, and part of it was we were travelling on the cheap back in those days.

Fast forward to present day and with my DS, I actually prefer to have ADRs. You could set a watch by when he's hungry, very set in his meal times, so for me, it's less stressful to have that time already booked than it is to try to find a QS at the time he's hungry (which is always peak times for him) and then battling QS lines/table hunting, etc... Because the financial part is not as big a concern to us anymore, the ADRs work well for us. I also like the break of having somewhere to sit, in the cool air during our summer trips. The last two trips, we did ADR breakfasts (all character buffets) and an ADR lunch. We left our evenings open because we never knew how long we'd last in the park, so often the supper meal was just at our resort QS. For this upcoming trip, I'm going to try ADRs for dinner as well and see how that goes.

Honestly though, if it were just me, I would probably not bother with ADRs and just eat when I was hungry and take a chance on getting a last minute ADR when I wanted one.

 

[eliza61]

Rarely.

I have an upcoming trip in May. I have actually only 2. One is for a lunch at Be our guest. mainly because I want to see what it looks like. If they'd let me tour the place I wouldn't even have that.

the other is for our arrival day. usually we're a bit tired by the end of the day.

1. I've been to Disney almost every season (except Christmas) and I have never had any problem getting a TS the day of. I can't imagine EVERY restaurant on site being fully booked the entire time.

2. I think the park restaurants (except for a few in Epcot) are overrated and over priced. I stopped eating at them long ago, for my family they are mediocre, TGI Fridays quality at best.

3. For some reason our internal clocks get all wacked out at Disney. LOL. I use to make 10 adr's one for every night and maybe a lunch and we'd never seem to make them. Now since they want a cc deposit. sorry not worth it.

Like I said, I always seem to have great luck. Before we go to bed we simply call Disney dining on our room phone and the wonderful folks always seem to be able to find some thing for us. like I said in 20 years I've never been told "every thing is solidly booked all night"

 

[pktbMouse]

loved reading your replys..thank you so much..well we are def going to be eating breakfast in the resort room for sure...we are driving down so Im taking cereal and granola bars with me, probably pick up some fresh bananas when I get there ( I have a kid whos nuts for bananas ! hehe) Halfway through out vacation it will be my 5yr olds birthday so we are saving like mad to try and get a TS for that day in MK. We will just be checking when we are there though if something is available..if not..no worries. The thing with my kids is they dont like characters anyhow..for some strange reason I have kids that are scared of them!! No amount of coaxing or sweet talking will make them like the characters...usually Mom goes and gets her pic taken with them alone! I will def also pack up the car with plenty of healthy snacks for the parks too...we will probably roll up to CBR looking like the beverly hillbillies..lol

 

[pktbMouse]

oh a kind of off topic thing...I noticed some of you mentioned you did ADRs with free dining? how wonderful that would be to get that! When is Disney likely to offer free dining? ( if at all anymore from what Ive heard)

 

[aleksandr]

We make 2 ADRs per trip at most, and those are character breakfasts.

I'm not a huge fan of Disney table service restaurants. We had one meal at the Yachtsman last year and it was quite disappointing in terms of service and food quality for the price. Le Cellier has gone downhill over the past decade as well.

Like the OP, we do a lot of quick service during our time in the parks. We will either have an ADR for a character breakfast or find a Dennys or IHOP for breakfast, eat lunch in the park at a QS, and then have dinner off-site at a chain like Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, etc.

There is something that just screams "Disney World" to us having lunch at Cosmic Rays in Tomorrowland each trip. I know many people extremely dislike Cosmic Rays, but there is something traditional to us about having a burger or chicken strips there, or at Electric Umbrella at Epcot.

 

[mousefan73]

If it wasnt for the FD we get there is no way in heck we would have eaten at most of the TS locations. I know that FD is just another form of a discount but for us it worked out.

If I had to Pay, there would only be a few places I would feel I would be getting some moneys worth.. BOMA, Ohana, Akerhus for example. Tusker House too.. mainly because they are buffetts, but good. I like to eat, ALOT when on vacation. So I am getting my money worth..

Spending over 20/25 plus for an entree at some other places is IMO, getting ripped off, the portions, IMO are small and quality is also not that great.

If it wasnt for FD, we would be bagging it and also doing QS.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I've only made 2--both for character meal breakfasts. We stay off-site and rent a car. The prices Disney charges for their food, especially since they implemented the Dining Plan is just over-the-top and not worth it in my opinion.

We make our own breakfast at our condo, have a CS lunch and eat at a sit-down restaurant off-site (Bonefish Grill and the Orlando Ale House are our faves). Or we pick up carry-out on our way back from the parks and just eat at the condo.

 

[donnawine]

This is a little off topic kind of but ....We have AP's and usually just go for the day - it's me (36) and my mom. If we want a TS meal it's usually for lunch bc it seems like we can never get in at a TS restaurant for dinner anymore. And that's on either a Monday or Tuesday! I don't know if its all the dining plans or just so many people making ADR's or just our bad luck but we had it once where we literally went to every single TS in HS and not one place had an opening. They all said they were booked til closing. Even had it on a Monday where several hotel TS were booked up for the day come 11am.
We normally prefer eating at Epcot anyway but come dinner time it can be tough even there to get a TS without a reservation. Anywho, we're just happy to be at disney for the day and can always find something tasty to eat