ADR every night or leave some open?

[JJsmama]

Right now I have ADRs for almost every night for a week's trip. That is how I have always done it, but sons r reminded me about all the CS places they like (Sunshine seasons, Les Halles, etc) and they suggested that we do those some nights instead of over- scheduling it all in advance. It will be first week in June and we will be staying at BWI, so walking over should be convenient. However, i worry about crowds, lines and not being able to find a seat, etc. I don't think we have ever done a park Cs for dinner, yes for lunch and yes for resort Cs on a rest day. If kids will be happy with CS, I am wondering why I insist on paying for TS every night... What have been your experiences?

The adrs i have now are:
Yak and Yeti
chefs de France
HDDR
via Napoli
biergarten
sci Fi drive in

We also have GG and BOG for breakfast.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I'd listen to your kids. They're asking for less scheduling. You'll be able to eat.

 

[ConnecticutNonna]

I always schedule a TS every night. BUT, I do it so that I get the times and ADRs that I want. Between 90 days and the actual day before I am always tweeking. Sometimes I will cancel an ADR the night before.
But we do like to relax in the evening, enjoy a nice dinner and then do evening entertainment. So those relaxing dinners may not be for those who want to do commando style at night.
The good thing about making those ADRs is that you can always change your mind, but if there's a particular restaurant you want to eat in, you could be out of luck if you wait.
If you don't have many restaurants that you absolutely want to go to, just schedule a few and then see how your day works out. You know you won't go hungry at Disney! lol

 

[JJsmama]

We actually don't do commando style at night at all. We go during the summer and by dinner time, the parks are just too crowded. We don't really even try to do attractions at night at all except, "Oh Look, Spaceship Earth is walk on! Let's do that." We just stroll around (having already done commado style from RD to lunch, then we usually do pool then showers. )
I have come to the realization that the kids don't want less scheduling at WDW (the one time they don't challenge me at all and defer to my superior research...) but I think they just want less pre-planning now. I think I may leave one night open anyway. All of our lunches are open.

 

[Nancyg56]

We actually don't do commando style at night at all. We go during the summer and by dinner time, the parks are just too crowded. We don't really even try to do attractions at night at all except, "Oh Look, Spaceship Earth is walk on! Let's do that." We just stroll around (having already done commado style from RD to lunch, then we usually do pool then showers. )
I have come to the realization that the kids don't want less scheduling at WDW (the one time they don't challenge me at all and defer to my superior research...) but I think they just want less pre-planning now. I think I may leave one night open anyway. All of our lunches are open.

I dont know your children, but I know that when my DGD asks for something, she generally means what she says. I wonder if what your kids are asking for is more casual dining, rather than less scheduled dining.

My DD and her family did an all CS trip one year, only scheduling one TS meal. They had a blast! I like a TS meals daily, and they usually do as well, but that one trip they wanted to be commitment free.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Our enjoyment of Disney has gone up immensely the last few trips by scheduling less and less ADR's.

We have zero scheduled for our May trip at this point...and might keep it that way.

 

[JJsmama]

Our enjoyment of Disney has gone up immensely the last few trips by scheduling less and less ADR's.

We have zero scheduled for our May trip at this point...and might keep it that way.

Really? That is interesting. Did you do walk up TS or all CS? At CS, how was the 'crowded factor'? I guess it wasn't too bad if you enjoyed it.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Really? That is interesting. Did you do walk up TS or all CS? At CS, how was the 'crowded factor'? I guess it wasn't too bad if you enjoyed it.

We ate at 3 TS restaurants on our last trip, none with an ADR before the trip. One was Rainforest Cafe (a necessity for our son), and we're Landry's select members, so no reservation needed. Made an ADR the night before at 50'sPT, and a same-day ADR for LTT. The rest was counter service and snacking. "Crowded" was not a factor for any QS meal.

 

[Disneylover99]

Less is more.
We enjoy the flexibility of counter service.

 

[Mainemama]

We tend to book ADR in the middle of the day. Both SS and Les Halle's in July have been fine at dinner. SS seems busier midday. Les Halle's may have a long line, but it moves fast. If you don't want to fight crowds for a table, just head outside and find a bench somewhere. The one place I will not do CS in the summer is in MK. I would book dinner for your MK nights, or head to a CS at a resort.

 

[Duck143]

I would book everything you want and then you can adjust when you're there. It's better to have the ADR than to not book it and wish you could.

 

[Kerriowl]

We have been the first week of June and the second week of June. We have never had trouble finding a counter service place for dinner. Our next trip is coming up this June. We have a few table service, but many of them are for lunch, not dinner since that gets you a break in the heat of the day. I would listen to the kids and not worry about the crowd factor. In my experience it isn't a big deal, especially if one person does the ordering and paying while others get a table.

 

[Kazi7]

We have a family of 6 so I also stress about finding a table at counter service places for all of us. Therefore, when we were just there over Christmas, I decided to make ADR's for lunch and dinner most every day. The 2 dinners and 1 lunch ADR that I ended up cancelling that week were all at Epcot. (We had 2 evenings and 1 full day at Epcot--also stayed at BWV.) After the first night that we spent eating around the world (baguettes and cheese plate from Les Halles!) we decided we like the variety of doing that better as we enjoy snacking and sharing. I was sad to miss the TS that I was looking forward to (Garden Grill dinner, San Angel dinner and Biergarten lunch) but it was definitely cheaper and we were way less full!