Do people really do this? ADRs??

[DisneyFamily123]

Booking reservations at 180, I've never had trouble getting a reservation I wanted. Doesn't seem necessary. However, I can't imagine spending only 5 days at Disney. 10 days seems better to relax and enjoy everything we want to do.... plus park tickets are less for days 5-10.... and I'm spending all that money on flying there... might as well stay for a while.

[gometros]

Same here. I've never had trouble with the 180 day window, even BOG. I haven't had a desire for what I guess are the real popular ADRs like CRT, so I don't know about those, but 180 days is enough for me.

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

I don't understand why anyone would have to do that. I get the idea behind it, it isn't that hard of a concept, but I don't think it is necessary. I booked my trip about 80 days out from our arrival date, and I was able to get everything I needed. I even got BOG. I had to wait and be patient, but so far I have seen 2 BOG reservations available for the date I wanted to go. I snagged the earlier one. Granted, it is at 8:25, but it is an EMH night, so we will nap then go back to MK and be fine with eating that late.

I saw tons of LeCellier reservations. T-REX can be hard to get sometimes and I got that too. It seems pretty unnecessary to me. That's just my opinion and experience though.

[kymom99]

Another thing to consider is that this ties up a room for those days which means no one can reserve it until the days are cancelled.

[mcd2745]

Originally Posted by grimley1968

I don't know that I'd feel "guilty" about it. People have to make changes to their plans all the time. But I think it's an awful lot of trouble to go through in order to get a 5-day jump in addition to the 180 days people already get to make ADRs. I don't know much about BOG, but knowing it's a counter service for lunch sure doesn't make me want to go through so many hoops just to get an ADR there for a table service dinner there. As much as I love some of the restaurants in WDW, there's just no way I'm making ADRs 6 months in advance. I just can't predict what I'll be in the mood for in August. Sorry, but I think the whole ADR system has gotten out of hand, and this example is a symptom of it. I think ADRs should be limited to 1 month out, with a credit card hold on all of them. A lot of this ADR madness would evaporate then, IMHO.

Completely agree. I've been in many an "arguement" on the restaurant boards about the ridiculousness of the 180 days for ADRs. I've always felt that the right number was 45 days to coincide with the pay-in-full date for packages and also been an advocate of CC holds. However, some DISers react to the mere thought of decreasing that 180 day window as if you were taking away their first-born. The whole ADR thing has gotten out of control, although there is no doubt that the CC holds they did institute - what was it, about 18 months ago? - helped tremendously. Overall availability seems to be better, and just look at the cancellation threads on the restauarant boards - they are a small fraction of what they used to be. However, even if they hadn't added the CC holds and the madness was still at its peak of a couple of years ago, I couldn't imagine going through all that effort to get a couple of days jump on others for ADRs. To each their own I guess.

[LisaTN]

Just to clarify, I am NOT planning on doing this

The girl I spoke to made it sound like it was common practice, and so I was cusious if this is really what people did.

The only reason we couldn't get BOG was because we booked our trip only 70 days out, and by then, yes- we couldn't get a ressie there. I did try back quite a bit, but with no luck. I'm sure if I booked at 180 days we'll be fine.

As for the long window for ADRs, maybe Disney does this so people will do fewer last minute trips... this way they can plan for crowds?? Just my theory.

[Bullseye]

Oh wait...even better book a 20 day trip and then just lop off 15 days after you make your adr's
kind of like six instead seven minute ab workout

[TDC Nala]

Not only do people do this, if they are staying offsite they book a resort reservation to get access to the 180 plus 10 reservation perk, then cancel the resort reservation.

Personally I don't see the need to push to make all your ADRS at exactly 180 days.

[cobright]

Originally Posted by Crystal824

I suppose you could do this. It just isn't worth it to me to have to go thorugh the process of changing reservations. I don't have that kind of time.

That's a pretty common theme among the responses so far in this thread. Let me play devil's advocate just a bit.

If getting in to see BOG or CRT or whatever is not so big of a deal for some people then those people shouldn't mind that other's are doing everything possible to secure those reservations. Things are valued differently by different people and it is polite to respect that, while a dinner with Belle, may not be so special you me, it might be incredibly special to someone else. So long as everyone plays by the rules I shouldn't judge what another is willing to go through to secure a special moment.

Consider someone who could never afford a WDW vacation before is planning to take her 9 yr. old daughter. In another year or two or three that it will take to get back to the MK that daughter will be a tween or teen and the window for disney magic will be closed a bit with the passing time.

Now I go every year and don't have time to waste planning out every detail 180 days in advance. But I have a credit card and loads of dough in the bank so, sure I want them to make ADRs only with a secured payment. That's great for me. I can get all those reservations for places I eat at every year and describe as "Not worth the trouble".

And that single mom who will pay off her vacation with the last paycheck before the 45 day mark and might be broke until the day she steps on the plane? ... Those are the people 'Quick Service' is for right?

Personally, I like the 180 day window. It rewards planners and dedicated disney guests. Overbooking to get a headstart on ADRs does game the system and could be fixed by simply allowing ADRs for 180 days prior to the specific date of the reservation. That puts everyone back on the same playing field.

[mcd2745]

Originally Posted by cobright

That's a pretty common theme among the responses so far in this thread. Let me play devil's advocate just a bit.

If getting in to see BOG or CRT or whatever is not so big of a deal for some people then those people shouldn't mind that other's are doing everything possible to secure those reservations. Things are valued differently by different people and it is polite to respect that, while a dinner with Belle, may not be so special you me, it might be incredibly special to someone else. So long as everyone plays by the rules I shouldn't judge what another is willing to go through to secure a special moment.Consider someone who could never afford a WDW vacation before is planning to take her 9 yr. old daughter. In another year or two or three that it will take to get back to the MK that daughter will be a tween or teen and the window for disney magic will be closed a bit with the passing time.

Now I go every year and don't have time to waste planning out every detail 180 days in advance. But I have a credit card and loads of dough in the bank so, sure I want them to make ADRs only with a secured payment. That's great for me. I can get all those reservations for places I eat at every year and describe as "Not worth the trouble".

And that single mom who will pay off her vacation with the last paycheck before the 45 day mark and might be broke until the day she steps on the plane? ... Those are the people 'Quick Service' is for right?

Personally, I like the 180 day window. It rewards planners and dedicated disney guests. Overbooking to get a headstart on ADRs does game the system and could be fixed by simply allowing ADRs for 180 days prior to the specific date of the reservation. That puts everyone back on the same playing field.

But is that playing by the rules? That's really more of a rhetorical question, btw, as i think some would say yes, and some would say no. It becomes a "spirit of the law vs. letter of the law" type argument with no real correct answer.

[nooneshome]

I think this a pretty rare situation and of no real consequence. I think you have more problem with people having multiple ADRs for the same meal.

[dvdcrow]

We made a dining reservation for BOG for the last night of our 5 night trip, and had NO trouble doing this 180 days out from our first night. If you're staying in a WDW resort, which we are, you can make advance reservations for up to 10 days of your vacation, starting 180 days in advance of the first day that you're booked at your resort (the 180+10 days rule). We were able to get close to the time we wanted at BOG, I asked for 5 PM, and got a dinner reservation for 5:05 PM with no hassle. We're going at the beginning of August, which is peak season. I called at 7:00 AM on the 180th day, and got right through. I had already made the reservation for our first night online, but you can't do that with the rest of your stay, you have to call the dining line for reservations after the first day, or make the reservations online one day at a time on the 180 day advance dates. So, as long as you book your resort room more than 180 days ahead, I don't see any reason to "cheat," assuming you can make that early phone call 180 days in advance.

[meredith1]

Disney restaurants aren't worth that much effort-none of them.

[drlaurafsu]

Another option is to do what we did in January. After the parade we did one ride and then headed over to BOG. Got in line around 3:30-3:40...we were the second group in line without reservations. They moved us to a separate line from the reservation check in and took our info. We actually got seated ahead of the two men that were in front of us, but several standbys got in with us.

Now we did have to eat dinner at 4pm. But I had planned for this possibility with only a light snack for lunch. DS and I loved it and it was a special treat for us. Would I do this every trip? No...but it was just him and I and our Tables of Wonderland card...so we made the most of it.

[LaurenT]

I don't see why this would even be necessary. Yes, BOG is popular, but I can't imagine it being completely sold out for every time slot when the 180 day window opens.
I have a 5:40 ADR for next Wednesday that I made on Oct 17th....that was only 4 months out....