The Case for Sleeping on Advance Dining Reservations
When it comes to Walt Disney World, dining is unquestionably the most stressful thing to plan. At the crack of dawn, 180 days before traveling, many of you will compete for the most-coveted Advance Dining Reservations, committing to where you’ll eat 6 months later. You’ll do this before park hours and Extra Magic Hours have been released, and before you have FastPass+ selections.
If this doesn’t sound absolutely nuts to you, that’s only because you’ve become so accustomed to this nonsense that even the asinine seems everyday. In this post, we’ll make the case for sleeping through that early morning wake up call 180 days before your trip, discussing what you lose and gain by waiting to make ADRs–or not making them at all. Before we delve into this, we want to stress that this strategy is not universally-applicable. This article should be read more as food for thought than imperative advice.
It’s been almost a decade since we made any Advance Dining Reservations 180 days in advance when we had a few must have reservations to score for our honeymoon. In fact, we seldom make ADRs in advance of trips at all, and when we do, it’s usually only a couple of reservations and only a month or so ahead of time. This approach works for us, and we think it could work for you…
Much like Kramer quitting the mail, one day I came to my senses on this, and yelled at my computer screen early one morning after Stitch ate yet another page. “Oh, no, no. I don’t think you get me. I want out, permanently.”
And like that, a new era of our vacation planning was born: one with me getting to sleep more.
First, the downside of fixating on Advance Dining Reservations so far in advance of your trip is that you’re doing so blindly. You won’t know park hours, where you’re going to be able to score FastPass+, or in which parks Extra Magic Hours are occurring. From our perspective, each of these things is more important than ADRs.
As we discuss in our Most Difficult for Advance Dining Reservations post, one work-around to this is the controversial practice of booking ‘spare’ Advance Dining Reservations as a contingency. While this doesn’t bother us in the least (for the reasons discussed there), we’re also not competing with you for those ADRs.
From our perspective, booking FastPass+ at the 60 day window is much more essential. This is only likely to become truer as more third party hotels are added to this pool, and as things become more competitive with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and other huge scale additions for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.
Planning and reserving a table once at the 180 day mark, then changing those plans again once park hours are released, then changing those plans again once FastPass+ selections are made is a hassle. Rather than doing that, we like to start by making our FastPass+ selections at the 60 day mark in coordination with park hours, and then making ADRs around those.
By that time, some sought-after Advance Dining Reservations will undoubtedly be gone. Dinner at Be Our Guest Restaurant is the big one that’s likely to be unavailable. There are several others that might also be tough. The point is, you won’t have everything as an option.
However, when I search for Advance Dining Reservations 60 days from today, there are over 100 restaurants with availability, including Be Our Guest Restaurant at breakfast or lunch, ‘Ohana at breakfast or dinner, and Akershus. The only choices that were unavailable were Artist Point, Capa (weird, but okay), Cinderella’s Royal Table, and various speciality experiences like tea and Dining with an Imagineer.
If I were willing to put more than 2 minutes of effort into my searching, I’m almost positive I could toy with days or times a bit and get into every single restaurant at some time or another during the day. The only possible exception is Storybook Dining at Artist Point, as that’s only at dinner and it still has that “new character dining experience” smell.
Arbitrarily, let’s say that even at the 60 day mark, we were to get shut out of 3 restaurants. For every restaurant you can’t book because of no availability, there are 10 more good alternatives that you can’t book due to a lack of time. Seriously, there are dozens of great restaurants at Walt Disney World, and vacation duration is your biggest “enemy” (well, and cost) in terms of ability to do them all. If one you really wanted is unavailable, choose a similar alternative.
This might sound like pretty flippant advice, but it’s really to underscore the wealth of options and great alternatives more than anything. We witness people getting so stressed out over ADRs, and it’s really not necessary. Unless you have a huge party or there’s a popular character meal with your children’s favorites that is absolutely essential, your options at or inside the 60 day mark are generally pretty good.
Additionally, dining flexibility at Walt Disney World is becoming greater. With new restaurants opening seemingly every week at Disney Springs, and more also being added to hotels, most restaurants have more openings now than they did 5 years ago. Longtime fans (us included) often grouse about how visiting is becoming less and less spontaneous, but that’s not the direction things are trending with regard to dining.
Certainly, if you compare today to 1987, there’s more planning involved with dining. However, if you compare today to 5 or even 10 years ago, it’s markedly easier. Not only is the online system (when it’s working!) a comparative breeze over calling, but last-minute availability is more abundant. Even in the parks, you’ll now see signage advertising same-day reservations for restaurants.
To be honest, unless we are on the Disney Dining Plan for the express purpose of saving money (and thus, keyed in on certain restaurants to review), it’s exceedingly rare for us to make ADRs even a day in advance. We roll out of bed and shower (second step optional), get on the bus, look at our FastPass+ selections, see which restaurants are available, and book based upon that while en route to the park.
We’d never recommend that a first-timer do this, but as regulars who are flexible with where we dine, it works for us. Even same day, we’ve never found fewer than 2 options in each park that we really like. (Our favorite restaurants in Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom are almost always available day-of.)
Look, we enjoy planning for Walt Disney World trips, and we obviously highly recommend that you plan. Not only is it essential for saving time and being prepared, but it’s a fun way to build anticipation and hype for your trip. With that said, not all types of planning are good.
When it comes to making Advance Dining Reservations some six months in advance, it seems stress is the most common accompanying emotion. You compound this stress with that of FastPass+ selections and the inevitable modifying of other plans. Over time, in pursuit of the “perfect” daily itinerary changes, there’s also the tendency to develop sky-high and totally unrealistic expectations.
This certainly doesn’t happen to everyone, and veteran Walt Disney World planners may already know how to thread this needle to ensure they experience all of the joys of planning without the headaches, stress, and unrealistic expectations. Other veterans may dislike this degree of planning, but view it as a necessary evil.
This is pretty common, and one of the reasons we stress the concept of ‘planned spontaneity’ in our Being Spontaneous at Walt Disney World post. It’s easy to get so caught up in the fear of missing out that you don’t stop to think, missing out on what? Just because something’s popular doesn’t mean it’s essential (or even good!), and quite often the less popular alternatives provide unexpected delight (or are even better!).
With all of that said, ‘sleeping’ on Advance Dining Reservations is not one size fits all advice. For some people, this approach will create more uncertainty and stress. For others, convoluted and meticulous planning is part of the ‘getting hyped’ process. We are hardly suggesting our approach is the only one, or even the best one, for everyone.
Rather, we’re offering a different perspective on Advance Dining Reservations, and one you’ll probably seldom read on a Walt Disney World planning-oriented blog such as this one. The point is, opting out of the mad dash for ADRs at the 180 day mark is entirely possible, and in most cases, the negative ramifications will be insignificant. Whether potentially missing out on a reservation or three in exchange for less hassle is a trade you want to make is a personal question, and one we can’t really answer. We do know that, for us, it’s a no brainer.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Are you zealous about making all of your Advance Dining Reservations at the 180 day mark, or do you take a more laid back approach with planning meals? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Think this could work for a first-timer to Walt Disney World? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We are planning our 2nd trip for later in 2019, what are your suggestions for a reservation at Cinderella’s Royal Table? It’s pretty much the only ADR I’m looking at snagging for sure, otherwise I just want to wing it. We are a party of 3.
My advice is to skip Cinderella’s Royal Table! The food is WAY overrated! It’s overpriced and, if you are using the DDP, it’s not worth 2 credits! We ate there twice and we had air conditioning leaking on our heads once with nowhere to move us (WHY would they sit us there to begin with?????), and, the 2nd time, they tried to rush us out literally within getting our entreé. We enjoyed the experience at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in the Norway Pavilion at EPCOT! We had a yummiful breakfast there, we weren’t rushed and the Character interactions were really nice! We met Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Princess Aurora and Ariel. SUCH a wonderful time and only 1 Dining Credit!
Due to my work schedule, I’m almost never planning a WDW trip six months out, so I’ve never dealt with the 180 day madness. We are generally traveling as a family of four, including two young kids. I’ve never had trouble finding ADRs we’re happy with (then again, we’re not trying to get into Cinderella’s Royal Table), and luckily our favorites generally tend to be sleepers (never a problem getting Boma reservations ). As Tom said, the “sleep on it” approach may not be for everyone, but it works for our style of Disney travel!
This only works if your not going at a semi busy time or worse. Last year the week after thanksgiving we tried to get ADR’s the morning of the 180 day mark as well as every day up to our trip and was only able to score one non popular character dining option during the entire week. We even tried the day before and still had issues. My suspicion is because we were a larger party (7) it was much harder to get reservations. So if your going with a large party 6 or more, the 180 mark is absolutely crucial if your looking to get character dining.
My wife and I did this for our most recent trip.
We ended up taking advantage of a couple services that will watch for certain ADRs to become available and notify you. We were able to get pretty much every reservation we wanted.
We did all our ADRS 180 days in advance last time, and we felt too tied down… not to mention we found a lot of times we were not hungry yet when the reservation time came around.
This time I’m making 4 reservations for 9 days (I was going to make 3 but then Star Wars opening early happened) So we are making reservations for what’s most important to us, and then winging it for the rest of the days!
We typically have 8 (or more) people and only want 2-3 specific restaurants. (Be our Guest is one of them) Never do dinning plans. There is no way to do this without booking 180 days out for this number of people when you want specific restaurants.
Well, I believe in doing ADR reservations first, then adjusting once I have Fast Passes. I feel much happier dumping a reservation if I have to make adjustments — and I think my time spent is worth it. And we almost always end up changing at least one restaurant the week before our vacation . . . but I love the peace of mind of having those reservations lined up early.
For the last couple of trips we’ve made, I’ve gone with the (“free”) Quick Service Dining plan and have stopped the madness. With the regular dining plan I always felt like we were building our vacation around where we wanted to eat every evening- and losing two hours of valuable park time per table service meal. I’ve never had a bad meal at a table service restaurant, but I’ve had a lot of mediocre ones. It just doesn’t seem worth the headache.
Thank you for this post! Our ADR day is in two weeks and I have been totally stressing about this. I also got yelled at in a message board for asking if it was possible to make two reservations for the same day in case we decide to totally skip HS and the Star Wars craziness! I feel much better now 🙂
star wars is bring out a lot of nasty people. people can’t ask simply questions like this without being bombarded with “just don’t go” or “stop complaining” when they have legitimate concerns about the crowds. i’ve seen it, and been a recipient, on many posts.
star wars is bringing out a lot of nasty people. people can’t ask simple questions like this without being bombarded with “just don’t go” or “stop complaining” when they have legitimate concerns about the crowds. i’ve seen it, and been a recipient, on many posts.
i don’t mind the 180-day window, or even getting up. what i mind is when the system isn’t working. last week was our mark and i got up along with my TA so we could chat on the phone and the system wasn’t working so she had to end up calling an hour later anyway. that was annoying for both of us.
what i mind is i wish disney would post park hours about 10 days ahead of schedule so people could use that to plan their ADRs. I’m pretty sure they used to post hours with enough advance notice. it is annoying to find out a week later that park hours are not what you expected, and one or two days’ hours significantly impact your adr’s.
anyone remember back in the early 90s when you’d go to epcot and make same-day reservations through the video phone, and how technologically advanced and mesmerizing that was? lol. and there was always availability, haha.
I think it partly depends on how many people are in your group. For a group of 2, which Tom usually is, I imagine it is much easier to find last minute reservations, than for a group of 5 or 6 (what I usually have).
This is very true. We routinely travel 7-9 guests. Last minute reservations for ‘choice’ restaurants is always difficult. And if you have young kids, a 8pm dinner at Crystal Palace Isn’t going to cut it.
Appreciate this point of view! Too bad it came on day 179. I got up early yesterday and was juggling 3 devices. Booked our favs for a party of 8, so a win for us.
I see your point but I travel with children. I know if we attempt to eat way later than when we typically eat at home, I’m risking hangry park meltdowns. No one wants that. So while my kids are still little, I’ll wake up early to ensure we have an ADR time to suits my family.
To my knowledge, aside from special events like Pandora opening EMH have not changed days for years now. So I think you can plan around those will pretty good confidence.
One item I’d plug is Touringplans free reservation finder if you are looking for a hard-to-get ADR. You put in what you are looking for and it texts you if it finds availability – it was quite useful for finding a Beaches and Cream reservation for us last year.
Overall, I agree with your assessment that there are times to grab early ADRs if there is something you are really wanting to do, but not to sweat it in general. WDW really does have a lot of great food options (I can’t think of any TS in WDW that I wouldn’t go back to) and trying something new might be fun.
Kevin,
I agree. We use Touring Plans to see what the EMH will be based on history. That way at 180 days out, we already know what parks we will be in on what days and what days off we will have to eat at other resorts. It’s still based around the expected EMH (which can be found as a Touring Plans member). This allows us so much less stress at the time of our vacation because every park day/ADR/FP+ is set & we just go from there.
Also, we use Touring Plans reservation finder to further tweak specific restaurant times if we weren’t able to get them at 180 days out (i.e. – Ohana during the fireworks). 2 years of this now & we have been able to get every ADR & specific reservation time that we have wanted, as well as EMH. Oh, & the reservation finder is so simple & hands-off as well.
I understand that the morning 180 days out can be stressful, but if you are planning a trip where you don’t go regularly (more than once a year), I highly recommend that you plan, plan more & subscribe to Touring Plans to help plan.
It would be difficult to not make advanced for a party if 10. The stress ahead of time is more manageable than day of. Someone said we should go through group reservations?
Hi Tom
Getting up to book ADRs from SoCal is even crazier due to the 3 hour time change! But dining has become a central focus for me when I go to WDW. I’m one of those odd birds with multiple food allergies and Disney does an amazing job of taking care of people like me. So many great choices are available when I’m there. I can almost dine out like a “regular” person. So I may be the exception but snagging the best spots at the best times (vs dinner at 430 in the afternoon) are the focus of my trip. If only WDW would move the call center hours a little later in the day for everyone… then I could get another hour of sleep!
Never!! Long live the 180-day ADR!! I subscribe to the theory that for one measly morning of the year, I can pull my carcass out of bed and nab reservations at all the restaurants we like PLUS at the times we want. Sure, you can find reservations 60-days out somewhere due to Disney’s vast offerings, but the 180-day ADR is the best way to secure what you want and when you want it.
I subscribe to the method Tom mentions which is to book ADRs for nearly every meal knowing I won’t use them all. I will then drop them as we get closer to our vacation once park hours, events, schedules, etc., are formalized. Not only that, I am on Open Table scheduling restaurants like the Boathouse at Disney Springs which allows you to cancel reservations the day of without penalty (unlike Disney).
Finally, for those of us who don’t get to WDW that often, the 180-day ADR is also a dose of pixie dust in advance of our vacation. It provides an opportunity to fuel the anticipation as we see all the fun places to dine.
So all 180-day ADR obsessive planners unite as we scoff at those spontaneous folks heading to the Wave as we dine at California Grill. 🙂 (Fun article Tom!)
I’m with Wes — long live the ADR’s. Making reservations is not stressful; it is fun. Planning where you will eat is also a lot of fun. All of us going on the trip get together and plan. Then, because I am the very early riser, I make the reservations. As for knowing park hours and the days of the week for early opening, that rarely changes. For people with eating disorders and small children, the time you eat is important. In these cases, ADR’s are helpful. If you want to get in the park early, make a breakfast reservation before the park opens to the public. Then when you are done eating, you are already in the park.
I had to let go of my ADRs for the Bon Voyage Breakfast, the Ohana breakfast, and a few other popular places when I added a person to our party and no one would let me change my reservation to accommodate him. I stressed for weeks about all the B list places I picked up instead.
The day before our trip, just about every place had openings for all times, with the exception of Beaches and Cream and the Sci Fi Dine in Theater. Guess it was all those last min cancellations to avoid the cancellation fee.
If I were to do it again (ok, when I do it again) I will not get the meal plan (I think that forced me to eschew too many good/convenient places as too inexpensive to get my money’s worth), and I won’t do any ADRs. With all the last minute cancellations, I’d guess that you could probably eat at 90% of the places with 24 hours’ notice.
Tom,
Great advice. Magic hours and FP+ are the keys to our successful WDW trips. If we can’t find a good place to eat on short notice, we are being too rigid.
Thank YOU THANK YOU for this Tom. This is SPOT ON and I am going to take your advice with the exception of 1 ADR for our 9 day trip in October.