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!
I don’t bother either. Our last 2 trips have been ‘last minute’ (decided 2-3 months in advance) and I have had no issue finding ADRs using the reservation finder tool (touring plans). For our upcoming trip, I was able to snag a ‘storybook dining’ reservation at 54 days out.
I can absolutely see why this approach would work for some people.
As things stand, I guess I’m one of those WDW planners who has managed to enjoy the process without attaching inappropriate stress to it. I always find that I enjoy the thrill of both ADR and FastPass+ mornings. I never go in thinking I’ll get everything I want, and I have many times come away with something better than I’d anticipated. I like having those ADRs in my pocket and then I will typically change a couple of them over the months before my trip.
It’s all a part of the fun of a trip. If someone tells me they’re going, I always want to know where they’re staying and where they’re eating. FastPasses are less interesting to me, but of course I’ll gladly listen if they want to tell me 🙂
Agreed. I have no concerns about FastPasses at all. Having those booked actually stresses me out a little because I feel like we “must” be at the parks during those times.
I won’t be available the day our FastPass window opens up, so here’s one of my day’s requests to our Disney travel agent:
“Saturday, August 10 – Epcot:
Frozen Ever After (if available in the morning before noon–earlier the better!) – 6 people
If not Frozen, then Soarin’ or Test Track in the evening after 6pm – 2 people”
That’s all I want. Sure, I might also swing by a few other rides like the 3 Caballeros, but I would much rather stand in that standby line whenever I get there than think, “I have to be to 3 Caballeros by 1pm!”
One dining reservation a day is totally manageable and easy to do (if you’re not park hopping). Having 3 FastPass reservations can be stressful. They dictate where you are and when, 3 times a day!
As a solo tripper, I can be very flexible on my meals. But there are two must-do ADRs that I enjoy getting up early for at the 180-day mark: Beauty and the Beast lunch and the Mama Melrose Fantasmic dining package. I’ve never been able to snag an O’Hanna ADR so I finally gave up on that and decided it wasn’t worth the stress.
I look forward to being logged in and refreshed at exactly 7AM, 180 days out, and I almost always get what I want! Works for me. Just part of going to WDW!
I’m not sure which wing we were in since I don’t know which one is east and west. We weren’t in the main dining room, and we weren’t in the more interesting one that was darker. The one we were in had some big fixture in the middle. The problem was that it was cacophonous in the main dining room and only a couple of tables with people in our dining room (can’t figure out why there were no other reservations available!). We were sort of in this big almost empty room, which does not add to ambiance, while hearing the noise from the main dining room. Perhaps if the lights had been lower it would have made it a bit more romantic, but they were quite bright and the experience was not what we had hoped for. (Still like the talking knights though!)
You can see the hours, but they frequently change closer to the actual date – sometimes as much as a couple of weeks out.
Tom, Since finding out you contribute to touringplans.com, I will respectfully add that making ADR’s, if you want to make them in advance, are much easier to plan if you have a touring plan with touringplans.com. I then book restaurants that are in the vicinity of where we will be at the times that we normally prefer to eat. Mind you, we generally only eat at a table restaurant once a day, other times are counter service or snack cart. The exceptions are DHS because we love both Primetime Cafe as well as the Sci-fi Drive-in Theater, and Epcot, because the children in our family group adore both the Coral Reef Restaurant and Biergarten.
Point is, when you know your path through the park, thanks to touringplans.com, you know generally where you will be at various times of the day. It really has been a lifesaver for me with planning. My aunt used to do the trip planning for the entire family and used their touring planner for years before I took over and now I can’t do without it. Talk about some stress relief!
Kenny? Is that you?
Nope, its alisa
So, maybe I got lucky. We are going for a week the first part of April. I was able to research a lot via this site, plan what reservations we wanted and got everything. Including Beaches and Cream along with Cinderella’s Royal Table. For CRT, I did have to look daily, but found a sweet 8:10am spot for my daughter and I. We have never been, first trip so I guess I”m pleased with our luck???
I apologize for being a naysayer, but we actually got dinner reservations for Be Our Guest a couple of years back and, frankly, we didn’t see it as having been worth all of the angst and constant checking, etc. that it took to get it. The food was a “B,” the multitude of people took away from a nice ambiance, and we were just a little disappointed after so much anticipation. A smaller venue would at least be nice. It wasn’t bad, just hard to justify all of the work that went into getting the ADR. Seems like if you can get in, great. But if not, as Tom says, there are so many other really great choices. The talking knights in armor was our favorite part. :o)
Definitely agree– Were you in the main dining room? Our last trip we were seated in the West Wing.. much smaller, quieter and darker.. BIG difference! It was really neat
I agree wholeheartedly… You need a Masters Degree in advanced Disney vacation planning!! It’s getting to be too much for me…… Haven’t found the sweet spot to get a dinner reservation for Be Our Guest.. Have tried for 4 years… closest I got was breakfast.
We have done everything from booking almost every dinner to only a few. For our upcoming trip I plan to get an ADR for the first night ( usually we just get settled in, take a rest after getting up at an early hour to take a flight, and don’t plan any FP+ for that day) as it is nice to go for a nice dinner. This time we are at BLT so we will probably go to California Grill or somewhere else on the monorail) and maybe one or two others. I agree it is quite easy to find something for the same day on the MDE.
We didn’t book our last trip until a bit more than 3 months out. The only two places I couldn’t get were Be Our Guest, any meal, and ‘Ohana for dinner (we weren’t trying for any of the high end places, or any princess dining experiences, other than the really enjoyable dinner – both for the character experience and the food – at 1900 Park Fare). Within less than 2 weeks ‘Ohana opened up, and we got that one. Never did get Be Our Guest. Also, many of the best times never became available. But even at that time, we were able to get all the character dining we wanted.
One thing I strongly agree with is that planning out the meals was the most stressful part of planning, hoping that they’re not going to switch out who gets Extra Magic Hours months from when you’re booking as to what they are on the day you book.
I believe there is a way to see the park hours for 180 days +10 days if you view through my itinerary on the My Disney Experience. We did this on our last trip.
You can see the hours, but they frequently change closer to the actual date — sometimes as much as a couple of weeks out.
Great idea. I think we’ll try that on our next trip (we’re an older adult couple), as well as look seriously at combining that with your recent article on split hotels and only using the dining plan for the latter of the two. Thanks!
When we had young kids, we had ADRs for every meal. Now that it’s just the two of us, I’ll only book a must-do, usually one or two hard to get ADRs if we wanted specific times. For our upcoming trip, I booked a Tiffins dining package. I’d read the ticketed seating location for the light show is better than if you were seated elsewhere. No idea if that’s true, but we love Tiffins anyway!
When we went in 2016, and we thought that might be our singular family trip to WDW, I felt the ADRs were essential, since the character meals were just as if not more important to us than the rides. We also had a DDP (the one w/ 3 table meals a day) and wanted to maximize that.
When we went again earlier this year (and when we plan to go in 2020 after Star Wars land opens) the kids were older and the character meals weren’t as important. We made no ADRs and just checked what was available nearby when we got hungry on the MDE app. Worked great.
I think I’m gonna follow this advice this time around- for my last trip in Feb. I booked all our dining as soon as the trip dates were decided (it was after the 180 day, maybe…140 days out?) I had no difficulty getting any of the ADRs we wanted, with the exception of Be Our Guest Breakfast AT 8 am, but I was able to eventually get it.
That being said, I really didnt like having the WHEN we were gonna eat decided on so far in advance, and often times it didnt really line up with when we were hungry.
So this time around, I’ll have my friend (its his first time going to WDW) pick one or two Must Eats and get ADRs for that, but the rest? We’ll eat whats available when we want to eat!
I like this advice because it’s good to know that there are options if you take a more last-minute trip and don’t book 180 days out, or if your plans change and you decide to visit a different park from your ADR’s. That said, as a West Coaster who (a) takes less frequent trips to WDW, (b) plans those trips far in advance, (c) travels with a party of 6, (d) travels with young children, and (e) loves the planning aspects of WDW trips … I will continue to book at 180 days. But this helps me feel less stressed out about not getting ADR’s I want or knowing that my plans might change once park hours are released. (But like others mention, TouringPlans hours predictions are usually pretty accurate.)
When our daughter was 12, we planned 3 sit-down meals a day. 8 years and 5 trips later, I still enjoy making 180 day ADRs (about half of which I end up changing anyway), but we are winging it a lot more. Our next trip (soon!) we’re skipping a lot of ADRs to graze at EPCOT F&G booths. Now that we’ve tried most of the must-do’s, the pressure to find the perfect reservation is off. (But we did score that Artist Point Storybook Dining!)
CAPA is on Open Table. It, Rainforest Café, and T-Rex are easier to book through Open Table than through Disney Dining.
Years ago before all the free dining packages and Disney dining plans. I would not have to worry about eating at high end restaurants like Yachtsman Steakhouse 180 days out. I used to eat there every trip. Now there has always been Tough restaurants to get into as far back as I can remember. But once the free dining and dining plans showed up it totally changed all sit down restaurants. I quit booking any restaurants unless it was a character dining for the kids. Other than that we ended up going off site mainly for nice meals or going to somewhere like Shula’s. In parks we eat more Cosmic rays and Peco’s Bills type food at parks. I can’t make so many decisions in my opinion (not just dining). Even Fastpass is to cumbersome as I don’t know what the weather will be like 2 months away. I am not wanting to plan my vacation to the min and I refuse to do it. This is the issues that I feel Disney is no where near as fun as it used to be. Because if you want to go on the spur of the moment you’re out of luck in these areas and that’s normally how I like to travel.