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 agree with this. We just got back from Disney last night. It was our first time in 20 years. We booked dining and FPs like everyone. What we realized once there was that the ADRs we booked, the food was just “meh”. All that running around to keep to the schedule was exhausting. We would rather plan our days around the FPs and find food as we go.
Hey Tom, I think you missed one useful point about the timing of ADR’s, particularly for the hard to snag locations. We’ve found that for the hardest to get ADR’s (Be Our Guest and such), if you check for availability around the 48 hour mark, you will often find available ADR’s as people drop their reservations before the refundable deposit closes. This has been our go-to tactic for the past few years and has been fairly reliable, if not a sure thing.
I would prefer to stay away from Table Service altogether, and obtain my meals from various lounges instead, much more relaxed atmosphere that the hustle & bustle of a restaurant, and better cocktails too! All realitively speaking of course.
Before anyone jumps on this bandwagon….remember if you have a larger family you might not have the same flexibility and same day availability might not be as easy an option.
True. There’s only three of us, so I’ve had decent luck with just continuing to check in/watch for cancellations for us. But availability for 5+ is far more limited.
Thank you for sharing this perspective. I like it. You’ve gotten me one step closer to wanting to step back into the Disney World madness.
As a person who grew up on Disneyland, this madness around dining reservations at the Florida resort perplexes me. Where I eat is so remarkably low on my priority list when I go to any Disney Resort. I’m there for the rides, attractions, and entertainment. And to a lesser extent, the merchandise. Food and dining are among the last things I’m going to plan my trip around. Obviously, there’s a huge group who will disagree with my approach. But I can get such a better dining experience at so many places outside of Disney!
I agree. “We’re not here for the food” basically sums up my Disney dining philosophy.
This is why one size doesn’t fit all. All of us, including my 8 year old, place food/a good dining experience as one of our top priorities on vacation. The only way I can get my non Disney husband to be happy is to have a good meal lined up at the end of the day!
Hey Tom, I can see your point but I have a family of 7, and then we usually have grandparents traveling with us so that bumps us up to 9 or 10; I am not sure this would still apply with so many people? Thoughts?
Same here! Family of 6 who travel with others–We have to book at 180 to get places like Ohana if we expect to eat there. For a smaller group, day-of may be possible, but not for a big group! Also, I’ve never had problems working our fast passes around our dining reservations. I’m sure that things may change a little with the new opening, but I’ve never found ADRs to be a struggle. In fact, I use it to plan our days later. We are park-hopper folks, though, so EMH isn’t a concern because we know we can always hop.
Love the article, Tom! I can definitely see where it wouldn’t work for everyone, but depending on group size and age, it may be just the thing for some. These days we usually go every few years during the week of Christmas, so if there is anywhere the kids have their hearts set on, ADRs at 180 are a must. Several years ago I planned the crap out of our trip and we did all the big restaurants, but I think Tom’s right, once you do them it takes the pressure off. And while many I would love to do again, they add significant expense and we haven’t done them since. For our last trip we did a few ADRs, but mostly tried out new counter service restaurants and loved it! I know it’s in the article and many commenters also mentioned it, but if you don’t get what you want either for ADRs or fast passes, keep trying!! Even day of!! This past Christmas I saw a reservation for our group size, at a normal dinner hour, for Artist Point pop up twice! And they had just converted to a character meal! I know many people do, but I don’t find ADRs or fast passes stressful. I love knowing I’m one step closer to some Disney fun! But I think I’ve also been very lucky. I’ve always gotten all ADRs and fast passes I wanted. Thanks Tom!
I like the idea that this is possible! We didn’t even book our upcoming trip until 5 months out and have been able to find through a variety of methods most things I wanted and have been able to move some things around after fast passes etc. at the same time with two small kids who like to eat when they get up and have dinner between 5-6 I think we have less ability to be spontaneous. I’m sure last minute it’s easier to get dinner at 8 for example. And for us nothing is worse than being hot and tired at the end of the day and scrambling to discuss where we want to go and when and perhaps going later. So in some ways it’s easier to just know what’s happening. Our mix is that we usually do one adr per day rarely two, one light meal out of our room and then a flexible quick service/snacks to fill in. Will have to check adr to see what’s available last minute when we are in the parks coming up. If I find that decent times are still available may have to move to last minute more!
I hear what you’re saying about having flexibility (or “planned spontaneity”), but some people actually like booking their dining ahead!
We don’t get to go to WDW very often. Later this year, we’re taking our 3rd trip this decade. That’s more than many Americans, but undoubtedly less than many other hardcore Disney fans. For me, getting up 180 days in advance happens once every few years, and it’s part of the thrill of a Disney trip! I don’t have to stick to our ADRs rigidly and could very well decide to change them as our trip gets closer. Still, it was fun to plan, and it was exciting to get all of our choices (like Artist Point on arrival day!).
Did I have to plan our Trail’s End breakfast 180 days out? Of course not. Having the reservation doesn’t stress me out, though, and, in fact, gives me some peace of mind! I can easily change or cancel it later without much hassle at all.
I’ve never tried to do dining at the 180 mark. I’ve never known at that point that a WDW trip was even going to be happening, haha.
Granted, I’ve never tried for Victoria and Albert’s, character meals, or seriously tried to score BOG dinner, BUT I’ve never had any difficulty getting every reservation I wanted.
I think the key here is that you make many trips a year, as a family that goes only once every two years I could never do this. I certainly don’t go as much as you, but on my 6 trips, I have always known park hours and expected extra magic hours 180+ days out using personal touring plans through touringplans.com (which is where I first read you!). Now while I’ve only gone 6 times, I’ve planned many trips for my friends and for 2 dozen trips those hours have never suddenly changed from what they originally predicted. I’m sure it happens, especially over busy seasons, but never in my experience. I’ve also never changed a ADR to accommodate FastPass+.
While you can find reservations for many restaurants at random times through the day, if you want 8am reservations at CRT, BOG, Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, Akershush and Hollywood and Vine to enter and finish eating BEFORE park opening, you absolutely have to book at 6am 180 days out. Probably Tusker House, too, but I’ve never booked this before park open.
Additionally, if you have small kids and it’s important to keep to their eating schedule, you don’t have the luxury of just picking a time like 2pm if they always eat at 12. When you see those melting kids at the parks, a great percentage of them are that way due to their eating/napping schedule being tossed out the window for the trip. No hatred for families that do this, I only know because I’ve done it myself, but now as a mom of a special needs child, it’s so very important for us to stick to certain schedules or we can be guaranteed a meltdown.
However, if we visited Disney even a third as much as you do, and didn’t have kids, I could absolutely subscribe to your way of dining. If you can’t get what you want this trip, you’ll just try for the next. For me, my oldest is 12, so if I hadn’t been able to book CRT for this upcoming trip, she would have been too old to wear a costume on our following trip 2 years later as 14 yrs old is the cutoff for wearing full costumes at Disney.
This is an interesting perspective. One should also keep in mind what time of year you are going. I think this was brought up in another one of Tom’s posts. We are going during Easter, when the crowds are sure to be big. In an effort to create some piece of mind, I made those ADRs 180 days in advance and then planned my Fastpasses around those. Yes, the extra magic hours didn’t line up perfectly, but that was a sacrifice I was willing to make so that the family would be sure to eat at a nice spot that was well timed.
I think this is dramatic. I don’t fight with anyone? I found out park hours 4 days before 180 days out. The planning is fun( for me)? I don’t know. I feel like everyday is somebody’s 180 days out. I also enjoy having things to do every once in a while for the trip, to keep me thinking about Disney. Maybe it’s the time I go, it’s not that stressful.
To be fair, Disney often changes their hours just weeks ahead of dates. Our last trip, before Disney offered EMM, we were so excited to have a PPO reservation at BOG. Then about 3 weeks before our trip, park hours changed, and our reservation was no longer PPO. This time around, we learned our lesson and are just going to spend the money on EMM and enjoy the quiet lines for MK rides.
After a decade of about 20 days in the World each year (2 trips) we pretty much have exhausted any desire to fight over ADRs to get to overspend for decent to very good food. We have our favorites (4 of us including 2 adult children in college) and they are NOT Cindy’s Place or BOG or Vickie & Al’s. Been there done that. Not that they weren’t great (well, V&A was great, BOG was good for lunch and Cindy’s was meh at best but cute princesses). But that wasn’t what at least FOR US were never make or break events. Getting FP+ on Flights of Passage was much more important. But just like FOP, you can get into most with some diligence if it’s that important (can’t rope drop a restaurant though….). The only one that ticks me off with overbooking ADRs is of all things Beaches & Cream when we stay at BC or BW. You should be able to get in your own resort’s restaurant to gorge on a chocolate Kitchen Sink every day you stay there. We should have Fastpasses if we stay there.
Seriously, some people like my family use the restaurant like an E-ticket attraction – we have fun, spend a wad and enjoy it immensely. But like Tom says, there are always choices. We have walked up to Plaza, and same day Jiko, Boma, 50s PTC, Liberty Tree, etc. – which for our family are great memories and choices. We like the counter services almost as well – Contempo Cafe, Flame Tree and Eight Spoons, Sassagoula Floatworks, etc.
Just an FYI – the touringplan guys (is this kosher to mention my SECOND favorite Disney blog?) have a tool to get ADRs real time by getting a text message when available. I even can get overlapping ADRs that way and cancel the other one if something better comes up.
I agree with you that staying at a resort should come with some sort of advantage to booking restaurants at that same resort. Part of the experience of a resort is its dining, and also not having to travel from your resort to eat makes a lot of sense!
We’ll be at the Fort for the first time, and I’m so excited to do Trail’s End and Hoop De Doo. I’m also really excited to take my kids to the sing along. Of course other people should be able to do these things, too, but I feel like first priority should be the people actually staying there. It would be difficult to set up the logistics of that, though.
I devolve this trick since we have 9 kids now. If you walk up with 3 or less 1hr before you want to eat they will find seats for you. But we found uber drivers will bring most snack breakfast and water for a low cost to your room. go in
lite with early snacks then when its hot a lite meal pretzel then get a uber eats meal for the evening . Wendys family nuggets are a great meal to take in the park and have a picnic on the grassy noel.
For my December trip, I planned things out 7 months in advance and got on at 180 days to grab everything (while I was in Paris, no less-pretty hilarious booking Hoop Dee Doo Revue while sitting in the lobby of the Musee d’Orsay). By the time I arrived I had changed EVERY SINGLE ONE! Then situations changed after I arrived and I cancelled/modified most of them again.
I still do plan out farther in advance, but don’t stress out as much. And know things are set in stone. There are always Touring Plans reservation finders which haven’t let me down yet!
I think this is dramatic. I don’t fight with anyone? I found out park hours 4 days before 180 days out. The planning is fun( for me)? I don’t know. I feel like everyday is somebody’s 180 days out. I also enjoy having things to do every once in a while for the trip, to keep me thinking about Disney. Maybe it’s the time I go, it’s not that stressful.
At 45 days out a percentage of reservations get cancelled for non payment and people finalize their plans from there on in, creating some openings (people who made ADRs they don’t need now .)
I’ve also had good luck asking the concierge at the resort to check for ADRs and fast passes. I “believe” they keep some back to make”magic” for some. (Every time I’ve asked them, they almost always hooked me up)
Also the dining that’s not Disney owned doesn’t put all their availability in the Disney system, so sometimes if you call the restaurant day of they might have some space available
You had me at Kramer
My family of five spent 8days in DW this past September, we had ADR; however, I spent a lot of time changing them because everyone decided we wanted to change parks, eat at different places, different times etc. We never had a problem finding a good place to eat, I won’t be making ADR’s next time, it’s too restricting.
A few comments. ADRs can cause stress. This is especially true if you and your party are in the moment having fun caught up enjoying something at Disney. Everyone stop having fun because we have to trek to the back of World Showcase to get to Via Napoli on time. Sorry kids, forget about the Manatee you are seeing for the first time, we need to head out. Next, many times you can get in without a reservation. We just did this to Via Napoli (yes in March) when the app showed no reservations, they had plenty of room and we were seated in five minutes. This doesn’t always work, but at some places it does. Also, to agree with other comments, some full service restaurants just aren’t all that great and given Disney prices, are not a good value exchange. A recent ADR to Skipper Canteen with poor service comes to mind. In conclusion, it depends on what are your have to dos. If a specific restaurant is on your must do, get the ADR and plan your day around it. I personally like more flexibility and like Tom, only do ADRs after getting FP and usually even sooner to being at the parks.