Walt Disney World Dining Reservations: To Make ADR's or Not to Make ADR's

You just booked your first Disney World vacation! You sit back and smile as you gaze at the completed reservation on your computer screen. Resort? Check. Park tickets? Check. Magical Express transportation from the airport to the resort? Check. Dining Plan? Check. You're all set. All you need to do now is book your airfare, make a few more payments on your reservation and spend some time reading that guidebook your neighbor gave you when she heard you were going to Disney. Sure, it says "1997" on it, but really how much has the place changed? There is nothing left to do but show up and let Mickey show you a good time.

Or is there?

You pick up the guidebook and start paging through it. Your son has asked about Animal Kingdom and you wanted to see if he was tall enough for that Expedition Everest ride you'd seen on the Travel Channel. However, Animal Kingdom is no where to be found. Hmmmm....maybe there were a few minor changes since 1997?

Your curiosity gets the best of you and you start looking at Disney fansites. At first you just read what other members have to say on the message boards. You learn quickly that there is a lot more to this Disney trip planning than you thought. And then you hear it. The acronym that causes more pre trip stress than any other: ADR.

What is an ADR? It is Disney speak for Advanced Dining Reservation. You venture out and timidly ask the message board members if you need to worry about making any. "We'll be using the Disney Dining Plan," you type. "Do I need to make reservations or can we just show up and eat?"

The answer, delivered with a hail of hysterical virtual laughter, is YES! You need to make reservations.

And then you ask the question that countless intrepid rookie planners have asked. "Seriously? How can I decide what I want to eat six months from now? I don't even know what I want to eat next week!"

The answer: it's not the same thing. In six months you'll be on vacation. Next week you'll probably be eating in your kitchen.

Think about planning your dining reservations as another facet to planning your vacation. If you were traveling to San Diego, you'd probably look up some of the local can't miss restaurants. New York? Same thing. Disney is not just chicken fingers and French fries. They have many excellent table service restaurants with cuisine that ranges from regional American to international. And with the popularity of the Dining Plan growing every year, these restaurants fill up quickly. Is there a decrease in the joy of spontaneity? Of being able to just walk to the nearest restaurant for dinner or lunch? Sure there is. Can you have a great Disney trip without planning your meals? Of course you can. Is there a happy medium here? Yes.

The mistake people often make is equating planning your dinner reservations with micromanaging your trip. Knowing that you want to have dinner one night at the very popular Le Cellier Steakhouse at Epcot's Canada Pavilion does not mean you need to spend sunrise until your 6:45 pm dinner reservation at Epcot. What you will do from morning until night is not predetermined by the location of your dinner. And will the world end if you find yourselves at the Magic Kingdom at 6:30 with no reasonable chance of getting to your ADR on time? Absolutely not. Disney World is full of great counter service restaurants where you can just walk up and eat, so you won't go hungry.

So...what are the pros and cons to having reservations?

Pros.

You have a place to eat. Disney restaurants get more and more popular all the time. And with guests trying to use those table service credits from the meal plan, the number of hungry patrons keeps growing. If you have an ADR, you will have a table ready for you. Walk ins will either have very long waits or be turned away.

You will save time. If waiting in a restaurant lobby pales next to hitting the next roller coaster and you want to have a sit down dining experience, you need ADR's. With the advance reservation, your wait (theoretically) won't be more than 20 minutes. Without it? Possibly hours.

You can go to the places you want. Many Disney restaurants get booked up very close to the 180 day mark. If you have your heart set on one in particular, making that ADR will guarantee it will be part of your vacation.

Planning can be part of the fun. Veteran Disney addicts will tell you that planning is a huge part of the experience. Doing the research will open up a whole world of possiblilities and show you the different themes available. From the very elegant to the "keep your elbows off the table" experience, Disney World has it all.

Full value of the Dining Plan. The Dining Plan is arguably overall more convenience than value, but using it to the fullest by making sure you do have reservations will increase the money you save. Relying on hoping the restaurants can get you in may leave you with too many table service credits left at the end of your trip.

Cons.

You have to pre plan. Unless you are staying at a concierge level or have a travel agent willing to take over the ADR tasks, you will have to spend some time planning. A pro for some personalities, this can be a huge con for others. You will need to research the restaurants, know where they are located and call Disney Dining to make the reservation.

Dining spontaneity is limited to counter service and snacks. Advanced reservations do take the joy of encountering a restaurant in the midst of touring the parks and stopping in for a bite because the menu posted outside looks good. One could argue that the Dining Plan has already removed the spontaneity by filling the restaurants, but regardless having your meals pre set does tend to limit the potential choices.

Time commitments and credit card guarantee. Having an ADR does commit you to something during your day. While most restaurants do not have a penalty for not showing up for your reservation, some people prefer not to have anything set in stone. In addition, a few of the signature restaurants do require a credit card guarantee, and while there is no charge for making the ADR, there is generally a $10 charge per person if you are a no show. So if you don't like having to cut the park fun short to get dressed up for a restaurant, the ADR's may not be for you.

The choice of whether or not to make ADR's for your Disney vacation really lays in what kind of vacation you want to have. If you want to go with the flow, ADR's are probably not your best bet. If you want the security of having plans, then you will want to opt for them. Either way, make the choice that fits best for your family and enjoy every moment of your vacation...structured or not!