.

[Vernie822]

I don't know where I stand. Mainly because, the last time my family took a trip (before I was an adult), I was 10 and I think we did one sit down meal. Knowing my mom she was probably on it if we needed an ADR, but I don't know what it was like pre-180 day ADR's.

To me, as I've learned to plan our Disney trips, I've liked planning and booking ADR's. It's part of the fun of the planning to me. I absolutely see though, from a locals viewpoint, how annoying it would be to not have the ability to book a restaurant a day or two in advance.

A solution could be to save 1/2 of the ADR's for 180 days and 1/2 for walkups. No idea how logistically that would work, just a thought.

 

[Vernie822]

I will add that, last May, we booked a trip for June. I made 2 ADR's, BOG lunch and Ohana. During that trip, we got a reservation the night before at Beaches and Cream, Yak and Yeti, and Whispering Canyon Cafe, and we walked up at Via Napoli (they offered us to eat then or come back later). We really enjoyed that trip because we tried some new (to us) places and didn't stress about where we were going to eat.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I've already lived through the whole get up early, hurry to the park to get to the dining reservation kiosk to get my King Stephans dining reservation (the meal in Cinderella Castle at that time) . That wasn't fun and I can't imagine what a pain it would be to get a Be Our Guest one if they changed.

The way it is set up now works fine for me. I am a planner and like to reserve my dining in advance. I don't do TS restaurants every day of my trip so maybe that makes a difference for me?

 

[buccikulju]

Like someone else said above, I like the process of looking through the options and thinking about them in advance. We are not a Dining Plan family so we don't make that many reservations, but I like choosing and looking forward to the handful of reservations we do make. However, the 180 days thing is ridiculous! Especially when park hours change. 60 days or 30 days would make way more sense.

Perhaps the best solution is a combination where a certain number of tables or places are available to be booked ahead of time and others are available for walk-ins.

The worst solution, in my opinion, would be if you were forced to make day-of reservations for everything. To me that would be terribly stressful since I would be the one who had to get on the phone at 6:00 or 7:00 or on hold or refreshing my browser when I'd rather be sleeping with visions of pixie dust or heading to rope drop.

 

[buccikulju]

Oh gosh! GaSleepingBeauty, I remember eating at King Stephans too. We always got the mint crepes!

 

[ToddyLu]

I wish DH and I could go back to the Silver Dining Plan....apps and tips included.....

 

[disneysteve]

I wonder... if free dining goes away, won't that have a big impact on demand for the restaurants? I think it would get much easier to get in to most places if that happens.

 

[pjweaver]

A year or two ago we tried for a late diner at the Plaza, and were curtly told no, they were booked solid. We walked over to the smoking area and my wife got on the app on her phone. We were able to get an ADR for 30 minutes later. Obviously flaws exist in this system.

 

[disneysteve]

Obviously flaws exist in this system.

Disney has flaws in their online systems? Imagine that.

 

[keys2kingdom]

It causes people to make multiple ADRs for each day until they can finalize their plans (including FP+ selections) each day.

No, I'm pretty sure something else causes them to do that, like maybe being an............ but OK I get that you want to be diplomatic you said it better than I would have.

 

[Princess Jes]

You'd show up when you are ready to eat, and then get seated 90-120 minutes later. "Regular" restaurants do not have 5,000 people walking up at 6:00 p.m. On a typical day, the MK might have 40,000 people in it. If even one-quarter of those people want to have a TS meal for dinner, then you would have 10,000 people trying to get tables at 6 TS restaurants. (I am not counting the Plaza because it is so small).

I'm just being pedantic here, and I understand your second part to your comment about people having to wait, but in relation to the above:
The restaurants already deal with these capacities... it's not the ADR's changing that, it's just that they booked them in advance so their expectations are managed in terms of know that they're eating at 8pm as opposed to walking up at 6pm and not getting in till 8pm.

 

[maryandtyson]

Dinners might be okay same day. But how would pre-park opening breakfasts work? Would I need to rouse my kids to get to the park gate hoping to get in? It's hard enough for a confirmed reservation. Just doesn't make sense.

 

[CandiceF]

I like being able to book ADR's in advance, but I think maybe a month in advance after the park hours are set would be nice. With 3 little kids it's easier to plan ahead and pick an ADR they each like. We all love going to WDW so I am sure we would be happy either way! Although after spending 2 days driving to WDW with 3 little kids, it's nice to know we have everyones ADR's set. My DD decide to do BBB at the last minute so we couldn't get her appointment at the MK location, or on the same day as CRT. She didn't care and loved both, but I could see a no ADR system being a problem for people who like to do BBB and CRT the same day. It also might be more problematic for people who plan birthdays and want a cake delivered to a restaurant on a certain day. The new fast pass system however, I could do without!

 

[Alicenwonderment]

Oh gosh! GaSleepingBeauty, I remember eating at King Stephans too. We always got the mint crepes!

I worked in the Gallery sometimes.

 

[Alicenwonderment]

Perhaps there should be both. Allow people to make ADR a month out and book it 80 percent full. Then others can book on day of. I have not been when you have to book ADR months ahead. I do remember as a child my parents made a reservation after we got to Epcot. I remember the person talking to you and asking where you want to eat. We didn't have any problems getting a reservation at the restaurant we wanted.

 

[sillymoose]

Although it is somewhat convenient to plan ADR's before you actually get there, I think the current system is kinda crazy! Some restaurants book up 180 days in advance, and it's pretty much impossible to just walk up to a restaurant, which can be frustrating if you don't plan your vacation 6 months in advance

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Let me quote @*NikkiBell* "Why am I up so early? Why am I doing this?"

Hey, at least I talked. LOL

 

[mcd2745]

No, I'm pretty sure something else causes them to do that, like maybe being an............ but OK I get that you want to be diplomatic you said it better than I would have.

Well yes, there's that too, and I never suggested that such an awful and selfish practice was justified. Only that the 6-month window lends itself to such behavior much more so than a 30-day window would.

 

[JimmyV]

I'm just being pedantic here, and I understand your second part to your comment about people having to wait, but in relation to the above:
The restaurants already deal with these capacities... it's not the ADR's changing that, it's just that they booked them in advance so their expectations are managed in terms of know that they're eating at 8pm as opposed to walking up at 6pm and not getting in till 8pm.

Not really. Under your analogy, a family with an 8:00 ADR is "ready to eat" at 6:00, but takes the 8:00 ADR thus building in the 2 hour wait time and managing their expectations in the process. In some circumstances this might be true. But what is more true is that under the ADR system, the family has the choice to decline the 8:00 ADR and keep looking for something closer to 6:00, which they will surely find assuming that they book far enough in advance. With a "walk-up only" policy, they largely lose this ability to choose, and might have a two hour wait no matter where they go. Also, with a "walk-up only" policy, the family has to endure their two hour wait in a restaurant lobby whereas with an ADR, they enjoy their two hour wait, (if you really want to look at it that way) doing things that they enjoy, with their only obligation being to show up at the restaurant at 7:45. I don't see any way that: "We can seat you in about 2 hours. Please wait in our lobby for your name to be called" is in any way similar to, let alone superior to, "Honey!, The only ADR I could get is at 8:00. Should I take it? It might be later than we want, but we can enjoy a whole bunch of rides between 6:00 and 8:00, and get a snack for the kids at 5:00 to hold them over until dinner."

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Not really. Under your analogy, a family with an 8:00 ADR is "ready to eat" at 6:00, but takes the 8:00 ADR thus building in the 2 hour wait time and managing their expectations in the process. In some circumstances this might be true. But what is more true is that under the ADR system, the family has the choice to decline the 8:00 ADR and keep looking for something closer to 6:00, which they will surely find assuming that they book far enough in advance. With a "walk-up only" policy, they largely lose this ability to choose, and might have a two hour wait no matter where they go. Also, with a "walk-up only" policy, the family has to endure their two hour wait in a restaurant lobby whereas with an ADR, they enjoy their two hour wait, (if you really want to look at it that way) doing things that they enjoy, with their only obligation being to show up at the restaurant at 7:45. I don't see any way that: "We can seat you in about 2 hours. Please wait in our lobby for your name to be called" is in any way similar to, let alone superior to, "Honey!, The only ADR I could get is at 8:00. Should I take it? It might be later than we want, but we can enjoy a whole bunch of rides between 6:00 and 8:00, and get a snack for the kids at 5:00 to hold them over until dinner."

I can't see it work that it would be "We can seat you in about 2 hours. Please wait in our lobby for your name to be called" ... I think it would be more like " "We anticipate we can seat you in about 2 hours. We will text you when you are 15 minutes out so you can come check in at the podium"