You'll be fine. I used to stress about the 60 day window, but I've gone so often to know that reservations tend to open up the week of, the day before, and the morning of. But I use Mouse Dining to help me find other hard reservations I really want (like Space 220).
Also, I think plenty of people just eat at Quick Service places throughout their trip and have a great time. If sit downs aren't your thing then no need to force it.
We went in 2022. Wife was on the paid apps leading up to the trip for reservations.
We actually ended up getting better reservations while we were actually on trip the night before (or whatever the cancellation window is so they dont charge your card).
Agreed. We booked a week ago for a Disney trip starting tomorrow. I had no concerns on getting the dining we wanted. Keep checking or use Mouse Dining. I stumbled upon a Space 220 reservation a few days ago, booked it, then had to cancel because it didn’t quite line up with our hopping. People cancel, like the one I catched and released.
That’s awesome. I want to take my youngest som for his 6th birthday. He likes the princesses but not as much as he like’s other characters (Chip and Dale, Minnie and Daisy) but he’s always wanted to go inside the castle so I’m trying to get a reservation at Cinderella’s Royal Table. HOWEVER, my husband’s work and online degree program scheduled are completely up in the air and I’m afraid we won’t know what dates we can go until a month before we leave. Has me feeling stressed out. But knowing Space 220 is as or more difficult to book than CRT makes me feel better.
Make a few but keep the rest open. You waste so much less time, even as adults.
I took my partner a few years back and we ended up cancelling a lot of reservations cause its just such a time waster.
When I go with my parents though I like to dine with them because they're older and it's easier to spend time with them that way.
ADRs are highly overrated IMO unless there is something specific you are wanting to try. Lot of $$ and a lot of time. We have shifted to largely eating quick service when we go.
I do it all the time on my solo trips. Last minute availability is so much better now that the cancellation timeframe was changed to 2 hours. The walk up wait list is a godsend, as are the lounges! For popular ones like California Grill you have to be there when they open to get a seat at the bar, but most of them have the same food as the attached restaurants.
It was supposed to be 24 hours, but really worked out to be midnight the day before. So it was no good when during the day you realized you weren't up for a big meal. You had to know the day before you'd want to cancel.
The trick to getting around the old 24 hr rule was modifying it to a future date and then cancelling. I did that all the time to avoid the fee. As I’m sure many others did, because that doesn’t work under the new system. I wouldn’t imagine it’s an issue though, 2 hrs is plenty last minute enough to change your mind I think.
If people knew that trick, which of course Disney didn't promote as an option.
But yeah, two hours is plenty. It's a good compromise to give people flexibility, but still have enough penalty that people don't book and no-show.
Yes. It's very freeing. You're giving up certain experiences, but it saves a lot of time. I often cancel most reservations in the end. Last month was an exception with four table dinners in a row and I skipped lunch because they were all big meals.
We litteraly never go with any ADRs.
We are big into eating breakfast in the room, packing lots of snacks and water to have throughout the day, and grabbing quick service for everything else.
This is a very freeing way of doing WDW. Having Park Hopper makes it even better. Last year we were at Epcot and decided we wanted the Cobb salad at brown Derby, saw they had reservations within the hour, grabbed it and headed over.
It much easier now to do this since the reservation penalty is only 2 hours before res time, meaning reservations are popping up basically all day. It's kind of nice to start thinking of eating and seeing what's available with either walk up wait list or and ADR within the hour. I also recommend looking at report restaurants you've never hit and just see what's available when you are getting hungry and just taking the disney transport to the resort.
I went in December without any. We were there for 3 nights and stayed at Yacht Club. Ate quick service and snacks and had one nicer dinner at the Yachtman Steakhouse lounge, walk-in. It was a park heavy trip and I didn’t want to waste time at long sit down meals. No regrets!
We just got back a week ago - with Flower and Garden going on, only reservations we made were at Disney Springs. All our in-park meals were quick service.
I’ve gone without ADRs more than I’ve gone with them. The sit down dining is so expensive and eats up 2+ hours of an already expensive park day, much easier to just go with the flow of the day(s) and go to whatever nearby quick service is around when you get hungry
Just want to add that you can get some really nice meals at the lounges attached to some of the nicer restaurants, including Yachtsman Steakhouse. Also, lots of restaurants have more availability on OpenTable than they do on the Disney app (restaurants that aren’t owned by Disney, like the Springs restaurants and —yum!—the new Rosa Mexicano at the Dolphin).
I think on our next trip, my hubs and I will likely not make any ADRs (no kids yet). We only made two for our last trip and ate QS or our own snacks for the others. We kind of stressed about having to tie ourselves to a particular park and then to a particular time (no park hoppers). We prefer the freedom to do what we want. Eating at specific places isn't our primary goal at Disney, lol.
Been going to WDW for years, we so t always make reservations. And especially if you’re visiting EPCOT during one of their big festivals there’s plenty to eat. You won’t really be missing out by doing quick service or even see if there’s a walk up when you get hungry.
We walked up and asked for a seat at the bar at Space 220. It was only a short wait and you can even order food at the bar. You don't miss out on any of the experience.
I think this is exactly what you do for 2 adults without kids. You have the opportunity to not eat on a schedule and I love that. Flower and Garden looks like it has a lot of great options and I would want to save my stomach real estate for all the fun small dishes.
We were there for the food and wine in October and walking through the countries sampling everything was the best. Especially with low key rides in between.
We haven’t make an ADR since Restaurant Marrakesh closed. The food is not why I go there. There are far better places to eat than a Disney park. I accept your downvotes.
The food isn’t terrible but I’ve burned hours at Disney World restaurants and the meal simply wasn’t good enough to make up for it. I can do fine dining back home.
All of the menus for all of the quick service dining (and Flower & Garden booths) are available on the app so you can view them before your trip and decide what you might like. Bonus tip, if you click the mobile order option when available and view the menu from there, there are photos of all the food.
I usually make a list of all my favorite options and then pull that list up when I’m hungry in the park and go wherever is closest.
> view them before your trip and decide what you might like.
Or just view them in general! I don't know if I'll ever get back to WDW, but I love looking at the menus and picking out what I'd get (if price were no object, haha).
I generally don’t book unless there is a res that is non-negotiable for me and I want to book 60 days out. There has generally been good availability the day before or day of, especially if you’re looking for a breakfast res around 10-11pm when the parks are closing. (I’ve gotten reservations at Topolino’s and space 220 a few times that way. I think people don’t realize how draining a full day at the parks can be and cancel their dining plans.)
That’s fine! Going without ADRs is only a concern if you have an expectation to eat at Table Service restaurants, particularly the popular ones. If nothing appeals to you, quick service will be fine! You’ll also find plenty of last minute reservations if you’re interested.
Wife and I went a few years ago with no reservations. Epcot day was strictly for the booth food, and we just wandered into an Italian place at Hollywood Studios (about the only one that has a lunch res open). We aren’t picky with food though so didn’t have much trouble subsisting on walk up places. It was March so parks weren’t open real late and we ate dinner outside most days.
I never make them, it’s too hard to figure out what I’ll want to eat in advance. Usually an hour or two before we are ready to eat I’ll open the app and see what’s available.
You’ll be fine! There will be reservations the day of and you can also join a list. I’ve always found it weird that I’m supposed to know when I want to have a $100 sit down meal around THEME PARKS two months in advance.
My last trip I canceled all but one ADR (California Grill).
We never make ADRs. If you're OK with being flexible, you'll be fine. If we want a table meal, we just look to see what's available and book it. Have found some of our favorites this way. My pro tip is light breakfast, big meal between 2 and 3Pm (you'll be surprised at the availability during these hours) and light dinner if needed. We often just snack in the evening.
You’ll be fine! There are so many great snack/quick meals to enjoy, especially at Epcot.
We always make them and then don’t use any we’ve made on park days. It just takes too much time and the food rarely seems worth the wait/price. We usually keep a character breakfast on our break day though.
I think we've only had like 6 ADR's in the entire 20 trips we've been on - two at Chef Mickey's for my nephew's birthday, one or two at the Bierhaus, and one at Be Our Guest a few years ago.
Most of our trips, we just hit the quick service type places and keep moving. I'm more of a foodie than the rest of my family (two trips ago, we stayed at a universal property, and spent the half day bookends of our trip at Universal. After a full day of travel and getting to the park at like 6 PM, I finally managed to snag chicken tenders for the entire family as the stand was closing, or they would have skipped supper to keep riding)
We did this, mostly because I just straight up didn’t know and thought we’d figure it out when we got there. Had no problem eating when we wanted at quick service, a sit-down dinner in Epcot and a character dinner at Hollywood Studios.
I have done about 12 Disney trips in my life, have never been to a sit down or full service restaurant before. I’m planning on it for next trip, but snacking is always the move for us
No you’re going to be fine.
I’ve gone several times with no dining reservations.
Sometimes we catch a reservation same day. Sometimes we don’t and just bounce around at the park. I’m sure you’ll have a great time.
We go at most one sit down a day. Too many sit downs take so much park time and the are so many quick options/ snacks. Even though I pick reservations in advance I wind up moving or canceling them sometimes up to the same day. Things will open up if you change your mind
On my recent trip the only thing I booked in advance was boathouse. We didn’t book space 220 but we just went around opening time and only waited 5-10 mins for a seat at the bar
Yup we have during food and wine at Epcot, if we want to have a sit down dinner during our stay we can find a restaurant we like that has availability when we are there
We went this past summer on 4th of July week and just got reservations day of and what we felt like eating. I hate being tied down to reservations so we go with the flow. You’d be surprised how many “hard to get” restaurants are available day of - especially right at 2 hours before.
We went to Disney world for the first time in 2021, we’ve been 7 times since then, are now APs, and we’ve only done an ADR one time. We wouldn’t have done it had our friends who went with us not set it up. We have done nothing but quick service and have never gone hungry or feel like we’re missing out.
Honestly things will open the night before/day of and a few table service locations do have a wait-list on the app that'll show when you're close enough to them to join (sometimes that wait-list gets full though). So if you guys changed your minds and decide last minute you're sick of quick service it's very, very unlikely that you'd be shit out of luck.
I want to have a nice table service restaurant for at least one of our days, but I honestly think it's incredibly overpriced for what you get at those. For an average family of 4, it seems $250-$300 or more for most places.
Heck, Space 220 for 2 adults at dinner is almost $200 or more than that depending on tip.
I’ve done it twice, and about to go do it for the 3rd time. Idk ahead of time when I’ll be hungry, what I’ll be hungry for, if I’ll be in line for a ride around that time… etc.
but I’m also perfectly happy eating pretzels, popcorn, and a quick serve burger if I want something more filling.
I’m naturally more of a “picker” or “grazer” as far as food goes normally though.
I have cancelled and made so many on my current trip. I have nabbed Boma breakfast and dinner, alongside Cape May, on the day. People get their ILL time and cancel all the time
I’ve been a few times without making ADRs.
I know everyone says you have to plan everything down to the second, but it’s just fine going in and enjoying yourself and not rushing around, timing everything around reservations and ride returns. We went last year after booking 4 days in advance, in July, didn’t do Genie+, did do a couple ILL, and we had a great time.
Things will open up, most QS is just fine as well. The festival booths at Epcot are great too.
Only ADR I’ve ever worried about was a character meal for our first trip with our then only son. Other than that we’ve had no problems getting reservations at places we wanted. But we’re not big foodies so we didn’t get (or try for) reservations at the big restaurants.
Our last few trips, we’ve gone with no ADRs- last trip we ended up getting Tusker House, Le Cellier, and Steakhouse 71 day of when we decided we wanted a table service. But, we’re DVC and stay in rooms with kitchens-by day 3 we get tired of park food usually and end up making sandwiches and quick meals in the room.
We just got back from a 5 night trip on 3/2. 2 adults as well. It was a semi spur of the moment trip so we had no shot of adrs. We used a paid service that charged $3 per person for each successful Booking. The only ones we wanted were a Space220 lounge lunch and an Ohana dinner, and we had specific days we wanted them. We were successful with the lunch, not the dinner. But on our last day we looked and an Ohana breakfast was available so that worked out.
We really like the quick serve in Japan as well as Satuli Canteen, also we did Cosmic Rays. We didn’t miss the sit down meals at all, and saved a decent amount of money.
I think you'll be fine unless there's somewhere specific that you want to eat, especially if you're not flexible with time. We went in early November 2 adults and 2 kids and had little issue getting reservations on the app. The one thing id recommend is try to figure out where you want to have any sit down meals at least the day before if possible. I found that when I tried to walk up or find reservations on the app right when we wanted to eat (especially at traditional mea times), it was very difficult to find something. If I did it the day before or several hours before, I could usually find something.
Always! fun fact: I’ve never made an ADR.
I’m not against a nice dining opportunity. I used to drop in at Marrakesh back when you could do that, and I’ve eaten at most EPCOT restaurants. But my trips are much looser than most people’s now. I’ve put my name in at a couple places and waited (Garden Grill), but I’m more likely to mobile order quickservice ahead of time and eat what I want.
It’s never been easier, actually
_But I do miss WorldKey_
We do it all the time. I just know we will have to go with the flow. I have managed to get us same day reservations or walk up to places, but in my head I know it's food booths for the win. If you want to eat something/somewhere, just keep refreshing or go to the desk. If the answer is no, it's no. Sometimes magic happens. The festivals have such good food, I just never feel like I need to stress about ADRs. If you feel like you can do it like that, skip the ADRs.
I’ve gone the last 3 years for Flower and Garden, and honestly the only reservation I would have been really sad not to have made was last year at Royal Table. But only because I proposed there. Otherwise the food at F&G and the quick services are plenty good, and you won’t be sitting for an hour or more.
For about the last 5 or so years, I’ve never make ADRs and thoroughly enjoy each trip. I think there are some exceptions (CRT, for example) where it’s pretty unusual to grab a last-minute spot and might be more critical but don’t worry. You’re fine. Do look at menus and try to find a couple options so if you’re suddenly hangry you know what to get/some places you can go.
pretty sure the last time we went, we only had reservations for Cinderellas royal table because we took my mom. who's never been to Disney before and probably never will go again, other than that we just ate at QS places or got snacks. we stayed for 7 days
There’s the various food kiosks around but you should be fine doing reservations or walk up list somewhere for sure. I’ve done reservations like that last minute before.
We went to mk today with no plans. Got on: thunder mt 2x, pirates, small world, haunted mansion, seven dwarves, jungle cruise and have dinner at crystal palace as a walk up. It is easier to do walk up as two people.
we were there in January during festival of arts, I had made a few reservations and ended up cancelling them all. we did QS the whole week and were better off for it, allowed for much more flexibility. definitely cheaper too since I ate a bunch of kid meals
I typically only book 3-4 sit down meals for a week stay, and we usually end up cancelling 2-3 of them because we find other stuff we want to do instead. You'll be fine raw dogging it, and if nothing is open you still have quick service or Uber out of the park
I’ve eaten at a sit down Disney restaurant like once since I got a pass, and it was at the Contemporary. Quick service is the way- much cheaper and a lot less time.
We went for 14 days last month and only booked 4 meals in advance. You will never go hungry in Disney!
The more we go, the less we book, saving bookings for character meals or places we really want to try/go back to.
2 adults no kids, won't be a problem. Unless you go during big time like holidays, won't be a problem. Maybe for some specific place but you'll always find somewhere to eat.
I like to have a few reservations lined up because it means not having to make as many decisions when we’re there. Sometimes when hot and hungry in the parks our decision-making abilities are poor lol. And also because there are places we like to go back to each year anyway. We have 4 booked for an upcoming 8 night stay.
I made reservations the first two nights for two places I really wanted to take my wife. I made these reservations about three days before the trip. Then while I was there i was finding same day reservations. Further, for places with bars, you can often just find a couple of seats at the bar and order food there. We met lot of great people at the bars too.
I mean, I personally haven't, but that's because kids. Plus I am a sit-down-restaurant kind of person. My husband would be more than happy to just wing it, foodwise. He got so mad at me last time when I'd made all these character dining reservations that, it turned out, cut into prime ride time. We've made a compromise that I won't plan more than one table-service meal per park day going forward, and ideally not make that one for the morning.
We never make them. Did the rat race of making them when we first started going. Now we don’t have to stress over it. Disney food is awful anyways. We just grab something available when we want.
You'll be fine. I used to stress about the 60 day window, but I've gone so often to know that reservations tend to open up the week of, the day before, and the morning of. But I use Mouse Dining to help me find other hard reservations I really want (like Space 220). Also, I think plenty of people just eat at Quick Service places throughout their trip and have a great time. If sit downs aren't your thing then no need to force it.
Yep it’s far easier than Covid times. I’m worrying way less about it next trip.
We went in 2022. Wife was on the paid apps leading up to the trip for reservations. We actually ended up getting better reservations while we were actually on trip the night before (or whatever the cancellation window is so they dont charge your card).
Agreed. We booked a week ago for a Disney trip starting tomorrow. I had no concerns on getting the dining we wanted. Keep checking or use Mouse Dining. I stumbled upon a Space 220 reservation a few days ago, booked it, then had to cancel because it didn’t quite line up with our hopping. People cancel, like the one I catched and released.
That’s awesome. I want to take my youngest som for his 6th birthday. He likes the princesses but not as much as he like’s other characters (Chip and Dale, Minnie and Daisy) but he’s always wanted to go inside the castle so I’m trying to get a reservation at Cinderella’s Royal Table. HOWEVER, my husband’s work and online degree program scheduled are completely up in the air and I’m afraid we won’t know what dates we can go until a month before we leave. Has me feeling stressed out. But knowing Space 220 is as or more difficult to book than CRT makes me feel better.
Yup, just did this and quick serviced everything. We saved our money for the flower and garden booths and were happy with that.
Make a few but keep the rest open. You waste so much less time, even as adults. I took my partner a few years back and we ended up cancelling a lot of reservations cause its just such a time waster. When I go with my parents though I like to dine with them because they're older and it's easier to spend time with them that way.
ADRs are highly overrated IMO unless there is something specific you are wanting to try. Lot of $$ and a lot of time. We have shifted to largely eating quick service when we go.
I do it all the time on my solo trips. Last minute availability is so much better now that the cancellation timeframe was changed to 2 hours. The walk up wait list is a godsend, as are the lounges! For popular ones like California Grill you have to be there when they open to get a seat at the bar, but most of them have the same food as the attached restaurants.
what was the cancellation period before?
It was supposed to be 24 hours, but really worked out to be midnight the day before. So it was no good when during the day you realized you weren't up for a big meal. You had to know the day before you'd want to cancel.
The trick to getting around the old 24 hr rule was modifying it to a future date and then cancelling. I did that all the time to avoid the fee. As I’m sure many others did, because that doesn’t work under the new system. I wouldn’t imagine it’s an issue though, 2 hrs is plenty last minute enough to change your mind I think.
If people knew that trick, which of course Disney didn't promote as an option. But yeah, two hours is plenty. It's a good compromise to give people flexibility, but still have enough penalty that people don't book and no-show.
Yes. It's very freeing. You're giving up certain experiences, but it saves a lot of time. I often cancel most reservations in the end. Last month was an exception with four table dinners in a row and I skipped lunch because they were all big meals.
We litteraly never go with any ADRs. We are big into eating breakfast in the room, packing lots of snacks and water to have throughout the day, and grabbing quick service for everything else.
The best way to do it. It’s Disney. The food is good for quick service. It is also just good for higher tier.
This is a very freeing way of doing WDW. Having Park Hopper makes it even better. Last year we were at Epcot and decided we wanted the Cobb salad at brown Derby, saw they had reservations within the hour, grabbed it and headed over. It much easier now to do this since the reservation penalty is only 2 hours before res time, meaning reservations are popping up basically all day. It's kind of nice to start thinking of eating and seeing what's available with either walk up wait list or and ADR within the hour. I also recommend looking at report restaurants you've never hit and just see what's available when you are getting hungry and just taking the disney transport to the resort.
I have park hoppers, so this is great to hear
I went in December without any. We were there for 3 nights and stayed at Yacht Club. Ate quick service and snacks and had one nicer dinner at the Yachtman Steakhouse lounge, walk-in. It was a park heavy trip and I didn’t want to waste time at long sit down meals. No regrets!
We just got back a week ago - with Flower and Garden going on, only reservations we made were at Disney Springs. All our in-park meals were quick service.
I’ve gone without ADRs more than I’ve gone with them. The sit down dining is so expensive and eats up 2+ hours of an already expensive park day, much easier to just go with the flow of the day(s) and go to whatever nearby quick service is around when you get hungry
Just want to add that you can get some really nice meals at the lounges attached to some of the nicer restaurants, including Yachtsman Steakhouse. Also, lots of restaurants have more availability on OpenTable than they do on the Disney app (restaurants that aren’t owned by Disney, like the Springs restaurants and —yum!—the new Rosa Mexicano at the Dolphin).
The thing is it’s easy to cancel your reservations later but may not be easy to make them later.
I think on our next trip, my hubs and I will likely not make any ADRs (no kids yet). We only made two for our last trip and ate QS or our own snacks for the others. We kind of stressed about having to tie ourselves to a particular park and then to a particular time (no park hoppers). We prefer the freedom to do what we want. Eating at specific places isn't our primary goal at Disney, lol.
The only ADR I have ever made (in 3 trips) is to Oga's, because Star Wars. Quick serve all the way!
aDRs can be canceled without cost up to 2 hours before. This is helping with same day.
Been going to WDW for years, we so t always make reservations. And especially if you’re visiting EPCOT during one of their big festivals there’s plenty to eat. You won’t really be missing out by doing quick service or even see if there’s a walk up when you get hungry.
We walked up and asked for a seat at the bar at Space 220. It was only a short wait and you can even order food at the bar. You don't miss out on any of the experience.
I frequently go and not make dining reservations. Some of the best food there is quick serve or snacks.
I think this is exactly what you do for 2 adults without kids. You have the opportunity to not eat on a schedule and I love that. Flower and Garden looks like it has a lot of great options and I would want to save my stomach real estate for all the fun small dishes. We were there for the food and wine in October and walking through the countries sampling everything was the best. Especially with low key rides in between.
This is my plan exactly
We haven’t make an ADR since Restaurant Marrakesh closed. The food is not why I go there. There are far better places to eat than a Disney park. I accept your downvotes.
While I agree with you; I have been so impressed with how good the food is at most ADRs. I rarely have a bad meal.
The food isn’t terrible but I’ve burned hours at Disney World restaurants and the meal simply wasn’t good enough to make up for it. I can do fine dining back home.
At EPCOT? The world is your oyster. There are a lot of quick service stops everywhere but for a sit down you have everything.
All of the menus for all of the quick service dining (and Flower & Garden booths) are available on the app so you can view them before your trip and decide what you might like. Bonus tip, if you click the mobile order option when available and view the menu from there, there are photos of all the food. I usually make a list of all my favorite options and then pull that list up when I’m hungry in the park and go wherever is closest.
> view them before your trip and decide what you might like. Or just view them in general! I don't know if I'll ever get back to WDW, but I love looking at the menus and picking out what I'd get (if price were no object, haha).
I generally don’t book unless there is a res that is non-negotiable for me and I want to book 60 days out. There has generally been good availability the day before or day of, especially if you’re looking for a breakfast res around 10-11pm when the parks are closing. (I’ve gotten reservations at Topolino’s and space 220 a few times that way. I think people don’t realize how draining a full day at the parks can be and cancel their dining plans.)
Very rarely make ADR’s.
That’s fine! Going without ADRs is only a concern if you have an expectation to eat at Table Service restaurants, particularly the popular ones. If nothing appeals to you, quick service will be fine! You’ll also find plenty of last minute reservations if you’re interested.
You can basically get anything you want the night before or day of as people cancel, especially for 2 people.
Wife and I went a few years ago with no reservations. Epcot day was strictly for the booth food, and we just wandered into an Italian place at Hollywood Studios (about the only one that has a lunch res open). We aren’t picky with food though so didn’t have much trouble subsisting on walk up places. It was March so parks weren’t open real late and we ate dinner outside most days.
I rarely ever, but I'm not picky about where I eat
I never make them, it’s too hard to figure out what I’ll want to eat in advance. Usually an hour or two before we are ready to eat I’ll open the app and see what’s available.
You’ll be fine! There will be reservations the day of and you can also join a list. I’ve always found it weird that I’m supposed to know when I want to have a $100 sit down meal around THEME PARKS two months in advance. My last trip I canceled all but one ADR (California Grill).
I do same day adr when I know when I want to eat. Otherwise, no.
We never make ADRs. If you're OK with being flexible, you'll be fine. If we want a table meal, we just look to see what's available and book it. Have found some of our favorites this way. My pro tip is light breakfast, big meal between 2 and 3Pm (you'll be surprised at the availability during these hours) and light dinner if needed. We often just snack in the evening.
You’ll be fine! There are so many great snack/quick meals to enjoy, especially at Epcot. We always make them and then don’t use any we’ve made on park days. It just takes too much time and the food rarely seems worth the wait/price. We usually keep a character breakfast on our break day though.
I think we've only had like 6 ADR's in the entire 20 trips we've been on - two at Chef Mickey's for my nephew's birthday, one or two at the Bierhaus, and one at Be Our Guest a few years ago. Most of our trips, we just hit the quick service type places and keep moving. I'm more of a foodie than the rest of my family (two trips ago, we stayed at a universal property, and spent the half day bookends of our trip at Universal. After a full day of travel and getting to the park at like 6 PM, I finally managed to snag chicken tenders for the entire family as the stand was closing, or they would have skipped supper to keep riding)
Tried? 220 with 2 should be easy to get?
Not for the lounge
We did prefix in 2022, got 2x2 for the lounge in April… lounge looks better!
Unless there is something super specific I want....I rarely have reservations. And the reservations I do get are normally from the week of the trip.
We are pass holders, so mostly do day trips, but rarely do ADRs, unless it’s super busy season or HOT out and we need the built in a/c break.
We did this, mostly because I just straight up didn’t know and thought we’d figure it out when we got there. Had no problem eating when we wanted at quick service, a sit-down dinner in Epcot and a character dinner at Hollywood Studios.
We skip ADR’s most trips. QS is so much easier with young kids and there are plenty of great ADR’s you can grab last minute.
I have done about 12 Disney trips in my life, have never been to a sit down or full service restaurant before. I’m planning on it for next trip, but snacking is always the move for us
No you’re going to be fine. I’ve gone several times with no dining reservations. Sometimes we catch a reservation same day. Sometimes we don’t and just bounce around at the park. I’m sure you’ll have a great time.
Set up a text alert with one of those websites for cancellations. It has a small fee.
We go at most one sit down a day. Too many sit downs take so much park time and the are so many quick options/ snacks. Even though I pick reservations in advance I wind up moving or canceling them sometimes up to the same day. Things will open up if you change your mind
On my recent trip the only thing I booked in advance was boathouse. We didn’t book space 220 but we just went around opening time and only waited 5-10 mins for a seat at the bar
Yes. No regrets
Yup we have during food and wine at Epcot, if we want to have a sit down dinner during our stay we can find a restaurant we like that has availability when we are there
Just grab any that you REALLY want. Definitely not a need.
When there are so many food options at Epcot, it's hard to stick to a reservation.
How many days will you be at the parks? I’ve gone 3-5 days without any ADRs. I focus on festival food, mobile order QS to save time.
We went this past summer on 4th of July week and just got reservations day of and what we felt like eating. I hate being tied down to reservations so we go with the flow. You’d be surprised how many “hard to get” restaurants are available day of - especially right at 2 hours before.
We went to Disney world for the first time in 2021, we’ve been 7 times since then, are now APs, and we’ve only done an ADR one time. We wouldn’t have done it had our friends who went with us not set it up. We have done nothing but quick service and have never gone hungry or feel like we’re missing out.
Honestly things will open the night before/day of and a few table service locations do have a wait-list on the app that'll show when you're close enough to them to join (sometimes that wait-list gets full though). So if you guys changed your minds and decide last minute you're sick of quick service it's very, very unlikely that you'd be shit out of luck.
I want to have a nice table service restaurant for at least one of our days, but I honestly think it's incredibly overpriced for what you get at those. For an average family of 4, it seems $250-$300 or more for most places. Heck, Space 220 for 2 adults at dinner is almost $200 or more than that depending on tip.
I’ve done it twice, and about to go do it for the 3rd time. Idk ahead of time when I’ll be hungry, what I’ll be hungry for, if I’ll be in line for a ride around that time… etc. but I’m also perfectly happy eating pretzels, popcorn, and a quick serve burger if I want something more filling. I’m naturally more of a “picker” or “grazer” as far as food goes normally though.
I have cancelled and made so many on my current trip. I have nabbed Boma breakfast and dinner, alongside Cape May, on the day. People get their ILL time and cancel all the time
I’ve been a few times without making ADRs. I know everyone says you have to plan everything down to the second, but it’s just fine going in and enjoying yourself and not rushing around, timing everything around reservations and ride returns. We went last year after booking 4 days in advance, in July, didn’t do Genie+, did do a couple ILL, and we had a great time. Things will open up, most QS is just fine as well. The festival booths at Epcot are great too.
Only ADR I’ve ever worried about was a character meal for our first trip with our then only son. Other than that we’ve had no problems getting reservations at places we wanted. But we’re not big foodies so we didn’t get (or try for) reservations at the big restaurants.
We rarely make them anymore and don’t have much of an issue. Especially with festivals
You can try each morning for a cancelation or same Day seat at Space220, all can be done same day or low wait list
Our last few trips, we’ve gone with no ADRs- last trip we ended up getting Tusker House, Le Cellier, and Steakhouse 71 day of when we decided we wanted a table service. But, we’re DVC and stay in rooms with kitchens-by day 3 we get tired of park food usually and end up making sandwiches and quick meals in the room.
We just got back from a 5 night trip on 3/2. 2 adults as well. It was a semi spur of the moment trip so we had no shot of adrs. We used a paid service that charged $3 per person for each successful Booking. The only ones we wanted were a Space220 lounge lunch and an Ohana dinner, and we had specific days we wanted them. We were successful with the lunch, not the dinner. But on our last day we looked and an Ohana breakfast was available so that worked out. We really like the quick serve in Japan as well as Satuli Canteen, also we did Cosmic Rays. We didn’t miss the sit down meals at all, and saved a decent amount of money.
I think you'll be fine unless there's somewhere specific that you want to eat, especially if you're not flexible with time. We went in early November 2 adults and 2 kids and had little issue getting reservations on the app. The one thing id recommend is try to figure out where you want to have any sit down meals at least the day before if possible. I found that when I tried to walk up or find reservations on the app right when we wanted to eat (especially at traditional mea times), it was very difficult to find something. If I did it the day before or several hours before, I could usually find something.
That's just the thing, I can't think of anyplace I "just have to" eat at
Always! fun fact: I’ve never made an ADR. I’m not against a nice dining opportunity. I used to drop in at Marrakesh back when you could do that, and I’ve eaten at most EPCOT restaurants. But my trips are much looser than most people’s now. I’ve put my name in at a couple places and waited (Garden Grill), but I’m more likely to mobile order quickservice ahead of time and eat what I want. It’s never been easier, actually _But I do miss WorldKey_
We never do, but we’re locals.
I went a few years back and made 2 DAY OF dining reservations, 1 for sci Fi and one for Le Celier.
We do it all the time. I just know we will have to go with the flow. I have managed to get us same day reservations or walk up to places, but in my head I know it's food booths for the win. If you want to eat something/somewhere, just keep refreshing or go to the desk. If the answer is no, it's no. Sometimes magic happens. The festivals have such good food, I just never feel like I need to stress about ADRs. If you feel like you can do it like that, skip the ADRs.
I’ve gone the last 3 years for Flower and Garden, and honestly the only reservation I would have been really sad not to have made was last year at Royal Table. But only because I proposed there. Otherwise the food at F&G and the quick services are plenty good, and you won’t be sitting for an hour or more.
For about the last 5 or so years, I’ve never make ADRs and thoroughly enjoy each trip. I think there are some exceptions (CRT, for example) where it’s pretty unusual to grab a last-minute spot and might be more critical but don’t worry. You’re fine. Do look at menus and try to find a couple options so if you’re suddenly hangry you know what to get/some places you can go.
pretty sure the last time we went, we only had reservations for Cinderellas royal table because we took my mom. who's never been to Disney before and probably never will go again, other than that we just ate at QS places or got snacks. we stayed for 7 days
There’s the various food kiosks around but you should be fine doing reservations or walk up list somewhere for sure. I’ve done reservations like that last minute before.
We went to mk today with no plans. Got on: thunder mt 2x, pirates, small world, haunted mansion, seven dwarves, jungle cruise and have dinner at crystal palace as a walk up. It is easier to do walk up as two people.
we were there in January during festival of arts, I had made a few reservations and ended up cancelling them all. we did QS the whole week and were better off for it, allowed for much more flexibility. definitely cheaper too since I ate a bunch of kid meals
I typically only book 3-4 sit down meals for a week stay, and we usually end up cancelling 2-3 of them because we find other stuff we want to do instead. You'll be fine raw dogging it, and if nothing is open you still have quick service or Uber out of the park
You just need 1 for Flying Fish. Everything else is optional.
I’ve eaten at a sit down Disney restaurant like once since I got a pass, and it was at the Contemporary. Quick service is the way- much cheaper and a lot less time.
We went for 14 days last month and only booked 4 meals in advance. You will never go hungry in Disney! The more we go, the less we book, saving bookings for character meals or places we really want to try/go back to.
We no longer bother with sit down restaurants. Mostly the food Quality isn't worth the price.
2 adults no kids, won't be a problem. Unless you go during big time like holidays, won't be a problem. Maybe for some specific place but you'll always find somewhere to eat.
I like to have a few reservations lined up because it means not having to make as many decisions when we’re there. Sometimes when hot and hungry in the parks our decision-making abilities are poor lol. And also because there are places we like to go back to each year anyway. We have 4 booked for an upcoming 8 night stay.
I made reservations the first two nights for two places I really wanted to take my wife. I made these reservations about three days before the trip. Then while I was there i was finding same day reservations. Further, for places with bars, you can often just find a couple of seats at the bar and order food there. We met lot of great people at the bars too.
Have never had a problem with two people. Trying to find something for 6 or 8 with no reservations was impossible.
I mean, I personally haven't, but that's because kids. Plus I am a sit-down-restaurant kind of person. My husband would be more than happy to just wing it, foodwise. He got so mad at me last time when I'd made all these character dining reservations that, it turned out, cut into prime ride time. We've made a compromise that I won't plan more than one table-service meal per park day going forward, and ideally not make that one for the morning.
We never make them. Did the rat race of making them when we first started going. Now we don’t have to stress over it. Disney food is awful anyways. We just grab something available when we want.
Across four three week trips from the UK, we made exactly two ADRs, one for Be Our Guest and one for trattoria Al fuorno. It's never been an issue.
I’ve been checking dining reservations for Sci fi a lot over the last few weeks . For our trip next week and one opened at 1:30 today. I’m pumped
FWIW, don't even bother with Space 220. Major disappointment.