How do you decide?

[MillerPoppins]

How do you pick your ADR's? Is it places that you've always wanted to go to? What places do you have to go each time you visit? Do you have to have a table service at each park or certain hotels?

I'm very interested to hear the method behind the madness.

 

[mickeysshoes]

We start with many family talks over dinner about where we want to go and try. I get out the guide books and read reveiw and look on line at meuns to aid us. I will make a list of everyone choices and then schedule according to park hours. The last trip had a theme of NEW or had not been in to in least 4 years. This years trip has still some new places and the ones from last year we really liked. Kids are old enought now that we also do "Date Night" and the kids pickand go where they want. Doing 2 of those nights this trip. Date Night last year lead to booking this bounce back trip....keep your fingers crossed that this years will also!!! :animwink: Once I get the spread sheet all made out if i need help placing the last couple of choices we will again talk about over dinner. We always do the delux DDP so my spread sheet adds up all my credits and tells me how many I have left to book. We have un-planed credits which will mostly get use at QS meals while the kids are off in the park for evening EMH.

 

[belle_1022]

DH & I always try a new place every trip and go to 1 or 2 of our faves. We usually start discussing while we are planning the accommodations and airfare. Then we look at each park and/or resort and see where we want to go. AND OF COURSE we check out the message boards and inquire, as you are, about different places.

This trip we are trying LeCellier and revisiting Crystal Palace and Akerhaus. There are so many that we love that we try to alternate every trip. I really want to go back to O'hana for breakfast and Boma for dinner. LOVE THEM!

 

[ThinkTink721]

I always try to get my favs & include at least one place where I have never eaten.
My favs are: Ohana's for dinner, Whispering Canyon for dinner, & Chef Mickey's for dinner (I always try to book these if I can).
:wave:

 

[Pooh Lover]

We have quite a few favorites we've accumulated over the years that pretty much take up all of our ADR's. One favorite may get switched out for another from year to year but deciding which night to go where is more difficult than where we will go. Some are park restaurants, some hotel and a couple are DTD.

 

[Testtrack321]

I have my ear to the ground before our trip to hear what's good, both old and new, that we haven't been to yet. We also then throw in a few old favorites where they fit (and if we haven't done them in awhile).

 

[zurgandfriend]

There are 3 people in our family DW, DS and Dad (me); we usually visit for 6 nights/7 days. We each get choose 2 dinners, 1 breakfast and 1 lunch, the other breakfasts and/or lunches are grab & go or selected by committee.
There is always some negotiation if there isn’t at least one thing on the menu for each of us. For dinner and lunch we always try to go to places we haven’t been before, but we will revisit a restaurant if we all enjoyed it, we have dined at the Yachtsman steak house and California Grille several times. Now that DS is a teen and the character meals are “not cool” we tend to have breakfast only at our favorite places, Kona Café, Grand Floridian Café or Whispering Canyon.
On his first visit DS then age 7 choose for dinner, Ohana because of the big fire pit and the California Grille because it was on top of the Contemporary.
On his last visit DS now a teen choose for dinner, The Spirit of Aloha Luau because of the hula girls and Restaurant Marrakesh because of the belly dancer.

 

[bamillerpa]

We always try to have mixture of new and favorites. Normally we pick one or two favorites and then fill the rest with new ones or places we haven't been in years depending on the ADRs we can get.

 

[belle_1022]

On his first visit DS then age 7 choose for dinner, Ohana because of the big fire pit and the California Grille because it was on top of the Contemporary.
On his last visit DS now a teen choose for dinner, The Spirit of Aloha Luau because of the hula girls and Restaurant Marrakesh because of the belly dancer.

LOL! Can't wait to see what my girls choose when they get older.

 

[NiarrNDisney]

I decide where I will be eating by looking at my "Want to try" list which is a list I compiled of places that are new, new to me, sound great, or were suggested by someone.

I also add places to my ADR's that I love and have frequented knowing I had a great experience and want to enjoy again.

 

[disneygirl76]

How do you pick your ADR's? Is it places that you've always wanted to go to? What places do you have to go each time you visit? Do you have to have a table service at each park or certain hotels?

I'm very interested to hear the method behind the madness.

Hi there! :wave:

When I help friends plan their trips, I always ask, are you going to pick a dining plan? If so - then we pick which one works best for their traveling and vacationing style. For my DH and I, the dining is a big part of our trip. We love TS meals so we either get the DDP or the Deluxe DDP. If you are going out of pocket, then you can determine a budget and go from there.

As for how to pick what places? This part is fun! I'm a crazy planner with spreadsheets and the whole bit. So, we determine which parks we want to go to on what days. Then we have our traditional dining places (like Rose and Crown for the first meal and CRT for bfast on the last day). We try to pick 2 or 3 new places to eat each trip and then go for our faves. If you have not eaten at many places - then go through the menus some places you are interested in and see what you fancy.

Then...the 180 day out ADR phone call ( i know you can do them online but I am old fashioned! hee hee). I have my spreadsheet and try for the times and places that I want. I call first thing 180 days out and I rarely can't get the ADR's that I want. But if I can't get one - then either I go with my 2nd option or see if I can flip days around.

That is my madness! :lol:

 

[wolf359]

I usually try to get one reservation to a favorite restaurant in each park so I know I'll have at least one chance to slow down and have a good meal each day.

This next trip however, is devoted to making reservations ONLY at restaurants that are new to us. Now we're guaranteed something special and new each day of our trip, and I'm getting excited about trying places I might not have had room for as our "must do" list had gotten pretty long.

 

[Mr Toad]

I pretty much do the research on the restaurant. We book what we like. Kids are not picky about what they eat. We just like to try lots of places.

 

[TxNewsies]

Hi there! :wave:

When I help friends plan their trips, I always ask, are you going to pick a dining plan? If so - then we pick which one works best for their traveling and vacationing style. For my DH and I, the dining is a big part of our trip. We love TS meals so we either get the DDP or the Deluxe DDP. If you are going out of pocket, then you can determine a budget and go from there.

As for how to pick what places? This part is fun! I'm a crazy planner with spreadsheets and the whole bit. So, we determine which parks we want to go to on what days. Then we have our traditional dining places (like Rose and Crown for the first meal and CRT for bfast on the last day). We try to pick 2 or 3 new places to eat each trip and then go for our faves. If you have not eaten at many places - then go through the menus some places you are interested in and see what you fancy.

Then...the 180 day out ADR phone call ( i know you can do them online but I am old fashioned! hee hee). I have my spreadsheet and try for the times and places that I want. I call first thing 180 days out and I rarely can't get the ADR's that I want. But if I can't get one - then either I go with my 2nd option or see if I can flip days around.

That is my madness! :lol:

I do the same thing - spreadsheets! DH always gives me a hard time about it but he always appreciates it in the end for my organization! And our favorite thing to do is once we arrive - go to Epcot and eat at the Rose & Crown Pub.

DH and I always start out by looking over the week and figuring out which park we visit each day. It always helps me to see it visually on a spreadsheet. Then we pick where to eat. We usually do one TS each day (typically dinner). Lately we have been trying out new places. Looking at the menus online and narrowing it down. However we do have one MUST ADR - Crystal Palace breakfast. We just can't go to WDW and not go there.