The ADR apocalypse is overstated

[CaptainAmerica]

I was nervous as I approached my 60 day mark because of all the horror stories we've seen about impossible-to-get dining reservations. I wanted to share my experience to hopefully put some minds at ease. I was able to successfully book all of the following for a party of 11, either 9/2, 7/4, or 6/5.

60+0 - Not dining, but Harmony Barber Shop
60+1 - Kona breakfast
60+1 - Boma dinner (9)
60+1 - California Grill dinner (2)
60+2 - Plaza lunch
60+3 - Via Napoli dinner
60+4 - Oga's mid-afternoon
60+4 - Ohana dinner
60+6 - Liberty Tree Tavern dinner
60+7 - Space 220 lunch
60+8 - Mama Melrose dinner
60+9 - Boma breakfast

We ran into two issues. Tusker House currently shows no availability for the entire month of January, while Steakhouse 71 shows available tables but doesn't actually let you book them. I think both of these are a tech/system issue so I'm going to keep my eye on them.

 

[Hockey89]

I was nervous as I approached my 60 day mark because of all the horror stories we've seen about impossible-to-get dining reservations. I wanted to share my experience to hopefully put some minds at ease. I was able to successfully book all of the following for a party of 11, either 9/2, 7/4, or 6/5.

60+0 - Not dining, but Harmony Barber Shop
60+1 - Kona breakfast
60+1 - Boma dinner (9)
60+1 - California Grill dinner (2)
60+2 - Plaza lunch
60+3 - Via Napoli dinner
60+4 - Oga's mid-afternoon
60+4 - Ohana dinner
60+6 - Liberty Tree Tavern dinner
60+7 - Space 220 lunch
60+8 - Mama Melrose dinner
60+9 - Boma breakfast

We ran into two issues. Tusker House currently shows no availability for the entire month of January, while Steakhouse 71 shows available tables but doesn't actually let you book them. I think both of these are a tech/system issue so I'm going to keep my eye on them.

My wife and I were just down there with my two little boys and my mom, and we had zero issues getting every single sit-down lunch/dinner. We were concerned as well but no issues.

 

[buckeyegator]

have had 3 instances where i just walked up, asked about availability,and gotten on the list, even homecoming.plus, while in homecoming saw at least 6 or 7 open tables, but the mde app said no availability, strange.

 

[nickys]

have had 3 instances where i just walked up, asked about availability,and gotten on the list, even homecoming.plus, while in homecoming saw at least 6 or 7 open tables, but the mde app said no availability, strange.

I think Homecoming, like most Disney Springs restaurants takes most of its bookings via Open Table. Only a fixed proportion will be available through MDE.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I would agree that it being overstated is true at times. It depends on the season and the crowd levels. Now with Dis having some control over park reservations it may be better now booking tables than in the past. We will see as thing progress. We’ve gone on many trips at various times of the year and sometimes ADR ‘ fell into our lap and other times finding a table at the most popular spots were non existent and we had to accept dining at a lesser spot. Our last trip was after the reopening from Covid and we breezed through the ADRs.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I would agree that it being overstated is true at times. It depends on the season and the crowd levels. Now with Dis having some control over park reservations it may be better now booking tables than in the past. We will see as thing progress. We’ve gone on many trips at various times of the year and sometimes ADR ‘ fell into our lap and other times finding a table at the most popular spots were non existent and we had to accept dining at a lesser spot. Our last trip was after the reopening from Covid and we breezed through the ADRs.

I think something people miss is that lack of availability is often a sign of a system glitch or inventory that isn't even loaded into the system yet rather than a restaurant being 100% fully booked. If you can't get a restaurant at 60+8, it's almost certainly that the restaurant just isn't bookable yet, not that other guests have somehow fully booked it up ahead of you.

 

[Chi84]

I think Homecoming, like most Disney Springs restaurants takes most of its bookings via Open Table. Only a fixed proportion will be available through MDE.

I don't think Homecoming is on OpenTable. It wasn't the last time I checked.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I think something people miss is that lack of availability is often a sign of a system glitch or inventory that isn't even loaded into the system yet rather than a restaurant being 100% fully booked. If you can't get a restaurant at 60+8, it's almost certainly that the restaurant just isn't bookable yet, not that other guests have somehow fully booked it up ahead of you.

Agreed - especially on the mention of glitches. One I've run into repeatedly is where searching by meal yielded inaccurate results: a restaurant would show no availability if I searched for, say "lunch," but plenty of tables if I searched for 12pm. Now I always search for a specific time.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

My Steakhouse 71 glitch (showed availability but bombed on the confirmation screen every time) has been resolved.

My Tusker House glitch (zero availability for weeks solid, no matter the party size) is ongoing.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The only issue we had for our upcoming WDW trip in Jan was 50s prime time, the only times available were 3:50 or 8:10.

I grabbed the 3:50 and am now stalking the website to modify it, I’ve had good luck in the past getting what I need if I’m persistant. Worst case scenario is an early dinner.

It’s pretty rare for us not to get the reservations we want within an hour or so of when we want them.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Agreed - especially on the mention of glitches. One I've run into repeatedly is where searching by meal yielded inaccurate results: a restaurant would show no availability if I searched for, say "lunch," but plenty of tables if I searched for 12pm. Now I always search for a specific time.

Disney has long had an abysmal record when it comes to their tech systems. They keep running into poor performance all around and dealing with booking the ADRs are just as atrocious. Thats why we say keep trying and keep plugging away at it even up to the day you leave and still check when you are at WDW for openings. The system encouraging guests to book multiple spots in the chance they cant get what they want as a first choice and it further distorts the numbers of available tables.

 

[Vacationeer]

We had a split stay, 3 nights at each. Was unable to get Storybook Dining, HDDR, or Space220.

 

[Weather_Lady]

We had a split stay, 3 nights at each. Was unable to get Storybook Dining, HDDR, or Space220.

I'm sorry! Hopefully if you keep trying, or with the use of a reservation finder tool, you'll be able to get more of them by the time you travel.

Also, a tip for next time: when we do consecutive split stays involving popular and hard-to-get ADRs, I typically make a third, "dummy" room-only booking that covers all of the nights of our stay, so that when our dining window opens, I can book for the full length, and hopefully have better luck with the harder-to-find ADRs toward the end of our visit. Then a few days later when we hit the 60-day window for the second half of the intended split stay, I go ahead and cancel the dummy reservation without penalty.

My rationale has been that the "60+ length-of-stay" is advertised as one of the many perks of staying on property -- not a perk limited to those staying at the exact same hotel every night -- so I'm just helping Disney live up to its promises, by fashioning my own workaround for one of Disney's many technological shortcomings. Obviously, others might have a different take.

 

[DfromATX]

Just this morning... Our trip is in January and there was not one single table service place available in Hollywood Studios. I too was trying for Tusker House and nothing so we chose Sanaa instead. Adding - we did get Oga's, which surprised me, and there were plenty of times available.