I just don't know what time to make dinner reservations at. I think it's crazy that I have to make reservations before we go. I have no idea what we will be doing, where we will be, how can I pick restaurants and times? What if I pick later times and we find that we should have eaten earlier or visa versa? I'm stressing about something that is supposed to be fun.
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What time to make dinner res?
- Thread starter cbleigh
- Start date
BrerKev
Member
Ah, welcome to the joys of planning! Even though I know it seems very odd, making ADR's is a must if you plan on eating at pretty much any table service restaurant these days. If you haven't already done so, I would suggest making an itinerary of which parks you will visit on which days. Once you know where you will be, it narrows down the dining options. Next look at any events, parades, entertainment that you would like to do. Give yourself enough time around these scheduled events to make your ADR. If you plan for a big early dinner, you may want to have a big late breakfast, or a light lunch.
I know it's crazy, but we find making our ADRs half the fun of planning.
I know it's crazy, but we find making our ADRs half the fun of planning.
It's not that big a deal, and no real reason to stress out about anything. Assuming you have park hopper, just plan a rough outline of what you will be doing for each day. Other than EMH or Fantasmic, there's really not much that occurs only one night or so a week, so events shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just try to determine what EMH's and other stuff you want to do, and either plan on being in those parks the night of your dinner, or go with a breakfast or lunch ressie for a table service.
If you start the day in another park, just plan on starting to leave that park to get to your dining destination around 2 hours before it is set to begin. That doesn't mean you have to get out of line immediately at the 2 hour mark or you can't ride some rides with short lines on your way to the exit, but you just want to be in the process of leaving and probably out of the park by no later than 1 hour prior to your reservation.
zurgandfriend
Well-Known Member
We usually try to make reservations around 6:30 pm, we each get to pick 2 places DW, DS and me. As we discuss where to eat we start to plan out our trip as well. (E.G. we're having dinner at World Showcase Tuesday so let's do EPCOT that day etc). It's fun and as stated we each get to pick not just Mom and Dad. When DS was 7 he picked places like Ohana because of the fire pit. At 13 he pick the Luau beacuse of the Hula girls and Morocco because of the belly dancer. Enjoy!
Mukta
Well-Known Member
You can just eat at counter service restaurants for your trip. Those don't require reservations. You sound like you might not be the type to plan everything out, so why worry about sit down restaurants at all?
whitney37354
Active Member
I shot for 9 a.m. breakfast ADR so we didn't have to rush to get anywhere. I knew we'd come back to the hotel for a break after CS lunch, so I shot for 6 p.m. dinner ADRs. I got everything within 15 minutes of the times I wanted. We only had one time when we wanted a FastPass for Soarin' at EPCOT, but the time for that, we had ADR in MK at Crystal Palace. We just had to wait until another day to do Soarin' with FP. Not a biggie. I'd try to eat around the same times you normally do or maybe a little earlier, since it can take a while to be seated or to get the food you've ordered, if you're not at a buffet.