Walt Disney World ADRs - Advanced Dining Reservations - Necessary or No?

If you even glance at the previous list of posts you can tell that I adore Walt Disney World. What I don't love, however, is the hype surrounding it. If you are like me and love to research and plan your vacation in advance you can start to feel a lot of pressure to create the "perfect" experience.  Websites will tell you that you must eat with Mickey or that you need to get dining reservations 180 days in advance if you are going to give your family a dream vacation.

I'm not so sure. I've made reservations. We've had numerous Character meals. It's nice. I'm just not convinced that its critical to a great Disney vacation.  Next time we go to Walt Disney World I plan to go without any advanced dining reservations (ADRs). If I decide we want to eat somewhere specific I may call in a day or two before --or even just a few hours before --since walk up tables are notoriously hard to get at most Disney restaurants.


Crowd level mid-week Magic Kingdom, first week of June

Here is my experiment with Dining Reservations in the Spring of 2013.

How to Book a Last Minute Meal
You can always call WDW-DINE and ask about available reservations. If you’re flexible about where you eat, Disney’s online reservation system makes it easy to find your best dining option, even at the last minute.

1. Start at the main Disney Dining reservations . Make sure your “Location”  remains the “No preference” to see what ALL your choices are.
2. After that, choose the date and your party size as well as the meal you’re interested in booking. To maximize your options, choose the “Dinner” (for example) rather than choosing a specific time.

If you can't find any reservations you want try the following:

• Split larger groups - a family of 4 becomes two groups of 2. Let them know when you arrive that you want to sit together.  Disney meals that include photo packages (CRT, Akershus) will provide one package to each party of  4 or less. Booking as two parties means you get 2 photo packages!
• Use your phone to get a last minute reservation using the My Disney Experience app.

What I Learned
Disney charges a per person cancellation fee for Character and Signature Dining reservations that are not cancelled within 24 hours.That means that while Kona Cafe may not have a last minute table available Ohana might. The fee is typically $10 per person so if a party needs to cancel they will typically do it a day or two before - prime time for you to snap up a reservation.

It used to be that "the" reservation to get was Cinderella's Royal Table (CRT).  It seems easier now. This may be because CRT requires 2 table service credits for anyone on the dining plan.  It  is also competing with the new Be Our Guest Restaurant. Be Our Guest was the one restaurant where I had trouble finding an opening. I scored a reservation for a party of 4 at 8:50PM just 2 days in advance.

There are only 14 restaurants with Character meals that I'm aware of. These seem to book up earlier than other restaurants.

90 days out:
I searched for mid-week dinner reservations for a party of 4 around 5:00 PM, with no particular restaurant in mind for the first week of June (not a low or high season) 6/3/2013 dinner 

• 88 available choices including
• Character dining such as
• Akershus
• Cinderella's Royal Table
• The Crystal Palace and
• Hoop de Doo Musical Review
• Signature dining experiences including
• Jiko
• Coral Reef
• Le Cellier
• Victoria & Albert's

 

60 days out:
I found 86 restaurants with availability based on the same search I used at 90 days. There were still tables available for prime spots like the Fantasmic Dinner, Victoria & Albert's, Hoop De Doo, even Cinderella's Royal Table (at 9:20 PM).

I searched midweek for a Character breakfast. I found reservations for a party of 4 at most of the main restaurants. If I reduced the party size to 2 I was even able to get reservations at Cinderella's Royal Table at the most desired time -- before park opening! That means we could have been first in line for almost any ride. I chickened out because I didn't want to put down the almost $90 non-refundable payment.

Turns out that was a big mistake! While a credit card is needed to guarantee your table it won't be charged when you make your reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table. ONLY if you are a no show or cancel within less than 24 will it be charged the ten dollars per person. When you get to the meal you can pay with dining credits, another credit card, the same credit card, or cash. However, even guests on the Disney Dining Plan need to have a credit card on file to hold a table at this popular restaurant.

30 days out:
Still 85 restaurants with available dinner seating -seven within the Magic Kingdom. There were still character meals available including an early dinner at the Crystal Palace or a late dinner with the princesses at Akershus. Fantasmic dinner packages were available as were fine dining options such as Jiko, Monsier Paul, Hollywood Brown Derby, Narcoosees and Victoria & Albert's.

Mid-week character breakfast options for a party of 4 included Supercalifragilstic Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, Mickey & Friends at Cape May Cafe and Disney Junior friends at Hollywood & Vine - before park opening so you could be inside the park before rope drop! Can you say "first ones to ride Toy Story Mania"?

One week before:
Results were much poorer at this point. Only 1 character breakfast available, although there were 5 character dinners with available reservations.

Overall there were 85 restaurants with available dinner reservations for 4, most with perfectly reasonable times between 5:30 and 7:30 PM. Specialty meals like Ohana and Hoop de Doo Musical Review had vacancies as did many of the fine dining places.

Since we're not on the dining plan, I double checked for inexpensive restaurants. There were 54 in the "moderate price range. Considering there are only 28 restaurants total in the Magic Kingdom I was happy to find 11 restaurants with dinner seating, including The Plaza in the "$14.99 and under" category. 

 And that's my definition of "poor choice" ;)

RESULTS

My opinion based on this admittedly informal research:

If you desperately want to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table or Be Our Guest, by all means put WDW-DINE on speed dial 180 days out and call, call, call until you get the table of your dreams.   Another almost impossible reservation to get is the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party - call 180 days out if this is a MUST for you. 

If you aren't as specific in your dining desires you can definitely let it slide.

Princess character meals seem to book up faster than other character meals. If your little darling wants to dine with the princesses I'd suggest making reservations at least 60 days out.

I'll follow up with day before & day of reservation results.

My Favorite Inexpensive Treat in the Magic Kingdom

Amazingly, after 4 visits I have never eaten a meal in the Magic Kingdom. I'm not exactly sure how or why that happened.

Maybe we're too busy running around and riding on rides. I don't know. I do know that this is where we SNACK!  Mostly on ice cream.

We've had the famous & very popular Dole Whips at Aloha Island. It's basically tropical soft serve. We like the fresh fruit flavors. They cost $3.79. A few years ago we were lucky enough to meet Rafiki next door while we snacked.  (I think he's now mainly at Animal Kingdom.)

 

We also like the ice cream sundaes and the milk shakes at Storybook Treats. A sundae costs about $4.59 and a shake costs $4.29. You can find a spot in the shade nearby to sip and enjoy. Soft serve ice cream cones are the same price as the Dole Whip - $3.79.

However, our hands down favorite inexpensive treat is the $2.99 Kids Cone from the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street. This is a great bargain if you are paying out of pocket for your food.

look at that happy grin!

It is a surprisingly large cone with cherries for eyes and cookies for Mickey Mouse ears, served in a sprinkle covered waffle cone. It's a single scoop, but its a single BIG scoop.

Lunch at Starring Rolls Cafe in Disney Hollywood Studios

We almost always end up eating at Starring Rolls when we are at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Why? Well, it's convenient. It's rarely crowded. Although its on a lower level it is wheelchair accessible. And, the food is good.



The turkey sandwich! Note the empty tables in the background





You order from a counter and take your tray outside to eat. Its pretty small and might be hard to manuever a wheelchair inside the cafe. The metal tables and heavy chairs are outside, with umbrellas for shade.

It's a tasty meal for under $15 per person. The large turkey sandwich is served on fresh focaccia bread with a bag of chips or a side of fruit for about $10.  Add a large fountain drink for $3 - or wine for $7.  If you have room for dessert the pastries are sublime. The chocolate peanut butter cupcake is really excellent.

Kids meals are $5.49 and contain the basic Smuckers Uncrustables with a prepackaged cookie - a bit of a disappointment in a wonderful bakery. My kids prefer getting a piece of fresh fruit or splitting a sandwich and ordering a fancy pastry all for themselves.  

Inexpensive Lunch & DInner Ideas for EPCOT World Showcase

Some people argue that you should eat your largest Disney meal at lunch. You get large portions of similar items for much less than the dinner prices. However, table service restaurants still average about $17-20 an entree if you are paying out of pocket. While most kids meals include a drink, adult meals require that you order a beverage at an additional cost.  Not to mention the time spent at a sit down meal.

I try to pay $40 or less for my family of 4 to eat lunch. We only have one child under the age of 9 and most table service restaurants won't sell my teen aged daughter a kids meal.  Eating lunch  in an air conditioned restaurant is a nice escape from the heat, but it can easily cost us $80-100.

If you aren't on a Dining Plan the classic Disney World advice is always to eat at a counter service or quick service location to save both time and money.  EPCOT is no different. However some counter service locations are more expensive than others.

For instance I love Mexican food, but I think the prices at La Cantina de San Angel are high at $11 or $12 for tacos and $8 for a kids meal. It would cost us about $55 to eat lunch there.

Fish & chips are $8.99 at the Yorkshire in England. There is no kids meal. With drinks, lunch would cost us about $50.

If you want typical American fare try the Liberty Inn in the America Pavilion. They sell burgers, salads and hot dogs for $8-10 a meal. Kids can get macaroni and cheese or a cheeseburger for about $5.49.

You can get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich kid's meal for $5.49 at Kringla Bakeri og Cafe in the Norway Pavilion. Adults can get a roast beef or club sandwich for about $8.

If your family is more adventurous, but still on a budget try our favorite choices. Boulangerie Patisserie in the France Pavilion sells a ham and cheese croissant for $4.75, ham and cheese quiche for $5.20 or pissaladiere (flatbread with tomatoes, olives and gruyere cheese) for $4.50.

We also like Chinese food.  Lotus Blossom Cafe (China) has two egg rolls for $4 or pot stickers for $5. Compare to Nine Dragons where egg rolls are $8 and pot stickers are $7. Saving $2-4 per person adds up to $8-16 per meal, per day. Over five days you could save $120 -240 just on appetizers! 

If your kids aren't adventurous eaters why not walk through the International Gate between France and the United Kingdom? You can walk back into the Park when you're done.

A family sized pizza at Via Nappoli costs $28-$41. Instead walk out the International Gateway to the BoardWalk Pizza window, where a slice of cheese pizza is $3.99 and a slice of pepperoni or veggie pizza is $4.49. It's about 15 minutes from the Gateway.

Or pick up something a little closer by stopping at the Beach Club Marketplace. It's a "grab and go" location so take your food out to the beach to eat. Kid's lunch & dinner choices are a turkey sandwich ($5.49) or a margherita pizza ($5.99) with drinks and a side. Adults can get a sandwich or a flatbread with sides for under $10.

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If you are in Future World during lunch or dinner your best bet will be Sunshine Seasons.  It is in the lower level and often very crowded and loud. You can typically find a table if you send one person to wait while another stands in line to order. Another problem is that separate stations  serve different menu items. So if you want food from more than one station, you’ll need to wait in multiple lines.  The food is fresh and fairly well priced with kids meals starting at $5.49 and adult entree around $8. Kids craving standard food can get macaroni and cheese here, pizza or an Uncrustable meal. The sandwiches cost $8-10 and are almost as large as those at Starring Rolls in Hollywood Studios.

 

Princess Breakfast at Walt Disney World EPCOT - Akershus in Norway

We have been to the Princess Breakfast at the Norway Pavilion three times. Obviously, we like it. This is the first year we don't plan to go. Sadly, I think the girls are past their Princess stage.

You will need to pay for park entrance to eat at the Norway Pavilion. If your reservation is before the official park opening, you will be met (as a group with others eating at the same seating) by a guide who will lead you back to Akershus.

It is a long walk! Be prepared for about 1/3-1/2 a mile trek. Wear comfortable shoes. If your little princess is in her gown, complete with tiny plastic high heels consider having her wear sneakers or sandals until you get to the restaurant.

The dining room at Akershus is wheelchair accessible. We've never had a problem getting Amanda seated at a table. They tend to put us in a corner so we don't block traffic, but the princesses never miss us!

There is no waiting area inside the restaurant. Instead you will stand around outside until your group is "announced" by a page. It is fun to hear "The Royal McGrath Family" be called out.

Its usually a hot wait. You can kill a little time in the shop,The Puffin's Roost. There is a Kidstop inside so your kids can color a paper Duffy the bear and get the Norway stamp. There is some nice merchandise in the shop -it's not all trolls! There are beautiful straw Christmas ornaments and nice clothing. Amanda got a great dress last year. (It's the navy polo she's wearing in all of these photos)

The food is good,but not great. There isn't a huge amount, either. Make sure that you fill up on items from the buffet. Your server will bring a platter of bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs and potato casserole to your table as well as any beverages you order. Anything else you want can be found on the buffet. There are several types of fruit and pastries as well as a few other items such as cold sliced salmon. One nice note, you can ask your server for to go cups and you can start your day in the park with a "free" drink in hand.

The reason to go to the Princess Breakfast is to see the princesses! When you walk in you will be photographed with one of the princesses (often Belle in her yellow ballgown). Your photo package is included in the price of the meal and will be delivered to your table while you eat.

At the start of the meal there is a "princess processional" when all of the princesses enter and the children are invited to parade around the restaurant with them. Neither of my girls have ever been interested in doing this, but it looks very cute.

 

 

The princesses walk through the restaurant. visiting each table and talking to the guests. Different princesses appear at each meal. During the three times we've eaten there we've met:

• Belle
• Mulan
• Jasmine
• Ariel
• Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)
• Cinderella
• Snow White

Yes! I love the Princesses as much as my girls do.

 P.S. If you don't want to splurge for a Princess meal - or just can't get enough of them! - you can search the WDW site for character meet and greets. Just select Entertainment and click on Princess and the Park you'll be visiting. You'll see where the various Princesses can be found.