Dumb Question of the Day

Only 3 for a whole trip would be terrible! We eat at least 1 TS a day per day, sometimes 2 for 7-8 days straight. We kind of dislike QS places for the most part. Making them 90 days out would be okay though.

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I don’t personally love making reservations 180 days in advance because it forces me to choose parks sooner than I would otherwise like (i.e., informed by hours, crowds, etc) — but as a planner that generally books vacations in advance, I feel it does give me an edge and increases the likelihood of getting my first choices over a shorter timeframe. And I prefer having a plan, so I’m a fan in general.

Can you imagine trying to grab FPP and ADR at the same time?

This trip we weren’t interested in any of the highly sought ADRs, so we booked ours just before FPP, and adjusted a bit as we went along, finally finished our plans about 45 days in advance. I’m not 100% certain, but I’d bet we kept zero of the ADRs we made before FPPs. Stayed at the same restaurants but moved times and dates as we tweaked our plans.

And of course, as was already stated ADRs no doubt increase Disney’s revenue.

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Only if they’re collecting a lot of no show fees, filling more tables, or selling a lot of dining plans because of ADRs. I’m not sure any of those are a guarantee.

No guarantees, but I presume if ADRs weren’t driving revenue they would change the system. My guess is that they help encourage TS dining by those who are inclined for TS dining, thereby upselling them vs other dining options, whether QS or outside the park.

Speaking for myself, I book ADRs whether on the DDP or not. I just don’t want to eat QS for a week straight, and feel like ADRs let me make the most of my time at WDW (given that I don’t want to eat QS every meal, as much as my kids might want that).

I’m not sure what the downside to ADRs would be from Disney’s perspective. (Though i get questioning the 180 window). Without ADRs Disney ends up with more people trying to eat at fewer locations all at the same time which likely encourages spillage to other options with lower revenue opportunity. Conversely, the current system encourages patronage to fill vacancy within a venue, and I presume encourages discovery of other TS venues that would otherwise be missed.

IMO obviously.

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But what if you’re in the FoP queue -already a bit advanced but still a bit to go- and you get a text saying you have 30 minutes to show up to your eating slot?

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But that would allow more access for others which is only fair.

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90 days. There really is no need for it to be any farther out than that. But not ever on the same days as FPP. Either that or shorten everything.

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I’m all for the 90 days, but a limit of 3 ADRs during a trip sounds like a terrible idea to me. Making and using an ADR for each dinner does not make one an ADR hoarder.

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As a family with picky eaters and multiple dietary needs/allergies to work around, I strongly dislike the idea of doing away with ADRs. There are a limited number of restaurants that work for us, and we don’t want to roll the dice and just hope they can fit us in that day. Disney is just too crowded; there would be miserably long waits for tables or you’d have to sign up at 7 am for the entire day. But that said, the 180 day window is ridiculous. Disney should finalize park hours by 60 days, do on site FPs at 45 days, offsite at 30 days, then dining at 25 days. Or start with dining at 45 and make FPs 30 and 20 days in advance.

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So a family going for 14 days, or 21 days could only book three meals? Whilst someone going for three days could have one each day?

What would happen with those staying offsite? Three within how many days?

I think what @Hoopsters meant was only 3 ADRs for the same restaurant in one trip. To prevent hoarding. At least that’s the only way the suggestion makes any sense to me.

Thats’s something that Disney experts would be able to best decide. I assume the average out of town/state family books for a week (most don’t have the large budget for a 2 or 3 week stay) so 3 ADRs are reasonable. Understand I live in CA and visit DL often where ADRs aren’t as much of a thing.

So you’re saying that you consider someone who eats more than 3 TS meals per visit to be an ADR hoarder?

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NOOOOO…As I said before, hoarders (which is a term I didn’t assign and had been used before on this site) are those who plan to eat ONLY once at dining establishment but reserve multiple times/days so that they can eventually decide on the best time and day for them. They feel justified because eventually they release those other reservations. But while they are holding these bookings, others can’t find reservations.

I’m not accusing you of anything, just trying to understand.

We are going for 10 days and have 15 TS meals planned. We love them! I’m just trying to figure out your 3/visit limit idea.

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Sorry I got a little passionate…just get frustrated when a few minutes into your 180 days you can’t get certain reservations which is ridiculous. I picked 3 ADRs because I think that’s reasonable if you are staying a week. Maybe get 3 ADRs at the 180 day mark (prefer 90 day but that’s another issue), and then be able to book more days later. Also maybe there should be a tiered system for very popular dining establishments allowing more families access to character meals. Like others, I just would like more access to ADRs for more people.

But anyone can book an ADR at 180 days. I agree the time frame is way too far out, but even without an onsite reservation you can book an ADR. And offsite guests account for at least 2/3 of visitors and possibly even more.

Restricting onsite guests to 3 days would be penalising those staying onsite vs offsite. Anyone staying offsite could book multiple ADRs per day, using different names.

There is no way this could work with the number of visitors every day. They could shorten the booking time, but no way to restrict the no. of reservations.

Hey @alicescarpa , when are you going? If you find yourself dropping an 8:40 CG res the week of Dec 15, please let me know. :smiley:

I think you have the wrong person, I don’t have any CG reservations, sorry! And good luck getting them :slight_smile:

Oops. I wanted the post right before yours! So… @stlouie, same question: When are you going? If you find yourself dropping an 8:40 CG res the week of Dec 15, please let me know. :smiley:

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