My ADR date for December is in 16 days. Not surprisingly, I have been avoiding planning, and am now struggling with choosing parks. Out of habit, I have been trying to use TP crowd levels and probable park hours for the time of my stay to decide which restaurants which days. Is there any purpose to using that "information "? How have others been trying to make ADRs for November, December? I have my list of restaurants, just don’t quite know how to proceed at this point.
Just book them exactly as you usually would. If things are back to normal, you’re all set. And if they’re not, you’ve got plenty of time to change them.
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My ADR date for December is June 4. We have out days planned out pretty well and have for several months. I will book accordingly. But if things change, we will adapt. It is our first trip to Disney where we have more than a single ADR for the entire trip. This time we have one to two ADRs planned each day.
One thing that is still unknown is that we had hoped to book Space 220. But opening of that is still and unknown now, so we will book a backup and hope we can get an ADR as soon as it opens up.
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That is how I have been trying to approach it, but I just have been struggling with plans and as a result ADRs. I have always been ready to go long before ADR day. But not this time.
Do you plan to keep the one or two a day, or will you book extras just in case if everything isn’t open? I never book more than what I plan to use, but this time makes me unsettled.
I will be watching for you. Remember, don’t look for a big pink I.
I don’t think we’ll book extra. Honestly, though, haven’t thought about it. We would probably just find some alternative if we had to when the time comes.
I feel like part of the reason ADRs fill up so much is because so many people overbook and then cancel last minute.
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I agree. Mostly my changes were when I could get a better time. Are you using a DDP this trip? I am curious about why you decided on more ADRs this trip. We are increasing our TS over what we did in October '19.
Our December trip is just me and my wife, so no kids. It is to celebrate our 25th anniversary. As such, it is about experiencing things we never do…so in this case, includes finally experiencing a lot more Table Service places.
We are not getting the DDP…it would cost us a couple dollars more than paying out of pocket.
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What a wonderful trip you will have.
The idea this time was DDP, maybe DDP+ because of character meals. We did 2 character buffets with DGD3 and DGD13 months last October. That and Biergarten were the biggest hits. With the price of the dining plan for a 4 year old, we should come out ahead as long as those meals are still options.
I booked backup ADRs for buffet meals. Too much uncertainty, especially with character buffets.
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I have never felt so uncertain with my planning.
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True Story 
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I have decided to take that approach. I am pretending that hours. EMH, CL, on TP are somewhat close to what they might be. I am pretending that all of the parks will be open. I am pretending that the character meals will still have some appeal to them. So, I am back to continuing the plans that I started in January, as if there were no unknowns.
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Honestly, unless they are “must grab at 180 days” ressies, I think you can even wait until you know more. Book what you think you really want and wait for the rest. Many restaurants have plenty of availability even a month before. I can’t see that changing. Of course, a few of them are must book right away, so just do those and plan around them.
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Several are the must grab at 180 days. But for many, you are right that normally they can wait. We will be a party of 7, plus if they are social distancing the tables,so I will make them all at 180 days just to be safe.
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We’ll be there 11/28-12/4 so my ADR day is this coming week.
I’m just booking it as if it was any other trip and will adjust if needed.
I too am concerned about the buffet character meals - we actually depend on them for a few reasons. I was also hoping to book Space 220, but if it doesn’t open in time we’ll probably just do a QS instead bc there’s nothing that is a must do in Epcot right now.
The one thing I am a little worried about is the scarcity of ADRS lately. I get that they are trying to limit capacity in case they need to space tables and stuff. But I worry that if character buffets get cancelled, I’ll have no fallbacks.
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I think that’s really wise. It might be years before buffets make a comeback- maybe never. Public health ppl have never really approved of them & even though coronavirus is not really spread this way, it wouldn’t surprise me if we never saw them again outside of Vegas.
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We have a December trip as well. I’m using historical EMH days and park hours as a base.
I thought about two ADR plans to start with - one is the usual character buffets and a second plan with other restaurants we’d not experienced before.
Then I second guessed myself, thinking that perhaps the choice isn’t buffet vs wait staff but instead it’s table service vs counter service.
So I have two choices for each meal: table service and counter service. My ADR window is still several weeks off. I think mid June.
I’m hoping that some ADRs are not as hard to get but then again, with social distancing, the numbers may be as limited.
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I think this is really true. In my state, the restaurants have been open for a while, but getting a seat is just as difficult or as easy as it used to be, because of the 50% seating capacity limit we currently have. So the restaurants still do take out even though they’re open for table service.
I wonder if some of the non-park restaurants will do that? Even our nicer restaurants have been- wouldn’t it be neat to drop by the Flying Fish for dinner to take back to the room? I kind of have become fond of one of our local ritzy restaurants’ take-out menu, they’ll even bag up all the ingredients for their signature cocktails.
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I am hoping that if there are buffets, a CM uses the serving utensils to put what you want onto your plate and that they have a wooden ruler to smack the hand of anyone who comes close to the food, I would also be fine with the buffets changing to family style platters or bowls of food brought to your table.
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