So confused with planning and ADRs :(

mummybear · 26 Aug 17, 01:56 PM

I am so confused trying to plan our holiday!

I am stuck with even the basics! I am trying to decide on ADR's but really struggling to choose when to book meals for...

I don't know whether we will stay in the park all day and therefore to book our TS meal for 5-6pm so we can head back to hotel after that if we are tired...or whether to leave the parks in the afternoon for pool time and book later TS meals to give us time to get back in to the parks!

What do most people do?

Any help or advice appreciated!

Guest · 26 Aug 17, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by mummybear

I am so confused trying to plan our holiday!

I am stuck with even the basics! I am trying to decide on ADR's but really struggling to choose when to book meals for...

I don't know whether we will stay in the park all day and therefore to book our TS meal for 5-6pm so we can head back to hotel after that if we are tired...or whether to leave the parks in the afternoon for pool time and book later TS meals to give us time to get back in to the parks!

What do most people do?

Any help or advice appreciated!

I think this advance planning and fast passes are the worse things Disney ever did.

I know I'm in a minority of probably only myself but I loved the days of just turning up and taking your chance just where and when you felt like it.

Good luck.

Emmymcw · 26 Aug 17, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by mummybear

I am so confused trying to plan our holiday!

I am stuck with even the basics! I am trying to decide on ADR's but really struggling to choose when to book meals for...

I don't know whether we will stay in the park all day and therefore to book our TS meal for 5-6pm so we can head back to hotel after that if we are tired...or whether to leave the parks in the afternoon for pool time and book later TS meals to give us time to get back in to the parks!

What do most people do?

Any help or advice appreciated!

The first few days you will be up early so you could think about booking some character breakfast. We went back home in the afternoon for a break as you do get tired 😴. If you book Crystal Palace for 8am then you will be out for 9ish then be ready for the rides etc

jemima2 · 26 Aug 17, 10:23 PM

Hi . I am in the process of looking at adrs and parks etc for our trip in May. I am booking adrs where we will be essentially! Only once are we going somewhere specifically for dinner. We dont do full days as its just too tiring for the kids so for example, mk morning and crystal palace, Animal kingdom later in day and yak and yeti, epcot pm and rose and crown etc . To be honest we wont use all our ts credits as we dont want an adr every day. Having a couple of offsite trips also . I know from experience that there is just no point in trying to cram too much in as we wont get it done and its not enjoyable. Re our adrs a lot are buffets as we feel its a better option for the kids. Early mornings start of hol, progressing to some later starts and later nights . Good luck ! 😉

loldis · 26 Aug 17, 10:26 PM

I like to head out early, go back to the hotel around lunch time and then head out again for the evening - you can return to the same park or hop to a different one, depending on what ADRs you want.

Every park now has something worth seeing in the evening, so I think this is better than staying in the heat/crowds of the afternoon. I think the latest I have planned before heading back is one of our MK days to catch the parade. So I've planned a low key evening to compensate.

theCMG · 26 Aug 17, 11:11 PM

Originally Posted by mummybear

I am so confused trying to plan our holiday!

I am stuck with even the basics! I am trying to decide on ADR's but really struggling to choose when to book meals for...

I don't know whether we will stay in the park all day and therefore to book our TS meal for 5-6pm so we can head back to hotel after that if we are tired...or whether to leave the parks in the afternoon for pool time and book later TS meals to give us time to get back in to the parks!

What do most people do?

Any help or advice appreciated!

Work out the few places/meals that you think will really be important to your party and concentrate on when to schedule these for first. Think of fallback option days/times for the popular ones (like Be our Guest, some of the character meals) and in case you can't get your first choices. The rest of the itinerary is going to be by its nature less critical and easier to rearrange so just take a punt at it and tweak them as you go.

**Mexy02** · 26 Aug 17, 11:12 PM

Are you onsite with Ddp? How many are in your party and what ages? Some people like early starts , some don't . We have never woken up early and I wouldn't get up at 6am on a holiday either. Are you just doing Disney ?
Have you picked your park days? It's easier to pick your park days first then To start planning meals. You have a good 2 months to come up with a park day plan. There are lots of restaurants That will have availability Right up to the day you go. I'm still choosing restaurants now. It's just easier to get the hard ones at 180 days. Remember it's suppose to be a holiday as well.

mummybear · 28 Aug 17, 09:50 AM

Thank you all so much for your replies! Taking it all in and tweaking my plans accordingly!

Originally Posted by Mexy02

Are you onsite with Ddp? How many are in your party and what ages? Some people like early starts , some don't . We have never woken up early and I wouldn't get up at 6am on a holiday either. Are you just doing Disney ?
Have you picked your park days? It's easier to pick your park days first then To start planning meals. You have a good 2 months to come up with a park day plan. There are lots of restaurants That will have availability Right up to the day you go. I'm still choosing restaurants now. It's just easier to get the hard ones at 180 days. Remember it's suppose to be a holiday as well.

Hiya, yes we are staying onsite at POR and there is 4 of us, 2 adults, a 12 year old and 7 year old. We are a mix as me and my youngest are morning people where as DH and DD don't like mornings and can stay up late easier. Just doing disney and 2 days in universal.
Ive made a start on which parks on what days, just struggling with the knowing what time to book evening ADR's for depending on whether we stay in the parks all day or not.

Jemima2 - Yes I am trying to stick to the same park for each day, depending what ADR's and fastpasses are available closer to the time! Do you know which buffets are good? I'm also having to be careful where I book meals as we have some fussy eaters in our family. Buffets are usually good for that!

jemima2 · 28 Aug 17, 06:39 PM

Hi again. We have a couple of character buffets penciled in...crystal palace, tusker house . Also chef mickey at some point. Non character trails end and boma. I find buffets less stressful with the kids re ordering etc! we have a handful of ts meals also in our plans aswell.

Guest · 3 Sep 17, 07:52 AM

Originally Posted by mummybear

I am so confused trying to plan our holiday!

I am stuck with even the basics! I am trying to decide on ADR's but really struggling to choose when to book meals for...

I don't know whether we will stay in the park all day and therefore to book our TS meal for 5-6pm so we can head back to hotel after that if we are tired...or whether to leave the parks in the afternoon for pool time and book later TS meals to give us time to get back in to the parks!

What do most people do?

Any help or advice appreciated!

I wouldn't fancy leaving a park and going back later, in fact I try to limit the amount if crisscrossing across the site where I can. So if I had an ADR in a park I would fit it into my day. If I was having an ADR dinner, I would do afternoon / evening in the park and have a later start that day.

Only for signature dining would I go back to room first and get spruced up before heading out again to eat.

26 Aug 17, 10:26 PM	#5
	26 Aug 17, 10:26 PM loldis Imagineer
loldis Imagineer Join Date: May 17 Location: Sussex	I like to head out early, go back to the hotel around lunch time and then head out again for the evening - you can return to the same park or hop to a different one, depending on what ADRs you want. Every park now has something worth seeing in the evening, so I think this is better than staying in the heat/crowds of the afternoon. I think the latest I have planned before heading back is one of our MK days to catch the parade. So I've planned a low key evening to compensate. Edited at 10:27 PM.