HOW do you decide on ADR's and which park which day?

[firstbaby]

HELP! We are going to WDW on 9/27 through 10/2 and tomorrow I can make our ADR's. I am totally overwhelmed. I have our list of where we'd like to eat, but how on earth do you decide which park to go to on which day thus booking your ADR's? Three of the places we would like to get ADR's for are in the parks so that locks us into going to those parks those days, correct? We are not getting park hoppers, so we are limited to one park per day.

Also, the Fantasmic show wasn't on my list but now I'm rethinking THAT. Our DS's are 5 and 3 - is it too old for them?

We arrive at 11 am on Sunday - can we get Hollywood Studios done that day? I was thinking of booking Chef Mickey's for lunch or dinner that day to start things out fun. Would you recommend that plan?

Finally, how far in advance do they release the park hours? The October park hours aren't posted yet and that is also throwing me for a loop :)

TIA!

[egoldber]

Honestly, this is why I don't get the dining plan. I can't know what I want to do that far in advance. I only pick 2-3 for a week's vacation and do the rest ad hoc (mainly counter service or off WDW property).

[Rainbows&Roses]

Yup, it is crazy. Last year at this time I was furiously trying to figure out where we were going to be and where we were going to eat 6 months in the future. We wanted some highly sought after meals too, so I had to book early and we were not getting park hoppers.

I was on Tour Guide Mike and found advice there from the year previous. The WDW site also gives historical hours, so I used those and they were close to what they ended up being.

I ended up revising my plan a few times in the months after making ADR's, but stuck with the original reservations for the hard to get places.

I had spent about 6 weeks planning for my ADR call day, so I could see where you would be overwhelmed trying to get it done last minute. At this point, you should probably just pick park days and make ADR's that fit in with those.

We did not do fantasmic. I heard it can be kind of scary and my DD wouldn't have liked it. Besides, it was when they were only doing 2 shows a week and it was super crazy.

We did a 1/2 day at DHS, so IMO, you could get it done Sunday, but a lot of people LOVE DHS, so it all depends on what you and your kids want to do.

Chef Mickeys is at the Contemporary, so unless you are staying there, you probably don't want to do DHS and Chef Mickeys in one day.

Good luck. We loved the dining plan and I loved the planning - was just wishing I had a trip for us to plan!

[Momof3Labs]

I don't book ADRs this far in advance - I wait until park hours, EMH hours and fireworks schedules are available. But with free dining, you may need to come up with something just to get some ADRs so that you don't end up scrambling at the end. I assume that you are getting free dining, right?

When you say you arrive at 11am, does that mean at the airport? Or are you driving? I wouldn't count on making it to a lunch ADR that day in case you hit delays (driving or flying). I would schedule a fun dinner ADR that day, instead. But Chef Mickey's - blah. Food isn't very good, and it is just a zoo (loud and crazy). My favorite Mickey character dinner is Garden Grill, in Epcot. Do you want a meal that day outside the parks (requires travel time) or inside the parks?

You can probably do some of DHS, but probably won't get on Toy Story Mania getting to the park that late. Toy Story Mania is fun, but you'll probably see lines in the 45-60 minute range, and fastpasses probably all gone by lunchtime that day. Maybe knock off Animal Kingdom instead? I think that is probably realistic.

We haven't done Fantasmic yet with the kids (DS1 was 6yo on our last trip). It is kind of dark and could be scary to some kids. Plus, it involves getting into an outdoor theater well in advance of the show starting, and dealing with the crowd leaving the theater and park when the show is over.

[bnme]

You can look at last years Oct hours to get an idea. And take into consideration party nights (for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party). I think if there is a party there will be no Spectro and that is a must-see in my book. We are going in Oct too (end of month). I want the kids to see Fantasmic this time, but I think they are only doing it 1 or 2 times per week now. I am worried the wait will be too long for us.

We usually do MK our first full day and work from there.

I would just best-guess for now and see if you can make changes once hours are released.

I like a character meal for the first night, but when we have done it that way we don't do a park. Just pool then character meal.

[JTsMom]

For starters, keep in mind that even though you want to book everything tomorrow, you can always switch things around a bit after that if you need to (based on availability of course). And you do know about the online ressies now, right?

Ok, having said that- I'm a huge TG Mike fan. I'd sign up (go through disboard's banner ad for $3 off), figure out the park days first based on crowd levels, then do the ADR's based on where I am that day. You're right that you need to use a park admission day to get into the park places, so keep that in mind. Also, it just makes a lot more sense to eat where you are so you don't waste time running from place to place.

I would definitely not do a sit-down lunch your first day there. Honestly, I wouldn't do a sit down meal at all that day, but that's just me.

Ditto what PP's said about DHS. I don't think I'd try to do it that day b/c of TSM, and b/c of the way the show times run. I'm a HUGE fan of being at the parks at rope drop though.

For our first day this trip, we're planning on arriving around 11, checking in, taking it kind of easy- maybe hit DTD, or swim, unpack, etc., then doing Hoop Dee Doo that night at 5, then getting some good sleep so we'll be full of energy for our first park day.

[firstbaby]

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions / advice. I think I'm having a moment of insanity because "tomorrow's the first day" and I want to feel pulled together and for my effort planning / researching to pay off. But, they can always be changed and I don't want the ressie's to own us :)

DH and I talked about it and agreed we're going to try Epcot the first day. Our flight arrives at 10:30 am to Orlando and we are staying at the Contemporary, so travelling to Epcot shouldn't be too bad. We know we won't get to see everything there is, but we're alloting 3 days for MK, so we may give up one of those days to revisit Epcot. And instead of doing a fancy / long meal the first night, we're considering nibbling our way through the Food and Wine festival or using counter service and then using the extra sit down meal towards CG. We did get the free dining, so it helped off set the overall cost of the trip, but again don't want food to own us on this vacation.

Thanks again, I'm sure I'll have MANY more questions in the months to come :)

[JTsMom]

Oh, you're staying at CR? Lucky! That will definitely make life easier! In that case, I would consider CM if you'll be back at the resort in time for dinner, and depending on how many days you have planned for Epcot (I'd rec at least 2).

And as far as Fantasmic goes, we did it last year. DS was 3.5 and doesn't scare easily, and loves fireworks. He wasn't into it at all. We thought it was ok, but I wouldn't kill myself trying to get in there. We cruised in during the last couple of mins and got standing room only waaaay in the back.

It's kind of long, and I could see it really scaring a child that scares easily. You can see it on youtube if that helps.

[hillview]

I am planning our Jan/Feb trip :)

So ADRs I think are a must it sounds like from the dis board. I have my plan, thinking get what I think I want booked and then as EMH etc comes out, I can modify if I want to.

I LOVE Chef Mickeys (food is fine but characters rock). We are not going to do Fantasmic -- DS is almost 4 but I just feel like it would be wasted on him -- even if it doesn't scare him he won't really enjoy it. Plus it is after his bed time ;)

We've been once and caught the bug!

HAVE FUN!
/hillary

[firstbaby]

So, I'm pretty happy overall. I REALLY REALLY want Ohana and that was the only one we didn't get. We did get Coral Reef, Crystal Palace, Boma, California Grill, Chef Mickey's and 1900 Park Fare which I will cancel in a HEARTBEAT if we can get into Ohana. I've heard wonderful things about Le Cellier but I'm hoping with the Food and Wine festival going, we can get a couple of samplers of things off their menu :) I didn't even try for a ressie there - with it being our first day, I didn't want to spend a lot of time on dinner. So, we'll hit Epcot, MK, MK, Animal Kingdom, DHS and MK in that order. We are going to play another day at Epcot by ear if our first day doesn't give us enough time.

[clc053103]

So, I'm pretty happy overall. I REALLY REALLY want Ohana and that was the only one we didn't get. We did get Coral Reef, Crystal Palace, Boma, California Grill, Chef Mickey's and 1900 Park Fare which I will cancel in a HEARTBEAT if we can get into Ohana. I've heard wonderful things about Le Cellier but I'm hoping with the Food and Wine festival going, we can get a couple of samplers of things off their menu :) I didn't even try for a ressie there - with it being our first day, I didn't want to spend a lot of time on dinner. So, we'll hit Epcot, MK, MK, Animal Kingdom, DHS and MK in that order. We are going to play another day at Epcot by ear if our first day doesn't give us enough time.

If you really want Ohana, call every morning at 7 am or go on line at 6 AM for the next few days, as they open more tables up daily at their 90 day mark (meaning, if the first day of your trip's 90 day window was today, tomorrow they will add more tables to the second day of your trip, and so on). Try using the on line system, I found tables that the CM never offered.

[JTsMom]

We love Ohana! Keep trying- I'll bet you'll get it. Congrats on getting everything else. :)

[hillview]

Wahoo. Sounds like a great list. Please post a trip report when you get back!
/hillary