Hello!! I'm new here, we just booked 6 nights at Pop for February 1, considering of extending it for 3 more nights. I'll be traveling with my husband, 7 years old daughter and 2 years old son, my mom, dad and little brother will be coming with us, is the second time for them but the first time for us! We'll be also celebrating my daughter's and husband's birthday on the trip.
I've done soooo much research and am so excited for my ADR date coming up in early August, we have most of the reservations we want to make but some of them are for restaurants not opened yet, like the space one and Oga's cantinas. In that case would you make another random reservation for those dates or would you wait until they open reservations for those restaurants specifically??
Thank you!!
To answer your question directly, first, I would fill in another restaurant until the space restaurant opens for ADR. Although this does not necessarily mean plugging in a "random ADR in it's place". Just make sure you have a place to eat, when that time comes so you don't go hungry, with hungry and/or hangry kids in the heat after long days in parks with little sleep.
This is what I would do, and you may have already done some of this. Make a spreadsheet including all the restaurants you want or have at least given thought to (including quick services that don't need reservations). Also, give them each a priority rating or tier (must do, really want, would be nice, disposable). Next, I assume you already have a good idea as to what days you will be in which parks based on crowd calendars, EMH hours early closings, after hours events, etc; and you should have an idea as to which ones you can swap around if needed (which may be all of them depending on how you all are wanting to schedule your park days, rest days, hopper days, any special event days, etc).
Then, I assume you also have at least a rough idea for what times you would be planning on eating and roughly what areas of which parks you will be in at those times (i.e. in the West side of World Showcase in early afternoon on Day 3; Africa of Animal Kingdom around midday on Day 4; Fantasyland in mid-evening on Day 1 and again in mid-morning on Day 6...all just rough examples). Then, you can plug and play where and when you want to try for your reservations. I personally come up with two or three plans total. Next, when it comes to actual reservations, I always try to get multiple reservations. The system will not allow you to overlap times, but this way, I have ALL or most of my bases covered. For example, if you have your heart set on eating at a particular place (say, Ohana), I would book 2 ADRs for different days. This way, if something pops up to where you DO need to change your park schedule around (some new ride/closure/promotion/etc announcement that comes about later that affects your first day/last day/whatever), you aren't stuck with altering this must-do restaurant without a fallback option.
As it comes to the space restaurant, go back to your rough park schedule/map. What times/days would you think you might be in that area of the park and potentially ready to eat? What you DON'T want is to assume you will get a spot during that time. I would personally make sure that all of my potential meal times are plugged in. That means either by an acceptable or alternate ADR or by an acceptable or alternate quick service or a combination of snacks. This way, you're not stuck trying to scramble at the last minute - that you have a flexible plan that can work for your needs. When Space Restaurant ADRs open up, you can try to grab one and simply cancel whatever alternate/backup plan you already had.
We have always made about 2-3 ADRs for every day of our trip, and then as plans become more secure, we would cancel the backups and alternates over time. Some we would cancel right away, and others we would hold onto until right before our trip or even just before the 24 hour cancellation window....that all depends on how our kids are handling things or how tenuous or flexible certain aspects of our trip plan is (weather, cancellations, etc).
Everyone is different, and with this being your first trip, it can be maddening at times with all the planning. It sounds like you know what you want, and that's great! I always try to make sure that I put myself in the best position possible to secure and keep what we want, so that the plan doesn't go away in the early mornings of 180-day, trying to book a super popular restaurant on Day 1 with no backup plan for it later in your trip when you are mathematically more likely to secure an ADR.
PP is right about the large number of quality quick service places, so that's why I always consider those, too. Now, if you are using the dining plan, with keeping track of your credits, that throws a whole other level into it, but if your party is ok with splitting up some QS meals (some from one place and others from another nearby or something) that's fine, too. Just all depends on your preferences and the flexibility/rigidity in your schedule. Florida can be fickle with weather, and weather can mess with some aspects of plans more than others. So, I tend to always try to build in as much flexibility as possible.
Good luck!
And of all the food places in Epcot, which one was featured on that page? Tangierine Cafe! Home of one of my must-eat food faves, lamb shawarma platter. Oh, Mickey, you know me too well.
I had already figured the crowds will be a bit on the higher side at first because of Mardi Gras and whatnot (although multiple crowd calendars are showing favorable results immediately after that Princess marathon, some of the lowest of the year in fact. Maybe that'll end up being false in the longrun, but hey I'm sure it still beats Christmas at the parks, right? 
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