How many ADRs are too much? 20 officially booked...

[IAmDis]

Thought I'd ask how many ADRs are too much?

Got a trip planned May 16th-26th, so we got a good 11 days/10 nights, just two of us, both foodies on the Deluxe Dining Plan. We had 18 reservations as of two days ago, but now up to 20. Couldn't help myself.

This is only my second time going to WDW, while this will be my gf's first time.

I think we'll be OK, as we mostly have breakfast and dinner ADRs, with only 2-3 days where it goes Lunch then Dinner, about 5-6 hours apart. We're not concerned about getting the most value from the DDP, only we want to try a lot of places we've heard and read about and don't mind breaking up our day with a table service meal, along with budgeting for tips at every meal.

We are DL APers so we're used to not worrying about seeing and doing everything on a Disney day, and are fine with missing a few things. Fastpasses are booked as well.

We'll have 3 days at MK, 2 days at Ak, 2 days at Epcot and 1 day at Hollywood.

But, have any of you done 15+ ADRs as of recently? I've seen a few posts where people listed about 15+ ADRs. My sis, who is a WDW veteran, laughed when I mentioned how many I had. Any advice or tips would be much appreciated.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Too many ADRs = more meals than you can eat.
Too many ADRs = more than one per meal.
Depending where and what you're saying on the lunch/dinner days, qgive hours isn't a long enough interval and six might be pushing things, too.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

This is exactly what we do. We book a breakfast or early lunch ADR & a signature dinner. Unfortunately, we never have room for snacks. Since we don't use a dining plan, that isn't a problem for us. Some people appear to have no problem fitting in a snack or two. I really don't think the non-signature TS restaurants take up a lot more time than CS restaurants do.

 

[GrantDB]

We're coming from the UK, 14 nights, no expenses spared really because we don't think we'll be able to return with the priorities being a house and whatnot, the whole growing up palava.

I appreciate its a few more nights than you but we've got 21 ADR's already. We're serious foodies, on the regular dining plan but I thought why not just get an ADR for lunch in all 4 parks rather than a QS meal, we'll pay OOP for the lunches. We've got a couple of breakfast ADR's but not many, would rather rope drop the big attractions early on and then chill throughout the day.

But then I found myself thinking how will be able to use the QS credits, we already have enough snack credits so won't need to convert a meal into 3 more.

So for our departure day I booked BoG breakfast and then lunch a few hours after before we take the ME to MCO.

We've got signatures booked for after the water parks and will grab QS there for lunch, we should be okay.

 

[vacationer1954]

We used to do exactly as you do - nothing wrong with it at all, as long as you're not breaking the budget. We have pulled away from doing that, though, for several reasons: We visit annually, so the experiences are no longer so compellingly unique as to qualify as "musts". The full-service restaurants are, for the most part, overpriced for what they currently offer (as compared to how things were ten to fifteen years ago). The counter-service restaurants are substantially better that they were (ten to fifteen years ago) and therefore are "compellingly unique" in their own way. We generally visit during "festival season" and during festival season there are quite compelling choices in kiosks sprinkled around Epcot. (Your visit coincides with the Flower and Garden Festival.)

Of course, if you have the DDP, then you're already committed to that approach, so ignore what I suggest.

 

[CynBeth]

Everyone is different so go with whatever works for you. I have family members with food allergies so we pretty much eat all meals at TS. We eat a lighter lunch and space the meals out so we do fine. We use the time spent at lunch and dinner to relax and recharge.

 

[holden]

I wouldn’t want to spend that much time sitting and eating. We usually do one TS each day. If we stay a week we might have a day with no ADRs. I like the flexibility of not being tied down to a reservation.

Everyone is different. You should do whatever you enjoy. Have a great trip!

 

[mom2rtk]

I personally think it's too many for someone who hasn't been more than once between the 2 of you. Transportation time is a big time suck at WDW and just getting to and from your ADRs can take up a lot of your precious time. It's about lost time and opportunity to really see the parks.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I think it's fine as long as that's what you want. It is a long trip, you visit infrequently, and once you get here you can always cancel some ADRs if you think it's too much. On adult trips we tend to eat 2 meals a day but when the kiddos come, we tend towards more.

Have fun no matter what you do and don't feel like you are wasting money if you opt out on the snacks. We get our money's worth on the dining plan by eating most dinners at signature restaurants which is definitely where the bulk of the dining plan's cost goes.

 

[Haygar2]

Our trip is for 5 nights. We have 9 table service booked and a morning of Extra Morning Magic at Toy Story Land. Which breakfast is included. We don't have anything scheduled for our first night dinner since we are eating at Cali Grill brunch and not sure if we will be hungry. So, in theory, we could have 10 ADRs and the early morning. I see nothing wrong with it. Have a wonderful trip. Jealous that you are able to go that long.

 

[KenHutch]

Well we are going for 12 days on our next trip and my 18 year old has requested we go back to the deluxe plan and she is planning on a 1 TS breakfast and as many Signature places as we can get. The lack of lids and straws has pretty much turned us away from CS. So go for it and have fun and remember reviews please.

 

[Mdsleiman]

We are going in 29 days and we have 4TS and 2 QS for our 6 night 7 day trip. My eyes were bigger than our tummies last trip and DH and DS asked me to cut the meals down to one per day if possible. I am sad we don't have more ADR's but I am trying to make family happy. I hope you enjoy your trip!!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Over the past 12 years, I've eaten at almost every WDW restaurant barring some of the newer ones in DS. IMHO, the food just isn't that good to justify wasting that much time in WDW. I also don't like being locked too tightly into a schedule when we may want to change plans, sleep in, etc. Personally, I would do 1 TS ADR, at most, per day. The beauty of the ADR's is, you can cancel up until the night before the ADR and, I think, you will know pretty early into your trip if this is going to work for you. If you want to try it, go ahead. If you change your mind, just make sure to cancel ADR's the night before so you aren't charged a no-show fee. We also make day-of ADR's if we find we are in the mood for TS. As long as you aren't super picky about where you eat, something is always available.

 

[piccolopat]

From experience I would suggest allowing more time between your lunch and dinner ADRs. On days when we book both, we try for lunch at 11 and dinner at 6. Anything less than that we find we are still not too hungry by the time dinner rolls around. Also, you can decide at the end of each day if you will be up to two table service meals the next day and cancel what you don't want to use and avoid the cancellation penalty. We ended up cancelling a few ADRs after the first few days because it was just too much food (even though we don't use the dining plan!). We've also started to select just a salad and appetizer if we want the air conditioned break of a lunch ADR so we aren't weighed down by a heavy meal in the Florida heat.

 

[han22735]

Snacking at Disney is one of our favorite parts of the trip as there's so many different things to try....We always seem to eat too much and be full and that's with just 1 TS meal a day...But everyone is different and i'm sure you will still have an awesome trip with 10 or 20 ADR's.

 

[elaine amj]

Well, u have chosen the deluxe plan which is 3 TS a day or 1 regular TS and 1 signature TS. If that is what works for you, then you should have 20-30 ADRs over your 10 days of vacation. If you were planning on fewer ADRs, then I'd suggest downgrading to the regular dining plan.

If deluxe works for you, ENJOY

One trip we had a bunch of deluxe credits to burn (because friends insisted on treating us the day before) and we had TS for 11am lunch, then a signature for an early 5pm dinner, and then another TS for a late 10pm dinner. We had enough leftovers for two more days of food at our next offsite hotel lol!!

 

[CraigInPA]

As you haven't scheduled restaurants that require a lot of running around, you should be fine. For example, scheduling breakfast at the Boardwalk, but going to the MK for the day.

When my wife and I did DxDDP, we'd schedule an early lunch and a late signature dinner every day. That seemed to work well for us, giving us a few park hours at the start of the day, all of the afternoon and usually most evenings. With the 10+ day trips we take, and the virtual requirement to book fast passes, we could make the trip somewhat laid back and not feel like park commandos intent on seeing everything in one visit.

 

[Pygoplites]

I think you're fine. As long as you've taken the logistics into accout and booked your meals at or near that day's particular park in most cases.

Also, don't rely exclusively on the free Disney transportation. Lyft/Uber is so easy and cheap in those cases where a bus/monorail/boat may require 90 minutes of travel for something that should take 20 minutes. It seems there are a lot of people who have a phobia of using car services, based on many of the questions asked. It seems weird to spend thousands on a vacation and then be willing to eat up a bunch of time "bus hopping" just to save a few bucks. Plus, depending on crowds, those buses can be a nightmare.

Also, because you're staying a long time, you don't have to maximize your hours in the park.

The only times I was overwhelmed was back when they offered premium/platinum packages, where you could have anything to eat and almost any activity (tours, boat rentals, golf, etc.) and you needed to plan literally every moment in order to make the it worth the cost.

Have fun!!

 

[TwinkleKS]

We do two meals per day when we are on the DxDDP and have no issues. It works out perfectly for our family. Now three meals a day is a total overkill we found out. It is much better to use the points for signature service meals.

 

[reluctantredhead]

We've also started to select just a salad and appetizer if we want the air conditioned break of a lunch ADR so we aren't weighed down by a heavy meal in the Florida heat.

The Florida heat and humidity is a real issue IMHO when it comes to TS dining. On the one hand, TS provides a wonderful break off of your feet in the air conditioning. On the other hand, the TS restaurant portions serve you a LOT of food, and it can be tempting to want to eat it all, either because it's delicious or because you don't want to waste food. I think if you and your GF are the type of people who know "when to say when" when it comes to food, you will be fine! But if you have trouble not finishing everything on your plate or everything that is included in your meal, you may end up sick and/or feeling miserable with an overly stuffed belly trudging through the parks. On a couple of trips when we've been away from WDW for longer than we liked and overindulged in food, we have definitely paid the price in either getting sick and having to go back to the room or just feeling miserable, but thankfully we have learned "when to say when" and don't have that issue anymore. For us that involved finally deciding to no longer purchase the dining plan because it was just too much food for us...but we are now middle aged and can't eat the way we did when we were in our 20s, lol, so your mileage may vary! You mentioned you're both foodies, so I'm guessing that may mean that you know what your limits are and will probably do just fine. In a weird way, buffets could be a good idea (as long as you can refrain from worrying about "getting your money's worth"!) because you decide what and how much goes on your plate, rather than having an overly large portion being forced on you at a plated meal.

The other thing to watch out for with the heat and humidity is alcohol consumption. I'm a small person and can't drink much at one time anyway, but on a trip during the F&W festival last September (blazing heat and humidity!), I made the mistake of having one margarita during the day. Not only did my hands and feel swell, but I felt absolutely miserable and just exhausted. Recently we were at eating at Biergarten during an unseasonably hot stretch in February, and one of our table mates that we struck up a convo with started complaining about a very similar experience she'd had to mine the day before...and she commented that she was a regular drinker who normally has no problem having 2-3 drinks. So just watch out for that!

Your trip sounds absolutely wonderful. I hope you and your GF have a magical time!