Going Commando - Cancelling ADR's

[southjerseymom]

I leave in 9 days. I have been an avid WDW planner and thread stalker for years but I'm done. I'm keeping my Thanksgiving Hoop De Doo and my Akerhaus for my princess loving daughter - everything else is getting cancelled. A lot of my ressies are on the November cancellation thread. I don't know what finally pushed me over the edge but I'm just sick of deciding what I want to eat months ahead of time. Not judging!! My guys are teens now and we can totally go with the flow. So I'm going in with no ressies during a Holiday week. Ill let you all know how it worked out but I am so ready to just eat when I want.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Good for you!

We have been doing fewer and fewer ADRs every trip. Used to be 1 TS a day. Then every other. Next trip we’re doing a princess meal and a Mickey meal and that’s it. My kids are little and I just don’t know when one of them is going to fall asleep in the stroller. Winging it on meals works best for us mostly.

Enjoy your “go with the flow” dining!

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Booking ADR's 6 months out doesn't bother me personally.
I can easily look at menus and decide what places appeal to me and which don't.
If I see at least 2 options I like on a menu I have no trouble picking one of them in 6 months.
Its not like I eat those menu items on a regular basis so I won't suddenly not want them.
On the flip side I do enjoy the convenience of just stopping whenever I am hungry to grab a bite at a QS location and not be tied to anything.
Disney World definitely can feel "liberating" when you don't have an ADR to worry about lol.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I was hoping to do a similar thing with a 4-night solo trip in Feb/March. Original plan was to have no ADRs besides HEA dessert party. But since then I think I’ve come up with such a long list of all the places I want to eat, I may end up with at least one ADR per day!

 

[Mopedmom1]

We touch down on the 21st of this month. I, too, have become weary and am second guessing my choices. I haven't gone to your extreme but I have let go of quite a few reservations.

We went in June for a short trip on short notice and totally winged it. I can assure you we didn't go hungry! It was a fun trip.

We will be at WL from the 25-30 of this month. I'll look for the poor family sitting out begging for crumbs. J/K! Have an awesome time.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Good for you!! We have very few ADR's for our upcoming trip. One tip - if you eat QS, use the mobile ordering option on the MDE app. It will save you a ton of time!

 

[Surgie2]

That sounds super relaxing! We have a 10-day trip in May and I've made 4 TS ADRs total which almost seems too much for me and our young grandkids. But the characters are calling us...may end up canceling one or two.

 

[EdmondD]

What I dislike is the massive time investment in sit-down meals. That, in conjunction with CS food getting better (IMHO), means we only had one ressie for our recent six-day trip (Homecoming). Loved it.

 

[fla4fun]

I have a ten day trip in December and have one ADR for dinner on a day when some family is joining me for the day. I prefer on my solo trips to dine QS and just eat when I get hungry. Some days it's meals, some days it's just grazing through the day - whatever I'm in the mood for. I think it gives you a lot more freedom. I'm not above looking to see what's available day of if I end up in the mood for a TS meal, and when I have, I've always found something decent.

 

[disneyvoice]

This is exactly what we have done recently. I felt the need to get all the popular ADRs when our son was younger. Now that he's a teen, or it's just my DH and I, we have very few ADRs (and we even end up cancelling some of those when get there). We have found it a lot more enjoyable to not have a set schedule on our trips - it makes it so much better if we want to sleep in, get tired, or aren't very hungry. We have discovered some really great QS options this way and have saved a ton of money.

 

[KenHutch]

I must say you are a much braver person than me. But being in IT person I have no problems with scheduling things 180 days in advance.

 

[Blue32]

Kudos OP! Make sure to try mobile ordering when you can to save time in line. Especially during a busy week. I’ll be there next week as well, though I do have a few ADR’s! Cheers!

 

[loves to dive]

Same day ADRs are fairly easy to get, you might not get character meals or BOG but just about every thing else is doable. We never make our ADRs in advance, always day of and eat TS just about every day. We do have PHs/APs so we do have the benefit of hopping to another park if that is where we want to eat and being two adults means we can eat at whatever time we want to eat.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I don't have a problem scheduling where we want to eat.

That said, my girlfriend and I did girls trip in September. We have one, just one, ADR. The rest were quick service.

It wasn't a problem at all.

Our 10 day trip, in January, currently has 4 ADRs. Everything else will either be in our room or quick service.

We are currently planning/thinking about a trip in 2020. We want at least two table service each day.

We do what works for us, for that trip.

 

[southjerseymom]

We touch down on the 21st of this month. I, too, have become weary and am second guessing my choices. I haven't gone to your extreme but I have let go of quite a few reservations.

We went in June for a short trip on short notice and totally winged it. I can assure you we didn't go hungry! It was a fun trip.

We will be at WL from the 25-30 of this month. I'll look for the poor family sitting out begging for crumbs. J/K! Have an awesome time.

LOL
You will find me at the bar..the heck with food!

 

[PetePanMan]

Be Free My Friend, Be Free

 

[rpb718]

The only ADRs I have for our next trip are for breakfasts. If I didn't, DW would be tempted to sleep late and the morning would be shot.

 

[Mopedmom1]

LOL
You will find me at the bar..the heck with food!

Well in that case I'll buy you a drink cuz I have my eye on the Territory Lounge!

 

[melana]

My last trip this October, I was so indecisive about my meals. I booked everything at 180 days. Then as time went on, I changed them and changed them....right up till I left. Heck I even changed them while I was at WDW.

What happened is I ended up rebooking places that I had originally booked at my 180. I even thought about dropping all of my ressies at one point and doing what you want to do. But for some reason I was worried I would miss out on something.

The only reservation that stayed consistent in my planning was for Monsieur Paul.

It is just so hard for me to decide at 180 days what I might like to eat and what time. I don’t know what I am going to do next time I go. I may do 50/50. Half booked before I go and wing the other half. It’s getting to where I do not have any “must-do” places so it may work.

Also eating at WDW is so time consuming. I just want to order, eat and pay my bill. It’s like a dang production to just to pay the bill. I don’t need a 1.5 to 2 hour dining experience.