Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR)

And ADR is an Advanced Dining Reservation. Disney Marketing (and we love them like children) loves to come up with a really complicated name for what everyone else on the planet calls a booking or a reservation. It used to be PS (Priority Seating) but regardless of the name, it is not a dining reservation. What? You say. I make an ADR and I don't have a reservation? Right you are. You have a time at which you show up and get in line.

Here's how it works (for the moment). Call 1-407-WDW-DINE (939-3463) and make your ADR up to 90 days in advance of the day you wish to dine. When you call, your name and essential information are taken as if you are making a reservation. You'll be given a seating time. On the day of your dining experience you must check in at the restaurant. When you show up at the podium the Cast Member (CM) will confirm your ADR and ask you if everyone in your party is there. If all of your party isn't in attendance the CM will ask you to come back when they are. If the restaurant is quieter and you have six of your eight there, they may seat you and bring the stragglers when they appear.

Assuming all your party is present and accounted for, and there are no empty tables at the time, you will be handed a pager. Yes, a pager. You then have to mill around in the vicinity of the podium until the pager lights up and vibrates. Your ADR actually just guarantees you a spot in line, nothing more, to become eligible for the next available table. This means just that, you will get the next available table, but a table is not kept empty waiting for your arrival. Here's a kink: If you show up at 7:00 p.m. for your 7:15 p.m. ADR and someone right behind you arrives for their 7:00 p.m. ADR, you will be seated before them.

This system was established primarily to prevent back-ups created by latecomers and no-shows. If the system works as it's intended to: (a) guests with an ADR will be seated at or near their assigned time; (b) walk-ins will have a shot at any open tables available. To be fair, this was absolutely the reaction, some say over-reaction, to the bad-guest practice of making multiple reservations in different restaurants and only showing up in one place. You would then have folks not being able to get into restaurants "because they were fully booked" whereas, in fact, they were 50% vacant.

If you are unsuccessful in getting an ADR time for your favorite restaurant, try calling back in the evening, each day, until you get it. People call during the day to cancel their reservations, opening up availability. Calling in the evening will give you a head start on the majority of people who will be calling the next morning.

As Disney dining at the sit-down restaurants becomes increasingly more popular it's sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to get an ADR as a walk-in. We're not suggesting you shouldn't still try, but we are recommending you make any ADR as far in advance as possible.

Your chances of getting a table at the appointed time are better if you schedule an early or late ADR. If you decide to eat at a full-service restaurant during peak hours, you're better off with an ADR than not, but still expect a wait. More often than not your wait can be as long as 40-minutes during peak hours, in some cases it can be less than 20-minutes. But, if you just walk in, especially during the busier seasons, you can expect to wait 40 to 75 minutes. Do we recommend ADRs? Absolutely!

Because procedures are subject to change, it's always advisable to call 1-407-WDW-DINE to confirm current policies.

Last Updated: May 9, 2009