Disney Trip Update - ADR Time!!!

All Right...time for an update.  I've been driving the family crazy (I think) with all the planning talk, but since we're a group of 9 I wanted to get our ADRs reserved at our 180 day mark to be more than safe about it.  I've never booked them this early before, but we were also going to try to get into Le Cellier for a lunch and I knew they'd go fast since it's a great value at lunch and we're on the dining plan.  Also, part of the "stress" was that while early October is normally a good time to go to WDW, several events are happening while we're there that are making me really be careful to avoid big crowds.  October 1st is Epcot's 30th anniversary, and while crowd calendars aren't reflecting it yet, I'm thinking Epcot will be pretty crazy that day, so we'll avoid it.  Also, the weekend we arrive is the 1st Tower of Terror Ten Miler.  My wife and father in law are runners, and are doing the race...but I think it will also add to the crowds at the beginning of our stay.


I had called Disney a few days earlier to get clarity on the 180+10 day booking policy.  If you don't know, it means that you can start making ADRs 180 days from when you check in, and at that time can make ADRs for up to 10 days into your stay, so 180+10.  They also told me they start taking calls at 6am Eastern and that they recommended calling instead of reserving online.


I will admit that the night before the 180th day we had our group over to swim and I connected the computer to one of our TVs to go over my spreadsheet and get feedback, and we ended up showing the younger kids some YouTube videos of things we'd be doing.  Shame on me for not having a projector:)


So I woke up at 4:45 and got ready to make my flurry of reservations.  I started calling right at 5am CDT (6 eastern) and kept getting the "we're closed" messages.  I ended up going online and getting everything I wanted BUT Le Cellier, which showed ZERO availability at all for the day we wanted it.  More on that later.


Considering our group of 9, I wanted to make the meals friendly to everyone, so we have lots of buffets.  We have Hoop Dee Doo Review (on the last day before its refurb - YES!!), Chef Mickey's for dinner, Ohana for breakfast, Hollywood & Vine for lunch (we have a Disney Jr. fan in the group), and Coral Reef for dinner (in lieu of Le Cellier - how's that for keeping it French?).  We're on the dining plan so Hoop Dee Doo is using 2 of our table service credits. 

The rest will be counter service and there are actually some places we really like such as FlameTree BBQ at Animal Kingdom and Columbia Harbor House at Magic Kingdom.  We also plan to do some kiosk hopping at the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot - one of my favorite things.


When I got in to my office that day I called Disney and they looked and saw ZERO availability for Le Cellier that day, but also that it didn't have any reservations booked at that time, meaning either they hadn't released availability to be booked or it would be closing for refurb and they just hadn't been told yet.


All told, I kept going online to check and eventually Le Cellier avails at lunch did pop up, and I got our group of NINE reserved.  I'll end up cancelling dinner at Coral Reef on 10/4, but will hold off for a bit...don't want to get a message saying "the reservation system had an issue and your reservations aren't valid".


With all the ADRs booked the planning is mostly done.  Now I'll sit back, watch the message boards and check updates on TouringPlans.com here and there.  Can't wait to get back to WDW!!