Really? No ADR's needed for Universal/IOA? Even City Walk?

[marshallandcartersmo]

I've been reading...often people mention on site guests gets preferred seating at table service restaurants. Does this include City Walk restaurants? And if so, is that really enough to minimize waits? (mind you, I'm coming from the "make ADR's 180 days out mentality of WDW )

 

[zbsigpi]

We normally stay onsite during the slower times and have never waited more than 10 minutes without reservations or even mentioning that we are staying onsite. If you are going during the busy times (spring break, summer, holidays) I do not know how your onsite stay benefits you but a simple reservation the day before or even the day of will help with any delay in seating.
I love Disney but hate how non-spontaneous it is becoming.

 

[bumbershoot]

I think with Mythos you'll want to arrange something, just in case.

 

[macraven]

a few places your hotel card won't get you ahead of the line.

hard rock cafe is one of them.
but i just show my hrc loyalty card and that does get priority seating.

last year margaritaville didn't give me priority seating with the hotel card.
went mid week so not much of a wait, so wasn't an issue for me.

 

[RMulieri]

Depends on the restaurant..Margaritaville would not accept priority seating with a room key, they said it was too busy.I am not the only one with that experience either. Bubba gumps doesn't participate, nor does Hard rock. We go in off times and still book reservations ( old habits die hard) , but we like to eat at certain times and hate waiting. You can make dining at opentable.com, not all restaurants are on there, and unlike Disney they can all vary in the booking windows..We usually just book Mythos ( keep in mind Mythos often closes well before the park does ) .A lot of the time, we book the morning of or the day before we want to dine

 

[HM]

We've never asked about the priority seating (never remember). The only restaurant we couldn't get into the night of, was Lombard's. We made a reservation for the next night instead. We've waited maybe 30 minutes at a couple places but mostly the wait time is very short for a walk-in. What we found works best for us, is to make a reservation just a while before we want to go either with the resort concierge or online. We've never been turned away from Mythos...just has to wait about 15 minutes (lunch).

 

[calablovedisney]

I remember eating at the Hard Rock without a reservation in late June without reservations or much of a wait at all. We also ate a place called The Kitchen, maybe? It was in the Hard Rock Hotel and no wait there either, but our hotel might have made us a reservation only about an hour before we went. If I remember correctly, we ate early the night at the HR hotel so probably before the usual crowd. I found the concierge desk at the hotel helpful with suggestion and reservations.

 

[macraven]

i always enjoyed the Kitchen at hrh.
the only times i did a reservation on a weekendm was for breakfast there.
so many want to eat before the parks open.

for city walk and the hotel restaurants, never ran into crowds during the afternoons.
but, i don't go in the summer that much anymore.
could be different type of crowds that do dine during the off hours.

 

[schumigirl]

Never make any reservations.......Mythos we always hit around peak times for lunch and longest wait was 15-20 minutes......and we were glad to sit in the cool......

Never waited longer than 20 minutes for dinner and that was Margaritaville on a Saturday night. That wasn't using preferred seating either. We don't mind a little wait as we never want to reserve a set time when we eat......we don't know when that will be till we're hungry.

 

[sassy2000]

We were at US last year during the 1st week of June and did not make reservations for anything. We never waited more than 10 minutes to be seated. We also went over July 4th weekend in 2013 and had no problem being seated within 15 minutes. We usually like to eat dinner around 6:30 and I did notice larger crowds waiting around 7:30-8:00.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

But ... what? You mean I don't have to make my reservation for anywhere months in advance? I'm very confused ... lol

 

[macraven]

But ... what? You mean I don't have to make my reservation for anywhere months in advance? I'm very confused ... lol

now you're not confused anymore as you read it here.

no years out planning
no months out planning


just go with the flow and relax on your darkside vacation.

 

[saskdw]

We're not nearly as experienced in Universal as some of the main contributers of this section, but we've never had any problems getting into eat there.

Our trips consist of a 6 night stay at HRH Dec 22nd-28th 2010 and a 10 night stay at RPR Dec 10th-20th 2012. We made a reservation at Hard Rock Cafe for Christmas dinner in 2010 to make sure we had somewhere to have a nice meal. In 2012 we had a reservation at Mythos as we learned the waits can get long there at times. For everything else we just winged it and never had any unbearable waits.

We've vacationed in Orlando 6 of the last 7 Decembers. The last 2 years were exclusive WDW trips. We've all agreed that if we go this year it will be Universal. Probably a 10 night stay at one of the onsite resorts. As much as I sometimes enjoy the planning of a lengthy WDW vacation, I'll really looking forward "no planning" at Universal. Realistically we can decide to pull the trigger in September with no issues. Just book a room and a flight, done!

Becasue we're onsite for 10 or more days the parks and meals require no planning. We just take it as it comes. Go to the park when we feel like it, relax by the pool when we feel like it. I'm feeling relaxed just thinking about it! LOL

 

[wellesleyprincess]

I know it goes against the grain, but I made reservations this weekend for our early May trip.

Our last trip on Labor Day Weekend 2012 we had trouble with getting dinner at 6 pm at CityWalk both nights. (Quoted around 60 minute waits at every restaurant we asked and we were off-site that time so no waitlist priority) I've been told this is abnormal but it definitely soured my view of trying to go completely without reservations. So if it is a weekend night at a busy time I think it reasonable to make reservations a few weeks in advance to know you have something (especially since Universal does not have Disney's stringent cancellation policy).

 

[TSM]

now you're not confused anymore as you read it here.

no years out planning
no months out planning


just go with the flow and relax on your darkside vacation.

I just can't seem to wrap my brain around this!!!! It's so awesome!!

 

[macraven]

I just can't seem to wrap my brain around this!!!! It's so awesome!!

i know.
it's like having a birthday party every day.
everyone caters to you and tries to make you happy...

 

[macraven]

I know it goes against the grain, but I made reservations this weekend for our early May trip.

Our last trip on Labor Day Weekend 2012 we had trouble with getting dinner at 6 pm at CityWalk both nights. (Quoted around 60 minute waits at every restaurant we asked and we were off-site that time so no waitlist priority) I've been told this is abnormal but it definitely soured my view of trying to go completely without reservations. So if it is a weekend night at a busy time I think it reasonable to make reservations a few weeks in advance to know you have something (especially since Universal does not have Disney's stringent cancellation policy).

peeps make reservations at city walk and never show up.
you are not required to give them your first born child when you do that.
i still have all 4 of my boys.....

newtable, opentable are ways of doing prior reservations.
the times i have done a reservation, i make it at the booth in city walk on the day of, a few times the day prior.


but, i realize you want to have something in place due to the possible waits at restaurants at city walk.

i always tell newbies if it helps them to sleep better at night, make the reservations for city walk in advance.
since i don't go that route, not sure if it is 60 or 30 days out you can make them

 

[september89]

An exception of when you wold need a reservation is if you want a table in Finnegans on a HHN night during Stay and Scream for 4:00-5:00. The hostess said the reservations actually fill up about a month prior. Last year, early in the event on a Thursday we came in for Stay and Scream and got the last 2 bar seats at 3:30. once people are there, they stay until HHN release.

 

[macraven]

another way to get reservations at finnegans at that time is go to the podium when they open that day.
last year i did that to secure a different time for my seating.

i do agree that it is necessary to book finnegans during hhn periods the month prior.
there is no place to sit in the holding area and it gets tiring to stand for that 1.5 hours if you go in the SnS section at park closing time.

 

[RocketCityMama]

I am excited about this LOL I am from the WDW side too, first trip to USO in ummm 20 plus years!